Page 33 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

I paused just inside the doorway of what had once been a very modest bedroom—probably belonging to a farmer if the adjacent barn was any indication. On the other side of the small room, the wooden frame of the bed had rotted so that it rested unevenly on two legs instead of four. The mattress had already disintegrated and was now nothing more than a pile of stuffing. And there was a dampness in the air that didn’t bode well for the stability of the place.

It was old and unkempt.

Forgotten.

Just like me.

But I much preferred being forgotten to being found by one ofhercreatures.

I stood perfectly still and listened for signs someone else was with me inside the tiny, rotting cabin. Well, someoneother than the dead healer I’d come to find. I glanced again at her fae body slumped in the corner opposite the bed, throat cut and drained of blood. For what, I was sure I didn’t want to know.

Dark magic. Rituals.

Pleas for more magic to be imbued upon the petitioner.

Every fae in Menryth wanted more magic. I couldn’t blame them when its waning presence only left them more defenseless.

Then again, the Broadlands and the Trolech Forest that bordered it were full of nightmarish creatures. Any one of them might’ve wanted her blood for nourishment or enjoyment just as easily as for a sacrifice. Either way, I’d been too late.

And I wasn’t the only one who’d been drawn to the scent of her spilled blood.

For a moment, there was only the complete stillness that had been the hallmark of my world for the last seven years. At first, that stillness had been a reprieve from the constant demands of royal life. I’d dreaded my marriage and the war that would follow, and while it shamed me to admit it, that first year had been a gift in some ways. A clemency. But then I’d come to realize that stillness was its own kind of prison.

After seven years, the silence grew to a roar when I concentrated on it—like now.

Most days, I tried very hard to ignore that roar—and the nightmare it represented—but in this moment, ignoring it could very well kill me. And all of them along with me.

I would never let anything happen to my family.

I focused on the small changes in the air just like Sonoma had taught me and listened harder. The abandoned farmhouse creaked on its rotting foundation, settling around me. Outside the window, the grass rustled softly in the slight breeze.

It was all so natural. Nothing ominous.

But my sensitive ears caught another sound. No more than a shift of the air, but I knew what it was.

Outside the cabin, someone approached.

A moment later, the front door opened, creaking on loose hinges.

Footsteps clunked as the visitor stepped into the sagging main room.

I braced myself, surprised to find hope rising at the sound. Maybe the visitor was another fae. Or something friendly. The Autumn prince’s face flashed in my mind. Callan was nothing more than a daydream. A remembrance that I’d once not be so isolated and alone. That parties and laughter and dancing had been real. And in this moment, I wondered what it might be like to have that daydream back again.

Before I could temper my longing, the scent hit me. I wrinkled my nose, the foul odor confirming what I already knew: it wasn’t friendly.

In fact, it wasn’t someone at all; it was something.

An Obsidian.

My hand tightened around the hilt of my sword. I couldn’t risk using magic on it. Not when that magic would give me away to any other Obsidians that might be lurking close by.

The air shifted again as thethingcrept toward the bedroom. My muscles tensed as I gathered my strength to strike. If my instincts were right, it stood directly on the other side of the flimsy wall between us.

I pictured the soulless creature, calculating its next move—and mine.

Onyx eyes. White teeth sharpened to points. Pale skin, so white it was almost translucent. And the worst breath I’d ever encountered in anyone—dead, alive, or in between. Sonoma claimed their smell was from the dark magic running through their veins—the very magic that kept them animated longafter their humanity had been stolen. But my coin was on morning breath.

Either way, the creature would kill me without a shred of hesitation if I let it.

---