Page 45 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

“She’ll come anyway,” he said, and I didn’t see a point in disagreeing.

Still, the protectiveness I felt for the Summer Court heirwasn’t something I could extinguish at this point. “If you bring her here, the old man will use her,” I warned.

“I’ll protect her.” The confidence was back. So was the naïveté. But I had my orders, and there was no point pretending I’d do anything else. The lifeblood oath demanded its fulfillment. Duron had given me an order, and I had no choice but to follow it.

“She might refuse you. Or fight us,” I said.

Callan’s smirk returned. “I like my chances.”

The urge to cut the smirk off his face rose in me, sharp and hot. I’d never been jealous of Callan in my life. When we were kids, I’d pitied him. Especially knowing he bore the brunt of Duron’s attention—and cruelty. But in this moment, I might’ve killed him just to take his place in the stupid prophecy. Let the princess be destined for me. Not him. Anyone but him.

The thought disgusted me. I wanted nothing to do with his crown. Besides, the part of me that remembered the boy he was—before Duron shaped him into this—hoped he’d be better than the old man someday.

The citizens of Grey Oak deserved that much.

“Fine,” I said at last. “We leave at dawn.”

Chapter Fifteen

Aurelia

Two weeks passed. I went through the motions of my days with a growing sense of suffocation. Training each morning with Sonoma had become nearly unbearable as she began to show more and more signs of weakness. I realized now that those signs had been there all along; I just hadn’t seen them. Or hadn’t wanted to. But I couldn’t deny that she was deteriorating.

Lesha still hadn’t returned, but we didn’t talk about it. I didn’t dare venture out to look for her, either. I couldn’t imagine what Sonoma’s condition would become if I used the wards now.

I shook off a chill at the thought.

Together, Sonoma and I harvested the crops inside the greenhouses then turned the soil for the next planting. The manual labor did little for my mood but helped burn off the worst of my anxious energy.

I spent my evenings in the library, warming myself with my own furyfire and getting lost in the novels Lesha had found on a scouting mission a couple of years ago. We’d gone looking for books about spells and curses. Instead, we’d foundlove stories with scenes so scandalous I’d had to read them alone under the blankets. I’d never cared for reading growing up, but it was the only escape I had left.

The season slid fast toward winter. But more than that, there was a strangeness to the crisp air that set me on edge. It felt like we were running out of time. Like the end of this curse was approaching—one way or another.

My thoughts drifted again and again to the Obsidian’s last words. Heliconia feared me. It was ridiculous. Clearly a lie. Or the insane rambling of a dying creature with neither soul nor brain. I thought of Callan too. Our alliance. Of what my life would’ve been like without the curse—which only left me in a sour mood.

And even though I hated myself for it, I thought of Rydian.I’m the thing nightmares fear.I didn’t know what he meant exactly, but that glimpse of his power suggested he wasn’t bluffing. He was the only other fae I’d ever met who possessed power as big as my own. What could his power do against the dark queen?

What would it taste like if I let myself drink it in?

I shoved that thought away and glanced up at the gray sky.

The wind had picked up, plucking the leaves off the trees. They fell in large clumps, still green. There was no autumn here. Only summer—and then, abruptly, and harshly, winter.

With my hair blowing wildly, I collected the last of the clean sheets from where I’d hung them to dry in the courtyard this morning. In a desperate attempt to distract myself, I’d thrown myself into the work of keeping up the castle.

Sonoma had tucked herself away in the study for the afternoon. Lately, she’d resorted to searching the old texts from the royal temple’s collection for some clue about what we might do to turn things around. I’d spent the curse’s first year doing the same thing, scouring the royal library and looting every home in this city that contained books, and turned up nothingat all. I wasn’t going to punish myself twice. Instead, I planned to spend the days wearing myself out until my brain could no longer torture me with the reality of my situation. And when that failed, I’d lose myself in someone else’s story. One where the heroine always found her own happy ending.

With the clean linens piled into one overflowing basket, I hefted it onto my hip and aimed for the east entrance. From there, it was a short walk and then a climb to the royal bedroom.

I let myself in and set the basket of sheets on the floor before approaching where the king and queen rested on the large four-poster bed.

“Hello, Mother.” I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Her skin was warm. Vibrant, even. She hadn’t aged a day in over seven years of slumber.

“Father.” I kissed his chin, the course salt-and-pepper hair of his beard tickling my cheek. It wasn’t my favorite, the bearded look, but it was his. Letting him keep it was the least I could do.

“And how are we today?” I asked, forcing my voice toward chipper.

Neither stirred as I replaced their bed linens, rolling each of them carefully left then right. It was a chore that took a considerable amount of skill and strength to perfect, but in just a few minutes, I’d stripped the old sheet and tucked the new one in without anyone getting tossed onto the floor in the process.

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