Page 113 of Shadows of Ruin

Despite the horrors gracing Brookmere, happiness filled the air. A joy that would be destroyed if the threats from not just the dark ones, but Andras continued to spread unchecked.

I dismounted and approached an elderly Fae tending to his front garden. He hummed to himself, his tan trousers caked in mud with a blue shirt billowing in the summer breeze.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

The man turned with a bright smile on his face. “Can I help ye?”

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” I said. “We’re looking for a cottage that belonged to the king’s sister. I’m not sure?—”

“Yes, yes.” He wiped his dirt-covered hands on histrousers, though with the dirt already on them, it didn’t do anything other than cake more on him. “It’s still just as he requested. Come on now. Not far.”

I blinked, surprised he knew the place so easily. Ian remained on his horse practically on top of me, but Kade dismounted and hovered with his shadows.

“He doesn’t know what you look like? That you’re the princess?” Kade asked.

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t expect them to. I didn’t travel outside of Ellevail often. Unless he had business in the city, he wouldn’t know my face.”

Kade relaxed. “I suppose that’s good to keep our presence quiet.”

We all followed the elderly Fae. His hands in his pockets, he kept on humming, not at all bothered with small talk.

He stopped suddenly and turned to face me. “Not my business, I know, but I’m assuming he requested someone check up on the place in his absence. We heard about his passing.”

I frowned, not sure how to respond.

“The king held a lot of unwarranted guilt about his sister. Terrible thing, the dark Fae. Especially killing the babe. But his sister and her husband, they were happy until the end. Kept to themselves, but always had a smile and lent a hand whenever someone needed it. Remembering their life rather than their deaths might be a better way to honor them.”

I frowned. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

The man nodded toward the end of the road, where a cottage sat in disrepair.

“Oh,” I gasped, a small sob escaping.

The man patted my shoulder. “I don’t mean no disrespect, young lady, especially with our king just passing and the princess missing. I thought I’d simply speak my piece. I disobeyed him and trimmed the hedges last year, just so theplace was still visible. But like I said, none of my business. It’s his family matter.”

“Thank you,” Ian said for me, since I stood in silence a few moments too long for comfort.

I nodded at the man, and he gave me a sad smile before turning and leaving us.

My hand came up to my mouth in pain and anger, shocked at how neglected the cottage had become.

My parents’home.

It took less than a heartbeat for me to decide my next move. I took off running the rest of the way, leaving the others behind.

“Lana!” Kade and Ian shouted simultaneously.

I ignored their shouts. One of fear and one of warning.

“Give her a minute,” I heard Kalliah say to the others.

I slowed, stopping in front of the overgrown white fence and broken trellis. Before me lay the ruins of my parents’ home. A small gold plaque, barely visible through the overgrowth, glinted in the sun, posted near the entrance to their garden. I brushed my hand over it. “To remember what we fight for. Always. By decree of the king, this home is designated a historical monument. Never to be touched.”

They could have at least cleaned it up, not left it as some abandoned piece of property.

Falling to my knees in their garden, I placed my hands on the earth. Feeling the overgrown grasses intertwine between my fingers. I inhaled, as if I might feel my real parents somehow.

I could have run through this yard, playing games with my father. Picked flowers with my mother. Instead, I’d been robbed of the innocence of my childhood. Thrust into the chaos of life in the palace without a choice. Without a voice.

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