Page 403 of Kingdoms of Night

“Wait!” Isa motioned for them to move back. “Let me talk to him. Viridi, it’s me. Isa. Remember?”

The king moved his arm and emerald stars flew from his fingertips. The roots under Rhianne broke from the ground, ripped her wand away, and tossed the magical weapon into the forest. Werian grabbed Rhianne and pulled her away from the undulating roots.

Scowling, the king continued as if Isa and Felix were nothing and their words had no meaning. “We welcome his transformation. Everything the Thorned One does is for us, the dryad elves. He is our promised savior, our leader in these changing times. He will bring us back to our former glory.” Raising his arms, he eyed the crowd. “Bow to him.”

And they did.

The king faced Isa as Viridi walked slowly toward her. “And embrace your fate, human woman.”

“My fate?” Isa’s voice trembled as much as her body.

“Embrace your fate as the honored sacrifice to our ancient forest.”

Isa pushed Nico toward Rhianne and Werian, then she looked to the king, trying not to run screaming from Viridi.

“I’m not embracing anything, Your Highness. Viridi, I’m going to take Nico and go back to your lovely home to wait for you. We will find a solution to this.”

Viridi blinked repeatedly, and tipped his head to one side, like he was fighting this monstrous side of himself. Then he reached out his branched hand. A chill shot through her chest. Pale blue wisps of light appeared over her heart, then flew shimmering to Viridi who inhaled them.

He was stealing her energy.

She’d read of magic like this when she was a child, of rare creatures who could siphon life from others and use it to grow more powerful.

“Viridi…” Her lips didn’t want to work.

Vines laced Werian, Rhianne, Nico, Felix, and anyone else who ran at Isa to help.

What could she do to wake Viridi up? He wasn’t a monster. His soul was as known to her as her own. She felt the tug of the bond between them, that tug that had drawn her mind to his on the beach.

Closing her eyes and gritting her teeth, she tried to ignore the terrible cold and focus on the bond, the link. She imagined it being a chain with links of silver and gold. Still only using her mind, she imagined the pale wisps leaving her winding around the chain. She yanked it hard.

The chill left her body immediately and she opened her eyes to see Viridi releasing all the others. He was trying to speak, but couldn’t seem to get anything out.

“Go!” Werian snagged her arm and dragged her into the forest.

Rhianne and Nico were already waiting with two other dryad elves.

They started to run.

Branch, the tall servant from Viridi’s tree castle, caught up with them. “I’m sorry your visit has come to this.”

They hurried around a bend and under impossibly massive roots that had grown over the path. Her heart ached for Viridi. He hadn’t meant to attack her. There was something wrong with him and his magic. The scent of sulfur and rot filled her nose…

Calva appeared from the shadows, her dark pink lips gone pale. She took the lead. “I know a shortcut to the beach. Come.”

“The beach?” Isa slowed even as Nico pulled at her arm.

“Yes,” Rhianne said. “You certainly don’t mean to stay now. We can be on board our ship in an hour. We can take you anywhere you wish to go.”

“I know it’s complete madness, but I truly believe he didn’t mean to lose his head back there. He needs our help. Did you see his father? We can’t leave kind Viridi to this fate. His father will only encourage the beast inside him to rise up. He’s like Seigneur Brune, power hungry. We have to help him, alongside his fellows, to find a way around this problem.”

“This is who he is,” Branch said, voice soft.

Needles pricked Isa’s heart. “You don’t have any hope for your prince at all?”

Branch shook his head. “I wish I did, but the legends speak of the Thorned One. We knew it was him, but we had hoped he’d avoid the full transformation.”

“I, for one, never thought he would lose himself like that,” Calva said. “But the legends appear to be true.”

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