Page 49 of The Curse of a Kingdom
“There is a legend that claims the god of the night had two children. One with a mortal, and one with the goddess of the moon. Both offspring were so wicked, they were cast away to roam the earth. One became the first fae to walk on this land. The first Dark One, our protector’s ancestors.”
The information, though shocking, didn’t pertain to their current predicament. “So?”
“What’s happening?” Arkimedes’s brows crinkled with worry.
“The Zorren power works similarly to the Dark Ones. They feed on life and were created by the other sibling, whom you met. His claws have been on you, dearest.”
Nava’s lips slacked. The shadow that had taken her memories was the person commanding the Zorren? Which one of the two? “What?” Her body went cold, shaking at the memory of the dark shape with an icy voice that had ripped a part of her soul open. “Didn’t you think that information was important to tell us before?”
“The gods work in mysterious ways. Them making our protector the Dark One’s princeling was a surprise to me, but it makes sense, as Arkimedes’s power works similarly to theirs, and so different to ours.” Ari sounded passive, clearly not understanding why she felt so upset about this new information.
“Nava,” Arkimedes started, “what's going on?”
She hated lies, and not being able to unload all this information on him right now was difficult for her. “Did you know he was a prince before?” she asked, ignoring Arkimedes’s gasp.
“No.”
Nava let out a sigh of relief, but the creature continued speaking. At least Aristaeus wasn’t a liar, unlike Arkimedes, who had lied about them being soulmates the year before—and her, who was doing the exact same thing now.
“But I suspected his powers were connected to the gods in a more direct way after I saw him fighting against the bounty hunters.”
Arkimedes grasped her arm with a gentleness that wasn’t reflected in his impatient tone. “Are you talking about me?”
“Yes, we are. But we don’t have time to get into this right now.” The scent of smoke was too strong around them. She wrinkled her nose. “We have to find the gate and try to close it.”
Arkimedes was ready to argue, but he closed his mouth and nodded instead. “Are we heading west?”
“With you two here, I should be able to close it for the time being, but more will come.”
“What did he say?” Arkimedes shifted his body weight around, his shoulders tense. He stared watchfully at the Beekeeper as she repeated what Ari said. “With the both of us?”
“Later,” she promised, laying her hand over his arm, and they stared at each other in silence. “I will tell you more later, I promise.”
“All right.”
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
ORION
They trailed the forest with haste; dew saturated their clothes from the slick leaves of the low-hanging branches, and it was harder to move in the muggy surroundings.
His wings were too large to walk in such a confined space. They slowed him down, and he’d been fighting against the urge to put them away every damn second. If he wanted not to be an outcast for once in his life, all he had to do was to learn and adapt.
His ability to do so had saved him when he’d been picked by the Society of Crows at the age of five.
The sun trickled down the path as they moved farther east. The forest rapidly changed from healthy and living to the sicker nightmare he had been fighting against. Hanging in the air was a disease of evil that burned in his lungs. The foliage withered with brown-and-black tones and crunched under their feet.
“It’s gotten much worse.” Orion turned toward Nava. Clenching his jaw, he studied the area. “It wasn’t like this a couple of days ago.”
The Beekeeper creature whimpered, and Nava’s expression shifted as the shock of the visuals hit her full force. The mystery of this woman drove him mad—she was reckless and an enigma he craved to unravel.
Seeing the mask of fortitude she slid over her features was endearing. Her face appeared stern, but her hands trembled as she held onto a burnt tree. Those strange eyes flashed to every corner visible. “How much longer until we get to the gate?”
“We are close.”
“You two are synchronized!” she said with a smile that reached her eyes, the freckles on her cheeks multiplying. His heartbeat raised, and he wished his body stopped reacting to her this way.
She had given him a half-reasonable answer as to why she could do what she had, but it didn’t mean she was trustworthy. No matter what his senseless body was telling him, he had to keep his distance.
