Page 9 of The Curse of a Kingdom
She wasn’t even sure if she was breathing. Then her thoughts became sharper as she focused on her surroundings; the aching hole in her heart was present, and she still was sore and tired, but not dead.
Nava had to be careful what to think of next, as the portal—or the gods—demanded payment for magic such as this. They always wanted something. Then she smelled it, the soft scent of burning, like smoke over a fire.
Something moved through the darkness. It had to be a play of her imagination. Everything was as black as night. Her pulse quickened, and somehow she knew she was being watched. Her eyes strained as she followed the shape, sure it was a trick of her brain.
“Look, Father, a Beekeeper has come to us in our land,” a whisper echoed in the cave, a sinister hiss that somehow hurt her ears and was familiar at the same time. Gooseflesh raised over her skin. The movement in her peripheral was choppy, like a nightmare coming to claim her.
Her throat clenched and her skin became cold with sweat. “Who is there?”
A laugh reflected in the empty shadows. Her skin glowed as her magic came to her calling, warm, bright yellow light. A pale-skinned man stepped back into the void with a hiss, black feathers moving to shield him from the light. His red eyes were forever burned in her mind.
A demon? Had she gotten stuck in the shadow world?
“This is not a normal Beekeeper. A human crossinghasto pay,” another voice said, this one deeper and detached, ignoring the pale man with red eyes who’d disappeared. “Give me a memory.”
Nava held back a scream that threatened to spill as the same demon moved closer. He had wings, she realized, and was shielded by the shadows, however she sensed him coming near.
“A memory, girl,” the deeper voice that came from everywhere reminded her, spiked with annoyance.
This didn’t sound good. She tried to focus on anything but the winged man who approached her, wishing she could go back to the simpler days of training in the forest, camping on higher grounds, and the constellations above her. Like she’d done with her father.
No, no, no.
“Yes,” the deeper voice gloated.
Memories flashed through her mind: starry nights, her father struggling to put the tent up when camping. The familiar burn of the rope fibers against her grip as she laughed at something he said. But his words faded.
Gasping, she screamed, “Not him,please!”
She tried to force her mind to focus on something else. The gods could take her hand, instead. But the rolling laughter of her dad disappeared, and so did the mornings eating brunch or him explaining how to make the perfect healing potion, which midnight flower would give her the strongest brew for migraine medicine.
Tears wetted her cheeks as the knowledge escaped her. One by one, they all flew away, even the bright blue color of his eyes. She brought her hands to her face as she tried to hold on to something, anything, a name.
Oliver Forrest—the potion maker of the Iron Kingdom. Her mother’s soulmate.
But soon, that too disappeared.
CHAPTERFOUR
NAVA
Nava fell onto something soft but prickly and was blinded momentarily by the bright light around her. The scent of lavender and other florals enveloped her. She opened her eyes, blinking rapidly, and took in her new surroundings. The sweet, warm air of summer caressed her skin.
Sitting on top of manicured grass, she wiped her cheeks as her body racked with sobs that weren’t as silent as she hoped. Tall hedges stood a few feet from her, crafted into the shape of a spire.
Devon landed next to her, his hands barely catching him before he fully ate the dirt. She might have laughed at his wild expression had she not felt so wrecked. She’d surrendered something so important. Her mind was struggling to provide her with what, but the hole left behind was too large to be anything but catastrophic.
Devon was up from the ground just as fast as he’d fallen, his face snapping to each side as he took in their surroundings. She followed suit, albeit slower, feeling her legs and arms shake under her weight. Her soulmate mark ache had lessened, and some of her energy was coming back.
Arkimedes was close.
She let go of a heavy sigh, relieved as the realization hit her that he wasn’t the one who’d been taken from her. She scoured through her mind. Cameron’s freckles came quickly, her mother’s warm voice, Laurie— The soft trickle of a fountain nearby distracted her.
It mixed alongside her heaving breaths, a song of birds with melodies she hadn’t heard before. A castle stood out in the background, hazed over by its size and distance, behind the layers of shaped bushes and vegetation that separated them. Yellow marble blocks layered neatly, and massive windows with lancet arches decorated the tall edifice. The towers’ pinnacles were topped with aged copper-green roofs. Nava had seen nothing like this before.
“Snap out of it. They will be on us soon.” Devon’s sharp voice took her out of her reverie. With wide strides, he made his way past the hedge.
“Do you know where we are?” she asked, rushing behind him, glancing at beautiful white flowers that bloomed with geometric patterns. So similar to camellias, however . . . not. This enchanted vegetation followed their movements closely, angling their petals with their passing.
