Page 1 of Wicked Prince of Shadows
CHAPTER ONE
Despite the comfortable temperature of spring, a chill settled hard in my bones… like some sort of warning. My magic swirled inside me, unsettled.
Stop looking. Stop worrying. The Hollow King isn’t coming. He never comes.The hairs on the back of my neck lifted as I stood at the top of the royal garden wall, peering out into the ruins scattered across the valley.
My chest twisted, missing my family just as much as the day I’d lost them. Despite being in such a luxurious place, I'd never felt more alone and vulnerable.I didn't belong here. I never had.
The ache in my heart pierced as my knees weakened.
I fisted my hands in the borrowed blue silk dress and stared at the blood moon. Princess Enola’s royal rings caught on the embroidery and veil. They weren't mine, and they would never feel comfortable.
Already the faintest tinges of red marred the moon’s shining silver surface, an ominous reminder of what was to come. A shiver ran down my spine, and I swallowed hard.
I’d seen several blood moons over the years and survived the challenges they brought like bad luck, poisoned rivers, blight, and more. Maladies that took months to recover from. Mostfalsely hoped it was nothing but superstition and chance, but that was ridiculous.
Everyone knew it, though they tried to pretend it was just bad luck.
I'd believed the same until my whole family was wiped out in a freak accident. The tower had crumbled, its foundation made unsteady from rapid construction and a few key errors in oversight.
And Iknewthe truth.
Blood moons were a curse. Whatever bad there was in the world, they intensified it.
Andthisblood moon was all the more dangerous. It felt as if death and shadows hunted me.
Maybe it was because of a pair of ominous ghost owls' sang, summoning the supernatural world like some sort of dare. In line with that warning, loon yodels vibrated in the air.
I wanted the blood moon over.
Crickets chirped, adding to the noise that pressed against me like some sort of death song.
I inhaled shakily and closed my eyes, trying to pull my thoughts together. I couldn’t let my emotions get away from me. That desire didn't make the anxiety ease.
Somethingwhooshed past my ears, and I opened my eyes.
My breath caught as a ghost owl flapped right in front of my face. Its black bulging eyes stared right into mine, its bark-colored wings flapping.
I stumbled back, and the owl flew toward the queen’s statue fashioned into the central fountain. It flew before her, then perched on her shoulder, cooing and calling in that haunting voice as if warning her that the Hollow King was returning to take his revenge on our entire kingdom.
The legend hung like a millstone around my neck. I curled my hand against the base of my throat, trying to calm myself. Dark fog rolled in from miles away, inching toward us.
The stone ruins on the other side of the steep valley were where the Hollow Kingdom once lay centuries ago, nestled among the ragged peaks and fading into darkness. A place that took six days by foot to reach now felt as if it was just a short hop and a walk away. As if all the eyes of the cursed and undead now fixed on me from within the darkness.
After all this time, why would he comenow? Andwhycome here? This was the Peace Garden and Enola’s private sanctuary. It had been warded with all the most powerful magic.
Stop,I chastised myself. I was just being paranoid. I should be enjoying my time pretending to be the princess and indulging in luxury while Enola enjoyed her time at the festival. It should have been a pleasant change for both of us. But my mind refused to calm.
As the wind changed, it was easier to catch the scent and sound of the festival. The delicious fragrance of spiced chocolate, saffron herbed rice, and grilled meats made my mouth water. There were pastries and seared fruit on the table beneath the bower, but I had no appetite. The strains of soft music brought me more comfort, beautiful notes from fiddles, bones, and frame drums as well as the one merchant and his steel drums reaching my ears.
That's probably where I would have been right now if it hadn’t been for Princess Enola begging for me to pretend to be her so she could get some freedom she rarely had. And as always, no matter how much I teased and chastised Enola on other matters, I agreed to do this, which had me stuck in this sanctuary by myself.
Hugging myself, I swayed, but my muscles tightened.
The music merged with bird and insect songs.
See. They wouldn’t be singing if it were dangerous,I tried reassuring myself.
That was one of thefirst rulesof the forest. Only the ghost owls didn’t care about danger to us. They only went silent in the face of the most dangerous and cruel magic. The owl at the fountain called out again, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand.
