Page 44 of Once Upon a Crown
The creek came to an end through a crevice that allowed the water to flow underground. With no clear markers to lead theway, I might as well have been left in the dark. The only thing to do was to keep walking in as straight a line as possible.
Minutes passed. Hours passed. Days passed. It all blurred into one. Time had become a foreign concept in the mist that surrounded me.
Damn it, Lara, I thought.Why couldn’t you just have found a way to convince Cai to come with you?
Because this is stupid, that’s why. Because you might die in here. And then what good will that do?
I began to grow worried for everyone in the palace. At the very least, I was sure that Cai would find the note I’d left him. I didn’t want them to send anyone after me. But I knew Cai would be upset that I’d left so suddenly, without a warning.
I trudged on and on and on. And when I got hungry again, we stopped. I rested against a tree trunk and drank from my water flask, giving the horse my last apple while simultaneously hoping that this wouldn’t be the last meal either of us had.
At some point I must have fallen asleep, because I started to dream. Except I was aware that I was dreaming. The forest was still there and so was the mist, but there was something different about it. It didn’t have the ominous presence of the mist in the centre of the forest. This was just regular morning mist.
I was not alone. There were two other people in the mist with me. One of them was a man, kneeling on the forest floor. In his arms, he held a woman in a white dress, her skin so pale it was difficult to tell the difference between her skin and the material of her dress. She wasn’t moving and the man had tears streaming down his face. The woman was dead.
They didn’t notice me. It was as if I didn’t exist at all. I was merely here to watch. I thought about everything I knew regarding the forest. How, as a whole, it was like a living creature of its own. Something that had protected and guided me my whole life. And if the Evernean Forest was more than just treesand earth, was it possible that I was observing a memory of the forest, something that it wanted me to know or see?
The man held the woman to him and continued to cry. He began mumbling, but at first, I couldn’t hear what he was saying. It took me some time to recognise the words. “Why did you do it, Riona?”
Riona?
But that would mean . . .
Recognition set in. The two people in front of me suddenly became more than words on paper. This was the first king and queen of Everness. The people whose history we’d been chasing, hoping to find answers. I marvelled at the forest again and what it was capable of. Was it possible that I was seeing something that took place centuries earlier?
King Evrin let Riona’s body lie on the forest floor. Had she died here, or did he bring her here, and why? I’d always believed that Queen Riona was buried along with the other Evernean monarchs, but what if that was merely what King Evrin had everyone believe?
“It didn’t have to come to this,” Evrin said through his tears. “Why did you have to meddle with things beyond your power?”
I watched with surprise and confusion as he pulled a knife out of one of his pockets.
“Nothing in this place comes without a cost. You and I should have known better.”
He wrapped both his hands around the hilt of the dagger and lifted it into the air. There was a small gemstone attached to the hilt of the dagger, making it look awfully familiar.
“May your body give protection to all those to come who will share your blood. May this place become a vessel of guidance and safety for those who need it. My darling Riona, I hope you rest in peace here for all eternity.”
And then he plunged the Myrgonite dagger into her heart.
Chapter 19
Cai
I opened the window in my room, allowing the fresh morning air to seep in.
After getting dressed quickly, I headed for the dining room, hoping I would catch Elara for breakfast. It had been two days since we talked, and though I wasn’t on track to agree with everything she said, I could no longer take the silence between us.
She’d been ignoring me the whole of yesterday and, partially, I did not blame her. Our conversation could have gone much better.
I hoped I wouldn’t run into Lance like I had the day before. He was part of the reason we were arguing in the first place. I knew it wasn’t likely that he had intentions of coming between us. He was, after all, the one who’d suggested she ask for my hand in marriage all those months ago. But it didn’t mean I wanted to be his friend right now.
I walked into the dining room to find Gwen sitting there with her book.
“Two days in a row? You must really miss me,” she said, slightly teasing, and I forced a smile her way.
“I wish I could join you but I’m looking for Elara again.”
“Is something the matter with you two? You’ve been acting strange.”
