I knew we would figure it out. We had to. Because there wasn’t going to be another choice.
Wyn might not think that Easton blamed me for his mother’s death, but I could blame myself. I did. And I had a feeling that Easton held me responsible, too. How could he not?
But I didn’t know him. I didn’t know this court. I didn’t know anybody except myself and the cat currently peeking over Teagan’s shoulder.
I used to ask myself how everything could come to be like this, but not anymore. I knew that this was how it would always be from now on, no matter what.
We walked for two days straight, only resting for a few hours at a time to sleep, eat, and drink water. It was weird, but the journey felt so much like the time I had moved from the Earth territory to the Fire one. We just kept walking. Nobody in the group spoke much, but Arwin was the quietest of them all. He seemed so sweet, though, always making sure I had enough water and food. And he really seemed to like Braelynn. He held her close, even carrying her in his arms so she could have a better look around. They were all warriors, I knew that, but Arwin seemed almost…innocent.
It seemed weird that there could be innocence in a world where people died all the time because of other people’s greed. But there was goodness in the human world, as well. Sometimes I forgot that.
My legs burned, and I was exhausted and really just wanted a bath, but I knew we were getting close.
When the magic through my body shimmered, I looked down at the Air Wielding humming in my fingers, the earth rumbling beneath my feet.
We were getting close.
Or perhaps we had arrived.
“Oh, it’s about time,” Teagan said with a grumble as we slid our way towards the wards. The magic looked like a soap bubble on a clear surface so I could see past it to the court ahead, but I couldn’t really tell what was blocking us.
“You and Braelynn are invited, so you should be able to walk through the wards easily. You’ll also be able to leave because you’re not prisoners here,” Wyn explained as we moved our way through the magic. “It won’t hurt you, but if you hadn’t been invited or if you were Lumiére? Then it may hurt.”
“I’m an Air Wielder, as well,” I put in.
“Oh, we know. But you’re a guest here. The wards aren’t to hurt people, they’re to keep us safe. That’s the difference.”
I didn’t know what she meant by difference. Maybe the other court’s wards were intended to hurt? Or perhaps I was reading too much into Wyn’s words.
The court looked much the same as it had before, only shinier and brighter.
This was the dark court, the Obscurité. In my head, before I had ever met Easton or the rest of them, I had thought them perhaps the enemy. The evil court. After all, I had only met those of the Lumiére before.
Lumiére was light, good. But there was good and evil on both sides, something I would do well to remember. After all, I held elements within me from both kingdoms. One day, I hoped I would hold the other three elements, as well. Meaning I would be of both kingdoms and the Spirit territory.
The dark castle before me was made of black stone and a nearly purple crystal. It was gorgeous with its turrets and even a moat. It looked very medieval but almost serene. It probably shouldn’t seem that way, but that was the word that came to me.
As if there were peace or at least a semblance of it. And maybe that was the case since Lore was no more. His evil was no longer lurking and sucking the magic and life force from the Obscurité people. That darkness was gone.
Yes, the crystal was still failing, but there wasn’t death surrounding them anymore, no shroud pulling the kingdom deeper.
I really just wanted to brush my hair and teeth before we had to deal with anything, but I could tell that wasn’t going to be the case. Because before we’d even walked onto the bridge that led to the castle itself, a very familiar Wielder strutted out, his hair falling across his forehead.
His light brown skin glistened under the sunlight, his black eyes narrowing even as his lips quirked into a familiar smirk.
“It’s about time you got here. I was about to send out the cavalry, and then I realized you were my cavalry.”
Easton.
The king.
But not my king.
“Long time, no see,” I said, giving him my best haughty tone. I didn’t know why, but he just bugged me.
“Ah, the fabled one. Welcome to your new training. And welcome to my home.” He gave me an exaggerated deep bow that almost made me smile. Almost.
Teagan and Wyn both held back grins while Braelynn gave me a look over Teagan’s shoulder. Arwin, on the other hand, looked about ready to faint. Because the king was bowing to me? Or perhaps because I wasn’t curtseying back.
Either way, I didn’t know, and it didn’t really matter.
I was here. And there was no going back.
But then again, there never had been.
Chapter Five
The last time I was here, I had died. Now that was a weird thought to think at this exact moment. I looked down at Braelynn, who was currently cleaning her paws while giving me a strange look. Seriously, only cats could do that.
Well, the last time we had been here, we had both died. Only I had found my way through it and came out somewhat whole. Braelynn had come back a cat. With wings.
My life had really taken a strange turn at some point. I don’t really remember the exact moment of that change.
When Easton finally let us into the castle—yes, a real castle—the maids had sent me up alone to my room. It was a different suite than I had before, or at least I thought. I looked around again, frowning. No, this was the same room I had woken up in after the battle, it’d just been cleaned up a bit since then.
This was the space where I had finally seen Rosamond again, sitting at the end of my bed with Braelynn in her lap. Right before she had handed me the large book that I had left behind back at my house in the human realm. It had been too heavy for me to carry for the long journey, and I had most of it memorized anyway. It was really the only book, other than the history books from my own world that I had read in the past year.
I had hidden it under my bed and hoped that my parents wouldn’t find it. If they did for some reason, maybe I could explain to them that it was just a dictionary and history of fantasy and wasn’t real.
It wasn’t as if I could tell them that any of this was real.
Regardless, this was the room that I had been in when I tried to wake up and realize exactly what I needed to do next. I had felt so lost, trying to figure out who I was and what the next step should be. It wasn’t as if I had known what I was supposed to do back then. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do right now.
Almost dying had scared me to the point that I needed to take some time for myself. And I had taken it.
Now, it was time to train—as Easton had put it.
Wyn, Teagan, and Arwin had left me to my own devices, but all had promised that I would see them again.
So, I took a bath and washed away the grunge from the past day’s walk. The maids and other staff had left hot water for me in the cast iron tub, and I was grateful. The one thing I truly missed about my world was full indoor plumbing. The castle seemed to have some of it, at least from what I remembered, but not in this room. No, this suite was a little medieval.