The brown in Lyren’s eyes shimmered with silver as she smiled. “You did it,” she whispered.
But loud shouts erupted from a nearby rocky cove. They sounded as pleasant as dripping blood.
Lunging forward, Lyren grabbed Elora’s wrist. “We need to get out of here.”
FOUR
▲▼▲
ELORA HAD JUST ENOUGH time to glance over her shoulder. She regretted the action at once. A group of at least eight fae charged toward her and Lyren. The fae wore heavy white coats with silvery threads woven throughout. Just looking at the coats made the warm Swiftsea air seem even warmer.
Lyren yanked Elora forward, pulling her down the sandy beach. The sea fae gestured toward a narrow path just beyond a thick clump of palm trees. “This way. And hurry.”
Hiking up her skirt, Elora ran. Part of her wanted to glance over her shoulder again, but she feared what she would see. Instead, she turned to her side while sucking in gulps of air. “Why can’t we open a door back to Bitter Thorn?”
Lyren hissed as she tripped over a rock hiding amongst the sand. It didn’t take her long to regain her balance. “It is not safe. These fae have magic that can keep Faerie doors open indefinitely. If I open a door, they will simply follow us through.”
After jumping over a large boulder covered in seaweed, Lyren twisted her body in another direction. She yanked on Elora’s hand to keep them both moving the same way. Only with Lyren’s help did Elora notice a rocky path to the side. The sea fae moved onto it with expert precision. Again, she turned in a direction that didn’t seem to have any path along with it. But of course, a path appeared just in time.
Soon, they both huddled inside a hidden cove that overlooked the sea. Lyren peeked her head around one wall, looking back at the area they had only recently left. “Just as I thought.” When she pulled her head back into the cove, she began combing through her brown curls with her fingers. “Those were Fairfrost guards.”
As if on cue, a strange whipping sound filled the air. When Lyren glanced up, Elora followed her gaze.
A gasp escaped Elora’s lips before she could stop it. Her hand clutched tight against her chest. “Is that a dragon? They’re real?”
Sneering, Lyren shook her head. “You need not fear the dragon. It is the rider who brings destruction.”
Now Elora was the one peering over the side of the cove. She didn’t have a great angle, but she just managed to catch a glimpse of the fae on top of the dragon. One look at the heavily beaded white crown was all she needed to hide back in the cove once again. “It’s Queen Alessandra.”
Lyren nodded before glancing away.
“That’s who brought the decay?”
“No.” Moving to the other side of the cove, Lyren ran a hand over the rocky surface. “At least we do not think so. But she does take advantage of it. Queen Alessandra’s greatest magic is in emotion. When stories create renewal magic like yours did, she can steal the emotion out of it. The process makes her stronger and Swiftsea weaker.”
At her sides, Elora’s fingers twitched. She ached to reach for a sword, but of course she didn’t have hers with her. No one in Faerie was supposed to know about her sword skill except for Brannick and his two advisors, Kaia and Soren. But even without the weapon, she still longed to fight.
Her teeth clenched as she raised an eyebrow. “So, you’re just going to let Alessandra take the magic?”
Snapping her head to the side, Lyren glared. “Of course not. Every fae in Swiftsea is skilled with the javelin. We know how to fight out of necessity, and we do it very well.”
As she spoke, she raised one hand into the air. The moment the last word left her lips, she clicked her tongue three times. A glowing sprite from above fluttered down until it landed on Lyren’s palm. The sea fae reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny, gray pebble. “I have a message for Queen Noelani and her guards. They should be near.”
The sprite’s wings glowed a brighter green as he nodded.
Lyren quickly gave a message for the sprite to deliver, which gave the exact location and size of the Fairfrost queen’s guard. While the sprite flew away, Lyren’s curls bounced with a nod. “That should do it.” Now her gaze turned to Elora’s. “It is time to take you back to Bitter Thorn.”
The urge to fight still bubbled in Elora’s gut. If anything, it only churned with greater desire. “Have you gone to High King Romany? Does he know how Queen Alessandra is terrorizing your court? Surely, he could send people to help you.”
With a tinkling laugh, Lyren waved her hand through the air. “You do not understand how things work in Faerie. Queen Alessandra breaks no Faerie rules by stealing emotion from our renewal magic. It is her duty to help her court, and the renewal magic does just that. If we Swiftsea fae cannot protect our own court from stronger fae like Queen Alessandra, that is our own failing. Fae have no duty to choose peace over power.”
Grumbling under her breath, Elora kicked away a pebble. “It still seems like a horrible thing to do.”
Lyren laughed again. “Oh, it certainly is. Queen Alessandra’s actions have made the decay far worse than it would have been on its own, but no other court will save us from her.” She waved one hand, bringing forth her door once again. This time, the smell of salt and sand wafting out from the door was indiscernible when paired with the smell of Swiftsea all around them.
The door led them straight to the hallway leading to Elora’s room inside Bitter Thorn Castle. Heat surged across Elora’s brow as reality sank in. Her fists clenched while she considered the injustices Swiftsea had endured at the hand of the Fairfrost queen.
Of course, they weren’t the only ones to endure misfortune because of Queen Alessandra. Prince Brannick himself had fallen in love with the fae before he even knew her true identity. The bargain he made with her lost him his freedom both in action and in love. He only knew safety because the queen’s memory had been altered until she had forgotten Brannick completely.
But it wouldn’t last.
Even now, she was starting to remember him. At any time, she could give him an order, and he would be forced to follow it.
Shoving the thoughts out of her mind, Elora focused on the first thing she could. She turned to Lyren. “Where did that decay come from? You said it wasn’t caused by Queen Alessandra. Is it a curse like the curse on Bitter Thorn?”
Eyeing the Faerie door at her side that led back to Swiftsea, Lyren let out a sigh. “If it is a curse, we do not know who placed it.”
“Is it because you don’t have enough stories?” Elora touched the toe of her boot to her other ankle where a bright red ribbon was tied. Her heart immediately dropped. If her sister, Chloe, were here, she probably could have healed Swiftsea on her own with all the stories she knew.
That thought only brought another wave of pain.
Lyren tapped her toe as she glanced toward the Faerie door again. “It is not because of that. Stories help heal our court and stop the spread of the decay, but they are unrelated to the cause. We have checked many times.”
Elora’s heart continued to drop as she remembered her sisters. But they were safe. If remembering them only brought pain, maybe it was better to put them from her mind altogether. For now. She dropped her foot back to the ground, doing her best to ignore the ribbon around her ankle. “So, you have no idea what causes the decay?”