A Kingdom of Venom and Vows (Stars and Shadows #3)(25)

The same nymph I had seen with Adara when she had attempted to run.

A smile formed on her lips, and my mare brayed and backed up a few steps. The nymph felt otherworldly, and even my horse couldn’t contain its uneasiness around the being.

The nymph’s frail body was barely noticeable, her skin covered in green moss and damp leaves. She bled into the trees as if she was one of them.

She stood along the roots of a giant tree, and as she moved, leaves and twigs snapped underneath her feet. They made crackling sounds like embers turning to ash.

I climbed down from my horse and grabbed the reins to hold her steady, but I refused to turn my back on the nymph.

“What do you want?” Thalia’s hand rested on her dagger, but she had yet to pull it out.

“The true heir has come,” the nymph said in a voice that didn’t belong to this world before bowing deeply before me. “He has come to save our queen.”

Thalia looked back at me for only a second before her gaze slammed back into the nymph’s. Sorin still sat upon his horse, but his back was rigid. His jaw was clenched as he watched Thalia as carefully as he watched the nymph that stood before us. His muscles were tight, ready to spring into action at the smallest sign of a threat.

“You know she was taken?” I let the question slip from my tongue, and the nymph smiled. Her lips were caked in the same moss that covered her frail body. She looked as if she might snap under her own weight.

“Of course we know.” She blinked up at me. “All the creatures of the forest know of our queen.”

I had traveled the Onyx Forest many times, but I had never seen the creatures of the forest that she spoke of. The first time I saw the nymph with Adara was the first time I had seen any creature that didn’t lurk in the darkness.

“And you know she’s being kept in the fae palace?”

I didn’t know how much the nymph actually knew, but I would try to get any information out of her that I could.

“I know our queen was taken by the one who devours.” The nymph moved carefully and moved farther back behind the tree until her body was shielded behind the dark bark. If I hadn’t been looking carefully enough, I wouldn’t have been able to notice her at all. “I know that his magic will destroy us all if he is not defeated by the true heir.”

Her words still made a chill run down my spine.

“And how do I defeat it?”

The nymph blinked up at me, and I could feel her retreating farther back into the woods. “Save the queen.” Those were the only words she muttered as she stared at me with eyes of the deepest black I had ever seen, and my frustration grew. “You must save our queen before she becomes his.”

I needed more, but the nymph was slipping farther back into the dark forest.

My heart raced as I watched her slowly disappear, and I dropped to my knees before I could think my actions through.

“Please help us.”

The nymph stopped, her hand clinging to the tree as she watched me carefully, but she didn’t respond.

“The death magic that he possesses, I don’t know if I can beat it. I don’t know that I can save her.” That honesty from my lips ate at me. I didn’t want to need her help, but I would take it regardless.

I would do whatever it took to get Adara back.

“You have the queen’s power inside you, do you not?” The nymph searched my face as she cocked her head to the side.

“I do.”

“Return it to her.” She looked at me, unblinking. “She is strong enough to defeat him.”

“He has a magical barrier around the palace.”

“Her power is stronger.” She slipped farther back into the dark forest again.

“Come with us.” My fingers dug into the damp ground as I pleaded with the nymph.

“You do not need me.” She shook her head gently. “When you reach the barrier, let her power go. Let every ounce of it pour from you, and her magic will find her. The queen will save herself.”





CHAPTER 11





ADARA





I t had been two days since the ball.

Two days sitting in Gavril’s room with only Eletta visiting me to make sure my needs were met.

She brought me three meals a day although I barely ate. My stomach still churned from memories of the ball, that feeling that had taken over every part of me, and I could hardly stomach the food she brought to the room.

Gavril had been gone most of the days, and I only knew he returned because I could feel him slip into the bed behind me. I hated that moment. I loathed how easily he thought that he belonged there behind me.

But more than anything, I hated how slowly my strength began to come back to me.

I had just gotten out of the bath when Eletta entered the room with a white gown in her hands. It shimmered like a thousand stars in the sky. The fabric was sheer and only the small crystals were visible, and I stared at the garment for a long moment as she hung it from the closet door and turned back to look at me.

“What is that?” My voice trembled, and I hated the pity in her eyes as she met my gaze.

“The gown is for your wedding to the crowned prince.” Eletta’s hands bunched at her sides, and she looked down at her feet and away from me. “The whole castle is preparing.”