Page 1 of Shadow Kissed

1

REYA

Tomorrow is my twentieth birthday, and I’ve never kissed a man. I don’t want to go to the Shadow Valley as a virgin who’s never been touched. Time is running out and I feel like I haven’t lived properly yet. You see, I am a Shadow Kissed. I was born bearing the eyes of the chosen. From the moment I took my first breath, my destiny has never been my own. My entire life has been here in Terleigh. Sheltered because I’m too important to my town’s folk.

I dream of travelling Asen and exploring its beauty and experiencing different cultures and people. I want to wake up each morning and decide where I will travel next. To feel the sun on my back and the wind in my hair. I want to ride horseback along the beaches of the southern coast. To climb the steep mountains of the cold north, and swim naked in the healing waters of the lake in Halomere. None of these things are possible though, because in a matter of months I’ll travel to the Shadow Realm as a shadow bride.

My townsfolk call me their saviour. They talk of how my sacrifice will ensure the continued safety and prosperity of my town and district. Not everyone has treated me with reverence, though. The girls my age treated me with disdain. One girl in particular has made my life a living hell for as long as we’ve known each other. My peers have shunned me because of her. I was never invited to parties or sleepovers; I’ve never known what it feels like to have a close girlfriend. Arkynn is my only friend. A boy a year my senior who ignored what everyone said about me and befriended me regardless. Who needs lots of friends, anyway? I don’t depend on others. I am a strong and independent woman. Which is why, tomorrow on the moonrise of my birthday, I am going to ask Arkynn to make me a woman. I want to know what it feels like to be with a man before I’m taken far away from here and forced to wed a stranger.

I serve my last customer of the night and drop the generous tip into the staff tip jar. Heading into the back room, I pull off my tabard and wash my hands. The inn has been busy tonight. It’s Friday, which means pay day for most of the mineworkers in my village. My realm, Asen, is abundant with crystal mountains. My hometown—Terleigh—is rich in amethyst. Many of the men who live here work in the mines, while others run businesses to supply our town.

“Heading off?” Weylynn asks me, propping himself up on the doorframe to his office. Weylynn is my boss and Arkynn’s older brother. He’s a big guy at six-foot-five with a mane of shoulder- length, dirty blonde hair. He is as formidable as he appears and has a no-nonsense approach to drunks looking to cause trouble in his inn.

I nod my head as I pull on my woollen cape and untie my long, nearly white, blonde hair. A warm bath and my bed are calling me after being on my feet all day.

Weylynn steps out of his office and heads over to the kitchens, and returns holding out a carton of food. “Can you go via the wall on your way home and take my brother his supper?”

“Sure. What are you feeding him tonight?” I ask, lifting the lid on the tub of food and inhaling. “Your mama’s wrenbry pie. I hope she saved some for me.”

Weylynn grins at me and winks. “There’s some in the larder for your lunch break tomorrow. Tell that brother of mine there’s a tankard of krim here with his name on when he finishes his watch.”

Saluting him, I grab my bag and head out the back exit of the inn. Weylynn is like a brother to me. When no one else would give me a job because they believed that to put me to work would anger the gods, he offered me a job at the inn. Is it my dream job? Of course not. But I don’t have the luxury of choosing a life with purpose. My only purpose is to offer myself up to the Shadow Borne at the reaping ceremony in exchange for the ongoing protection and supply of sustenance to my town and district.

I hug my arms over my chest when I step outside into the cool night air. Winters in Terleigh are bitter, and I’d forgotten to grab my hat when I’d left my house this morning. My black boots crunch noisily on the gravel path as I wind my way through the narrow streets of Terleigh. The sound of giggling catches my attention, and I smile when I spot a couple kissing in the doorway of a shop. My heart squeezes in my chest. Is it wrong that I long for a normal life? To be free to choose what I do; to know what it feels like to fall in love?

I climb the stone steps to the wall that surrounds our town and protects us from the evil that comes out at night to hunt. They don’t allow anyone outside the village walls after dark. It’s too dangerous. Travel between townships only happens during the day. At night, the highways between each town are silent.I walk along the black stone wall until I spot Arkynn. He’s standing guard, his eyes scanning the night for signs of trouble.

“I hope that’s my supper you have in your hands there?” he asks, without taking his eyes from the forest beyond the wall.

“Wrenbry pie. Your favourite,” I say as I come to a stop beside him, holding his favourite food.

Arkynn’s pale blue eyes turn to me, and he smiles at me in a way that makes my heart dance excitedly. I think I’ve been in love with my one and only friend since I was eleven. He doesn’t reciprocate my feelings. I know that. Arkynn sees me as a sister. Watching him flirt and court girls in Terleigh repeatedly breaks my heart.

“Busy night?” he asks.

“It’s payday.” I chuckle. “You know how our miners like to spend some of their hard-earned dreck on ale.”

Arkynn nods his head, then turns his attention back to the vast forest that lays beyond our town. He furrows his brow. “The numbers are increasing.”

I tilt my head and follow his line of sight.

“There, you see their eyes, just over there.” He points towards the tree line to the west. I squint as I try to see them. My eyes widen when I see the purple eyes of the night mutt’s glistening against the moonlight.

“Why do you think there are more of them?” I shudder as I hold the gaze of one mutt, goosebumps breaking out along my arms.

Arkynn shrugs his wide shoulders, keeping his gaze on the deadly creatures as they prowl the outskirts of our town. “It’s odd. It’s like they’re waiting for something. But there are more of them on our patch than I’ve ever seen before.”

I sigh, crossing my arms. “Let’s hope the shadow dust walls keep them out.”

“They’ve never failed us before.”

“Yeah, well,” I jest. “No Lockwood has ever been entrusted with their towns future protection before.”

Arkynn’s smile drops at the mention of my curse. He turns to face me and reaches for my hand. He looks around us, checking no one is in earshot. “Listen, I’ve heard whispers of a rebel group over in Fallowgate. So yesterday when I travelled there with my father, I asked around and attended one of their meet ups. One man who spoke there, he believes that with enough of us, we could take back our realm.”

I shake my head. What is he thinking? “Arkynn, you mustn’t get yourself involved with such dangerous talk. It’s not safe.”

He tightens his grips on my hand. “Don’t you want to live in a world where they don’t control us, Reya?”

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