Page 8 of Black Crown

“Yeah,” I replied, plopping myself on the ground below her. “When were you going to fill me in on that?”

“Now.”

Helpful. “Is that how you remained hidden for so long?”

Lani closed her eyes, tipping her head back to bask in the stream of sunlight pouring into the garden—one of the perks of its location at the top of the mountain.

“It is, but I got careless. I was out foraging to replenish my supplies, and a group of Druman came over a hill and saw the disturbance in the water. One of them caught the scent of my trail. The gold veil has the obvious perk of keeping you hidden but only where it’s covering. It’s probably a smaller version of the golden barrier you described that previously protected the Phaetyn in Zivost. But as you’ll see, erecting and maintaining a veil is taxing, and using it can leave you weakened until you get used to the effort.”

Honestly, hearing that Lani knew how to put the golden barrier up was a huge relief. When I killed Queen Alani, the barrier came down, leaving the Phaetyn exposed to the emperor from above. While the royal family could move the rock barrier circling the perimeter of the forest up and down, no one else knew how to put the veil up—Alani had only been able to sustain it, and barely at that. Ancestral powers were the strongest, and while I had ancestral power, my attempts to resurrect the wall hadn’t been successful.

“You have to put the barrier up when we get to the forest,” I blurted. I was not risking a repeat of last time.

“Yes, so I’ll need my strength. Which means you’ll need to cover us on the journey there. I think it’s a good idea if we leave Gemond under veil so any Druman around can’t see us.”

Definitely. Even after our victory, I still hated the crossbreeds. And if the veil cloaked us from everyone but Phaetyn, that was the only defense I’d need.

I thought of Lani out on her own for the last twenty years. “How did you find out you had that kind of power?”

Lani smiled. “I drank a whole jug of honey syrup one time—”

Huh. I wondered if that was a Phaetyn thing.

“I heard my aunt arriving back before I’d hidden the evidence. Next thing I know, there’s a golden net around me. My aunt strolled right by where I stood in the middle of the cellar, covered in honey. Learning to control the net beyond myself took time, but for what you want to do . . . You should be good to go within a minute or two. Protecting ourselves from danger is one of the strongest instincts we possess.”

“It is?” I wrinkled my nose, wondering why the net hadn’t worked whenIstole honey syrup. Perhaps actually knowing I was Phaetyn would’ve helped. Still, Lani had hinted at more. “What else?”

“Hate being another”—she tilted her head, a smile dancing on her pink lips—“Love being another again. So first,” she said, drawing my attention back to her and her lesson, “you need to really want to be invisible. Just like all your Phaetyn abilities, your desire will make the power much stronger.”

I nodded, thinking back to how I’d wanted Tyrrik to be healed after being impaled. Desire . . . Yep, yep. Got it. Definitely wanted to be invisible from the Druman.

“Then you need to envision the power to make it happen. Think of it like a shield or covering.”

I thought of the gold net over Zivost, the thin filaments like what I’d seen covering the forest when we’d first arrived. I closed my eyes and willed the golden magic to cover me and make me invisible. I took several deep breaths, firmly fixing the image in my mind.

I opened my eyes.

Nothing. No golden magic, no net-like mesh covering my body.

“Why didn’t it work?” I asked, furrowing my brow. I brushed my hand in the empty air, trying to feel where my magic should be happening but wasn’t.

Lani shook her head. “I don’t know. Try it again.”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “Okay, but can you cover your ears?”

The Phaetyn arched a brow and obliged.

Closing my eyes again, I took a deep breath, muttering, “Golden net of hair and twine, hide me, let your tendrils shine.” I cracked an eye open and sagged. Nothing. I glared at Lani, whose shoulders were shaking. “You weren’t meant to be listening!”

“Hard not to when you’re shouting by the end.”

Several attempts later, I growled, throwing my hands up in the air. “Show me again.”

Lani did, covering herself in the golden net, and I glowered at her. I refused to believe I wasn’t capable. I had crazy strong Phaetyn mojo. I’d healed Tyrrik, surprising Kamoi and his stupid parents with my power. I could do this. I thought of him lying in his black blood and me closing the wound and then burning out the golden droplets of Phaetyn poison.

“I got this,” I said, straightening with my epiphany. My Phaetyn magic wasn’t gold for starters. I envisioned a moss-green net, shimmering and iridescent, and pulled my Phaetyn power over me. I thought of the energy masking me from all eyes, making any who glanced my way blind to my presence.

“Whoa,” Lani exclaimed. “How did you do that?”

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