Page 128 of A War of Three Kings

From the look on Caitlin’s face, she is considering creeping after them to hear more. I grab her arm and lead her in the opposite direction.

Chapter 34

Aldrin

Iwait with Keira on the lowest battlements to meet the others who will join us on this mission into the palace library. She looks almost unrecognizable with her glamoured appearance; her skin, eyes and hair are all shades darker, but the shape of her features is the same. It still makes unease roll through me to bring her straight into the lair of an enemy hellbent on kidnapping her.

The festival of Mabon is in full swing, despite the early hours of the morning. The wickermen have burned down to shapeless bonfires. Most of the soldiers are still in their cups, playing instruments and dancing, or sitting in groups.

Silvan joins us, then Cyprien, both folding their arms over the wall and staring out to the same view.

“Lucky jerks, still lazing about,” Drake rumbles from behind me. He double-takes when he sees Keira. “What have you done to your face?” Klara stares at her with open concern, while Zinnia grunts at me then takes her place along the wall.

I lean in close to Keira. “I told you that you were unrecognizable.”

She just rolls her eyes at us. “Not to the guards.”

“Is this everyone, then?” Edmund says as he joins us with Prince Niall and the council members.

“Yes,” I say. “Better to use a smaller group and slip under the guards’ notice.”

Edmund leads us down from the fortress to the ruined side of Fort Blackrock, where the battle took place only months ago. The earth is still rippled from the explosions, torn in places by magic, and peppered with boulders. He takes us into a discreet cave that looks like a slash within the mountain, creating fire orbs as we enter the inky darkness.

Freezing water drips from the ceiling into my hair and down my back, making me shiver. It is like sparse rain. Without thinking, I wield a moving air shield to cover the entire group and water slides off its edges. Prince Niall stares at it with wide eyes, then casts an alarmed look at me and my people. I forget the humans of the South aren’t used to casual magic.

The portal stands alone within a cavern: a twisted arch of smooth moonstone, dull and drained of magic. I stride up to it and place my hand on the frigid stone.

Prince Niall joins me, examining the plaque beside the portal. “This will lead us straight into the palace. Do you have enough fae here to activate it? We can summon priestesses if you need them as well.”

I give him a cocky smile as I pour raw power into the portal. It lights up like a beacon, the stone and the very air around it vibrating from the sheer amount of power. Thin mists roll out from the gateway.

The prince’s mouth hangs open and his face pales. He turns to the other fae, clearly realizing how much power we hold between us.

“We should move quickly,” Keira orders. She has been given the command of this expedition. “The portal on the other side will be lit up just as brightly.”

I wrap my hand around the prince’s bony arm. “I will escort you personally, Your Highness. If this is a trap—well, I won’t be very happy.” I don’t hide the threat in my tone. He visibly swallows a lump in his throat, but doesn’t resist as I tug him toward the mists.

There are twin expressions of intense concentration on Silvan and Zinnia’s faces, then the air shimmers around us.“The invisibility shield is in place,” Silvan says.

Keira marches up beside me at the front of the column. “We cross as one.”

“Aldrin,” Edmund calls out to me. “If they take my daughter, I am blaming you personally.”

“If anything happens to her, I’m not leaving the palace until it is rubble beneath my feet and she is in my arms again,” I call over my shoulder.

“Good. I expect nothing less.”

Keira leads us through the portal and that eerie place between worlds. It is a landscape of nothingness and blinding white light. I practically drag the wide-eyed prince with me, a blade at the ready in my other hand, just in case it’s needed.

We step out to the other side and no attack comes. I scan the vast space of the library, but there is no movement. We are located at a four-way crossroads of aisles that stretch as far as my eye can see, their ends engulfed in deep shadows. An upper level overlooks our position with a continuous balcony, cast in deep shadows. There are so few fire orbs here.

Guards could be hiding anywhere.

I turn and pull my magic out of the portal, closing it back down.

“We need to move fast,” Prince Niall whispers to Keira.“Academics could still be awake and in the library.”

Keira leads the way with Silvan at her side, guiding the invisibility ward around us. She turns down a wide walkway that takes us past aisle after aisle of books.

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