Page 302 of A Flame of the Phoenix

Every kingdom guards a mirror passage.

He scrambled over ever place he’d ever visited in Olmstone. If that were true, there had to be another in which they could attempt to get Nik and Tauria back from the void between all space and time. Though even if they did find another passage, the daunting concept of how vast such a place was to be lost in threatened his seed of hope.

“The Livre des Verres,” Tarly said when the spark came to his mind. Nerida looked at him with such desolation and question. “There was a room restricted to the public. I was allowed in once—being the prince had its perks. I recall a mirror there. Not like this place. This mirror had been crafted with an intricate gold border to appear very ordinary. I was young when I saw it, but I remember feeling like something was staringbackat me through my own eyes. That I smiled even when I didn’t think I was.”

“It’s the best lead we have,” Nerida said. Her eyes scrambled with her thoughts. “But the battles…the war…getting to Olmstone will take at least a week.”

“We need Nik and Tauria. We don’t have a choice.”

“The ruin…”

Nyte cut in. “Leave that concern to me and Faythe.”

Tarly gave a vacant nod. Their situation had just turned all the more dire at the worst moment, but all they could do was push forward. All they could do was keep fighting.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

Faythe

Faythe jolted awake, believing from the adrenaline coursing through her that she’d fallen asleep in the midst of a battle.

Strong hands took hold of her shoulders, and Faythe’s frantic search for danger was quelled by the soothing waves of comfort in Reylan’s eyes. She recalled what had happened. Marvellas was here.

Faythe’s legs swung over a chaise she lay on. They’d gathered in this reception room during the ball before Zaiana announced a battle threat on the town’s outskirts.

“What happened?” she demanded, standing but swaying on her feet.

“Marvellas shattered your mental barrier. You needed to recover.”

“How long has it been?”

“Only a few hours.”

Reylan filled her in on the rest, and Faythe grew more frustrated and terrified for her friends who were in action while she’d been incapacitated.

When Faythe’s eyes fell on Jakon watching her in the corner, her sharpness eased. “Hey, Jak,” she said, anticipating that one wrong move would make him shut her out.

He stood, coming a little closer. “I’ve never seen you out like that. I worried…” He trailed off, but she didn’t need him to continue.

Faythe risked closing the distance, and when he didn’t reject her embrace, she hugged him tighter. Jakon’s face burrowed into her neck, and she almost whimpered.

“Don’t scare me like that again. You have to live, Faythe. Promise me.”

“I will,” she said. “We both will.”

Jakon’s arms tightened a fraction before he let her go too soon for her heart. But she clung to that returned thread of their friendship with everything she had.

They were snapped from their moment when people rushed into the room. Nerida, Tarly, and…

“Nyte?” Faythe had to blink consciously, believing for a second he was a manifestation of her concussion.

“You haven’t filled her in yet?” Nyte asked Reylan.

“She just woke up.”

“Nik and Tauria are gone,” Nerida cut in loudly.

Faythe’s heart skipped a beat.

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