Page 138 of Hidden Kingdoms

A place I knew part of me belonged.

How long would I have carried on with my life, this secret part of me hidden by the people who were meant to love me the most? I suppose it didn’t matter now. It had been forced into the light, and now I was left facing the tangled threads of my being with no idea how to unravel them.

What I wouldn’t give to have Polly here, she would be able to pick this apart and put it all into order. She’d probably had flashcards and spreadsheet and gods knows what else she would pull from her never-ending cupboard of dead crafts.

She would know I was missing by now. I didn’t know how the fuck Nanna was explaining my absence. Especially in any way Polly would accept.

But let’s face it, she was well versed in lying by now, so what’s one more?

With thoughts of Nanna and the mess she had made of my life, my head span. Rage, betrayal, disbelief. It all joined together, mixing into a cocktail of emotions that had me wanting to simultaneously tear this room apart and bury myself under the covers until I turned into nothing but a dehydrated husk.

I breathed deep instead, fisting my hands in my hair until each inhale came easier than the last.

Unfolding from the nest I had made within the blankets I slipped from the covers before my anger got of a hold on me, bare feet hitting the fur rug that covered the floor beside the bed. I needed a distraction from the thoughts circling through me, the same questions over and over. It was all too much.

Grabbing one of the blankets, I draped it around myself in a cloak of security and I carried the book that had been waiting when I had arrived with me, fingers running delicately over the stamped title, cradling it in my hands.

Leaving the room, I held the blanket closer, ignoring how it trailed on the floor. The table where my dinner had been left last night was long and sleek, made of black marble that shone under the light of the fire, red flames reflecting over the surface. There were eight chairs around it, and I huffed a laugh at the realisation that they were never going to be full.

Maybe I could have filled one by convincing Alouette to have lunch with me, except I had no idea where she was now she wasn’t needed to stand guard outside. The room was too big. I fought the tears that threatened to spill as I found I couldn’t escape the feeling I had traded one prison for another.

My steps were cautious as I continued my explorations, eyes running over every stunningly extravagant detail. From the thick, grey, jacquard paper lining the walls, to the carved mantel above the fire studded with onyx that glittered like inky pools of oil. It was no surprise the fire which had warmed the room last night was still blazing, flames stoked higher and lighting the room.

Thick black curtains covered the entire wall to my left, the material pooling generously onto the dark floor. Not a single beam of light penetrated through. On the wall opposite were two more black doors. Handles again made from onyx, though no rubies studded their surface. Both were closed.

I went to the curtains that doused the room in darkness, my bare feet going from soft carpet to smooth marble and back again before I made it there. Unsurprisingly, heat warmed my feet with every step, as it always did here.

Still holding the book to my chest, I let the blanket fall in a heap on the floor, to pull the curtains back. Their weight makingit difficult with only one hand as I yanked them to the sides. Light flooded in through gauzy curtains which covered windows that filled the wall, floor to ceiling. Walking through them I blinked rapidly as my eyes adjusted to the brightness.

A set of double doors led to a generous balcony, and I reached for the handle. Predictably, it rattled under my hand as I turned it.Locked.

It didn’t matter; the windows were more than enough. I stood in awe, watching the sun shine down on the landscape before me, feeling my magik settling into my body. I knew without testing it that it was back to full strength, that hollow part of me that had grated uncomfortably inside now overflowing.

Beyond the castle grounds, the huge stretch of the forest I had glimpsed from my old room continued, blanketing further than I could judge. The leafy canopy of trees blowing ever so slightly, turning its presence into a roiling ocean of green.

Past the impossibly vast expanse, a volcano reached its way towards the sky. White smoke curled from its depths, twisting with the white clouds above as the occasional spray of molten rock leapt into the sky. Despite its distance, I could see the rivers of magma that twisted down its rocky side, snaking their way towards the ground like veins of blood. It must have been ridiculously big considering how far the forest stretched, and just how much of the horizon was taken up with its dark slopes. Jagged mountains rose behind it, framing its grandeur with their snow-covered peaks. I wondered what was beyond. Was that the way back home? Back to my life before palaces and power and tattooed men with skillful tongues.

A single thought rang clear through my mind.

This is where I belong.

This should have been my home all along. I should know the name of those mountains. I should know about the kingdomsand power levels. I should have been sent to a school where I was taught to harness the power that set me apart from others. Not spend the last twenty-eight years as a watered-down version of who I was born to be.

Was I a lost child who had made a wrong turn and found herself cut off from everything she knew? Were there family somewhere beyond those hills who still mourned for their little girl? Or had I been taken, hidden? Swapped with another child who was now left with the uncertainty of who she was, too?

None of it made sense. Not in any way. But I was more than ready to find the answers I needed, and my gut told me that would mean a trip back home.

Turning away, I looked around the room instead. Now clearly lit, beams of light arched through the space, speckles of dust dancing within them. Long grey sofas with embroidered pillows faced a huge TV mounted in the wall; I didn’t bother trying to turn it on.

While the room was lavishly furnished, it still felt empty—lonely.

It felt unused and uninhabited. There was not a single personal item within the space, nothing to say that anyone had ever called it their own, and part of me wanted the chance to do just that.

Moving to the two closed doors I had walked past, I pushed the first open, finding an opulent bathroom consisting entirely of black marble. The floor-to-ceiling windows extended here, but instead of the heavy grey curtains, light-weight black voiles hung down to brush against the floor. I could see the handles of double doors peeking through the fabric leading to another balcony, or perhaps it was the same one. It didn’t matter, as I doubted I would be opening it anytime soon.

A huge, black, claw-footed bath was situated in the middle of the room, and I felt a flicker of excitement at the thought ofsoaking in it. While I was glad I’d been given the ability to have showers, I missed melting into the warmth of a bath.

In the corner of the room was a shower that could easily fit the same amount of people as my bed, multiple jets pointed in every direction. The double sink and toilet were of the same design as the bath, and a tall shelving unit contained rows of grey towels along with coloured bottles, which I tentatively hoped were filled with bubble bath.

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