Page 188 of Where Darkness Falls

I shuffle my feet, looking to the woods.

Papa told me the last part has to remain a secret at all costs. As much as I trust Emyr, Papa doesn’t trustTiernan.

Noticing my hesitancy, Emyr reaches out a hand to softly caress my cheek. Leaning into his touch, he gazes at me with his piercing golden eyes with concern. “Don’t you trust me, Rosey?” he asks.

I chew on my lip. My gut tells me to listen to Papa, while my heart reminds me of the mutual trust Emyr and I have built over years. “Promise you won’t tell a soul?” I whisper.

“Maeva, it’s me. You have my word,” Emyr answers.

Warning bells blare in my heads, reminding me that I should proceed with caution. But this is Emyr we’re talking about, and he’s not his father.

Emyr gently moves the hair that has fallen into my eyes away from my face. “Rosey?” Emyr asks.

I take a deep breath, praying my best friend is who I believe him to be.

“I’ve awoken a dragon.”

Eleven Years Earlier…

Two brawny hands shake me.“Maevriana, wake up,” Papa whispers.

I groan as I roll over, burrowing myself deeper within the covers. “Maeva, sweetheart, wake up,” Papa says, shaking me harder this time.

I rub my eyes, still half asleep. I hear Papa stomping around my room, opening and closing doors without bothering to be quiet. “It’s the middle of the night, Papa,” I grumble. “Can’t training wait until the sun is up?”

“We aren’t training today,” he murmurs.

I open my eyes, my strong father is frantic as he paces, peeking out of windows, as if he’s expecting someone. My usually stable father is clumsily bumping into articles around the room, knocking things over. He looks haunted, perhaps even afraid. As my father tugs on the strands of his hair for the hundredth time, I notice that he isn’t in his usual attire, but rather something peddlers might wear to the market.

I abruptly sit up, throwing the covers off my body. “Where are we going?” I ask.

We have to hide,” he replies. “Saoirse is waiting for us as we speak.”

He tosses a dress and cloak to me that is similar to what the peasant girls in the towns wear. We keep spares just in case we ever have to go into hiding, so whatever this is must be serious.

I stand too quickly, causing the room around me to spin. Grimacing, I ask, “Are we under siege, Papa?”

“No, but we will be soon,” he murmurs. “Those who wish to harm you and steal your gift are coming. We have to go into the countryside and live as the people do until Tiernan comes to his senses.”

Tiernan…

King Tiernan wishes to harm me?

Why?

I’m about to ask as much when Mama and Cahir enter the room, wearing similar clothes to Papa.

Mama throws open the bathing chamber door with her shadows, waving me over. “Hurry and change, Maevriana,” she scolds. “We mustn’t tarry.”

My hands tremble as I quickly enter the bathing chamber. As I’m closing the door, Papa hangs his head, tears streaming down his face as he prays, “May Siorai help us all.”

The enormous Basilisklooms over us as it floats in the dark water within a place Papa calls the Abyss. We had to sneak here without the Galrosan king detecting us, which meant bribing the spider that guards the door to the Abyss with a newly slain orc carcass. As terrifying as the spider was, nothing prepared me for the enormous reptile.

Papa holds out a diadem the color of crimson out to the Basilisk. Papa told me that the artifact was a gift from Siorai himself, and with it one can raisebeings of unimaginable power. So in order to keep it safe, he wards it so that only my blood can access it, securing that Tiernan can’t use it unless I give it willingly. “You swear that the diadem is safe with you, Serpent?” Papa asks skeptically.

“Yessssss, Ssssirre,” the Basilisk hisses, hooking the diadem on one of its long protruding fangs. “Even the Galrosssssan king won’t be able to ssssteal it from me without firssssst acquiring her blood.”

“And you’re certain that the only way to hide her nature from others is to create this pendant that you speak of?” Mama asks.

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