Page 104 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

“Princess needs to learn she doesn’t get everything she wants in life,” Bastian snarled and took off after her. Ryker shucked off his pants and shifted, and the enormous white wolf followed.

“You’ll never find her,” Vail called. “These are her woods.”

Cade snorted. “We’ll always find her. I’ll get the others to give her a little space. Just for the trip back. She’ll need to be with us tonight as part of the celebration.”

The muscles along Vail’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t argue. I didn’t like leaving Rynn here. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any other options.

“Come on,” I said to Vail. “We better get going.”

Draven was probably losing his mind in that cabin, and I wanted to return to him so we could figure out our next move. We had the crown, which meant Velika wasn’t getting it. For the first time in a while, I was starting to feel a little optimistic.

We parted ways with Cade and headed south. I allowed myself to get lost in my thoughts, and I put my trust in Vail to keep us undetected by Velesian patrols and safe from any monsters that roamed during the daylight hours.

We would need help to get the other half of the crown away from Velika. After my conversations with Aniela and Ary, I thought they made sense as our first potential allies to approach, but I wanted to wait until we’d destroyed the crown in our possession. I might have trusted them not to side with the wraiths or anyone working with the wraiths, but that trust didn’t extend towards Fae artifacts. They might argue that we should keep the crown or use it in the fight. Every part of my soul told me it needed to be destroyed, and until that was done, I wouldn’t be able to trust anyone enough to tell them about it.

Ary and Aniela would probably be pissed, but they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

We were halfway back to the cabin when several cloaked forms melted out of the trees like they were wraiths themselves. They weren’t, but they were something almost as bad. Sovereign House rangers. At least twenty of them, which was far more than Vail and I could fight on our own.

“Greetings, Samara Harker,” a tall, dark-haired rangersaid, then he nodded at Vail. “Marshal, both of your presences are requested by Queen Velika.”

My heart hammered inside my chest. At least Rynn had the crown. Unless they had captured her too? No. She had three of the deadliest Velesians in existence with her, and they would have fought hard enough so she could have escaped. Rynn wasn’t a coward by any means, but she knew what was at stake. She wouldn’t let the crown fall into enemy hands, and no Moroi would stand a chance at catching her in the forest.

“Any particular reason?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice even. “This all seems a bit much.” I gestured towards the rangers surrounding us. All of them had their swords drawn, angled towards the ground, but the threat was clear. I was a little surprised Vail hadn’t sensed them closing in on us, but these were likely the best of Velika’s rangers.

“It is not my place to question the queen, nor is it yours.” His gaze hardened. “Your aunt is currently a guest of the Sovereign House. If you care about her health, you will come with us and not impede the journey in any way. Understood?”

“Yes,” I ground out. We should have rescued Carmilla first instead of leaving her as a hostage. I’d been so concerned about getting the crown before Velika that I’d left the last of my family at her mercy.

“Marshal,” the ranger addressed Vail, “we will leave you and the Heir with your weapons for now, as we will continue traveling through the night to make it back as quickly as possible. Do not make me regret doing so.”

Vail jerked his head in a nod. I could feel the fury rolling off him but didn’t think he was capable of speaking at the moment. He wouldn’t do anything to risk Carmilla, and neither would I.

I’d trust Vail to keep me safe on the way to the Sovereign House, and I’d be plotting how to keep both of us alive once we got there.

Two days later,we arrived at the Sovereign House. Usually, the trip would have taken twice as long, but there had been fresh horses waiting for us at each outpost, and we’d had extra protection at night . . . wraiths.

I hadn’t seen them clearly, but as we’d raced along the roads, I’d seen shadows keeping pace with us in the woods, keeping the worst of the monsters away. The only attack we’d suffered had been from some howlers during the day. They’d picked off the ranger at the end of the line and carried his screaming body off into the woods before anyone could intervene.

The other rangers hadn’t seemed all that upset. They’d just carried on like nothing had happened. I was pretty sure Velika had used the magic of the crown she possessed to bind them. During the journey, they’d rarely spoken to each other or displayed any sort of emotion. The man in charge had been the only one who had displayed the slightest amount of individuality.

They’d also kept Vail and me apart as much as possible, so we’d barely been able to speak the entire time.

I didn’t know what Draven had done when I’d failed to return to the cabin. He’d surely looked for me, but where? Had he tracked down Rynn only to learn that I’d parted ways with her already? Had he returned to House Harker to let Kieran and the others know that something had gone very wrong?

Dread coiled in my gut. Or had he returned to the Sovereign House despite the pain and misery that awaited him there, because he knew that was where I’d likely been taken? I’d promised him I would keep him safe, and I’d failed.

I shoved back the grief and despair that had been building the last couple of days. They would do me no good, and I still had friends and family to protect. The situation wasn’t ideal,but the other half of the crown was out of Velika’s reach for now. If she suspected I knew where it was, she wouldn’t kill me, which meant I had something to barter with. I’d never give up its location, but she didn’t know that, so I could string her along while Vail and I figured something out.

Curious stares fell on us as the rangers marched us through the halls of the Sovereign House. This Fae fortress was similar to the other Houses but considerably larger. The main tower alone was the size of all of House Harker. Whispers echoed off the walls as the courtiers and advisors took in our state. Vail and I were both covered with a fine layer of dirt and probably looked a little worse for wear given how hard we’d been traveling the last week.

I hoped the queen choked on my stench.

Two guards stood in front of large double doors that I recognized immediately. They were gilded in silver and had an enormous tree engraved on them. We’d been brought to the throne room.

“Queen Velika wishes to speak to Samara first,” one of the guards said at our approach. “The Marshal will wait out here.”

“Not a chance,” Vail growled. The rangers escorting us tensed, and the guards at the door reached for the swords at their hips.

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