Page 51 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen
“What do these runes say?” she asked tentatively. They were walking too fast for her to pause and squint at the small writing. She wondered how many fae had painstakingly and meticulously poured their magic into each step of these stairs; it must have taken hours.
Vidar stopped one step above her and she almost bumped into his wings, which were tucked against his back. He glanced sharply over his shoulder at her and she shrunk beneath the red glare.
“You are incapable of reading runes?” His head tilted to the side as he turned half his body toward her. “I recall you breaking my soldiers’ runes during battle. Was that not you?”
She remembered the battle: hundreds of human soldiers had become incapacitated by rune barriers that didn’t allow them to use their magic, and she had shattered those runes.
“I can read runes,” she said with a frown, not liking the way he was staring at her. “But these runes don’t make sense.” She shuffled her foot over and pointed to a disjointed line of tiny runes. “Infrastructure. Tenfold. Bind. These don’t even make sense in a sentence.”
He continued to stare at her like she was stupid.
Kolfinna’s impatience grew. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I am realizing that you … do not know much about runes,” he said after a moment. “These are runes that you will likely never have to use. They are engineering runes.”
“Engineering runes?”
“They are written this way because our engineers write them in codes to create different dimensions, or make them follow different rules, or to make them do what they want them to. The runes you and I use in battle are far, far simpler. These are complex. Even I do not understand how to make them.”
“Oh.” She thought of the shower room she had in her tower; did it operate in a similar way? “Is this similar to the Black Castle?”
“Yes. Rune engineers string together several codes of runes in order to create different dimensions within each of those rooms.” He turned his back to her and continued up the stairs. “You have been to the Black Castle, then?”
“Yes,” she answered. That was where it had all begun. If she had never set foot into the Eventyrslot ruins, or the Black Castle as the fae called it, then she would have never met and freed Revna, who would have never tried to steal theDød Sværd,which would have never woken up Vidar and his armies. All ofit seemed like it was orchestrated, instead of a coincidence. Or maybe it was her fate all along to be the catalyst for this war.
“Then you are acquainted with how it works.”
“Yes.”
“Many fae warriors go to the Black Castle when they are young adults to learn how to use their magic.” Vidar’s voice echoed off the stone walls and as they passed a small window, Kolfinna caught sight of the pale sky with fae slashing through it with their vividly colored wings.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Did … did Aesileif?”
He didn’t speak for a moment, and it wasn’t until they reached a platform with a golden, rune-marked door that he spun to face her. His red eyes appeared distant, cut off from reality.
“All royal children must go to the Black Castle for training. Just as all nobles, and suitable commoners do as well. So yes, your mother also trained there in her youth.” He spread his hand out to the door behind him. “We have made this tower to simulate the trials in the Black Castle, but it will be more difficult since you will have to brave it alone. I have also curated the trials to fit your needs.”
“My needs?” Her nose crinkled. It sounded strange to hear him say that.
“The areas in your training that are lacking,” he said dryly. “Each of these trials will test a different set of your skills. The Black Castle focuses on fae abilities, but these trials will require you to use both your fae abilities and your elf ones. My hope is that once you complete these trials, your magic will have increased to the point that you can control and master theDød Sværd,instead of having it control you.”
She sucked in her lower lip to keep from scowling or frowning, or showing her apprehension. The trials in the Eventyrslot ruins had been daunting and terrifying, but at least she had Blár and the others with her. Here, she would be alone, and she wasn’t sure she liked the idea of that. But a part of her was thrilled at the prospect of using her magic; because of the runes throughout her tower and the fortress, she wasn’t able to use her magic.
“Will I … die in any of them?” she asked slowly, remembering how their group of royal guards and soldiers had been brutally murdered, their numbers cut down by more than half in the first trial.
He stared at her levelly. “Do you really think I would send you to your death, Kolfinna?”
“No.” She paused, and then added, “Because you need me.”
“More than that. You are my daughter.” His lips pursed, and the firelight from the sconces cast a flickering orange glow over the scarred half of his face. The air around him shifted. “You are my flesh and blood. I promised the day you were born that I would kill anything that ever stood in your way. Anyone who has ever harmed you will face my wrath. Do you think that I would be the one to deliver that blow to you?”
Kolfinna flinched. Hearing him say it like that sounded … like too much. Without warning, the back of her eyes stung and she averted her gaze. She didn’t want to hear him talk about her like that. It sounded too foreign, the concept that this evil man had loved her and sworn to protect her.
“Who …” His hands clenched and unclenched, his red eyes flashing. “Who do you think we are doing all this for?”
