Page 3 of Crown of Briars
“I can smell the magic on it. The Blue Amethyst blood within me calls to enchantments. This one is harmless.”
Despite her words, a chill skittered down my body, and I rubbed my arms. “I don’t want to risk it. Anything connected to those dark shadows is asking for trouble. Come on, we should leave.”
I turned to the cave entrance, but Azure didn’t move.
Pausing, I glanced over my shoulder. “Az?”
“Do you know how rare it is for me to see a stone like this?”she asked.“I would like to keep this one.”
I swallowed hard. My skin pebbled from the cool cave air, and my heart was racing. “I’m not touching that stone.”
Azure snorted, twisting her large blue head around to look at me through half-lidded eyes.“Coward.”
I lifted my chin, offended. “I amnota coward. I’m just… being cautious.”
“Aren’t you meant to go to the Shadow Court soon? What are you so afraid of? Before long, you’ll be surrounded by those toxic shadows anyway.”
I closed my eyes, and bile crept up my throat. “Don’t remind me.”
“Sybelle.”
At the sound of my name, my eyes opened and fixed on hers. They gleamed with understanding and sympathy, erasing all signs of her earlier teasing.
“You have a plan, remember?”she said.“You will not be alone in that horrible place. I promise you.”
I nodded. “I know. I’m not afraid. Well, I’m afraid of the shadows I cannot control. But I’m not afraid of the Wraith King.”
Azure tilted her head, studying me.“What if this stone provides a way to control the shadows?”
I chewed on the inside of my lip, considering this. I had encountered dangerous gemstones before: an explosive form of tanzanite and a rare moon garnet, both of which had emitted a shocking burst of electricity that nearly burned my hair off. With my abilities, I knew danger was a risk anytime I unearthed a new jewel.
“What if it brings the shadows closer?” I whispered, tucking a lock of chestnut hair behind my ear. The Wraith King’s shadows were already on our doorstep. Father had increased the patrol and the watchmen, ordering them to alert him the moment the shadows crossed our borders. They could alreadybe seen from our watchtowers, and the eerie mist was ever so slowly creeping closer every day.
Every generation, a princess from the royal family was given to the Wraith King to marry. After the arrangement, the shadows always receded some, as if our gift of a human bride appeased him and he felt merciful enough to withdraw his shadows.
No one knew why the Wraith King hadn’t come for his bride yet. From what I’d heard, the shadows had never gotten this close before.
“Place it in the amethyst bag,”Azure suggested.“I can dig it out the rest of the way, and if you can capture it inside the bag without touching it, you’ll be safe.”
My heart lurched. The bag—or rather, pouch—was made from Azure’s steely blue scales, which warded it from any magical influence. Once a gem was inside the bag, I couldn’t use it to fuel my powers.
I set down my pack and dug through it until I found the tiny blue drawstring bag. Azure got to work digging the stone out. I slid the bag open, and when she nudged the loose gem with her talon, it rolled into the bag. I sealed it shut.
“Nice work,” I told her.
“You will let me study that later, right?”
Half my mouth quirked into a smile as I slid the bag into my pack and shouldered it. “We’ll see.”
Terrona Castle was nestled in a large cavity between two jagged mountains. As a child, I had grown up yearning for the dreamy princess castles I’d read about in fairy tales, with lush fields, sparkling rivers, and ornate metal towers that gleamed in the sunlight.
Our palace was forged from the strongest steel in the realm.Its square structure looked more like a gloomy fortress than a castle. It was built for practicality, not beauty. The impenetrable metal not only blended in with the rocky surroundings, but it also protected us from invaders.
Unfortunately, nothing could protect against the Wraith King’s shadows. But Father often reminded me that we were lucky we only had one enemy to face: the Shadow Court. Other courts were often at odds with two or three kingdoms at a time. And, since our court was populated mostly by humans, it made us an easy target.
I wasn’t so sure, though. Perhaps it was our impressive fortress that frightened other kingdoms away, but I had a sneaking suspicion most of them were wary of our close proximity to the Shadow Court. If I lived in a different court, I certainly wouldn’t be eager to seize a kingdom soon to be overtaken by deadly shadows. It would seem like a lost cause.
Azure and I navigated our way out of the tunnels, using her claw marks on the cavern walls as a guide. Over the years, we had explored so many places that it was easy to get lost along the way.
