Page 26 of Prince of Blaze and Embers
Cornelius just glared back at me, seemingly ignoring all of my ramblings. “All will be revealed. I have come to teach you about what is inside of you. We go to the forest, child.”
The woods? The Faewood? But the prince told me not to leave this place. If he catches me, I don’t want to guess what he might do to me. I don’t ever want those shackles around my ankles, and Odiun knows I’ve tried my fair share of times to run, but I got caught every single time.
“I don’t know if I can…”
“You must,” Cornelius barked. “You won’t survive without learning how to use your magic. And we need the essence of the forest. I can’t teach you within these walls.
“How would we even get out of here? Rosa is surely out there…”
“Just touch my shell. I’ll show you.”
I didn’t know what to do. My fingers fumbled behind my back, and my toe tapped on the ground. I’d tried escaping from my imprisonment before—many times actually. And each time I was returned to my masters, the lashes deepened, and the shackles tightened. I’d even been sold off for nights to grown men. But this was different.
“Come, Ash Mist. There’s so much to learn, and we have no time.”
I watched my foot patter and scratched my forearm.
If I got caught, I’d surely get the shackles back, or worse. But if the prince was going to send me to the queen, to be tortured or whatever she’d do to try to get to this magic, then I guess I didn’t have any option. Learn to use whatever was inside of me to save what life I had left, or…
Stepping forward, I placed the tips of my fingers on his scratchy shell, which reached halfway up my thigh.
“Ready?”
I nodded.
“Just don’t lose contact with me; don’t want you becoming part of the wall now…”
A gulp fell down my throat. Become the wall? Are we… walking through it?
“Walk beside me,” Cornelius lifted his heavy legs, moving us toward the wall, and as his head slipped into the solid stone, I swallowed hard, closing my eyes, not fully knowing if I was awake or if this was all a crazy dream.
My fingers gripped the dome of his shell as we walked together. After a few strides, the cool winds tickled my cheeks and lashes. My hair flipped over my shoulder, rustling at the bottom of my neck. My eyes opened, and I found Cornelius beside me, gazing out at the encircling trees.
The insects chirped loudly from the dense forest, and the moonlight lit the patchy grass area around the house built into the ancient tree. Before us, though, the forest loomed ominously. I had the strange feeling there was something in there, watching us as we peered into the shadows. Under the thick canopy, little moonlight needled through, leaving a vast expanse of deep shadow.
“Come,” Cornelius said, moving with surprising speed, and my fingers left the top of his shell.
I followed, and then paused, shaking my head and scratching my brow.
“Hurry.” His long neck caused his green head to turn all the way back to look at me. “We don’t have much time, and there’s much to learn.”
Doubt lingered within my chest. It tugged at me, using logic to pull me back toward the house. Self-preservation held me from entering the forest, and a battle broke out in my mind. Escape or stay?
Bella was still in there, sleeping on the nicest, softest bed I could’ve hoped for her, but we were still prisoners. If I went into the forest, and if it wasn’t a trap, and if this tortoise wasn’t some evil spirit coming to collect my magic for its own, then this might actually help me.
Stay or go with him?
But there was one aspect to all this that pushed me forward, making my legs move under me and compelling me to walk beside the tortoise out of the clearing and into the trees. I had magic. Nearly no one had magic in all of Allovan, but I did. And if I could use that, then my life might actually end up being worth a damn.
I was about to be taken to the capital and the Blaze Queen. So, I had no idea how much time I had left. Every day counted. Every hour mattered. And I had to take a chance. The prince firmly warned me not to try to escape, but this wasn’t really escape, was it? I was coming back. I just needed to find out what this creature had planned for me. I had to do it for my only shot to live any kind of real life.
So we entered the forest, and shadow accepted us. Leaving everything safe behind and hoping what lay ahead wouldn’t kill me as quickly as the queen might.
CHAPTER 12
Cool moonlight seeped through the thick foliage overhead, and the sounds of chirping insects and eerie winds filled the Faewood. I’d never been in a forest like that before. Everything in the south around Bramblebash wasn’t as dense, as old, or as frightening.
“Here is good.” Cornelius cracked his neck and looked up at me. He slowly turned to face me, but I sidestepped a couple of times until we faced each other. We were in a small break in the forest, beside an enormous, fallen moss-covered tree. A gentle stream rolled past a brook behind.
