Page 21 of Unbound By Shadows
“What wouldn’t be suitable?” Selene asked.
“Anything that could foul our lands or corrupt our people. Queen Aello tried for years to get approval on a motorized carriage. She stalked many a human operating one to understand the mechanisms, but the queens ultimately voted it down. Filthy creations. And too isolating.”
“I see.”
“We must seem very old-fashioned to you to travel by foot and horse. But the sisters pay careful attention to what comes from human inventions—the good and the bad."
Hollen appeared before them and held out the backpack to Arkaya. "For your inspection." She gave an exaggerated salute to the older Malkina.
Arkaya glanced through it and murmured her approval. Then shehanded it to Selene. Although the backpack was very full, it felt like it weighed nothing.
“One last thing,” Arkaya said, handing her a small blue jar. “This comes from Queen Cebna herself. Apply it to your face, and it will disguise your skin to look like the scales of a Nereid."
"Why do I need it?"
“You won’t as you travel through Malkina territory, but put it on when you leave our forests,” Arkaya said. "Unless you wish to draw unnecessary attention to yourself.”
Selene unscrewed the lid, and a sea breeze aroma drifted up. It looked like a jar of moisturizer, but when she applied some to her hand, sure enough, it made her skin glimmer like a fish.
After she closed the lid, Hollen surprised her with a fierce hug. Gasping for air, Selene tried to lift her arms to return the gesture, but Hollen’s embrace only grew tighter.
When Hollen finally drew back, she asked, “Why can’t you stay here in Aurelia? Don’t you like us?”
The wave of guilt Selene felt at Hollen’s words made her wince. She had heard similar words from her family, and they never failed to cut deeply.
Don’t be so greedy,her mother once said when Selene was ten and had shown her a stack of summer camp brochures. Someone had to look after the twins while she met with clients, her mother had argued.
You need to think of the family now,her father chided when Selene needed a permission slip signed to go on a high school trip to Paris. The trip wasn't happening for two months, but her mom had just been discharged from the hospital for alcohol poisoning.
We miss you so much,her brother Evan had said when she chose to spend her evenings studying in the campus library instead of doing her coursework at home.
Selene patted Hollen back and said, “I'm sorry, but I have to go.”
Hollen gave a distressed cry. “But I’ll never see you again and—”
“Stop it, Hollen,” Arkaya interrupted. “Goodbyes are meant to be quick.”
“All right,” Hollen said and released Selene.
“Goodbye, Hollen. Thank you for everything,” Selene said. She pulled her backpack onto her shoulders, and snapped the hip belt low on her waist. The sooner she started this expedition, the sooner she would be home.
Chapter 9
Selene’s hiking boots made squeaking sounds as they thumped along the stone floor. They echoed off the corridor leading to the castle’s front gate, while Arkaya walked silently beside her. Up ahead, Selene could see a slice of blue sky through the open gate, the sun high above the bridge leading to the forest. Yesterday, the queen had told her they would leave at dawn, but between Hollen’s packing skills and Arkaya’s magic tricks, it was nearly midday.
As they got closer, Selene saw the silhouette of a man standing near the gate. He had his back to the castle, with a large pack strapped to his shoulders and a brown satchel slung across his chest. Strands of black hair blew around his shoulders, while sunlight made the ridged tips of his horns gleam. He stood perfectly still, staring out at the bridge that led to the vast forest before him. A lonely presence dwarfed by a towering expanse of the unknown. Waiting. For her.
Samael.
Reality hit, hard and fast as a sledgehammer to her chest. Selene’s lips parted, and her mouth went dry. Although brief, hertime in the castle had made her forget how big Aurelia was. How threatening the landscape looked and the way the woods pulsed with eerie gloom. And now she was alone with a single lifeline. There was just one man charged to be her guide, protector, and companion. And technically, he wasn’t a man at all.
Am I really doing this?
A constrictive feeling seized her chest, causing her to cough. But the dryness of her mouth made one cough turn into another, and then another. Arkaya laid a hand on her arm, looking concerned, but Selene waved her away.
The sound of a deep voice caused Selene to jump.
“You’re late.”
