Page 6 of Unbound By Shadows
Sam blinked, but then wondered why he should be surprised at her question. Arkaya’s sensitivity to threats was nearly as strong as her skill in magic. She was unfalteringly loyal to Queen Thema, and not just because they shared a bed. Sam had always admired how Arkaya understood the value of rules and order, with little tolerance for foolishness.
“Yes,” he said. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s somewhere on the grounds.”
“I’ll find it,” she said and tucked a strand of gray hair back into the long braid stretching down her back. The ring of keys hanging from her hip jangled as she began walking toward the gates.
“I’ll come with you,” Sam said.
“No. If it’s a threat, the Queen would want you here. Stand watch at the gates.” Arkaya bent to grasp the middle of her wooden walking stick, and twirled it around three times. Instantly, the ends extended, transforming it into a fighting staff that was only a few inches shorter than she was. The top end had been sharpened into a menacing point.
“Take this,” Arkaya said, pressing a polished piece of white crystal into his hand. “If I need help burning a body, I’ll summon you through the crystal.”
Then she swept ahead of him to open the castle gates.
Chapter 3
Something pointy was digging into Selene’s arm. She felt around and realized it was the strap of her backpack, which also explained the bulky lump pressed between her shoulder blades. Awareness of other parts of her body came into focus. Her legs were stretched out in front of her, her arms cushioned by grass. Her head felt like she had been beaned with an anvil in a Roadrunner cartoon.
“Cass? What happened?” she called out. Her voice sounded croaky and thin. “Did I faint?” She listened carefully for her sister's response but only heard the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze.
Selene pulled herself up to a sitting position and opened her eyes. When her head stopped swimming, she felt even more disoriented. She was sitting in the middle of a forest, but it looked very different from the woods of Rugby. The trees surrounding her looked ancient—more than one hundred feet tall with wide, knobby trunks. Smaller trees were intermixed among the colossal ones, with sprawling roots that twined and tangled. Dinner plate-sized white flowers bloomed in mossy patches along the ground, and there was a watery tang in the air, as if a lake or river were close by.
Where am I?
Her water bottle peeked out of her backpack along with a protein bar. She seized upon both, hoping low blood sugar and dehydration were to blame for her disorientation. She must have wandered off the hiking trail. Surely she couldn’t have gone far. Maybe she’d hit her head in the Witch’s Cave and was dreaming?
While she chewed nervously, she dug through her hiking pack for her phone. When she found it, the screen was black. It had been fully charged a few hours ago, but now it was completely dead—no signal, no battery. Before the reality of being lost in the woods hit her, the sound of footsteps made her turn. A figure stepped out from behind a cluster of bushes.
“Intruder! State your business!” barked a petite woman with unusual features. She had long gray hair swept back over her ears into a thick braid. Bronze skin was creased with age, but she looked about as frail as a machine gun. Her emerald eyes were sharp, but they seemed too large for her face and out of balance with her high cheekbones and pointed chin. Her embroidered green dress skimmed the ground while a ring of keys hung from her hip. In her hands was a wooden staff. The sharpened end was pointed straight at Selene.
“E-excuse me?” Selene stammered.
“How is it that you’re out in daylight?” the woman demanded.
“I was hiking with my sister, and I think I hit my head.”
The woman frowned and took a step forward, giving Selene a glimpse of the gray-furred boots she wore. “Stand up so that I may see whom I fight.”
Selene held up her hands fearfully. “No, no! I don’t want to fight. I’m lost!”
“Lost?”
“Yes, I’m from Nashville. Do you have a phone I could borrow?”
“A what?” the woman asked.
“A phone. Mine’s dead,” Selene said, holding up the dead device. The woman spoke with an accent she couldn’t place; perhaps shedidn’t fully understand English. “I’ll be glad to get off your land, but I just need to find my sister.”
“Myland!” The woman laughed without mirth, her eyes flashing. “Why, you trespass in the territory of the glorious Queen Thema—Lady of the Flame. The Devouring One. Mother Protector and She of the Change. I am Arkaya, the Lady’s house steward and head enchantress, and I abide no intruders. Now stand!”
Selene swallowed as she tried to make sense of Arkaya’s words.Maybe she was having an exceedingly realistic dream? She squeezed her eyes shut and tensed her muscles, willing herself to wake up. She concentrated on Cass’s face and the last image she remembered of Rugby.
Wake up, wake up!
Something sharp jabbed her thigh. Selene opened her eyes to see Arkaya poking her with the blunt end of her staff. If this was a dream, it was incredibly realistic.
“I really don’t want to fight you,” Selene said. “I told you I’m just lost.”
The woman helicoptered her staff over Selene’s head to strike a different pose. “If you think to glamour me or try to trick me with lies, you will fail. What weapons do you hide in your pack?”
