Page 20 of Curse of Thorns
Never, not in my entire life, has anyone ever looked at me that way.
And I used her because I couldn’t bear to give it up. It almost got her killed.
Oh, actually no, itdidget her killed. Rev just happened to bring her back to life, despite not even knowing who she was. He knew I cared, and he acted.
“What are you thinking about?” Rev asks.
I hold my breath for a moment. “Raven,” I breathe.
His shoulders tense. “Oh,” he says. “How is she?” His voice is low and slow. Like he’s being careful with his words. Like I’m an animal he may spook.
“I’m not sure. Safe, I think. That’s what matters.”
“Is... that what you were thinking about?” he asks, but I’m quiet for probably too long.
I’m not sure what he thinks about Raven. Our relationship was... complicated. “No. I was just thinking that I miss her. That I trust her.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“I do. But in a different sort of way.”
He nods slowly. “This part is going to get rocky,” he says, and at first, I think he’s talking about us or this conversation, but then I notice that we are turning onto a trail leading up into a rocky summit.
“Can Killian make it up that?”
“He was bread to be able to climb mountains. I chose him for a reason.”
I decide not to comment on that because anything I’d say would make me sound very ignorant. So, Rev has multiple steeds to choose from, does he? I hadn’t even thought about stags, or horses, or whatever other creatures fae use to travel on, to begin with. My family didn’t have mounts. We didn’t even have a bathroom inside our home.
Rev and I lived very different lives.
I am still technically fae royalty. I’m a countess—or I was before I was banished and disinherited. But in a court as poor as mine, being a count or countess is meaningless because we didn’t have the magical power to fuel an estate as elaborate as the one we owned. Instead, we left it to fall apart and lived in a small cottage in a little village near the Whisperwood.
Ironically, I could fuel that estate easily now. I could fuel the palace and much of the kingdom with the power the Night Bringer granted me. And earning that power got me banished from this world entirely.
Killian clomps up the mountain as Rev and I rock and sway awkwardly. I grip his waist tighter, and his hand falls to my knee, steadying me.
Now, my heart pounds for another reason.
We climb a few hundred feet before the path evens out and our vision clears from indistinguishable rock walls to a huge valley and a castle set in between two mountains. I wouldn’t have ever found this place on my own.
The castle isn’t overly large, but it does appear quite luxurious from what I can see. It is made of smooth grey stone with white marble braided into the pattern. A lovely mixture of dark and light. A symbol of the fae and dwarf alliance this court is known for, perhaps? The spires reach up high, each with a winged gargoyle guarding it.
I find myself wondering if they’re simple decoration or real creatures that come to life when the moon rises. Either is possible. Gargoyles are very much real, but their likeness is also imitated often enough.
We reach a wide cavern with one narrow line of stone crossing it and a short, stalky guard in full armor blocking it. That can’t possibly be a bridge, could it? We slow to a casual walk as we approach the guard.
“State your name and purpose!” his voice booms before we reach him.
Rev pulls his stag to a stop still a dozen feet away. “Prince Reveln of the Luminescent Court. I am here to see Tyadin Ironhammer. I believe he’s expecting me.”
The guard’s eyes narrow, and he lifts his chin. “Password.”
“Orb of Terrors.”
I blink as the guard steps aside. “Why the Orb of Terrors? And I hadn’t realized he was expecting us.”
Rev doesn’t respond immediately and urges his mount ahead.
