Page 114 of Crown of Light and Ashes
A wrongness pervades everything.
The chamber door crashes open, Emir's usual composure shattered. "She is gone."
Two words, and my world tilts on its axis.
"What do you mean, 'gone'?" My voice becomes deadly quiet, tendrils of darkness lashing across the room, cracking stone and shattering glass.
"She is not in her chambers. Not in the gardens. Not in the library." Emir stands his ground despite the whirlwind of shadow magic erupting around me. "The shadow steed from the eastern stables is missing."
I reach through our bond, stretching my awareness toward Nesilhan with desperate intensity. There—a faint pulse of life, distant and fading, like a star disappearing over the horizon. Moving away from me with every heartbeat.
"Fetch the fairy," I snarl, darkness writhing in mounting panic. "NOW!"
Emir's face drains of color. "Banu has vanished as well."
I slam my fist into the obsidian table, splitting it cleanly down the middle. The crack echoes through the chamber like thunder, my control fracturing with it. Shadow magic erupts from me in waves of pure darkness, shredding tapestries, shattering windows, freezing the very air until frost forms on the stone walls.
"FIND THEM BOTH!" I roar, my voice distorting with rage and fear. "Every guard, every shadow hound, every tracker in the court. I want them found before nightfall, or I will feed your entrails to the void beasts!"
Minutes blur into hours as reports are flooding in—sightings at the eastern gate, tracks leading toward the boundary villages, rumors of a hooded woman traveling alone. None of it matters. I can feel her slipping away through our bond, the connection stretching thinner with every passing moment.
I storm through the palace, shadow magic demolishing anything in my path. Courtiers flee, servants cower, guards press themselves against walls—all beneath my notice as panic claws at my throat.
"My lord." Emir moves warily, exhaustion evident in the shadows beneath his eyes. "We have located the fairy."
I whirl toward him. "Where?"
"The northern tower." He hesitates. "She requested... safety guarantees."
A savage laugh tears from my throat, the sound cracking the marble floor beneath my feet. "Safety? She will be fortunate if I leave enough of her to fill a thimble."
"She claims to have information about Lady Nesilhan."
His words stop me mid-stride. The darkness around me freezes in jagged patterns, the temperature dropping precipitously until Emir's breath fogs before his face.
"Bring her to my chambers," I command, my voice barely human. "Intact. For now."
The fairy hovers near the ceiling when I enter, her wings beating frantically, silver-blonde hair cycling through anxious colors. She has positioned herself strategically near an open window—a quick escape route if needed.
"Where is she?" I demand, without preamble, shadow magic sealing every exit with walls of impenetrable darkness.
Banu's tiny face hardens with surprising courage. "Safe from you."
Tendrils of darkness lash out, barely missing her as she darts higher. The stone wall behind her cracks from the impact, chunks of masonry raining down. "Do not test my patience, fairy. You have three seconds to tell me where my wife is before I tear this palace apart stone by stone—starting with you."
"Your wife?" she scoffs, her usual playfulness replaced by cold fury. "Or your next victim?"
"What are you talking about?" The shadow magic around me pulses dangerously, forming jagged spikes that reach toward her like hungry predators.
"Isil," she says, the name falling like a stone into still water. "Your pregnant lover who met an untimely end."
The name stills my power momentarily, shock replacing anger. "You know nothing about her."
"I know enough." Banu drifts lower, emboldened by my reaction. "I know she was carrying your child. I know she died. And I know Nesilhan will not share her fate."
Understanding dawns with sickening clarity. "You think I killed Isil?"
"Did you not?" Her lavender eyes narrow accusingly. "We found her journal, Kaan. We read what happened."
