Page 50 of Crown of Light and Ashes
Heat flashes through my body as I recall the way his fingers had brushed mine at breakfast, the casual contact sending a jolt of awareness through me that has nothing to do with hatred. My treacherous body's response infuriated me almost as much as his knowing smirk afterward.
The ancient tome before me blurs as I lose focus, caught in unwanted memories of how his shadows have caressed my skin in the corridor, how my body has responded so eagerly to being watched...
"Your thoughts are wandering into dangerous territory," Banu announces, her voice seeming to come from thin air before she shimmers into partial visibility near a bookshelf. Her glamour wavers, revealing glimpses of silver hair catching the candlelight like polished metal as she approaches with translucent steps. "I can practically see the conflict written across your face."
I jerk back to reality, heat flooding my cheeks. "I was thinking no such thing."
"Please," she scoffs, her hair shifting from silver to a suggestive pink as she becomes more solid, perching on the edge of my table. "Your face says otherwise. That's the same look you had right before Shadow Boy bent you over in that corridor."
"Banu!" I hiss, glancing around despite knowing we're alone.
"What? I'm just appreciating your evident...dedication...to your marriage." She leans over to examine the text, her fairy light illuminating the ancient script with a soft glow. "Ancient prophecies? That's your idea of light reading? Most people choose romance novels when they need inspiration for bedroom activities."
"I'm researching the blood bond," I snap, turning another page with more force than necessary. "The archivist mentioned historical connections between shadow and light magic."
"And has your 'research' involved remembering how your husband's shadows felt wrapped around your—"
"There's something here," I interrupt, my finger hovering over a passage written in ancient script. The text shimmers beneath my gaze, the ink pulsing faintly as if alive. My breath catches as the words seem to rearrange themselves, forming patterns I somehow understand despite their antiquity.
"When shadow and light join in blood," I translate slowly, my voice barely above a whisper, "the ancient divide shall heal. Two courts become one throne, when enemies become lovers, when hatred turns to something deeper."
My stomach tightens as I continue reading, each word sending a chill down my spine. "The child of both worlds shall lead the new age, bearing the mark of twilight upon their brow."
"A baby!" Banu claps her hands together in delight, bouncing slightly on her toes. The motion sends prismatic light dancing across the bookshelves from her semi-visible wings. "Oh, this is getting juicier by the minute. I wonder if little twilight babies inherit daddy's brooding eyebrows or mommy's murderous glare?"
"Stop it," I snap, but my hand instinctively moves to my flat stomach, the gesture betraying thoughts I refuse to acknowledge.
I force myself to continue translating, each word hanging heavy in the air between us. "The union foretold shall come in the darkest hour, when old hatreds threaten to consume both courts. Only through the joining of royal blood can the coming storm be weathered. Shadow Lord and Light Lady, bound by ancient magic, shall stand between the worlds when the veil grows thin."
"Well, that's about as subtle as a thunderstorm at midnight," Banu remarks, leaning her hip against the table. "Shadow Lord and Light Lady, bound by blood, bringing forth a child who carries both worlds within them... this prophecy speaks of a future where your union shapes the fate of both courts."
Rage bubbles up inside me, hot and sudden. "This isn't funny! This is..." I struggle to find words for the panic clawing at my chest. "This is manipulation. Someone planted this text for me to find."
"Or," Banu counters, moving to stand before me, her fairy eyes shifting from playful amber to a more serious violet, "it's a genuine prophecy about you and your husband uniting the divided realmsthrough a fated bond that even ancient hatred cannot overcome. The prophecy speaks of a child born of both worlds who will heal the rift between shadow and light."
"I'm not having his child," I snarl, slamming the book closed with enough force to send dust billowing into the air. "I'm not uniting anything. I'm going to kill him and return to the Light Court as soon as I find a way around this blood bond."
Even as I say the words, something twists painfully inside me, doubt, perhaps, or something deeper I refuse to name.
"Are you sure that's still what you want?" Banu asks, her voice losing its usual sarcastic edge. Her eyes study my face with uncomfortable intensity. "I watched you during those six days, Nesi. The way you fought for his life. The way your hands shook each time his fever spiked. The way you whispered his name in your sleep."
"I did not," I protest, but the words sound hollow even to my ears.
"The prophecy speaks of enemies becoming lovers. Of hatred turning to something deeper." Banu gestures to the book beneath my clenched fingers. "What if your carefully plotted revenge isn't the path fate has chosen?"
"I don't believe in fate," I say through gritted teeth, rising from my chair with enough force to send it toppling backward. "I believe in choice. In justice for my mother's murder."
"And yet," Banu persists, following as I stride toward the door, her light footsteps barely audible on the stone floor, "here you are, following the exact path this prophecy laid out centuries ago. Bound by blood to the Shadow Lord, fighting feelings you don't want to acknowledge, discovering convenient ancient texts that explain it all."
Her words hit too close to the truth, stoking the fire of my anger. "This prophecy means nothing. It's a coincidence, nothing more."
"Or it could mean war," Banu says, her voice uncharacteristicallygrim. "Unification rarely comes peacefully, Nesi. One throne where two stood before? That's conquest language."
Ice replaces the fire in my veins. "You think this is about conquest? That Kaan and I—"
"Are meant to conquer both courts and rule as one?" Banu shrugs, the motion causing her wings to flap. "It isn't the first time a prophecy leads to bloodshed rather than harmony. 'The coming storm' doesn't sound like peaceful negotiations over tea and crumpets."
I push through the library doors, desperate to escape the suffocating weight of ancient words and unwanted possibilities. The corridor beyond offers no relief, each shadow making me think of him, of his touch, of the way my body yearns for what my mind rejects.
