Page 77 of Thief of Souls
I don’t know where she came from.
I don’t know if she had sisters or brothers, or parents. Or if she liked cheese or blackberries or riding or painting. I don’t know anything about her.
All I know is that she had eyes as clear as an alpine lake, just like mine.
And that she gave me three names.
She loved me. She loved me enough to name me true, according to the old ways. I have to believe that. Ihaveto. But it’s a knot that twines its way around my heart like strangler vines, because no one and nothing has ever loved me, and if I cling to that… then it makes the stone weight in my chest feel a little like a heart.
“Because the Queen of the Court of Moon and Stars was a Shadow Walker, just like you,” he finally says. “It ran in her blood, and some say it’s the reason her court was shattered. She had three daughters, each as fair and lovely as the others, and each one powerful and dangerous. Myrinda, Amithiele, and Zyra Starsworn.”
My breath catches as he conjures a ball of light into his hands. Movement swirls within it as it spins, letting shadows dapple over the walls. It’s like a snow globe. A child’s snow globe. But it’s not glass. No. It’s a dream. A fragment in time, captured within a tiny pocket realm and fused into the shape of a globe.
Three fae women appear.
One is blonde and lovely, clad in a gown that shimmers like the moon off the waters of a lake. The second has her ashen hair bound into a braid, and her earrings are little daggers. There’s no mercy in her face, and the sword at her hip has a moonstone set into the pommel. But it’s the last one that captures my attention.
The one with hair like spun starlight, clad strictly in black leather with a hunting bow at her side.
The one with the emblem of a slashing hawk carved into her belt.
“The Starsworn,” he whispers, and the other two women vanish like smoke as he forces the third princess to lengthen until I might as well be looking in a mirror.
All I can see is her face, lovely and dangerous.
Something hot slides down my cheek as I reach for her. The second my fingertips touch her cheek, she’s gone, ghosting into mist. The globe dissipates.
But for a second, I felt her.
And I saw her eyes widen as if somewhere—long ago—she felt a phantom caress on her face.
“Why did you show me that?” Rage and sadness threaten to overwhelm me.
“Because Raesh is but one half of you, Zemira. It’s the only half you know. But you are fae too. You were born under an ancient moon, and you have the stars in your blood. You were made of the shadows, and you have the power of an ancient fae queen thrumming through you.”
He reaches toward me. “Do you know why King Ryddhaen broke the Court of Moon and Stars? It’s because the queens that ruled there were powerful beyond belief. Thousands of years ago, a long-ago fae queen found a fallen star high on the mountains, where she eventually made her court. The stories say she swallowed it, and nine months later she gave birth to a daughter who glowed like the stars and had the power to shift the tides themselves. You are a child of that bloodline, made of starshine and shadows. You are unmatched by any among the Blessed courts.”
“I am also a child of darkness and despair,” I breathe.
His face is merciless. “Yes. You are.”
My heart sinks like a stone.
“You are darkness and you are light, and if you could ever bring yourself to accept the entirety of your nature, then even your father would fear you. You could kiss the stars themselves, Zemira, if only you would let yourself.”
“And you?” I whisper.
“Me?”
“Would you fear me too?”
A dangerous glint comes into his eyes. “I fear nothing, my lady of starlight. I never have, and I never will.” Flames suddenly flicker in his eyes. “Because I am Fire and Fury, and if I were to ever unleash myself from these mortal trappings, then the very world would burn.” He captures my chin. “I do not fear you, Zemira. Even though you could be my undoing.”
No matter how much I try, I can’t stop the violence trembling within me. “If you continue to offer me such terms then Iwillbe your undoing.” My throat goes dry. “He’ll kill you, Keir. My father will kill you. No.” I turn for the wash chambers, desperately needing a moment alone. “This is all we can ever be.”
15
Iknow what I have to do now.
