Page 2 of Curse of Darkness
“My queen.” Finn offers me the torch, and in his eyes I see an echo of the pain that clutches my heart in its falcon claws.
I don’t need it.
I could set the pyre alight with a thought, and yet, this is symbolic.
Baylor bows.
Eris nods grimly to me, one hand resting on the hilt of her sword as she kneels. They’re all here—the circle of friends that stood at Thiago’s side during life and who stand here now, ready to guard my daughter and me.
And then the entire city goes to its knees.
All except Thalia, who awaits me at the bonfire, gowned in black.
She holds her hands out for Amaya, giving her a tremulous smile. “He would have been so very proud of you, my darling,” she whispers, drawing my daughter into her arms.
I’m not the only one grieving. As his cousin, she knew him best, after all.
I steel myself, staring out over the crowd. “We come here today to honor our prince, who gave his life so his daughter could live. We come here today to send him swift flight on the winds. We come here today to sing him into the… the….”
I can’t say it.
“I would wait for you in the Darkness”come his words again, for he knew his soul was not bound for the Bright Lands.
“To sing him into the Bright Lands,” Thalia says, taking my hand and squeezing it. “We come here today to share our love of him and praise the honor of his deeds in life.”
The priestess of Maia starts chanting, and the crowd joins in.
“Praise Maia. Bless this soul and sing him into the Bright Lands….”
All I have to do is set the pyre alight.
I lower the torch, and a flicker of flame licks at the dry tinder. It spreads hungrily, but it’s not enough.
I want it toburn.
Flames lick at the oak. It leaps from log to log and an inferno suddenly roars. Heat scorches the tears from my face as I stare blankly into the flames.
“Child?” It’s a whisper stirring through my scattered thoughts, a tug from the leyline beneath the castle. “Can you hear me?”
An ancient mind turns toward mine, trying to connect with me through my link to the Hallow in the castle.
It’s not the first time the Mother of Night has tried to contact me this week.
“Leave me alone,” I tell her, ripping my thoughts away from the leyline. “I want nothing more to do with you.”
* * *
“Once upon a timethere was a wicked prince,” I whisper, turning the pages of the book for Amaya. It’s the only time I’ve been able to escape the indescribable crush of emotion. “And he was very—”
A knock raps at the door.
My fingers pause on the page. I’ve barely set foot outside these chambers in days. Nobody would dare disturb us for any simple reason. Not in our grief. I want to ignore it. I’m not ready to face the outside world. I just want to stay here with Amaya and pretend the world will forget me.
“My queen?” Finn’s voice calls through the door. He hesitates. “A rider arrived twenty minutes ago at the gates insisting he needs to see you.”
I close the book with a snap. “Is it someone from the war camps?”
“No. I—”
