Page 1 of Reign of Light
PROLOGUE
Time is constant, as reliable as the surety of death. Time had never concerned the man before, not when he knew there was nothing he could do to change it. It would pass whether he wanted it to or not. He had learned early on that time did not matter as long as he surrounded himself with those he loved.
Time was of no importance.
Until he saw her lying there, and knew deep in his soul that her time was running out.
Suddenly, time was the most important and precious thing in the world.
Walking away from her was the hardest thing he’d ever done. This woman was the light that brightened his life, but if he did nothing, if he stayed, her light would be snuffed out for eternity.
He had to try.
The man traipsed through the dark streets, the fog and gloom particularly thick tonight, mimicking the despair and helplessness hefelt as he stood over her almost lifeless body. The roads were empty at the late hour, and he thanked the gods for that small blessing amid what felt like the biggest curse.
Not a soul would be around to see what he was doing, to follow him, and possibly destroy his chances of saving her.
Dawnlin.
He’d heard the stories, passed along in the whispers of childhood, shirked as a folly and fantasy in the beginnings of adulthood. But he never forgot it. A land said to hold a cure, one that would bring her back to him, exactly where she belongs.
He would not lose his love, no matter what trials this life had thrown at them, trying to keep them apart. He would fight it, and he would cure her. He wouldn’t let his hope die.
If only he could find it.
The man’s boots pounded on the pavement, a metronome signaling his race against time, when something caught his eye, just as he passed the dark entrance to an abandoned alley. His body jerked to a halt, and as if it was calling out to him, he turned to find something he knew deep in his soul was the answer. White stone glowing against the gloomy, dim light, water flowing freely and musically, this beacon called to him, and he knew this was it. The way to call the Guardian.
The man stepped into the alley, a welcome calm coming over him as he gazed upon the sight that would change his life, that gave him hope.
The fountain.
CHAPTER ONE
The thought of having a future beyond the cold stone walls of my castle in Blackwood was always just that. A thought. A dream. Something I spent my entire life imagining, especially when I lost myself in the pages of a book. My life would never look like those of the heroines I admired. My future would never be mine. Love would never be within my reach. The duty to my kingdom that had been settled on my shoulders from the moment I took my first breath would always take priority.
I’d lived for years with the longing and desire for a life and future I wanted, but knew I could never have. My acceptance of that reality changed the moment my boots sank into the soft soil of Dawnlin.
In a way, it felt like a dream itself. The warmth, the smells, the sounds, the suns. I was transported to a world opposite in every way from the one I’d been trapped in, all because I had hope.
Hope for a future that I could choose, one different from what fate promised, led me to this place. It opened my eyes to a new life thatcould be molded by my own actions, a future of my own creation, not only here but also when I returned.
Now, that hope is gone.
Dane stole it.
He robbed not only me, but every single person on this island of the hope that brought them here, hope that they could alter the trajectory of their life and save someone they couldn’t live without. The evidence of his betrayal is right before me, hanging from the white-knuckled grip of someone else who, not long ago, also hurt me, just in a vastly different way.
Shallow breaths stutter in my chest and pain lances through my fingers as I fist Weston’s clothes. I’m trying with everything I have to stay upright, despite the ache in the depths of my chest telling me to fall to my knees and break under the weight of the new reality that we are trapped here.
Forever.
Without the passage of time on the island, all of us here will live forever in an endless monotony. We’ll have no purpose, no future, no hope that we can return, with only each other to rely on and build a semblance of normalcy.
The sound of metal slicing into the soft soil at my feet cuts through the dull roar in my ears and snaps me out of my spiraling thoughts, though I’m unable to look away from the empty pouch Mara still clutches. The very same lump of fabric that only days ago still held a golden glow, filled with the dust I had almost taken. If I had, I wouldn’t be staring at her now, trying to make sense of how this could have happened. If I had, it neverwouldhave happened.
“Lennox.”
Warmth settles on my cheek, and the brush of the rough calluses from years of Weston’s training jars me from my trance. I wish it were just that. A trance, a hallucination, a nightmare. Anything that would mean all our fears aren’t currently coming to pass.
