Page 58 of Stone Heart
Chapter 19
Rina opened her eyes and didn’t recognize where she was. She glanced around and found herself in a lavish room that was not Rhodack’s. She stood from the bed. A beautiful sheer dress hugged her body, hiding her private areas. Hearing voices outside the door, she rushed to it.
Rina turned the handle and opened the door slightly. Peeking through the crack, she gasped.
She was in the royal palace in Faery and would recognize the hallway from her childhood anywhere. Rina pulled the door open, stepped through it, and took a few steps and watched as maids came out of a doorway. She smiled at them, but their eyes never connected with her. They spoke amongst each other as they walked past her as if they didn’t see her.
This must be a dream.
Or was it?
She continued walking down the passage and made her way to the top of the staircase. She knew where it led but hesitated.
Why was she here?
Her feet carried her down the stairs on autopilot. She glanced around, taking in the palace. Excitement filled her as she walked through her childhood home. It looked as if things were running as normal. Guards and staff bustled along, not even seeing her.
She exited through a set of double French doors and knew where she was going. She kept going until she caught sight of a tall elven man with long silver hair. Her feet slowed as she stepped through the gardens toward him.
He turned to her, and a wide grin crossed her lips.
“My child.” He returned her smile, taking her in. “Princess, you certainly have grown. Do you know who I am?”
“Vulen Brylee. The wise one.” She nodded, stopping a few feet away from him.
Vulen had been appointed to her by her father and the Fae council. He’d been her trainer when she was a child. He was one of her teachers who was to teach her to harness her powers.
Had she stayed and grown up in Faery, he would have been one of her advisors preparing her to ascend the throne.
“So you do have your full memory back.” He collapsed his hands behind him. “Come, walk with me.”
She nodded, eager to speak with her trusted teacher.
“Why have you brought me here this way?” she asked, falling beside him as they began to walk through the maze. She glanced around, and memories flooded her when her favorite childhood place to play came into view. “I’m trying to talk my father into letting me come home.”
“Right now, it is best you stay in the Terra realm. Our world is now just recovering from the battle with the necromancers when you were whisked away,” Vulen murmured.
“That’s what I keep being told, but I want to help. I don’t want to be treated any different than my father was by his father. It’s my destiny to be by my father’s side,” she exclaimed.
“And what do you know of your destiny?” He paused and turned to her.
She thought long and hard about his question. She knew that as the future Queen of Faery, she needed to learn all she could, fast.
“My destiny is Faery,” she whispered, glancing around. The beautiful lavender skies greeted her. Her heart swelled with the thought of her realm. She was needed here. “This is my home.”
A strong hand gripped her shoulder. She turned to find Vulen staring at her.
“Everything happens for a reason. We may not understand why, but destiny wanted you in the Terra realm. You could have been stashed in any other realm, but the opportunity came for your mother to put you with one of her most trusted witches, who just so happened to be from the Terra realm. Now, I want you to think, if you left the realm, what is one thing that has buried itself into your heart?”
She immediately knew the answer.
Rhodack.
He’d crawled his way into her heart, and she knew it would break it to leave him.
“I see you know the answer.” His eyes lit up as he read her emotions.
She blinked few times and nodded. “Yes, but he is the protector of the realm.”
