Page 9 of To Wake a Kingdom

This had been only a small village, sitting at the base of the castle and home to a few hundred people. Most of Ravalyn’s citizens had dwelled in the towns and cities surrounding it. Farmland—the source of our wealth—stretched over these miles, golden and lush.

What had happened to those cities? Were they still there?

No one was asleep here, so I assumed the curse had only affected those on the castle grounds.

It was only another sliver of hope, but I held onto it as if it were a jewel plucked from a pirate’s bounty.

There were so many things I needed to figure out. Mostly, how to wake everyone in the castle. Kianna didn’t seem to have a clue, and I needed answers. But caution was crucial. It had been one hundred long years. Enough time for the world to have changed beyond recognition. I didn’t know what I was up against.

And who was the man I’d killed?

Footsteps crunched in the gravel behind me, and I turned.

A woman with inky black wings prowled toward me. Her skin was marble white, and hair blacker than cursed shadows fell in sheets on either side of her face. She moved with sinuous grace, a viper slithering over a nest of twisted satin. Her lips were painted blood-red, and her eyes gleamed like golden lanterns while she stared me down through a curtain of thick, dark lashes.

Mare.

I’d been only days old when I last saw her, but the certainty of who I faced cratered deep into the marrow of my bones. I didn’t need to remember her to know this was the Fae who’d sworn she’d take me for herself when I turned twenty-one. The Fae who had given my parents everything they’d desired and then snatched it away. The Fae who wanted to enslave me for a reason no one understood.

I pulled the sword from the sheath at my hip.

A slow smile spread across her crimson lips, forming a bloody slash against snow-white canines. “Well, well, well. Isn’t it adelightto see you up and awake? My sister’s talent for spells has never been very good.”

“What do you want?” I pointed the sword at her.

Hands on her hips, she sauntered closer, coming to a stop right in front of me. The tip of my blade sat an inch from her heart.Head tilted, she considered me as though I were an ant sizzling beneath a magnifying glass in the sun. “Why, I’m here for you, my dear. Surely your mother told you that you belong to me.”

“I belong to no one.” I gritted my teeth, tightening my hold on the sword.

Mare laughed, the light and lyrical sound entirely at odds with her appearance.

“Oh, you are even more of a fool than she was.” She gutted me with narrowed eyes. “You have always belonged to me, Thorne. You were simply…on loan. It’s only because my sister got in the way that I’ve been forced to wait a very, very long time for what is mine. And I amdonewaiting.”

She leaned forward, the tip of my sword now touching her breastbone. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I shook with the effort of holding the blade.Mare put her hand on the sword and pushed it down. The sharp edges pressed into her skin, and I tunnelled into my strength, trying to resist as blood welled up between her fingers. She didn’t even flinch. Each one of her fingers was tipped in a silver metal claw, sharpened to a throat-slitting point.

With more laughter, her head arched back, exposing the expanse of her smooth white throat. “My dear Thorne. Do you think you can stop me? Your time is up.”

Eyes flashing like twin pools of melted gold, Mare released the blade and flicked her hand. She had waited one hundred years for this moment, and her wings fluttered with the promise of a prize long withheld.

My limbs snapped into rigid lines as I braced myself, waiting for the tide of fate to sweep me away.

But nothing happened.

We stood on the same dusty road, the village as silent as ever.

Fury dulled Mare’s eyes for a heartbeat before she recovered, gracing me with her simpering smile.“It seems my sister’s magic is still keeping you here. No matter—there is a very simple way to deal with that.”

Without another word, she spun and strode away, her midnight wings flaring, skirts billowing like inked sheets left on the clothesline.

Stunned, I watched her retreat before I suddenly understood her plan.

I slammed the sword back into its sheath and started running. Only she was faster. Her wings lifted her into the air as she hurled a piercing look over her shoulder. We both knew I couldn’t hope to catch her, but I ran anyway, my legs churning against the dusty road.

“Come back here!”

Mare laughed, and I ran faster. I couldn’t let her reach Kianna. We passed through the gates, my arms pumping as Mare raced ahead of me, a murky streak on the horizon. The dark Fae disappeared through the castle doors, and I held my breath, fearing she would lock me out.

But I skidded against the door, fingers gripping the edge as I flipped myself around. Mare was nowhere to be seen, and I ran down the hallway.

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