Chapter 10 #2
Every other fae competitor would be able to use those stars for orientation. But Lorelei …
Gritting her teeth, she turned her attention to the ground beneath their feet, now visible in the moonlight. It was covered only by soft grass, and there were no acorns left in her bodice to be tossed down any of those paths.
She lifted her gaze to Gerard and found him waiting expectantly for her direction.
Oh, goddess. He finally, actually trusted her, for the first time since they’d met. But she …
Lorelei swallowed a groan as light footsteps sounded behind them, closing in far too quickly.
It was an awful, telltale sign of weakness, but she couldn’t help flicking a quick glance at the two fae archers who tumbled into place beside them in the broad mouth of the branching paths.
These two had emerged, somehow, from a different direction than Lorelei and Gerard had used, but they both stumbled to a halt just as she had, blinking and dazzled by moonlight, staring out at the stars spread above them …
And she recognized the expression that flickered across their faces:
Confusion. The others didn’t recognize this night sky either!
She could have wept or danced with the intensity of her relief—but no, she hadn’t time for celebration. She was here to win, and in that moment, she knew she could, no matter how badly her own self-doubt had slowed her progress.
If this wasn’t the same sky she’d once known, then she hadn’t forgotten anything after all, no matter what Oberon had made her fear. But if this particular skyscape had been laid out for the trial, then there must be a guiding purpose behind it.
Half-slitting her eyes, she let her searching gaze pass once again over that jumbled mass of stars. If she set aside everything she’d once known about their positions in the sky and focused only on their shapes, then—yes!
She did know those constellations, even now, when they’d been jumbled up into a wildly unfamiliar order.
She knew their stories, too. Murmured into her hair as a child, they had never left her—and there, sitting neatly above the fourth branching path, three constellations were lined up like an arrow pointing downwards:
The Older Sister, Sylvana beckoning Her people home.
The Key, unlocking every secret.
And the Crown, ready to reward victory.
She leapt forward without a second thought.
This time, Gerard didn’t follow her onto the path.
An arrow whistled above her head as she ran, followed by a muffled but powerful expulsion of human breath. She jerked to a halt and turned back. Gerard’s broad shoulders blocked the mouth of her path as he stood, strong legs planted firmly, grappling with one of the taller fae.
Immediately, she started back to help—
But the impatient jerk of his head spoke louder than any shout.
Curse the man! Of course he would believe he could take on two high fae without her help—but then, he was a master of military strategy, wasn’t he?
And he was right: The other two fae did have longer legs than Lorelei.
Set on the same path, they’d overtake her in moments.
Her only chance now lay in the others being slowed—and Lorelei and Gerard had been partners all the way.
She could hardly refuse to trust him just when he’d won them both a real chance at victory.
Sylvana keep him safe! Some emotion that felt sickeningly like real, personal fear rose within her—but Lorelei whirled back into the darkness and ran.
She was here to win. When she did, every fae—including her mother—would understand exactly how well she still fit here.
Hedges rose around her in zigzagging formations, but she took every corner without a stumble. Tangling whips of thorns lashed out to block her. She leapt high over them, took the final curve—and stumbled to a halt just before she could run into a dead end.
A wall of leaves rose high before her, rustling a warning.
There was nowhere else to turn.
She stared in open-mouthed shock. She’d been so certain of her path! She hadn’t even sensed this final part of the hedge waiting for her as she’d neared it. What had she done wrong?
Tipping her head back, she gazed up once again at that night sky …
And then her lips curved into a smirk of satisfaction as she took in, once more, those three guiding constellations. Of course.
To follow the Older Sister home and claim the crown, she would have to turn the key.
Lorelei knew exactly why she hadn’t sensed this final hedge. It wasn’t a green, growing wall, after all. It was a door cloaked in illusion.
Which means … Stepping forward, she lifted her chin and reached into the rustling hedge with perfect confidence. Let’s turn that key.
Her hands moved through the perfect simulation of branches … and a quiet but definite click sounded in the darkness.
The applause of the crowd broke over her in a roaring wave as she stepped through the glamoured door onto the end of the field, only a few feet before the throne where Oberon sat with a false smile fixed on his deceitful face and a feather of shining silver laid across a pillow of orange leaves on his lap.
“We have a winner for this challenge,” he drawled. “How … delightful to see you so pleased with yourself, Sister. I take it you’ll be wearing this feather in your hair to show off among the mortals you’ve always preferred?”
“Oh, Oberon. So wrong, as usual, about so many things.” Lorelei lifted a hand, smiling for the crowds of applauding fae; she didn’t spare Oberon a second glance. “I could explain it to you, but I don’t care enough for your opinion, so … yes!”
She had left the door from the maze hanging wide open when she’d run through it—and she’d known, oh she had known who would be the next to emerge through it, despite all the odds.
Transported into an unfamiliar realm, forced to fight from the weakest possible position against multiple fae opponents, Gerard de Moireul was still ready to conquer any battlefield. He strode out onto the field with the air of a man who knew it.
The billowing sleeves of his silky red tunic had been shredded by thorns.
Dirt and bruises covered the hard lines of his face.
As he stepped onto the grass of the field, the last of the true day’s light hit his thick, golden hair and made it glow … and his amber gaze moved straight to her, with a gleam in his eyes she’d never seen before.
“This reward is for both of us,” she announced to the watching crowd, and she scooped the silver feather from Oberon’s lap to hand it herself to her prisoner-turned-partner. “We won it together.”