Chapter 15
Zadriel
The snow was Zadriel’s adversary, gripping his ankles and pulling him deeper into its frigid grasp.
No matter how quiet his steps, or how well the shadow sprite held him in its ethereal embrace, there was no hiding his path as he weaved through the trees.
Should Aedlin look back, she’d know he followed.
At least the light had faded, stars twinkling to life over a darkening navy sky.
It caressed the sparse forest’s canopy, the last glimpse of a hazy, orange sun stretching through the evergreens and glittering over the ice-coated branches of slumbering, deciduous trees.
When winter’s cold grew bitter and the world became too dark to navigate, Zadriel would be the least of Aedlin’s worries.
Until then, he followed. Uninterested in making her his prisoner, yet unable to let her go.
In truth, all Zadriel needed was Darius. The curse didn’t care for the fallen queen, demanding instead he remain close to the nearest Dother. It wouldn’t be difficult to steal him away—Zadriel’s life would be simpler without a stubborn woman who ran at the first sight of pointed ears.
He scoffed. Humans. They feared anything they didn’t understand.
It mattered not. He knew well what it was to lose a mother. Zadriel would make sure they stayed together. They simply needed to come to terms with his presence until they made it to Eden.
Aedlin looked back, nose crinkling with anger.
“I know you’re there, Fae!” she shouted.
“Leave us!” A crisp breeze curled around them, tugging tendrils of hair free from the bun atop Aedlin’s head.
They stuck to her face, while the cold stained her nose and cheeks pink—she looked less queenly by the hour.
Zadriel considered remaining silent, but Aedlin’s chest heaved from the exertion of trudging through unforgiving snow, and Darius’s cries were endless... so he took a gamble. “I mean you no harm. My people cannot lie; you can take solace in that.”
An owl startled at the sound of Zadriel’s voice, trilling before taking to the sky. Ice pellets fell from a shaken branch, disappearing into the shadows to pepper Zadriel’s hood and grace his cheeks with their frigid touch.
Aedlin’s brows scrunched at the sight. She shushed Darius, bouncing him in her arms and inching closer to a rushing stream bleeding through the hillside, icicles hanging from its rocky surface.
Stones stuck through the water, slippery with frost. The queen eyed them, considering her next move.
“There are many ways to be deceitful without speaking falsehoods,” she said, toeing one of the larger rocks.
Zadriel chuckled softly; she wasn’t wrong, he’d give her that. She’d be a fool, however, to risk falling into icy waters in her fruitless attempt to escape him.
It seemed like Aedlin agreed. She sighed, stepping away from the stream’s edge and looking back toward the shadowy trees.
Her eyes settled on a cluster of bramble, their branches weighed down by glittering ivory powder and crushed under Zadriel’s boot.
She squinted, familiar with shadow sprites after their meeting, though unable to see him. “What is it you want with us?”
He took an exasperated breath, calmed by the current of fresh, earthy winds and the woody scent of evergreens. “To take you both somewhere safe.”
“We’re not going to Baith,” she said, amber eyes drifting west, as if she could see all the way to the Fendu Bay.
Zadriel smirked, though there was no joy in it. “No, we’re not.”
“Then you lied.” Holding her child closer, Aedlin almost looked... sad—her words were heavy, like she could barely stand to think them.
He stepped closer, slipping his hood down even though she wouldn’t see the sincerity on his face. “I said we were headed toward Baith, and that is true.”
Aedlin’s upper lip curled, body tensing as if she readied herself to run again. Though they both knew there was nowhere safe to go, and Zadriel wouldn’t stop following. “Where are you taking us?”
Twirling his fingers in the shadows dancing around him, he considered his words. “To Cillian’s home,” he finally said, flirting with the truth. The breeze ran through his hair before dancing with his breath, taking his words with it.
“Which isn’t in Eldenna.” It wasn’t a question. Aedlin had pieced together enough to know that was one of Cillian’s falsehoods.
“No,” he muttered, his deep, rumbling voice as gentle as he could manage. “His home doesn’t appear on any of your maps, and those who know it keep it secret.”
She stood taller, a single, manicured brow rising in question. “Tell me the truth, Fae.”
Zadriel prayed the truth would be enough. That he wouldn’t spend the evening chasing her through Berwick’s countryside. He exhaled with the wind, his own gaze slipping westward. “I’m taking you to Eden.”
A young woman slipped out from behind a thicket of trees, blonde hair dancing on a phantom breeze while hope sparkled in tired, sea-green eyes. “Where’s Eden?”