Chapter 7
HADRIEN
The darkness above offered me freedom each night. My wings sliced through the air as I ascended, flying away from the castle. From—her.
Why had I agreed to make any sort of bargain—and with a foolish human, no less?
I needed distance.
I needed to see.
The wards hummed faintly as I flew over the boundary lines of Castle Valgarde. The threadbare vibration set my teeth on edge. My attempt to reinforce the shields had been pitiful. My magic weakening.
I was weakening.
Failure scraped against my skin like sandpaper.
Another night. Another reminder that my power no longer obeyed the way it once had.
Below, the forest sprawled in layered shadows beyond Valgarde. My land. The only thing I had left that still belonged to me.
And now humans were able to stride right in.
Lilia.
I scowled into the wind.
She had looked too tiny standing in my great hall. Strangely defiant for a human. She had argued with me. Challenged me. Offered herself in exchange for her family without hesitation.
Stupid.
Willful.
Foolish girl.
And dangerous, a treacherous voice added. Beautiful.
She was small-framed and lightly built, with long dark hair that appeared tousled by her trek.
Wide, expressive hazel eyes that shifted between green and brown depending on the light.
Her face was fine-boned, her cheeks still flushed from exertion or fear or both, and her full pink lips pressed with determination.
Her clothes and brown boots were well worn, the off-white tunic slightly large for her frame.
She smelled of the forest and flowers, not at all unpleasant, the scent of someone who spent their time outdoors.
I bared my teeth. She was an intruder, a prisoner, nothing more.
I should not have been hospitable at all. The boy’s sickness was not my responsibility. Mortals died every day under the queen’s rule.
Still.
The boy had been weak, burning with fever. I had seen it.
Perhaps I had been harsh in imprisoning them.
But harsh is what kept the queen out of Valgarde.
And I’d promised to let the boy and his mother leave. That was more than fair.
Trusting that they didn’t speak of what they had seen was another matter. They could lie. Betray me.
But then, she’d have to pay.
I exhaled sharply.
Twenty-one days.
That was what we’d agreed to in our bargain.
Twenty-one days with her under my roof, touching my property, attempting to secure the wards without any ability to do so.
How absurd.
She thought she could help—with plants. It was laughable. She might have been able to help bring down her brother’s fever with the elixir, but what could a tiny herb do to keep out the queen’s army? Nothing.
Plants grew.
And plants died.
Especially when they were polluted by dark magic, like the poppy that was connected to my curse.
If Lilia could help…
I’d sensed magic within her, whatever peculiar type she had, and since I was as desperate as she was…
No.
No.
Hope was a dangerous thing. It could give a spark, a promise, only to let it crash out and die, leaving you even worse off than before. I wouldn’t dare hope that this weak human could do anything to help us here at the castle.
Because hope could break your heart.
And the poppy would finish hardening.
The wards would collapse.
The queen would come with her army and claim Valgarde.
I’d fight with my last breath to protect my land. But the threat remained—I might turn to stone before she even breached the wards.
Eventually, Valgarde would fall, and I would fall with it.
That hard truth pressed heavy on my wings.
Perhaps that was why I had agreed to make a foolish bargain with a naive girl who thought she could help. It had been a long shot. A desperate one. But I was out of options.
The end was coming for me, whether or not I fought against it.