Chapter 31 – Sera
Chapter Thirty-One
SERA
Something nudges my arm, and I startle awake, stifling a scream. A rabbit with gold fur blinks golden eyes up at me.
“Gods, you scared me,” I say through a laugh, pushing up to my elbows and taking in my surroundings.
Sunlight barely peeks through the dense forest, but I’m in some kind of burrow.
Branches curl above and around me, covered in tiny pink flowers.
It’s quite beautiful. If only I weren’t naked in a forest and on the run from an evil enchantress queen.
I release a yawn and stretch my legs. My throat is sore, and my elemental magic is utterly depleted. When I try to summon a flame, it sputters before fully forming, then winks out. What in the hells happened last night? Why can’t I remember anything?
Piece by piece, the disastrous dinner comes back to me, the betrayal on Alex’s face when Lady Brooke revealed the secret I’d been keeping flashing to the forefront.
I curse inwardly. So many damned mistakes.
I should have known the queen would never have allowed me to leave early, and I should have known the mate bond secret would come out at the worst possible moment in the worst possible way.
While I can’t undo either of those things now, I desperately need to find out what happened to Alex.
I need to make a plan, but I’m so incredibly alone.
There’s no way I can take on the impostor queen on my own.
My magic is strong, usually, but not strong enough to take down an entire palace of guards who either don’t know who I am or don’t care.
The queen has them wrapped around her smallest finger.
Is she looking for me?
“I wish you could tell me what’s going on back at the palace,” I mumble under my breath to the golden rabbit.
Crawling out of the small burrow, I rise and stretch again. I have no idea why my inner swan decided to rest there for the night, but at least I was out of sight. Glancing around the forest, I spy scorch marks on trees. Apparently, she went wild with my magic and left me with nothing. Rude.
Rustling draws my attention back to the burrow, to where the golden rabbit has reappeared.
“Are you following me?” I ask. “I doubt you want to stay near. I only cause trouble to the people around me.”
My vision seems to go hazy, but no, I’m not seeing things. The rabbit shimmers and morphs until a stunning female stands before me, her dark green hair hanging in loose waves in front of her very naked chest.
“What in the actual hells?” I screech, jumping back, hands darting out to cover up as much as I can.
Lady Jade chuckles. “Sorry to scare you, Lady Penelope.”
“Are you cursed too?” I blurt out.
Lady Jade gives me a sly smile. “No, but is that your problem?”
“Unfortunately,” I groan, palming my face, then remembering my lack of clothing, I pull my hair in front of my chest. I’ve been letting it grow out, considering I wake up naked every single morning.
“What a strange predicament you’re in,” she says smoothly, taking a few steps closer, unbothered by our nakedness. Lady Jade walks past me and knocks on a tree that sounds suspiciously hollow.
“Oh good, I didn’t forget!” she exclaims, prying open a hidden panel. “Tunic or pants?”
Before I can respond, a tunic comes flying my way and I snatch it out of the air.
“You have clothes stowed out here?” I slip the tunic over my head. Lady Jade is taller than I, so it hangs to my mid-thigh.
“Of course. Shifter habit,” she says with a grin as she ties the laces of her pants.
“I have a few hidden stashes near places I like to frequent in my animal forms in case I need them. I may have nudged you in this direction last night, thinking I had a stockpile nearby. I had no idea if or when you’d shift back, but I figured clothing might be appreciated if you did. ”
“Thanks.” I give her a sheepish smile. “No offense, but I hardly know you.”
Lady Jade chuckles. “No worries. I don’t mind being naked, but the air has quite a chill in the mornings.”
I tilt my head. “Why did you follow me out here?”
“You bear a strong resemblance to someone I know.”
“Do you have many friends in the River Court?” I ask.
“Cut the shit, Penelope, if that’s even your name.”
“Who are you?” I ask, wariness prickling my skin. “If you’re a shifter and have air powers, you’re not a simple lady . . . And you have a dragon? I don’t recall most lords or ladies of the Mountain Court having their very own dragon.”
Lady Jade winces. “As much as I love Brooke, she doesn’t always know when to keep her mouth shut.”
I cross my arms and tip my chin at her. “Enough. Spill.”
“You first,” she replies with a smirk.
Seven hells. I’m getting nowhere with her. “Are you always so godsdamned stubborn?”
She quirks an eyebrow. “Takes one to know one.”
I wrack my brain for all my former knowledge of the Mountain Court and its rulers up north. I only met their king once as a child, but I remember being fascinated by his onyx hair that shimmered with green in the fae lights. Wait . . .
“Are you related to King Rockfell?”
“Guilty.” Lady Jade gives a slight tip of the head. “Princess Elaria Jayden Rockfell, at your service.”
“What in the hells are you doing down here, playing at being a lady? Does the queen know who you are?”
Lady Jade shakes her head. “I came here as a favor to a friend, one who shares your violet eyes.”
No. It can’t be. I’m terrified to let myself hope.
There’s a lump in my throat as I try to get the name out. “Ga-Gabriella’s alive? You know my sister?”
A simple nod, and I break into tears, dropping to my knees on the forest floor.
My entire body quakes with sobs as the emotions from the past few days crash over me.
I thought I was completely alone in this realm.
I thought every last member of my family was dead and gone, and the hope this revelation brings is almost more than I can bear.
A gentle hand rests upon my shoulders, and I look up with blurry, tear-filled eyes. “Are you Fiona Seraphine Emberwood? The lost princess of the Woodland Court?” Her voice is soft, almost reverent.
I nod, continuing to let the tears trail down my face.
“Thank the Mother,” she says with a bright smile.
When my sobs have finally ceased and I’m a little calmer, I sit back against a tree, resting my head on the rough bark. I am thoroughly worn out. All the emotions have been a lot to handle.
Lady Jade—or should I say Princess Elaria—sits across from me, hugging her knees to her chest.
“Where is Gabriella?” I ask. “She’s safe?”
“Your sister is in hiding up in the Mountain Court. My family gave her sanctuary when it became clear the enchantress queen was up to no good.”
“What? But how?”
“I’m sure when you’re reunited, she will have plenty to tell, but when you went missing, she searched this realm for you. When she finally made it north, word had spread about the mysterious deaths of your parents. Hunters came after her, and she had to fake her death to keep them away.”
“Gods,” I whisper. “I can never thank you or your family enough, Princess Elaria.”
“Please call me Jade,” she insists. “That’s what my friends call me.”
I smile and nod. “Call me Sera.”
“Where have you been all this time?” Jade asks.
“I met the enchantress as a young girl,” I admit.
“She found me near a portal in the woods not far from the palace. I used to spend all my time staring into those waters. While I don’t understand how exactly, she compelled me, and it became an obsession.
One day, I dropped a book, and it pulled me in. ”
Jade gapes at me. “But that’s not how portals work.”
“You know of portals?”
She shrugs. “I know some, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the enchantress did something to it along with her compulsion.”
I nod, leaning forward, twirling a piece of hair around my finger.
“The portal took me to a human realm. I was stuck there for more than a century, well, three centuries here in Lunesai. The last decade or so, I worked for a family as a lady’s maid, and one of the girls I served ended up being the daughter of a god. ”
“That sounds like an interesting tale,” Jade says, her eyes bright.
My lips quirk up at the thought of Rae. A story I could perhaps share another time.
“How did you end up cursed?” she asks.
“An ancient fae enchantment imprisoned my friend. I broke it, and here we are.”
“Foolish princess,” Jade teases, but there’s no bite to it. “She must be a worthy friend for you to sacrifice so much.”
I give her a sad smile. “I owed her. She’s the sun goddess now, and she opened the portal for me to return.” I take a breath before continuing, “I hoped to find the answer to how to break this curse. I fear I don’t have much time left before the swan consumes me.”
Jade reaches over and squeezes my knee. “If there’s an answer, I will do everything in my power to help.”
“Thank you. But why are you being so nice to me? You don’t know me.”
“In some ways, I feel as if I do,” she replies, dipping her chin. “I am quite close to Gabriella.”
“How long have you been here? You mentioned a favor?”
“I’ve been in this court a few years now, so not long.”
“But why here? Why now?”
Jade shrugs again. “As I said, I did it as a favor to your sister. There’s an oracle up north who said change was coming to the Woodland Court, change from another realm.”
My eyes widen.
“Yes, I felt the same,” Jade says. “Gabriella wanted to come herself. She carries the responsibility for this court and the people here, but my father refused to start a war with the enchantress queen. Her control over your people is strong.”
I frown, hating the helplessness that threatens to crush me.
“Of course, we had no idea what this change was, but Gabriella dared to hope you might somehow return. I agreed to come here and keep watch for whatever this change was. She always believed you were alive, but the pathways between realms are fickle. There are countless places you could have landed. When she couldn’t find you anywhere in Lunesai, she was convinced you were no longer here. ”