Chapter 12
Aurora
Irub my temples to ease the pounding in my head when I end the call with Soren. It was a relief to see him and hear his voice. I miss him so much and today has been overwhelming.
I could smack Camryn for telling him about Arc and his plans to keep us here. That is a conversation that I am not ready to have with Soren yet. I know how he is. I would wager money that he is on his way here as I speak. He’s very much an ‘act now and look for reasons later’ person.
“Sorry for spilling the beans, but he’s cute!” Camryn exclaims from bed. She wiggles her eyebrows at me.
“Yeah, thanks,” I mumble. “I will yell at you tomorrow. For now, I really need to sleep.”
“Okay, that’s fair.”
We settle into bed, and it isn’t long until I doze off.
I’m content with the solace of my mind. Until I’m not.
The wind howls, whipping my hair in front of my face. I look up at the sky. Dark, heavy clouds spit down thick snowflakes. My hands reach into the icy air, catching them on my bare fingers.
I look around, realizing I’m standing at the summit of a tall mountain. The unmistakable silhouette of Silverveil Mountain and Lord Arc’s palace sit in the distance like a silent observer. Beyond it, there are plumes of smoke and flashes of light, and the faint cries of agony.
War.
My heart races. Where is Soren? I have to find him.
I peer over the edge of the summit, looking for the quickest way down the mountain. I take a step and stumble over a lump in the snow.
“OW!”
I brace myself, landing in fresh powder on my hands and knees. I glance over my shoulder and am stunned to see Camryn. “What are you doing here?”
She’s dressed in leathers and a heavy cloak, much like me.
She stands, brushing the snow from her clothes.
“I don’t fucking know. The last thing I remember is we were going to sleep in Arc’s palace.
” She looks me up and down and then her head whips quickly in all directions. “What are we doing up here?”
My brow furrows. I don’t know what she’s talking about. I haven’t seen Camryn in months. I left her behind back home when I fell through the veil on our camping trip. This can’t be real. I rush to her, throwing my arms around her neck and nearly knock us back down to the frigid ground.
“Whoa!” Camryn huffs. “What’s your deal?”
“I’m just happy to see you, and that you’re okay,” I sniffle.
“Okay, weirdo.”
I wipe away the tears freezing to my exposed skin. “We can catch up later. We need to get down there and stop Arc.” I turn from Camryn to trudge down the side of the mountain.
“What did the asshole do this time?” Camryn asks, following carefully behind me.
I turn to face her, confused how she knows the dark lord. But there’s no time for questions. “He’s aligned with his father, and the entire realm is in jeopardy.”
Her eyes go wide, and I turn back to continue my descent.
My heart pounds as I take measured steps through the knee-high snow. I don’t know how Camryn got here, and for now, I don’t care. I hate that she’s amid a fae war, but I need to focus on finding Soren and the others.
I remember the day I met with Lord Arc to tell him about the travelers and half-blood descendants. He laughed in my face and told me it didn’t matter. He was going to submit to his father, join him so he could be free from his curse.
The only reason he let me leave alive that day is because he said he wanted to watch his father annihilate all the unworthy beings from Silverveil, once and for all.
Me and the rebellion are on our own. And right now, my hope is dwindling as me and Camryn march down a mountain toward destruction and chaos.
I am slow to rise in the morning, my eyes blinking in the light. I drag a hand down my face, groaning. My headache seems to have subsided at least.
I roll over and am met with a flood of black hair spilling over the pillowcase. Camryn. She's really here.
I smile to myself and then remember Lord Arc has trapped us in his mountain palace until further notice.
Camryn shifts toward me and opens her eyes. Her face pales and she stares at me as if I’m not real.
“Aurora?” she whispers.
“Yeah?” I whisper back.
She stares at me for several moments, searching my eyes. “I had the weirdest fucking dream,” she says.
“Oh, yeah?” I rub my eyes. I think I also had a strange dream but can’t remember.
“Yeah,” she says, sitting up. “I dreamed we were at the top of a mountain in the freezing cold and you were shocked to see me. Then you were in a hurry to stop Arc from ruining the world.”
My brow furrows and my stomach clenches. It sounds familiar. “Sounds like something he’d do,” I mumble.
Camryn stares at me with her big brown eyes. “It was just so real ... like I could feel you.”
I grin at her. “It sounds like you missed me.”
Her face softens. “Of course I did. I was terrified I’d never see you again. Riddled with guilt that I left you in the woods to rot. Because lord knows you would have never found your way out of there.”
I scowl. “Hey! I did okay.”
She gives me a weak smile.
My eyes scan her face. I don’t know how Camryn got to Silverveil, and it’s time to open that wound.
“What happened to you in the woods that night?” I ask softly.
Camryn sits up and looks down at her folded hands in her lap.
“After I went down the hill to pee, I was on my way back when I noticed a faint light in the distance. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I walked toward it.
As I did, there was this buzzing sound, like a live wire or something.
When I got close, there was a flickering blue-ish white light hovering in a small clearing.
The sound was so loud. And I can’t explain it, but I was entranced.
I couldn’t stop myself from reaching toward it.
“The second my fingers touched the pulsing light, I blacked out. The next thing I know, I woke up in a valley. I must have hit my head because I’m pretty sure I blacked out again and when I woke, I was being carried into the sky by a hunky guy with bright red wings who I was convinced was an angel.
I thought I was dead. And I’ve been here ever since. ” She gives me a weak grin.
I furrow my brow. Her story is so different from mine. I wish I could have been there with her. I wish we had been taken together.
My voice drops low. “And you haven’t been hurt? They’ve treated you okay here?”
“No one has hurt me. The first few days were rough. Caelum, the one who found me, spent a lot of time with me, trying to get me to eat.” Her face falls.
I pull her into a hug. “I’m sorry.”
She chuckles. “For what? You didn’t zap us into this hellscape. It’s partially my fault for dragging you on that camping trip.”
I lean back and smile at her. My stomach growls, ushering us back to the present.
Camryn rolls her eyes. “I forgot you’re a breakfast person.”
I blush, thinking about how Soren always insists he make me breakfast before we do anything. He always takes care of me.
“Yeah, I could eat,” I say, patting my stomach.
Camryn slides off the bed and shuffles to the door. She reaches for the handle, and when she opens it, Vespera is standing on the other side, a silver tray of food in her hands and a blank expression on her face. Camryn moves aside, gesturing for the sprite to enter.
I give Camryn a bewildered look.
She shrugs. “Vespera has an uncanny intuition.”
Vespera places the tray on a small table beside the bed and retreats out of the room as silently as she arrived. If I couldn’t physically touch her, I would swear she was a ghost.
I sit on the edge of the bed while Camryn pulls over the chair from the vanity. We uncover the plates of food and my mouth waters at the sight of fresh meats, fruits, and bread. I don’t hesitate diving in, and Camryn and I eat in silence.
After breakfast, we take turns bathing and getting dressed for the day.
I’m happy to find a selection of leather leggings and comfortable tunics tucked into the back of the wardrobe.
Camryn opts for a soft, flowing dress that hits her ankles, despite its lack of practicality for any kind of training.
We leave the sanctity of the room, and I follow Camryn down the stairs to where she says Arc’s study is.
I’m determined to sway him to let us return to Riverholm to build the much needed army against his father.
Camryn isn’t very optimistic that I will have luck changing his mind and gaining our freedom, but I’ll be damned if I don’t try.