Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Deidre
It has been almost a thousand years since someone has gone in and survived. We’ll see if you do.
Kane’s words had haunted me all night, and now, after minimal sleep, his guards dragged me outside into the dark, barefoot and only wearing a robe, to who knows where.
Gideon walked beside me, the night sky casting shadows over his face. “I'm sure everything will be fine,” he said with a smile that didn't match the worry in his pained brow.
“What's going to happen to me?”
Kane and his pixies walked ahead of us and the golden guard behind us, Liora on my left.
“I can't say,” Gideon responded. “Our traditions are sacred. When someone is in line to become queen or king, and it is not their bloodline on the throne, they must first do so with a blessing. If you cannot appease the ancient spirits, you are deemed unfit to rule.”
I gripped the thin robe tighter around me. Liora explained I had to go into the cave naked. No clothing, no perfume, no lotion. As bare as I could be.
Mud squished around my toes, the forest ground still damp from last night’s rain.
“Have faith, my lady,” Liora said beside me, her soothing voice doing little to still the shakes running up and down my spine.
“I could if somebody would tell me what is going to happen when I go in there.”
There was nothing in the temple texts about a mysterious cave or a blessing.
After my interaction with the pond creature and the redcap, I didn't trust any of the fae. If they didn't want to eat me, they wanted to poke and taunt me. Anything could be in that cave!
The collar itched my sweaty neck, and I stuck my finger under it, scratching my skin. A fog hovered over everything, including my hair, which I was sure had become a wild mess of frizz.
We walked through the forest, a group of will-o’-the-wisps lighting the path. They buzzed around the night sky like floating lights, bright like stars. The woods were dense with no clear path and yet everybody but me seemed to know where we were going.
The mountains stretched before us, massive and majestic. I glanced back at the castle, which peered over the treetops like a stone fort. We had been walking for hours. My bare feet had cuts and scratches all over them.
Why wouldn’t they let me wear shoes, at least until we reached the cave?
Was this part of the trial?
I tied the belt around the robe tighter, trying to cover myself more. The soft blue fabric trailed along the ground, covering my scratched, dirty feet. Water had seeped into the hem and slowly inched its way up, sending a chill through my bones.
Kane stopped, his pixies flying around him, speaking, though I couldn't hear what any of them said.
“We're here,” Gideon said. “Just be yourself.”
I don't know what that means anymore.
It was true. The version of me in this place wasn't who I had grown into.
“Deirdre,” Gideon said, placing his hands on my elbows and turning me to face him.
His hands on my arms made me jump. I glanced at Kane, expecting fury. Instead, he just stood there, his expression stoic. Kane must not have killed his people often if Gideon thought touching me would not enact a punishment.
“Remember who you were before you came here,” he said, his words even and steady. He smiled, revealing dimples, which I found odd for a fae. His warmth seemed to radiate from his hands into my arms. “Just be yourself and you'll be fine.”
“Enough,” Kane said, his gaze darting between us. “The ceremony will start.”
He pointed to a cave, motioning for me to move. It was nothing exquisite or beautiful. Just a dark opening into the mountain.
“What do I do?” I looked to Gideon. “Besides being myself?”
“Nothing,” Kane said, blocking my view of Gideon. “You enter and you either receive the blessing or you don't.”
“And what happens if I don't?”
“Do you really want to know?” He wasn’t being snarky.
Was it better to know what horrors awaited me? “Yes, I do.”
He nodded, satisfied with my answer. “You will die.”
He had warned me the previous night that this was something I had to survive, but death? After everything I went through? “If anything happens to me, take care of my donkey. You owe me that much.”
The guards stood in a row. The head one, which seemed to hover closer to Kane, looked at me with almost pity in his golden-brown gaze. His brown hair reached his shoulders, and his golden skin stood out against the stark mountain.
“It's time.” Kane nodded for me to move forward.
I couldn't see anything inside the cave. Was it a bear? Did I have to go in there and just… what was going to happen?
“Leave the robe,” Kane added.
I turned around horrified. “I'm naked under here.”
“That's the point.”
I clamped down on my jaw. I didn't want all these fae to see me naked.
“Your Majesty,” Liora said, keeping her head bowed. “The humans are not as free with themselves as we are. Please allow the court to turn their heads.”
“Very well.” He turned his back and the rest followed, even his pixies.
Liora walked beside me. “Gideon is right. Just be yourself. Everything will be fine. I promise.”
“Your Majesty,” Gideon said before Liora took my robe. “Our tradition states that one must enter just as they entered this world. Everything must be removed.”
Kane glared at Gideon but didn't reply. He walked over to me and pulled the key ring from his pants. I turned around, lifting my hair. The collar unclasped and a surge of power raced through my veins.
I sighed, the warmth of my magic returning, making me feel like myself again.
Kane leaned over my shoulder, his mouth close to my ear, his breath gliding across my skin. “If you survive, don't think your power will help you escape. There is only one way in or out and the guard and I will be waiting for your return.”
He stepped back and I glanced behind me, noticing how he clenched his jaw.
Everyone turned, giving me their backs except Liora. She nodded at me and I slipped out of the robe, using one arm to cover my breasts and the other to cover below.
I stepped forward, and just before the shadows of the cave fully enveloped me, I glanced back.
Kane turned around, his eyes widening for a moment, as if he was shocked to see me. Then his jaw tensed, and his heated gaze met mine before he glanced away, the tips of his pointed ears flushing red.
A slight brush crept into my cheeks from the way Kane had eyed me, not with disdain or anger, but longing.
Not wanting to dwell on that revelation and what it could mean, I continued into the cave.
At first, there was nothing but dirt and the crackle of dead leaves and twigs.
The farther I walked, the more the single light behind me faded, leaving me to walk in complete darkness.
Normally, I would be frightened, but the sensation of magic flowing through my limbs granted me a familiar comfort.
I’d never realized just how much I needed to feel nature.
Soon, grass replaced the dirt, and the tiny tendrils of life surrounded me. Colored, glowing lichen covered the walls and floors, my bare feet finally getting a reprieve from the harder surface.
A joy filled me, and I wondered if my grief had been amplified because of the loss of my magic too. I’d never been cut off from it before.
Warm light shone ahead. Not light from a lantern, but daylight.
We had left before the sun rose, making it to the cave at dawn.
As I neared the light, the view changed. Gone were the rocky alcoves of a cave replaced with a green grove. There was no cave ceiling. The mountain stretched around me on all sides. I was in some type of isolated area. The mountains created a circular dome open to the sky.
Kane was right. I’d need a set of wings to get out of here. The steep mountains surrounding the open grove made climbing a death wish.
A babbling brook weaved in and out of the large rowan trees, their roundish crowns plump with vibrant red berries. Green flowing grass as soft as a meadow rolled with the wind, causing the wild geranium and lilac to move with it.
I kneeled by the brook, dipping my hands into the water, and splashed the cool liquid across my face. Afterward, I soaked my aching feet.
The water kissed my skin, removing the tension I’d gotten so accustomed to. For a brief moment, the familiarity of nature and the soft comfort of magic eased the tension in my body.
Lying down on my back, I gazed up at the morning sun, running my fingers across the grass and making the blades elongate.
Just feeling the magic in my bones was invigorating.
It didn’t even matter that I was naked… though…
reaching out, I pulled the grass from the ground and weaved it around me, creating bands around my chest and bottom.
Not a perfect design, but at least I was covered, and without breaking any traditions.
A patch of bluebells lay only a few feet from me, their violet glow a welcome sight. Reaching out, I moved them, humming, breathing in the sharp floral notes surrounding me.
Then suddenly a fog rolled into the grove. It came from the borders, rumbling down like a river.
Dark, teeming with an unnatural presence, and every hair on my body stood on end.
This must be it.
Shifting to my feet, I eyed the mist as it curled around the rowan trees, almost whispering as it moved. The beauty of the grove faded into the ghostly visage, taking the sunlight with it until I stood within a gray haze.
A chilly breeze swept through the air, swirling the mist in front of me.
Then my mother stepped out of it, her skin ashen, eyes sunken, as if she had starved to death.
“You left… and then the plague came.”
“No. That isn’t true.” I dashed forward. “I would’ve…”
Realization dawned.
What if a plague did happen, and everyone in my village is dead? Crispin and I were isolated from the world. We wouldn’t have known.
My legs shook.… Grandfather.
Being isolated meant I had no news from my home. No idea if there had been any retaliation for my escape. Did anyone know my grandfather was involved?