Queen of the Shadow Woods (The Shadowblood Duet #1)

Prologue

"You're certain you want me to try this?" The withering old woman clasped her wrinkle-etched hands together. "If her heart has already stopped, even magic won’t save her.”

The young woman at her doorstep placed a gentle hand across her barely bulging stomach. "I know. But I have to try. I can't lose her. I've already lost her father."

"You're so sure it's a girl?" The elder witch's eyes twinkled for just a mere moment with a revived vibrance.

The young mother nodded with confidence. Through pursed lips that had long ago shriveled into thin lines, the old woman let out a heavy sigh.

"I'll do what I can, Dyanna," she said. "Come forward."

Dyanna, unnerved at the mention of her name when she hadn't yet revealed it, stepped towards the figure in the middle of the dim cottage, surrounded by overflowing shelves of tomes, liquid vials, and jars of luminescent powders.

"One thing you should know." The witch began pacing around her, eyeing the bump of her belly. "If the spell works, and the child lives, she will be marked by the truth. You won’t be able to hide this from her—or anyone else.”

“I'll make sure she is protected. I'll keep her hidden."

"Your confidence blinds you to reality, my dear. This won't be easy. For you or the child. Things could become dangerous quickly. I myself fear I may not be safe even here much longer."

"I'll take care of her. I'll do what her father failed to do." Dyanna's heart quickened at the thought of him, how he'd vanished without so much as a goodbye, knowing she was carrying his sickly child.

“And when you no longer can?” The woman glowered. “Then what? Who will protect her?”

A breath caught in Dyanna’s chest, doubt flaring for a heartbeat. But then she pushed it down and gathered the courage to answer.

“The truth,” she said simply.

"Very well, then." The old woman nodded and held out her hand. "Just leave my name out of it if things don't go as planned."

Dyanna straightened her shoulders and placed a coin purse in the woman's crinkled palm. "You have my word."