Chapter 18 Zara
Chapter eighteen
Zara
I’m up before the sun the next morning. Who am I kidding? I never went to sleep in the first place. Yet, I’m full of energy as I creep out into the hallway and pad to the east wing toward Emlyn’s rooms. I lightly rap on the wooden door and start to let myself in.
I stop short when I run into Alix coming out.
His mouth falls open and his brows rise, clearly surprised. He clears his throat. “Zara. What are you…what are you doing here this early?” He pushes his hand through his black hair and shifts his weight from one foot to the other.
I stand back with my eyebrow arched and my hands go to my hips. “I should ask you the same thing.”
“There was a security concern.”
I narrow my eyes, scrutinizing him. His hair is disheveled, and his usually perfectly pressed uniform is wrinkled. “In Emlyn’s rooms?”
He rubs the back of his neck, clearly anxious. “Yes. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He slips past me and peers down the empty hallway. “Where’s your night guard? They should still be on duty.”
I hold a finger up to my lips. “Shh. If you don’t tell, I won’t.” I wink at him, and he shakes his head in disapproval. But he keeps his mouth shut and races down the hall. When I’m sure Alix is gone, I edge into Emlyn’s rooms.
She’s sitting up in bed, her blanket clutched to her chest. Her cheeks are flushed, an easy smile on her lips as she turns toward me. Obviously not expecting me to be standing at her bedside this early, her eyes widen. “Zara, what are you doing here?”
I launch myself into the chair near her bed. “You naughty girl.”
She reddens and slides underneath the blankets, completely covering herself. A muffled voice comes from under the comforter, “There was a security concern.”
I chuck a throw-pillow at her and laugh so hard I nearly fall out of the chair. Emlyn giggles too, her body shaking from under the blankets. She crawls out of her cover castle and leans against the headboard. “It was just one night. I don’t think he wants anything long term.”
“Then he’s crazy.” I smile at her and shrug. “You could do worse.”
She blushes and clutches the sheets against her chest. “Forget about me. What are you doing here before sunrise?”
“Leer wants to take me somewhere secret in the Woodlands. He said you should come too, but we need to be quiet about it.”
“You mean without the presence of your royal guards?” Emlyn climbs out of her bed and pulls on her dressing robe before settling in the chair next to mine.
“Exactly.” I smile mischievously.
“Sounds like you’ll be breaking the rule of needing a chaperone during your Courtship. Again.” Emlyn sighs and rests her head on the high back of the chair. Her dark hair is loose and falls down around her shoulders in waves. “I’ll get the cloaks.”
“Where’s your prince? I thought he was coming.” Emlyn walks a pace behind me, keeping my dress from catching on all of the roots and branches sticking out from the path.
I knew I should’ve worn the tunic and trousers.
But a secret rendezvous calls for a seafoam green gown with a plunging neckline.
Not a pant suit. Even my choice of hairstyles is all wrong for a hike.
It’s twisted to the side and pinned with tiny emerald clips at the curve of my neck, forcing my long white-blonde hair to hang in loose curls over my left shoulder.
“This would be so much easier if we could walk through the woods on four legs…or fly over the trees…”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I need to learn how to shift.” I pull my skirts into my fists and stumble on a tree root.
“Ouch.” She isn’t wrong. Hiking through the Woodlands is always a challenge, but as I don’t have the luxury of being able to shift, here we are.
“Leer said to walk two miles toward the river, and he’ll be waiting on the opposite bank.
I hear the river up ahead.” I’m lying. I can’t actually hear the river, but surely it can’t be much farther.
“Would you be upset if I flew ahead? Just to make sure we’re going in the right direction?” She huffs as the tip of her boot catches over a rock.
I roll my eyes. “Seriously, Em?”
A branch snaps nearby, and we both jump in surprise. Emlyn moves to stand in front of me in a protective maneuver.
“It’s probably just Leer.” I continue on but Emlyn stays by my side, on high alert. A low growl and snarling comes from the path ahead, and a cloud of darkness, thick and smothering, moves in around us turning the forest as black as midnight.
Emlyn stops in the path, her irises glowing with an intense amber color as they shift into a predatory bird’s eye. She scans the space around us, listening intently and trying to spot whatever, or whoever, lurks nearby. “Just stay behind me. If I shift, you run. Do you understand?”
“I’m not leaving you. I—”
“Shh!” She cuts me off, painfully gripping my forearm. “Whatever it is, it’s getting closer.”
The world around me is silent except for the wild beating of my heart that threatens to burst out of my chest. We’re still as statues for what feels like an eternity.
In a flash, Emlyn screams for me to run.
She launches into the air as she transforms into a large eagle, wings beating violently, thrusting her toward the sky.
I hesitate for only a moment, then take off running back toward the palace.
A loud screech pierces my ears. A shuffling of earth and brush erupts from the path behind me.
I glance over my shoulder and trip over a branch on the ground.
I slow for a beat. Sounds of a scuffle grow louder from the forest behind me.
I can’t see anything. It’s too dark. The strange cloud is too thick.
Emlyn yelps in pain from somewhere in the haze.
I cry out and race back to her. A brunt force knocks me on my ass.
My breaths are ragged and shallow, trying to reclaim the air forced out of my lungs from the fall.
I squint into the darkness terrified to find out what horrendous creature stands over me.
I can’t make out anything in the cloud of night and back away.
I try to scream, but a cold and callused hand clamps over my mouth.
“Shh. Stay quiet,” a familiar voice whispers. I exhale a sigh of relief when I realize the monster who grabbed me is Alix.
He crouches down beside me on the ground and holds a finger to his lips before removing his hand from my mouth.
I nod and he releases his grip on me before getting to his feet to scan the completely black forest. I stand and huddle close to him thanking the gods that he still came for us even after all I put him through.
“Where’s Emlyn?” he whispers but does not take his gaze from the woods surrounding us.
My hand trembles and I point to the spot where I left my friend.
We move silently through the brush toward the injured bird, and I rush to Emlyn’s side assessing the deep gash along her wing and spine.
The injury gives off a greenish glow and a putrid odor infests the air around us.
I know this scent. It’s the same smell of rot and death from the other day.
The one I thought I imagined.
Alix circles the area, his hand on the hilt of the steel blade at his side.
He must finally believe the creature to be gone because he turns to me and his hand falls away from his weapon.
“I recognize that glow—and the smell.” He covers his nose with the back of his hand.
“She’s lucky she was in her animal form.
That gash could have fatally wounded her if she hadn’t shifted.
” Alix scans the scene once more and holds his hand over Emlyn’s injury.
His hand gleams with a bright white light and I stare in amazement as the green glow fades, and the gash slowly begins to close.
I had no idea Alix could wield healing magic.
His brow knits in concentration. “Whatever weapon was used was laced with poison.”
Emlyn stirs, still in her animal form, and when her wound fully closes, she slowly transitions back into her lean Fae body. Her tunic is torn, exposing one of her breasts, and Alix rises and turns away. He removes the crimson cloak he wears over his court armor and tosses it to me without looking.
I swiftly wrap the cloak around her and pull her into a tight embrace. “I shouldn’t have left you. I’m such a coward. This is all my fault.” Tears stream down my cheeks and I hold her close to me.
The cloud of darkness dissipates, and a rustle of leaves makes all three of us jolt.
Alix draws his sword and grips the hilt in both hands, ready to strike down whatever or whoever is approaching.
I hold my breath, staring into the curtain of trees while clutching Emlyn to my chest. I heave a sigh when Leer steps out from the brush.
His eyes are wary, and he rushes to kneel beside me.
My throat tightens when Byron follows him into the clearing.
He stands, holding a hand on his sword and circles us while watching the woods.
“Zara! I was so worried. When you didn’t show up to the bank—it got so dark.
I started back toward the palace, and thank the gods Byron found me before—" He doesn’t finish his thought when he notices Emlyn lying in my arms, “What happened? Are you injured too?” One of his hands is on my back and one reaches up to move a strand of hair from my face.
“I’m fine. But Emlyn…we were attacked…I think.” I lift a shoulder, my pulse and thoughts racing. Everything happened so fast. I can’t be sure what exactly occurred.
Alix sheathes his weapon and nods to Byron. “We should get Emlyn back to the palace.”
“I’ll go on ahead to make sure the path is safe.” Byron glances at me and Emlyn on the ground, then back to Alix. “You won’t be able to shift if you have to carry her, and I can’t be in two places at once. You might want to consider the risk you take.”
Alix’s eyes darken, his face contorted into an anger I’ve never witnessed from him. “I will get her back safely.”