Crown of Flames and Ash (Courts of Aetheria #2)

Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Six

A elia

“Aidan is Light Fae,” Reign barked, throwing his hands in the air, “and you’ve waited this entire term to share that vital piece of information with me?”

“Yes, because I feared for his life.”

“We could have avoided this entire gods’ forsaken trek into Mysthallia had I known!”

“No, we could not have.” I closed the space between us and jabbed my finger into his chest. “And if you say that again, it won’t be my finger but my dagger at your heart.”

He rolled his eyes, a sharp exhale pursing his lips.

“If I hadn’t forced you into taking a vow promising not to hurt Aidan, you would’ve used your shadows to torture the truth out of him. Don’t pretend you wouldn’t have…”

“It would have saved us all heaps of time and aggravation.”

My thoughts swirled to the night before, and a pang of hurt lanced through my chest. Time and aggravation, that was what I was to him? He must have noticed the twist of my lips, the momentary faltering, because he reached for me.

“Aelia, I didn’t mean?—”

I spun away before his hand closed around my arm. “It doesn’t matter. We’re here now, aren’t we? So let’s get this damned incantation over with. I’m anxious to get back to the Conservatory.” Something I never thought I’d say. I marched to the door, still wearing my tunic and leathers from the night before, and wrenched the thick timber open.

Reign appeared at my side before I made it through the threshold. “If you truly are having reservations about this, Aelia, we need to discuss it now. Whatever Melisara finds, there will be no going back.”

I stiffened my jaw, that damned indecision warring in my gut. I needed to know the truth, as terrifying as it was. “We’ve already come all this way, as you mentioned in your complaint, so we may as well complete our task.”

“…Fine.”

“Fine.” I whirled on my heel and stalked into the living room, the scent of incense and wild herbs filling my nostrils.

Melisara glided toward me with a gentle smile on her lips, her robe swishing across the wooden floor in a hypnotic rhythm. “I’m glad to see you awake, child.”

“Me too. Thank you for the hospitality.”

“Of course. You were quite entertaining.” Her lively eyes flickered between Reign and me. Oh gods, strike me down now.

“Come, I have everything prepared.” She held out her hand, long slender fingers coaxing me forward. An enormous cast-iron cauldron sat atop the stone table in the middle of the room, bubbling and fizzing in a frenzy. The strangest part was that there was no fire beneath it. It simply simmered and boiled of its own accord.

Melisara led me to a cozy settee across the table, then assumed her position beside the cauldron. Flickering candles hung in the air, suspended by nothing more than magic, or rather, lys . Reign flopped down beside me, eyeing the pungent concoction that sizzled and spat, expelling its grievances.

“First, I will confirm that you are in fact spellbound. Once I’ve ascertained that, I can go about finding the best way to break the enchantment.”

“And if I decide I don’t want the spell removed?” The words spilled out before I could stop them.

“That will be your choice, child. And to be perfectly honest, as I told Reign, there is no guarantee that I would be able to sever the binds of the incantation. It would depend on the many intricate details of its formulation.”

“Just do what you can,” Reign interjected.

“Very well, let’s begin.” She revealed a small, sharp dirk from the folds of her translucent robe. “First, I need blood.”

Wonderful. Offering my palm, she slid the blade across my skin, leaving a thin trail of deep crimson.

“Now, hold your hand over the cauldron and squeeze it into a fist.”

I did as instructed, the angry hissing and spitting growing more rabid with the addition of my blood.

“Very good.” Her eyes slid closed, palms coming together as she hovered over the cauldron. “Ah, one more thing, this could be slightly unpleasant.”

The pungent scent of herbs and something metallic heightened as I sat back on the settee, cradling my wounded hand. The dim light from the candles flickered ominously, casting long shadows against the walls, but it was the cauldron in front of me that drew my gaze. It sat bubbling, a thick, dark liquid swirling within it, tendrils of vapor snaking their way into the air like creeping fingers.

Melisara stood over it, her silver hair catching the faint light, her green eyes glowing unnaturally in the gloom. She chanted softly under her breath, words in a language I didn’t understand, but that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. The cauldron’s agitation seemed to grow, the hissing and spitting increasing as the liquid within it turned a deep shade of crimson, thick like blood. My blood.

“Are you ready?” Melisara’s voice was low, almost hypnotic, but there was a sharpness to it that snapped me out of my daze.

I nodded, my heart a raging war drum. That dread bloomed, but I forced it down, reminding myself I needed answers. If I was spellbound, I had to know.

Melisara dipped her fingers into the cauldron without flinching, scooping a handful of the viscous liquid into her palm. She approached slowly, her eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made me want to look away. But I held her gaze as she knelt before me and smeared the warm, sticky substance across my forehead, drawing intricate symbols that tingled where they touched my skin.

“This part will hurt,” she murmured, her voice both a warning and a promise.

Reign scooted closer, his thigh brushing mine, and his steady presence alone helped calm the fear.

Before I could respond, she pressed her fingers to the center of my chest, right above my heart and inches from my beloved medallion. A searing pain exploded from the spot, ripping through me like wildfire. I gasped and tried to pull away, but Melisara’s hand stayed firm, pinning me in place with unnatural strength.

The pain intensified, sharp and biting, invisible claws tearing at my insides. My necklace vibrated, the medallion burning and scorching my skin. What in all the realms? My vision blurred as I tried to breathe through the agony, but every inhale was met with resistance, an invisible force wrapping around my lungs and squeezing the life out of me.

A warm band curled around my waist, anchoring me through the pain. A familiar presence blanketed my form, icy shadows dulling the invading powers. “I’ve got you, Aelia. You can do this…”

“Hold still,” Melisara commanded, her voice now distant, merely an echoing in my mind.

The air around me shimmered, growing thick with lys as Melisara muttered more incantations, her voice weaving into the rhythm of the room. The candles flickered and died, plunging the cottage into darkness. Only the cauldron glowed now, its eerie light casting a sickly glow across Melisara’s face. She appeared otherworldly, almost inhuman.

Through the fog of pain, I could feel something shift, a tug deep inside me. It was faint at first, but then it grew stronger, like invisible threads pulling at the edges of my mind. The pain sharpened, piercing every nerve as the magic worked its way deeper, unearthing whatever was hiding beneath my skin.

“Please—” I gasped, tears pricking the corners of my eyes.

“Quiet,” Melisara murmured. “We’re almost there.”

Suddenly, the pressure inside me surged, and I cried out as something snapped. It wasn’t physical—it was deeper, buried within the very essence of who I was. And then, I saw it: A flash of shadow, dark and insidious, coiled like a serpent around my heart. It slithered through my veins, its presence unmistakable, its grip tightening with every beat of my thundering organ.

Melisara’s eyes widened, her hand trembling slightly as she withdrew her fingers from my chest. The dark tendrils lingered in the air, visible only for a moment before fading back into the shadows.

“You are indeed spellbound,” Melisara whispered, her voice low, laced with something that sounded almost like fear.

The cauldron’s bubbling slowed, its glow dimming as the magic faded. I collapsed against Reign, gasping for breath and covered in sweat, my entire body trembling from the pain and the revelation.

“By whom?” I rasped, my throat raw.

Melisara’s face hardened, her lips pressing into a thin line. “That, Aelia, is what we need to discover. But whoever bound you... their magic is powerful and dark. Very dark.”

I shuddered as the memory of those shadowy tendrils, so much like Reign’s dark minions, tightened in my mind.

“It’s bound by nox , then?” Reign asked.

Melisara slowly shook her head. “No, it’s zar .”