The Crown Prophecy

Chapter 23

T here was only one inn in the dusty trading town of Moiaria. A worn wooden sign hanging above the door identified it as The Cask and Crow, and it was about as welcoming as the name suggested.

A middle-aged woman across the counter of the check-in area eyed our battle-worn traveling clothes suspiciously as Vanessa asked for a room.

“And whose name should I put this under?” she asked.

“Beada Knox,” Vanessa replied easily. The woman arched an eyebrow, as if she knew it was an alias, but didn’t push further when Vanessa plopped a fat bag of coins on the weathered wood of the bar.

“One room with two beds,” she clarified.

The woman weighed the bag in her hand and pulled the drawstring open with two fingers, making a poor show of neutrality when she realized how much coin was inside.

“Upstairs,” she directed. “Second door on the right.”

After giving our thanks, we turned to go.

“You’d better not be bringing any trouble to my doorstep,” she called after us.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Colette said sweetly, and we headed to find our lodgings for the night.

The room was little more than a dingy wooden box containing two worn bed frames topped with lumpy mattresses.

Vanessa eyed the space with distaste. “I think I preferred the forest,” she grumbled.

Privately, I agreed with her, but it was only one night. Half a night, really. It would be foolish to delay any longer than that, but we couldn’t go into Orobas’s stronghold as haggard as we were. At least here, we could get a few hours of sleep, our horses could rest, eat, and be watered, and we would set off with the dawn light.

One more day. One more day, and I would be with Evander again. One more day, and we would free him . . . somehow.

After setting the two packs from the bandits on one of the beds, I went to examine our door. The wooden bar meant to function as a lock offered little in the way of security. I supposed now was a good time to test Colette’s theory.

“Can one of you go stand on the other side of the door?” I asked, biting my lower lip. “I want to try something.”

Vanessa nodded, immediately picking up on my intent, and shut the door behind her.

All right. Here we go.

Raising my arms, I reached for that space inside me, skimming the surface of the pool of light I could now feel there. Concentrating my energy on the door, I imagined the shimmering web of a ward falling around it before slowly lowering my hands and clearing my throat.

“Anything?” I called to Vanessa.

“Let me test it.” A moment passed, but the door didn’t budge.

Colette squealed, grabbing my arm. I imagined the web lifting and dissolving into the air.

“Now?”

Vanessa opened the door and strode into the room, hands on her hips.

“Took you long enough, Red.” She grinned from ear to ear. My heart soared as Colette tackled me in a hug. Vanessa even joined in, the three of us ending up in a heap on the floor.

“I knew you could do it,” Colette said, giggling.

“So did I, obviously.” Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Though I’m pissed that those assholes in the pass did a better job teaching you than we did.”

I laughed, giddy. “I just needed to connect to the source of it. I couldn’t visualize it properly before, but when that woman tried to Siphon me, I felt the empty place where it used to be. All I had to do was dip into that pool and it was waiting for me.”

“Well done.” Vanessa ruffled my hair, standing up and heading over to one of the beds. “Now, let’s rest and go get our families.”

The floor creaked as I strode to the packs and began digging through their contents. Katriana’s bag was full of empty glass vials, each with a tiny chip of hyalperite embedded along the rim. Even dormant, I could feel a cold, leaching pull on my magic when I held them; the disturbing feeling made me shudder.

The rest of the bag was full of basic traveling necessities: another compass, a canteen, and some rations, but no clues as to who she worked for or why they were harvesting Gifts in the pass.

Theophilus’s bag was much the same. One by one, I unpacked a few hunting knives, some dried meat, and a flask of something that smelled like turpentine. Finally, my hand found the bottom of the satchel and closed around cool, smooth glass.

I pulled it out and gasped. Another vial. This one was full of a rich, plum-colored liquid that felt like stepping into an orchard in the middle of summer.

Vanessa walked up behind me and peered at it over my shoulder.

“Shit,” she exhaled. I nodded, passing the bottle to her.

“Can you identify the Wielder?” I asked. “Even when it was bottled up, my power felt like me, but I don’t recognize this one.”

After a moment, she shook her head. “There are hundreds of casters in Enorias, and I don’t know how many more might be left in hiding in Falerin. It would be impossible to find the right person without more information.”

Colette didn’t have any better luck.

Knowing that whoever this belonged to was out there somewhere, feeling as helpless and empty as I had the day before, was heart-rending.

“Maybe we’ll find them in Valine,” I said hopefully. “It’s possible they’re being held in the same place as Evander and Maddox.”

“Maybe,” was Vanessa’s only reply. The expression on her face was enough to tell me she didn’t have much hope.

I tucked the vial carefully back into the bag and kept it within arm’s reach of my pillow all night.

. . .

Mother’s cottage loomed over me in my dreams. Entering, I swept through the empty rooms, searching for her in vain, shuddering as I realized that everything looked as it had before she cast me out, frozen in time. One of her embroidery projects sat, half-finished, on the couch, and a loaf of day-old bread from the castle sat on the kitchen counter.

Something caught in my throat when I reached my old room and looked at my bed, sheets rumpled as if I had left in a hurry just that morning. I ran my fingers over the spines of the books at my bedside. The Chronicles of Eldoria, Knights of the Silver Blade . . . Tears pricked my eyes when I spotted Son of the Marked One . The copy Evander had lent me all those months ago.

The loneliness was a deep ache in my core. For the last few days, I had fought to compartmentalize, focusing all my energy on the next task instead of how much I missed him, but for a moment, vaguely aware that I was dreaming, I let myself crumble. I sank to my knees on the floor of my childhood bedroom and sobbed at the unfairness of it all. All of my hopelessness, despair, and longing poured out of my eyes as my body wracked itself with sobs.

“Quinn!” The call sounded like it was coming from Evander, and I wept harder at the cruelty of it.

“Quinn!” it came again, more panicked this time. Looking up through my tears, I saw what looked like his form in the doorway.

Unable to stop myself, I stood up and bolted for his arms. Even in a dream, his embrace felt like coming home.

“Quinn,” he repeated a third time, his voice thick with emotion. “Thank the gods.” His chest felt as solid as it ever had. The dream version even smelled like him.

He gave me the briefest, most tender squeeze before placing his hands on my shoulders and pushing me an arm’s length from him so we stood face to face.

“I don’t have much time,” he said, his eyes boring into mine as he spoke as quickly as possible. “I was in the dungeons at Orobas’s palace, and they only removed the shackles long enough to–” he took a deep breath. “Quinn, they have a way to drain our power.”

This part didn’t feel like a dream. My heart skipped a beat as I wiped my tears away to really look at him. His face was drawn and tired and there was a bruise blooming on his right eye. This wasn’t the version of him I would’ve conjured in a fantasy.

“Evander?” I whispered. “Is that you?”

Moving one hand up to my cheek to stroke it gently, he nodded.

I placed a hand over his warm, solid touch. “I’m coming to get you,” I promised. “We all are. We’re almost there.”

Evander’s hand stilled and he paled, shaking his head furiously.

“No,” he blanched. “Quinn, you have to promise me you won’t come looking for me. Go back to Lilifel and find someone else to help you hold the wards. Lead our people. I know you’ll be brilliant.” He squeezed my hands with such earnestness and force that any last reservations about the reality of this “dream” left my head.

“Promise me,” he repeated.

Was he asking me to abandon him? To remarry and lead a kingdom I had only just begun learning about? The thought made me shake with fury.

“Evander, I can’t. We’re coming to get you.”

“If you love me, Quinn, go home. Our people need you, and I can’t stand him getting his hands on you here. I–”

His eyes flared wide and he fell to the floor, clutching his chest.

No. NO.

I sank to my knees alongside him, trying to hold onto him as he vaporized under my touch.

“Evander!” I swiped at the air furiously, but he was gone.

. . .

I awoke in a cold sweat, bolting upright. My face was wet with tears and my heart pounded so hard I feared it might beat out of my chest.

That was no ordinary dream.

“Vanessa. Colette, ” I called into the darkness.

Vanessa was awake, sitting up in an instant as Colette rubbed her eyes blearily.

“What’s wrong?” Colette asked, a small frown forming on her sleepy face.

“It’s Evander. He’s in trouble. He said he was in the dungeons but then–” The lump in my throat became painful.

No matter what he said, I wouldn’t leave him. It would never be an option. Seeing him alive, even for a moment, even in a dream, was enough to overcome any hesitancy to act, even without knowing what I was charging into. My breaths came hard and fast as I scrambled to assemble what meager belongings I had with me.

“Slow down,” Vanessa ordered. “What happened?”

“It was a dream,” I gulped air down madly, feeling as if I were suffocating anyway, “but it wasn’t. I think he’s been in those hyalperite shackles this whole time, but he found a way to contact me when they removed them.” Panic held me in its clutches as I said, “I think they just Siphoned his power.”

“You’re sure it wasn’t a nightmare?” Vanessa asked.

“Absolutely. It was him.”

She nodded once, grimly, and started to pack her things. Colette jumped out of bed without asking any questions, all traces of sleep gone from her angelic face, and began frantically stuffing her belongings into her pack as well. I had never loved my friends more than in that moment.

While they dressed, I made sure to grab the bag containing the little purple vial and swept the room one final time to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything.

Wordlessly, we were out the door and creeping down the creaky stairs of the inn within minutes. The morning light was barely beginning to peek over the horizon as we stepped outside, so it must be five or six o’clock at the latest. All the employees of the inn were still asleep, but we were able to navigate to the small stable in the back and find our horses without incident.

As soon as we were out of the town, I pressed my heel into Buttercup’s side, urging her into a full run. The countryside passed in a blur as we traveled at breakneck speed, hoping we weren’t already too late.