Page 71 of Cold Hearted

“Does it look like Dawn came back?” Queen Liliana inched closer to me,the veins bulging in her neck as her eyes went wide. “Aribella…” Her voice cracked. “It’s up to you now. I’ve brought all of Dawn’s tutors. We have seventy-four days until fall equinox. We need to get you prepared.”

I shared a startled look with my mother and then burst into laughter. But the glare on the Summer queen’s face cut the laughter off in my throat.

“You can’t be serious,” I asked her, stepping closer. “Your Majesty, you’ve had a horrible journey. Please let our maids draw you a bath and you can relax. Your people are welcome to stay in the ballroom while we find space—”

She stumbled forward, placing her hands on my shoulders, and met my gaze with a fiery one of her own.

I couldn’t help but peer down at the heart then. It was encased in a glass locket the Summer queen wore, and faint purple magic swirled around the shriveled organ inside the transparent casing. My own heart thumped aggressively in my chest. The black heart’s magic was all that prevented the curse from spreading throughout Faerie.

“Dawn failed. The portal will close. The curse will start to bleed into Fall Court and your people will suffer. You have an opportunity to finish what my daughter could not. For all of us. If you don’t stop this now, it will take over our entire world and there will be nothing left.”

I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe. Queen Liliana wasn’t one for theatrics. She was well respected and known for her calm and straightforward demeanor.

“I… Dawn… are you sure? There’s still time.” I wasn’t super close with Dawn, but I cared for her as I did all my fellow court princesses.She didn’t come back? What did that mean? Was she dead? No champion had never not come back before. Theyalwayscame back.

“I’m sure. I spoke to her in a vision. She failed.” The queen tipped her head high and tears lined her eyes.

“But…” my mother squeaked, “Summer always sends a champion. They always come back.”

A stone sank in my gut. I’d read theChampion Codex, along with every other book in our library. “If the Summer champion fails, it’s up to Fall to finish the task,” I quoted.

Every court princess was supposed to be trained in case the one before them failed in their task, but since the beginning of the curse, a Summer princess had never not returned successful, and so the training had almost completely dropped off.

The Summer queen nodded. “We start training right away. Send for your father. I’ll have the tutors set up in the library. We will also need a room for combat lessons.”

My mother gasped at that and pulled me back toward her. “She is a princess. I cannot let her takecombat lessonsand put her health at risk.”

My cheeks reddened.

“Mother,” I growled. I knew she was speaking of my secret, something only my father and mother knew.

Queen Liliana tipped her head back and laughed, a sarcastic and biting sound. “So putting my daughter’s life at stake is fine, but when it comes to sending another champion, it isn’t?”

My mother bristled. “I didn’t mean that. I’m very sorry to hear that Dawn didn’t come back.”

The Summer queen held up a single finger and stroked the locket at her neck, sending a slight purple electric bolt through the glass from her fingertips. “If Aribella does not walk through that portal in a little over two months’ time and carve the heart out of the chest of an Ethereum lord, we all die. It’s that plain and simple.” Queen Liliana glared my mother down.

My mother whimpered as she curved in on herself. Now it was my turn to scowl at the Summer queen. “Don’t scare her.”

I tried to be sparse with how I used my power so that I didn’t aggravate my condition, but things were getting heated. Pushing a bit of my magic outward, I sent calming waves of energy to the two women and watched as they instantly relaxed, their brows unfurrowing, shoulders slumped.

There, that was better.

“Let’s wash up, have dinner, and make a plan. I’m not letting anything happen to our people if I can prevent it,” I told them both, and the Summer queen seemed content with that declaration. She allowed our secretary to show her to her new guest wing.

The moment she was out of sight, my mother spun on me with wide, terrified eyes. “Aribella, you cannot entertain this. The training alone will stress your heart too much. Not to mention you might not even survive such a taxing trip, and certainly you’re not strong enough to assassinate an Ethereum lord!”

I frowned at my mother, my protector. She meant well, I knew she wanted good things for me. She was always encouraging me to read and study and take after my father in ruling the kingdom. But she never believed I was capable of doing anything too hard. No fencing, no horseback riding, no sports.

No, Aribella, that will stress your weak heart.

Not that much magic, Aribella—your heart.

Aribella, that was dangerous—your heart!

“Mother, you and father raised me to give everything that I am to our people, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Dawn is likely dead. The Summer Court is ravaged. It’s the Fall Court’s turn to take responsibility for the curse and put things right. For the good of all Faerie, I will not let them down.”

I held my head high as a surge of adrenaline rushed through me, causing my heart to stutter and my vision to waver before clearing again.

“I wish I’d had a son in this moment,” my mother said, as a single tear escaped her eye and trailed down her cheek.

I laughed at that. “Well, then, let me show you how strong daughters can be. Faint-hearted and all.”