Page 23 of A Kingdom of Magic and Rain

Even better. Fewer witnesses for our detour to the Enwyld Forest.

“I can see why you have decided to train here, Emelin,” my cousin remarked as soon as we had settled in the carriage. “Lord Gray is exceptionally handsome.”

Thea barely stifled a laugh next to me while I grimaced and shook my head. Shortly after my failed engagement, I didn’t see Gray as anything more than my mentor. But then why did Luna’s interest in him set me on edge?

“I can assure you, Gray currently is only interested in his career,” Thea said as the coach started moving.

“I’m sure I could make him change his mind,” Luna drawled, her face glued to the carriage window as we took the scenic route through the now-familiar-to-me countryside. “Charming area,” she added after a few minutes. “Though I’m not sure I would want to leave the capital and move here if the lord asked for my hand.” Though Luna’s father—Lord Baylor—presided over the Magraf region, she and my aunt spent very little time there, as they preferred to stay at the royal palace for most of the year.

Thea and I exchanged a glance at her words. Did Luna truly think she had a chance with Gray? I couldn’t wait for her to reinforce the wards and be on her way back to her beloved capital.

“Since we’re out and about, I’d like to see the border,” my cousin said nonchalantly, studying her nails. She was expertly hiding her unease about the precarious state of the wards.

Thea tensed next to me at her request. “We should wait until Gray and Tom can join us. I’m sure they would love to accompany you to the Enwyld Forest.”

Narrowing my eyes at her, I searched her face, surprised by the strange reaction. “We don’t need them to accompany us. Now is as good a time as any. I also want to visit the border,” I said, infusing my voice with authority. I wanted to make it clear that it wasn’t a request, but a demand.

Thea paled slightly at my tone. “Of course, Your Highness. As you wish.”

A shiver curled down my spine when we arrived at our destination. The border looked like it had two weeks ago when I had visited it with my father. Except now I knew the truth. Dragging my gaze away from the window when the carriage jerked to a stop, I turned to Thea.

“Wait here,” I told her before Luna and I climbed out of the cabin.

Thea’s puzzled expression was the last thing I saw as Killian closed the carriage door behind me. When the butler set off toward the tree line with Luna and me, I also asked him to stay behind.

“We won’t be long,” I assured him with a tight-lipped smile.

His wise gray eyes held my gaze for a moment before he nodded in submission.

Turning my back to him and the carriage, I fell in step next to Luna as we made our way to the tree line. I finally noticed tiny cracks in my cousin’s facade as her delicate features tautened the closer we got to the border.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said low. “When your father told me… It all seems like a bad dream. The wards have held strong for a century. Why are they failing now?”

“Shh,” I shushed her as we neared the border guards standing at attention.

Luna and I both inclined our heads to acknowledge them as we walked past. We stopped when we found a short stretch of the border some distance away from prying eyes and ears.

“I don’t know why they are failing now, but we need to keep them intact. Do you know what to do?” I asked Luna as we faced the forest.

“I think so,” she said hesitantly.

“You think so?” I arched a brow.

An exasperated sigh left her. “I should be tending to gardens, not trying to mitigate a threat from a foreign enemy,” she rumbled under her breath as she extended her arms, turning her hands toward the woods before us. Closing her eyes, she released a long exhale as her power spilled into the air around us.

I also closed my eyes, concentrating on the wards. The invisible barrier appeared as splashes of watercolors in my mind. Swaths of purple, blue, yellow, and red ran along the line of the border. Some areas were muted, almost leached of color, betraying the weaknesses in our defenses. When my father had reinforced the wards last time, he had breathed new life into them, making the colors burn brighter, as he filled the gaping holes in the intangible wall. I wasn’t sensing the same effect now with Luna transferring her magic.

“It’s not working,” I told her, opening my eyes.

“I know.” She blew out a breath of frustration and looked at me. “I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong.”

“Did my father instruct you what to do?”

“He did, but listening to theory is not the same as applying it in practice.” She was right—I still hadn’t been able to unlock my powers despite having Gray explain to me how our magic worked many times. “And what about you? Maybe we can reinforce the wards together?”

Resisting the urge to cover up my face in shame, I croaked, “My magical abilities are still out of reach. But I know you can do it. Please, try again.”

“Okay,” she conceded with a heavy sigh. When she attempted to feed her magic into the wards again, the transfer worked, but her powers provided only a small patch to hold the invisible wall from crumbling down.