Page 62 of A Kingdom of Magic and Rain

“It was Tom, wasn’t it?” I ventured a guess. The conclusion wasn’t difficult to draw, given his open hostility toward me from the time we had first met.

“When we arrived at the border,” Adrian said thickly, “Tom used his magic to send a note to the king. Sorin already had archers stationed in the woods.”

At the mention of the archers, my heart twisted as I thought about my father.

“Tom is not evil,” Thea said, wiping away her tears. “But he is loyal to the crown. Loyal to a fault.”

“You all are,” I said, even though I felt like a hypocrite. Would I not have done the same thing if the situation were reversed? I wouldn’t have, I decided after a moment of introspection. I would have found another way. And so would have my father.

“I’m going to check with Tom to see if there has been any word on Lady May,” Thea said, seemingly having regained her composure. “What are we going to do?” she repeated the same question she had asked Adrian when she had first shown up at his room.

“Pray for a miracle,” he replied, and the feeling of numbness that had taken over me intensified.

Thea’s chin trembled as if she were on the verge of tears again. She kept it together as she turned and looked at me. She wanted to say something, but a heartbeat later decided against it. I was glad she had because I didn’t have it in me to show grace and be kind. With one last desperate look at Adrian, she slipped through the door.

Pray for a miracle. I lifted my eyes to the decorative ceiling. “Do faeries also pray to the Stars?”

“We do. Like yours, our magic comes from the Stars.” He sounded hoarse, as if it were difficult for him to get the words out.

I lowered my gaze to his. “You also speak Stellian—the language of the Stars.”

“We do. Though here, it’s known as the Fae language.”

“Our people coexisted in peace before the war. It only makes sense that we used to speak the same language,” I mused aloud.

“Is this really what you want to be discussing right now? How are you so calm?”

“Because there is nothing we can do,” I whispered the words, but they sounded deafening. They ricocheted off the walls, lashing at me with their finality.

“Emelin,” Adrian’s voice broke as his eyes filled with anguish. When he stepped closer to me, I didn’t back away. A part of me wanted to find comfort in his arms for the short time that we had left together. “I—” He reached for me, but before he could touch me, I grabbed his hand.

“Your hand has healed.” I ran my thumb down the thin, shimmery trail of dried blood on his palm, feeling smooth skin where he had made the cut to seal the blood oath.

“We, the Fae, heal quickly,” he explained.

“Extraordinary healing abilities, heightened sense of hearing…and smell.” I recalled how Thea and Tom had known that Adrian and I had spent the night together. They must have smelled him on me, and me on him. I swallowed, trying not to open the box with the memories of what he and I had shared. “Impossible strength,” I added, remembering how Sorin had lifted Adrian off the ground as if he were nothing more than a helpless pup. “My people don’t stand a chance,” I whispered the terrifying realization before I uttered fiercely, “you have to kill me.”

“What?!” His eyes widened in shock.

“Sorin needs me alive to bring down the wards.”

“It’s only a matter of time before they are down, with or without you.”

“I refuse to expedite my kingdom’s demise!”

“You can’t possibly ask that of me!” He wrested his hand away.

I opened my mouth to tell him that if he wouldn’t help, then I would find a way to do it myself but stopped when the air beside him became distorted. Ripples of soft, shimmering light rolled up and down that section of the room until Lady May appeared in that spot a moment later. Her gaze immediately zeroed in on me.

“I’m getting you out of here,” she said urgently as her arm shot out in my direction.

“No!” I stepped out of her reach.

My wide-eyed gaze darted to Adrian who looked relieved to see the Sorceress.

“Please, Emelin,” he said, his eyes pleading. “Go with Lady May. She will take you to safety.”

“Safety?!” I scoffed. “Like Thea took me to safety?!”