AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This must be where she crossed. But it’s more than that too. It’s the answer to everything. And the one I was dreading. The vines follow the path Elora stumbled through the forest until she reached the River Axan. And now I know what the Shadow Realm has taken from Elora. What it needs.
It’s not her presence that’s sustained the realm these many weeks. It’s her blood.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Giving Meera one last pat, I close the door of her stall and make my way up the aisle of the barn. The draft horse is gone from the paddock, hooked up to the wagon when I was saddling Meera for our ride earlier.
Jerund doesn’t speak to me much. Our interactions consist mostly of polite waves and nods. But today he told me all about how he trades the soaps and cheeses his wife makes from their goats’ milk with the people of Videva for beautiful hand-dyed yarn, fresh vegetables, and handmade trinkets.
When Kaia first told me of the souls in Videva pursuing mortal work even in the afterlife, I didn’t understand it. But after weeks with nothing to do but wait, I can see the appeal.
They don’t work because they have to. I know Thieran sees to their needs and provides for whatever they don’t have. They work because they want to, and they focus only on what they love. Or perhaps, for some, what they know best.
An elderly woman makes the most exquisite jewelry, delicate and intricate. It must take her days, if not weeks, to craft each piece. And in the end, she trades it not for coin but for some of the soap Corinne’s family makes, fabric for new dresses, or a basket of freshly baked sweets.
When I asked her where she got all the materials to make the things she trades, she said she found them outside her cottage. And I know that’s Thieran’s doing too. However much he wants to pretend he cares only about maintaining a balance, it’s obvious he governs his people with care.
Corinne waves at me from the shallow front stoop where she’s snapping the ends off long yellow beans, and I return the gesture. She looks so young, sixteen if she’s a day, and I wonder if souls can really live here as mortals do or if Corinne will forever be sixteen and living with her parents. Frozen in time and unable to move forward for all the centuries she might be here.
Turning away from Videva, I trudge up the path connecting the village to the palace and tuck a hair come loose from my braid behind my ear. The edges of my cloak flutter in the Shadow Realm’s ever-present breeze and swirl around my legs.
The constant chill might be bearable if the sun would shine. I never imagined the thing I’d miss most about Acaria would be the weather. At this point, I’d settle for a snowstorm. Something, anything, to offer a change of scenery.
But the thing I’d truly love is to feel the sun on my face. Even in the southern territories’ coldest months, the sun will occasionally peek out from behind the clouds and set the snow to sparkling like diamonds.
And with the solstice come and gone, the days will slowly begin to lengthen and warm until the snow melts and green buds signal the first signs of spring. On the other side of the veil, anyway.
I sigh. With any luck, I’ll actually be out of here in plenty of time to enjoy both the last of winter’s icy chill and the first welcoming notes of spring. But I still have a few days to wait until my shielding potion has fully cured and is ready for testing. And I’m growing impatient with it.
Thieran showed no signs of knowing I’d breached his wards. At least I don’t think he has. He’s been acting odd these last few days. He still studies me intently from across the room, but now his eyes dart away when I look in his direction.
It’s entirely unlike him. Typically he would hold my gaze, a slow grin painting itself across his mouth and sending shivers through me. He hasn’t touched me in days either. No more of that frantic coupling wherever we happen to find ourselves, poking and prodding at each other until irritation boils over into frenzied need.
I hate that I miss it. His touch, his warmth, his cock. It’s pathetic. I should be glad he’s bored playing whatever game he’s been playing with me. It will make leaving that much easier once my potion is ready for the ritual. Which shouldn’t be long now.
Rounding the last bend, the palace comes into view, stark black against the plain gray of the sky. If it were sunny here, the light would glint off the windows and the smooth obsidian stone, and the palace would glitter.
A lone figure, silhouetted in a tower window, catches my eye. Before I’m able to make out who it is, the figure vanishes, and Thieran appears on the bottom step leading up to the first-floor balcony.
“Coming back from a ride?”
I make a show of looking back over my shoulder at the way I came. His brow is raised when I turn to face him again.
“Obviously. I doubt I could veer very far off the path between here and Videva without running into one of your wards.”
Something flashes in his eyes, but it's gone again so fast I don’t have time to decipher it.
“The wards are for your own protection.”
I snort. “A lie that insults us both. The wards are here so you can keep me right where you want me. To use me for whatever gain you mean to use me for. I only wish you’d get it over with.”
He opens his mouth, then closes it again. Thieran’s silence is as unsettling and foreign to me as the lack of sunlight. I much prefer when we spend our time arguing or picking at each other.
“Cat got your tongue, my lord? Or have you just become as dreary as the Shadow Realm?”
His brows draw together. “What?”
I gesture all around us with a sweep of my arms. “Day in and day out, everything is the same. No rain, no snow, no storms. There isn’t even any fucking sunshine!” I throw my hands up to the sky. “It seems you’ve finally become as dull as this place is.”
