Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
This toxin is different from the one they’ve used on me before. This one blocks everything—not just my magic, but even my ability to reliably control my muscles. I can breathe, but not well, and every bit of air my lungs manage to accept leaves me desperate for the next. This is death without dying. This is a nightmare.
Sebastian is next to me in this cramped, dark cell. He must’ve been drugged with the same poison. Every time he tries to shout, his words sound as slurred as I’m sure mine would be if I tried to talk.
I don’t waste my energy on screaming. Not when I can barely muster the strength to breathe.
I think of Lark sleeping. Of Pretha grieving.
I think of Finn’s good heart, his endless sacrifices, and how much he wanted to save his kingdom.
Riaan stands in the corner of the cell, his head tipped back against the stone, but I see no sign of Kane. I hope he got away. I hope he and Finn are on their way to get us now.
But where are we?
What do they have planned for us?
And why did they take Riaan? What do they want with him?
Unconsciousness tugs at me, and I welcome it, slipping down, down and away from this useless body.
“Wake them up.” A sharp feminine voice yanks away the comforting oblivion of sleep. Riaan’s boot nudges my side, and when I peel my eyes open, he kicks Sebastian.
“Brie,” Sebastian rasps.
I lift my head and see Queen Arya standing at the door to our tiny prison, her beautiful blond hair flowing down her shoulders in stark contrast to the bitter, twisted scowl on her face. She is too young to be so old, but the bitterness that has aged her soul shows through her eyes.
“Mother,” Sebastian chokes out as he stumbles to stand. I wonder how he can manage it. I can’t even get my feet under me.
Light blasts from Arya’s hand, throwing Sebastian against the back wall of the cell. “It’s my son,” she says, “who tried to be king and failed. Only a fool would try to take the Throne of Shadows without the power it demands.”
“I din know,” he slurs.
“But what was lost, really?” she asks, cocking her head to the side. “Is there any real victory in being king of a dying court? Ruler over Unseelie filth?”
Sebastian presses a hand to his chest. “I mmm Uh-seelie, Mother.”
“Exactly.” The queen’s nostrils flare in disgust, and she lifts her chin. “And your inconstant loyalty has proved to me that you’re no better than they are.” Hurt flashes in Sebastian’s eyes, but his mother doesn’t see it or doesn’t care. “You might be young, but you’re not that stupid. You forfeited your claim to that throne when you let that girl keep your father’s power.”
“I din—”
“You gave her the Potion of Life. Magic is life, my son. You know this.”
Half his face contorts in anger; the other half falls slack. “What woo you had me do? Le’er die?”
“Yes. That was the plan from the start. That girl literally stood between you and your father’s throne.” She shakes her head. “You think I didn’t know that you tracked her down? Two years you tried to pretend you were still searching. You thought I didn’t know?” She stares at her son, her eyes as hard as sapphires. “My magic may have been weak, but my people are loyal. I knew you’d found her, and when you lied to me, I chose to test you.”
“This was . . . a test?”
“Yes. And you failed.”
The hatred on her face is so cruel, I ache for Sebastian. He knew that his mother made bad choices, that she was wicked and deceitful, but he loved her nevertheless. And this is what he gets in return.
“But I should thank you,” she says. “You made a difficult decision much easier to make and a difficult war easier to win.”
“What happened to uniting the courts?” he asks. His words are clearer now, as if the poison is weakening in his blood. “What happened to the promised child? What happened to everything you told me about my birthright and my future as king of both courts?”
Her eyes blaze, and golden light blooms around her. “You thought I was going to hand my crown over to you? To lie down and die after all I’ve done, all I’ve sacrificed for you?” She shakes her head. “That stopped being the plan the moment you first lied to me. You’re no better than your lying, scheming father.”
“I am still your son.”
“Do you think I can look at your face without hating you for the part of him you carry? Why do you think I spent so much time traveling without you? Why do you think I sent you away so often?”