An oak table in the woods.
Mum sat on one side, her dark hair strung with cobwebs and flowers, palms down on either side of the book.
FREUDDWYTH sat on the open page, the black ink stark against the old vellum. Dreaming. Why was she showing me this again?
I sat across from her, twisting my fingers in my jacket, heart pounding. I needed to get out of here. Something about this place wasn’t safe. I needed to go home and check on the boys. But they were with Dad, weren’t they? Surely that meant they were safe. And more than anything, I just wanted to reach across that table and hug her, but something in my gut told me it wasn’t allowed.
“Mum, why am I here?” I asked.
Mum flipped her hands palm up. The book fluttered, pages flipping, sending a musty cloud of dust into the air between us.
DIRGELWCH.
Secret.
“Because we are valuable to them. You need to be strong, cariad.” She reached out, her fingers hovering an inch from my cheek, but she didn’t touch.
Cariad. The little Welsh endearment I hadn’t heard in so long made my heart pound. I took a deep breath and shifted to rest my cheek against her hand. Like a rabbit fleeing, she snatched her hand back before we touched, but her expression remained unchanged. Cool and blank. Distant. Like a recording. Something knotted up in my chest. All I wanted in the world was to crawl over that table and hug her close, but that wasn’t allowed here.
The pages flipped again.
GWIRIONEDD.
Truth.
“We are so much more than we seem, Bryn,” she breathed. “For generations before you were born, she wanted our bloodline. She can unlock a power in us that you couldn’t imagine.”
“I stopped her, didn’t I?” I demanded, pushing myself up from my seat, but Mum didn’t seem to hear me. She raised her hands slowly, like she was moving through water, and pressed her fingers to the pages.
“We’re probably the only humans in the world who can use this book. You and your brothers alike.”
“It doesn’t matter. They’ll never have to.” I blinked. The dappled light filtering through the branches dimmed. The earthy scent of an imminent storm washed over us as the trees began to shake. I glanced over my shoulder. I needed to get home soon. They would be waiting for me. They would be scared.
“You cannot deny Asher and Jacob their birthrights, Bryn. They are just as powerful as you.”
“I’m protecting them.” I turned back to her, my brows furrowed. “If you really think we should use it, why did you never show us this book when we were kids? Why didn’t you teach us then if you knew they were after us?”
Mum stood up, and leaves fluttered down from her hair, crumbling to dust even as they fell to the ground at her feet.
“You need to teach the boys, cariad.”
“No!” I shouted. I balled my hands into fists. “If you knew we were in danger, why didn’t you tell us anything? You should have taught me this yourself!”
“Bryn.”
She gave me a small, sad smile, and closed her eyes.
There was a crunch of leaves underfoot. In the space between two blinks, Mum disappeared. The air filled with the thickness of impending rain. I turned, and … no.
There was the prince, blue blood dripping from his side.
I scrambled back, reaching for my iron nail, but my neck was bare. Pain exploded across my jaw as his knuckles slammed into my face, sending stars dancing in front of my eyes. I stumbled, my back slamming into the side of the wooden table. The breath rushed out of me. I wheezed and kicked out, but it was a bare foot that met his chest.
The Fae leered at me, wrapping his thin fingers around my ankle. The world slowed down as he yanked me up, hurling me away. My head collided with the earth and the world spun. But the Fae was coming back. I had to run. I had to get away from him. I forced myself to my feet, but everything was off. The table and the Fae loomed over me. My dark clothes had been replaced with my little sundress, my small, scabby knees poking out from the hem.
“Little one,” the Fae positively cooed, reaching down for me. “Where will you go?”
No! I had to get home. I had to protect Mum and Dad and the twins. I turned and tried to run, but the grass curled up around my ankles, holding me in place. My knees hit the ground first, followed by the rest of me. Claws dug into my shoulders. Chills ran down my spine, pooling and flooding and covering me in ice. The grass tightened. The claws dug deeper until, first with a crack, then a mighty thunder, the icy feeling shattered. All that remained was heat stabbing into my shoulder.
“Stop!” I screamed, my cheeks burning. “Get away!”
The nails ripped down my back, trailing fire in their wake. I screamed until my throat went raw. I was going to die here. And the prince would go home and take the boys. I pressed my forehead into the grass, tears streaming down my cheeks as I prepared for the end of it.
“Bryn!” a distant voice called. I blinked through the tears. Red banners with gold dragons tumbled down from outstretched branches. The woman in the dove-gray gown flickered between the trees. Her skirts billowed around her as she ran, legs charging against the ground, but she never drew any closer. Instinctively, I pulled away.
“What do you want from me?” I called, but my voice came out in a wheezy whisper. “You already sold us!”
The woman stretched out both arms and, in a rumble of flapping fabric, she transformed into a withered crone. Then again, into a delicate white doe.
“Who are you?” I cried.
A hand touched my shoulder. I flinched, my breath hitching in my throat.
“Come back,” a familiar voice cried from the distance. “Come on, Bryn. You’re not ditching me like this.”
It wasn’t him. He was gone. It wasn’t him. I was safe now. Cold washed over me in waves until, like a rubber band breaking, it stopped. I turned, staring up. Through the blur of the tears and pain, I saw Jasika staring down at me.