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When the Evie opened her eyes the next morning, it was still dark outside. Sometime in the hours after she dozed off, the others had joined her in the tent. Hair was tangled together, limbs and blankets were inextricably intertwined. Only one person was missing, assumedly keeping watch.
Coincidentally, it was the very person she wanted to see.
“Ellanden.”
The Prince of the Fae wasn’t so much keeping watch as he was standing in the middle of the clearing, staring off into the trees. He’d been a wreck in the forest last night. Only the presence of the vampire had kept him tethered to the ground. As it stood, he was still trying to come down from the adrenaline, still trying to comprehend how his entire life had been shaken to the core.
Evie slowly walked up beside him, staring in the same direction. “Did you get any sleep?”
A single look at his face and she got her answer. No, the fae hadn’t been able to close his eyes. Chances were, he wouldn’t be able to for a long time.
“I keep thinking...it can’t be true,” he murmured. “Cosette must have made a mistake of some kind. Our parents would never stop fighting, they could never just leave...” He trailed into silence, lifting his eyes to the forest. “But the world feels different. You can see it in the trees.”
Normally, the princess would have teased him for something like that. Claimed he was starting to sound like one of the elders, or asked the nature spirits to please return her best friend.
The problem was, she’d been thinking the same thing herself.
“We did this,” he breathed, never taking his eyes off the forest. “Everything that’s happened since the moment we left...the fault lies with us.”
Evie’s vision swam with tears but she blinked them back, forcing herself to be calm. “Not us,” she corrected. “Me.”
He glanced down quickly, surprised by her change of tone. “What are you—”
“I’m the one who started this,” she interrupted grimly, repeating the same words she’d been chanting to herself all night. “When I snuck over to your room the night of the festival, that damn prophecy crumpled up in my pocket, there was this moment...this moment where I paused.”
His eyes tightened in confusion as he abandoned the watch entirely. “What are you talking about? A moment—”
“I just stood outside your window,” she said quietly, “watching you sleep. You looked so peaceful. You had no idea that our whole world had just come crashing down. And it occurred to me, if I never told you, if I just went back to my own room...none of that ever had to change.”
His face darkened as he finally understood. “Everly, don’t—”
“I was the one who pushed for this to happen. Asher thought it was a bad idea, you thought it was a joke. The only reason we left in the first place was because of me. The rest is all collateral damage.”
Her eyes misted over as she thought of how extensive that collateral damage had become. Not just the toppling of one empire, but the toppling of four. Like a child playing with dominos, she’d destroyed everything her parents had worked so hard to create in one fell swoop. They’d bled for it. They’d risked their lives. And the second she climbed out her window, it was all over.
She expected Ellanden to agree with her. Even if he was gentle about it. The fae and the vampire were absurdly protective, but they were also honest to a fault. There were no secrets between them. There were no graceful diversions of blame. But she couldn’t have been more wrong.
A strong hand caught her beneath the chin, forcing her gaze to meet his.
“That’s enough.”
She tried to pull away, but it was useless. The most she could do was meet his eyes.
“I’m trying to apologize,” she muttered. “If we ever make it out of this, I’m going to end up apologizing to the entire realm. I might as well start with you. The first person I roped into it—”
“You didn’t rope me into anything,” he interrupted, dropping his hand in frustration. “Do you really think I would have come along if I didn’t want to? Do you think Asher couldn’t make up his mind for himself? You were given a prophecy, Evie. Such a thing requires action—”
“But look at what happened!” Those tears she’d been holding back with such fierce resolve fell freely down her cheeks “Everything...everything fell apart! If you’d asked me to write out a worst-case scenario, it wouldn’t have been this bad!”
Her breathing hitched as the panic began to take hold.
It had happened several times over the course of the night already. She’d hoped she was through the worst of it. But just saying the words out loud brought it all back again. Her pulse was racing and her fingers trembled as she curved them round the back of her neck.
“And for what?” she demanded before he could speak. “We haven’t done anything! We haven’t fixed anything! We just got ourselves caught in the web of some psychopath after killing the world’s oldest snake! We FAILED, Ellanden! And what’s worse—we took everyone down with us!”
By now, the others had ventured cautiously out of the tent and were standing on the other side of the clearing. The girls were looking at each other nervously, while Asher looked about a second away from walking over himself. But all of them kept their distance, listening in silence.
“We haven’t failed, because we haven’t even started.” Ellanden placed a steady hand on her shoulder, absorbing some of that trembling into himself. “You can’t put this on yourself, Evie. It killed us to leave. To the point where we almost didn’t go through with it.”
“But we did—”
“Yes, we did.” He stared deep into her eyes, radiating a quiet sort of calm. “And we did it for a reason. ‘Three shall set out, though three shall not return’...do you remember the rest of it?”
When the princess let out a defeated sob, he continued on by himself.
“To recover a stone from a land that won’t burn. Long shall they travel, for deep does it dwell, to bring to the land either heaven or hell.” His eyebrows lifted ever so slightly, though that eternal calm remained. “Sounds like a reason to me.”
In a flash, the vampire was standing beside them—so collected and poised it was as if he’d been there all along. He flashed Ellanden a quick look before turning to face the princess as well.
“They shall fall out of step in a land without time, and toil in shadow where stars cannot shine.” He paused a moment, letting it sink in. “I think we can safely cross those two off our list.”
“Old enemies prowl,” Ellanden continued, “for the dead never die...”
A pointed silence fell between them, until the princess finally finished the couplet herself.
“But peace will prevail if the dragon can fly.”
Strange. Ever since awakening from the sorcerer’s dark enchantment, so many things were muddled. Yet, even after so much time, the words of the prophecy were perfectly clear.
“The darkness was always coming,” Ellanden said softly. “It’s the reason we were given the prophecy in the first place. To find the one thing that could make a difference. To bring it all back.”
Evie stared up at him, her eyes still brimming with tears.
“...but how can we do that?” she whispered. “The darkness was always coming, but now it sounds like it’s already here. While we were sleeping, the world fell apart. And our parents—”
She cut herself short as a look of genuine pain shot across the fae’s face. While every word he spoke had been utterly sincere, that same overwhelming guilt hadn’t spared him.
Asher saw it, too, and quickly intervened, clapping his friend on the back before gazing down at the princess. “Our parents did everything they could—but this prophecy was given to us. The people of this realm will rise or fall by our hand. They are our responsibility now. It belongs to no one else.”
Evie nodded weakly, staring down at her shoes. But he lifted her chin with a gentle hand.
“You can’t take the weight of this on to yourself,’ he said. “You can’t punish yourself like it was some kind of crime. What you did, going to Ellanden’s room that night, took a special kind of courage.” His eyes twinkled as they stared into hers. “Perhaps that’s the reason the witch gave it to you. The reason you were drawn to that carnival tent and not one of us. You’ve always been a special kind of brave.”
There was a quiet rustling as the others joined them, but the princess remained frozen where she was standing, blinking with delayed shock. Since they were children, the friends had spent so much time together it was easy to believe they could predict each other’s every thought. But every now and again, they still managed to surprise each other. Even take each other’s breath away.
She tensed instinctively, expecting Ellanden to deny it, to make some kind of joke or insist the true bravery lay with him. But he didn’t. He simply nodded in agreement before lashing his pack more securely to his back. Ready for the next step. Ready to leave.
Except...which way were they going?
“We should head to the nearest kingdom,” Evie said softly. “Whatever dark force is coming will just have to wait. We need to tell our parents that we’re alive. Try to set things right and repair things before it’s too late. Belaria is the closest. We could be there in a few days.”
Again, she expected this to be obvious. But the others rejected it at the same time.
“We need to get on with the prophecy,” Ellanden argued. “That’s where our focus should be.”
“He’s right,” Asher agreed quickly. “That dark force has had the last ten years to search for the stone. If by some miracle it hasn’t been found already, we need to get there first.”
A shiver ran up Evie’s spine, though she couldn’t back down completely.
“But our parents,” she insisted. “Every day must be torment. Surely there’s a way we can do both? At least let them know we’re alive?”
The same faces flashed through their minds. She could see Ellanden faltering. After a few quiet seconds, he glanced at Cosette.
“How do you keep in contact with them?” Ellanden asked her. “Surely they don’t allow you to simply wander out here indefinitely? Surely there’s a place you go to reconnect?”
Asher made a gesture of impatience, but Cosette shook her head slowly.
“It isn’t as simple as that. When our parents decided to leave, they didn’t want anyone to follow—probably because they didn’t ever plan on coming back.”
“What does that mean?” Evie asked warily.
“It means they didn’t just leave the castle, they left the entire kingdom—disappeared far beyond the reaches of the realm. No one has seen or heard from them since.”
The friends absorbed this for a moment, then Ellanden shook his head in alarm.
“But surely that can’t apply to you,” he said quickly. “Surely you’ve been there, you must know how to reach them—”
“I do,” Cosette reassured him, “but again, it isn’t so simple. The house they built is high in the mountains. It would take ages to reach on foot, too long for any person to travel. When I left, they had one condition. They forced me to take a seeing stone—so that I could contact them any time I liked. Whenever I decided to visit, my father would shift and carry me back.”
“Well that’s...that’s perfect!” Evie exclaimed, not understanding her confusion. “All we need to do is walk down to the river and toss in the stone!”
Cosette’s face fell infinitesimally, while Freya pursed her lips.
“Let me guess,” Asher said shrewdly, “...it isn’t that simple?”
The fae fidgeted nervously, shifting back and forth on her feet. “The thing is...I kind of lost the stone.”
The friends flashed each other a quick look, each thinking the same thing but unwilling to say it out loud. She kept the wooden pony, but lost the magical stone.
“You lost it?” Evie repeated lightly, lifting her eyebrows with a faint smile.
It reminded her of the time a seven-year-old Ellanden had ‘misplaced’ her father’s royal scepter. The Belarian officials had searched far and wide, never knowing that the sacred emblem lay forgotten at the bottom of the garden pond.
“Oh—was it lost?” Freya asked innocently, already knowing the answer. “Like it fell out of your pocket somewhere? Or maybe it was carried off by some mystical bird?”
Cosette let out a quiet sigh, lowering her eyes. It was a discretion she would have happily taken to her grave, but in light of the current situation a quick confession seemed to be required.
“...I lost it in a game of cards.”
There was a beat of silence.
“You what?!”
Turns out Ellanden hadn’t lost his ‘big brother’ voice after all.
Cosette blanched, blushed, then decided against the aforementioned confession. “I mean, it was carried off by some mystical bird.”
“You were gambling?!” he demanded. “With whom?!”
“...a pack of goblins.”
“Cosette!” He clapped a palm to his forehead, staring down at her in disbelief. “Did I teach you nothing? You never play cards with goblins—especially when anything of value is on the line!”
Asher stifled a smile, pawing the ground with his toe. “Here I was going to say you should never gamble with a supernatural safety net, but you’re right—the goblin thing is way more important.”
Ellanden nodded soundly, missing the sarcasm, while Evie stepped forward with a grin.
“It’s going to be fine,” she said diplomatically, slipping back into her role of peace-maker as if no time had passed at all. “We’ll just buy another one in the next village. No harm done.”
Cosette bit her lip as Freya grimaced apologetically. “I really wish we could, but it isn’t that—”
Ellanden whipped out a blade. “The next person who says it I’m stabbing in the throat.”
Freya paused carefully, rearranging the words. “I don’t know how it used to be, but seeing stones aren’t exactly common. Cosette and I have been travelling almost two years together, and hers is the only one I’ve ever seen. We can look,” she added quickly, seeing their matching expressions, “don’t get me wrong. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up for a quick reunion. That isn’t going to happen. At least not like this.”
It was quiet for a while. Each of the friends was lost in their own thoughts.
After ten long years of absence it seemed ridiculous that they wouldn’t proclaim their arrival, shout it from the top of the nearest alpine peak. Even if their parents had self-exiled in the deepest isolation, the mere act of doing so might begin to change things in the rest of the realm. At the very least, they could seek refuge at one of their ancestral castle and begin the great process of rallying the troops and reclaiming the throne. The incursions would be beaten back. The warring factions would be laid to waste. Day by day, they could begin to fix that which had been broken.
But deep down, each of them knew it wouldn’t be so simple.
The darkness that was fated had already worked its way deep inside the realm, poisoning the land and dividing the people. The fact that vampires and Carpathians had begun to move about freely was evidence enough that a new era was upon them, even without the young monarchs stepping down from the throne. Wild beasts were roaming the kingdoms. Mercenaries and raiders had formed great coalitions, walking unchallenged down the middle of the street.
And if the words of the prophecy were true...it was only the beginning.
Their only chance was the stone. It must be found and destroyed as quickly as possible.
If they failed to reach it first, then all hope was truly lost.
“So we go to the Dunes,” Evie said quietly, looking at the others. “If things are truly as terrible as you say...then we haven’t a second to waste.”
The men nodded. The women froze.
“I’m sorry,” Freya said slowly, “the Dunes? As in...let’s not go there, or none of us will make it back alive? Those Dunes?”
Cosette said nothing. She just stared at Ellanden with wide eyes.
“There is no risk to you, because you won’t be going,” he said softly. “You heard the words of the prophecy—it was given to us three.”
He made to take a step forward, when an arrow shot out of nowhere, piercing the ground between his feet. He slowly lifted his gaze to find his cousin in front of him, hands on her hips.
“Excuse me?” she asked dangerously, in a voice that reminded them very much of her mother. “I must have misheard.”
Ellanden looked at her warily before yanking the arrow from the ground. “You think I’m taking you to the Dunes—”
“I don’t think you’re taking me anywhere,” she interrupted fiercely. “I’m not six years old anymore, Ellanden. It isn’t your choice. I’ve decided to go.”
He held her gaze only a moment before glancing helplessly at the others. “Do something.”
Asher stepped forward with a sigh, already knowing that any words he chose would fall on deaf ears. “You should start the journey to this house in the mountains, tell our parents the news of our return. By the time we get the stone, they can be waiting with the armies—”
“—to fight this mysterious opponent that the three of you intend to defeat alone?” Freya finished caustically, glaring at each in turn. “Forgive my lack of enthusiasm, but aren’t you the ones who fell out a library window before getting abducted by a man with one foot in the grave?”
There was a beat of silence.
“I preferred the little servant girl,” Asher whispered loudly. “The one who was often too frightened to speak.”
She fired a spray of sparks at him, while the two fae stared each other down.
“I just got you back,” Cosette said quietly, gritting her teeth as she stared up into Ellanden’s dark eyes. “I’m not going to lose you again.”
“You’re not losing me,” he said quickly, reaching for her hands. “But this is a journey that wasn’t fated for everyone. You must understand—”
“You know,” she said suddenly, backing away, “it’s the funniest thing. Freya was just telling me the other day how much she wanted to see the Dunes.”
The witch blanked. “...I was?” The fae shot her a pointed look, and she quickly amended. “Oh yeah, right. Yes, I was.”
Ellanden sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Come on, don’t do this—”
“Do what?” his cousin asked innocently, kicking dirt across the fire and slinging bags across her back. “You chosen ones can do whatever you like. No one’s stopping you. But the witch and I actually have business in the Dunes.”
“Cosette—”
She yanked the arrow out of his hands, slipping it into the quiver. “Perhaps we’ll see each other there.”
His lips pursed, trying to hold back a smile before he glanced over the top of her head to the others. They shared a look, then nodded slowly. It was the best chance they had to survive. At any rate, there was no getting around it. Fae were notoriously stubborn. The high born were worse.
That smile broke through as he took a bag from her hand.
“Perhaps we will.”
And just like that, a new plan was set. Coincidentally it was very much like the old plan, only this time there were two new players involved. And they were ten years behind. And the board itself had been stripped of allies and filled with creatures of darkness determined to haunt their every step.
These were the things the friends tried not to think about as they left the camp behind and set off into the forest. Ten years was long enough to have waited.
It was time to get back in the game.
