Chapter 1

I knocked on the open doorway of my mother’s study and she called for me to enter. Nervousness pulsed through my body, but I shoved it down and stepped inside. My mother was counting on me—scratch that, the entire realm was counting on me—and I wasn’t going to let them down.

“I’m ready.” I hated that my voice shook slightly. I’d trained my entire life for this. I was a walking weapon, a lethal force to be reckoned with. Eliminating one man would be easy.

My mother glanced up from the stack of papers and decrees scattered across her desk and looked at me sternly. The wind howled outside, rattling the windowpane as small rocks and bits of ice scraped against the glass. The curse sickness had already begun.

My mother followed my gaze. “It’s getting worse, Dawn. We’ve lost nearly all of the crops, the sun hasn’t been out fully in days, and the floodwaters are encroaching on our borders in the east.”

I swallowed hard and stood erect. “I won’t let you down, Mother.”

The crops we could afford to lose—we had stockpile in the storehouse—but our powers were linked to the sun, and if it didn’t come out to recharge … us well, my people would perish.

Reaching into her blouse, my mother pulled out the large glass locket that contained the shriveled black heart of one of the Ethereum lords. A faint purple magic swirled around the dried organ that pumped power into our realm.

“This is all we need to make everything right in the world again, Dawn.” She tapped the glass. “Mine was passed down to me, but there isn’t enough magic left to save our people. Once you get your own, like your great-grandmother Mae did, all of this stops and you can protect it like I have protected this one.” She gestured outside the window.

I nodded curtly. “I won’t fail.”

My mother stood, walking elegantly over to me, and I couldn’t help but take note of her beauty. Her long, shiny, golden hair matched my own, and we both had the same bright green eyes. Her ears and chin were slightly pointier than mine though. But her features were ageless, and she moved with the grace of a dancer.

She’d had a hard life, but it didn’t show on her face, only in the sadness of her eyes when she thought no one was watching. My father died in battle when I was an infant, and she’d been made to manage a kingdom and raise a child alone. She had once told me that raising a daughter who would be the next to go to Ethereum and retrieve the heart of a lord was a burden. She’d had to oversee all my training for the task, on top of educating me to be queen and take over the Summer Court one day. Now our world was dying, and if I didn’t bring back the magic we needed to save it … millions would perish.

My mother placed a firm hand on either of my shoulders. “Remember, if you do everything right, the portal will spit you out into the mirror world directly in front of an Ethereum lord.”

I swallowed hard and nodded, my mother’s green eyes boring into mine.

“The Ethereum lords stole our magic, cursed our realm, and then fled to a world they created for their riches. We are only getting it back.” She reminded me sternly: “You should feel no sympathy when you retrieve it.”

My head bobbed up and down again as adrenaline rushed through my veins.

“What are the three things I taught you about the Ethereum lords?” she quizzed.

“Try to kill them before they even speak. If they do speak, then never believe their lies. And lastly, don’t let anyone else touch the heart once acquired.”

“Good girl.” She smoothed my hair, and I was horrified to see that her hand trembled slightly.

I could die. I knew that.

Ever since the mirror world was created, the queens of Faerie began to only give birth to daughters. Every hundred years, the princess next in line for the throne, our champion, entered the mirror world when the portal opened on the summer solstice and returned with the heart of an Ethereum lord. I’d trained for it my entire life because I was that champion.

Ethereum was a dark world that mirrored our own. Instead of four courts based on the seasons like we had, they had four lords of different geographic kingdoms: north, south, east, and west. Where our powers were related to nature, theirs were linked to darker things: bending one’s will, manipulating darkness, morphing into vicious monsters, and even reading thoughts.

Killing one of the Ethereum lords and returning with their heart weakened their realm and kept their darkness from seeping into our world by temporarily stopping the curse. Already the ill effects of the curse, which caused a thinning between our worlds, could be felt in our court, and our subjects were suffering for it. But changes in weather patterns were nothing compared to what would happen if I failed at my task. The very fabric of our realm would start to unravel, and the curse that began here in the Summer Court would bleed out into the Fall Court, and then Winter, and finally Spring. If I were unsuccessful, it would be up to the next court to send a champion to Ethereum to steal the heart I wasn’t able to. The other princesses were supposed to be trained in case a Summer champion didn’t return, but no Summer Court champion had failed to return to Faerie without their prize, and I didn’t intend to be the first.

“You don’t need to worry,” I said to my mother, my voice full of confidence. “I’ll return with the heart, and everything will be put right.”

My mother smiled at me, pride shining in her eyes. “Let’s get you ready for the ceremony.”

For a normal Summer Court ceremony, I would have gotten ready in my private quarters. My maids would have fussed over my hair and dressed me. We’d have gossiped about which fae gentlemen were going to be in attendance and the latest court scandals, but this was different. This ceremony would have no dancing, no lavish spread of food, no idle banter.

Today my mother led me to a chamber bare of any décor or frivolities. The only items in the room besides a mirror and chair were the ones I would need on my quest: clothes, Ethereum coin, weapons, and a small pack with limited supplies. The only person there to assist me was my mother, the Summer queen herself. She helped me get out of my corset and petticoat and slide on the fur-lined leather pants and tunic that was said to be the normal attire of an Ethereum female citizen.

Every past champion princess who’d traveled to Ethereum recorded as much as she could about the mirror realm in a journal so the next champion would be prepared. Because of this, we knew their customs, their money system, and even details about the different creatures that existed in their world. It was imperative that I blend in with the other Ethereum citizens, because if I were identified as a princess from the world of Faerie, I’d be executed on sight.

Once I was dressed, I surveyed myself in the full-length mirror. My black pants were tucked into sturdy black boots that laced up to my knees. The gray tunic I wore barely covered my butt and was cinched at the waist with a leather belt. Over the years I’d trained in pants, so it wasn’t as if I never wore them, but it wasn’t the style for women in Faerie to wear them in social settings. Especially not a princess in the royal court. Usually, I wore the finest dresses and skirts that the royal seamstress designed in a variety of my favorite colors and fabrics. It was going to take a little time to get used to walking around in public with them, and if it wasn’t for the thick wool cloak draped over my shoulders I’m sure I’d feel a little conscious about how the curves of my thighs were on display.

“Sit,” my mother said, bringing the small wicker chair over to me. “I’ll put your hair up.”

I sat in silence while my mother braided my blonde hair into a golden crown on my head, the style my great-grandmother Mae, the last Summer Court champion, wrote was popular with Ethereum women. While I watched her fingers thread through my hair, I was reminded of when I was little and she would braid flowers into my hair and let me try on her makeup for fun. It had been years since we did anything like that together. As I matured, my training and my mother’s duties as the reigning monarch took up most of our time, and our interactions became more formal in nature. We weren’t nearly as close as we used to be, but maybe when I returned, and the pressure of preparing me for my mission was gone, we’d get the opportunity to reconnect more deeply as she readied me to take over the kingdom.

My mother rested her hands on my shoulders and peered at me in the mirror when she finished. “It’s time,” she said.

I rose and she handed me the sunstone dagger. My fingers trembled as I took the famed weapon in my grip. It had an orange gem embedded in the hilt, and filigree etching in the metal. Each of the Faerie courts had their own dagger that held a powerful faestone. I stroked the orange sunstone, which embodied the Summer Court, and found myself thinking of the other daggers that each court held: a red carnelian for the Fall Court, a blue kyanite for the Winter Court, and a pink moonstone for the Spring Court. Though to my knowledge they’d never had to use them—because the Summer Court champion always delivered.

I tucked the dagger safely into a sheath at my waist that hid the unique faestone from view. This dagger was the most important item I was bringing with me to Ethereum. The portal to Ethereum here in the palace could only be used to enter the mirror world, not to return from it. Once I was there, the only way to get back would be to cut out the heart of an Ethereum lord with the sunstone dagger. When the magic from the sunstone combined with the dark magic of one of the lord’s black hearts, a portal back to Faerie would open. So if I lost the dagger or failed at my task, I’d never see my home again.

After making sure the dagger was safely sheathed, I grabbed my pack of supplies, which consisted of food, extra clothing, basic medicines, various poisons, and a detailed map of the Ethereum realm comprising knowledge past champions had brought back. When I looked in the mirror one final time I no longer saw Princess Dawn Ambrose of the Summer Court. Instead I saw a spy, an assassin, a killer.

My mother and I left the barren room and headed for the throne room, where the ceremony would take place. It was a short and silent trip, but my mother stopped me before entering. Leaning forward, she kissed my forehead in a rare display of affection and then turned to open the doors to the throne room. As expected, the lavish room was filled with all of my many trainers and teachers, as well as high-ranking nobility who served my mother in a political capacity.

My mother, the queen of the Summer Court, held her head high as she glided toward the raised dais at the end of the room where her throne sat. I followed in her wake, keeping my back straight and my eyes forward as I walked past the bystanders who were there to see me off. Each and every person here had some stake in my training. Ever since I was three years old and could heft a wooden practice sword, Master Tor was by my side teaching me to grip it tightly and keep my elbow bent. I peered at Master Elaina as I passed, and my throat tightened. Not only had she taught me about the history of Ethereum and its people and way of life, we’d become great friends as she was only a few years older than me.

The potions master tipped his head with pride as I passed, and I nodded back to him. I could bring down a full-grown horse with one drop of home-brewed black hollyhock. The closer I walked to the mirror on the wall at the back of the room, the more the people who were here to support me pressed in. They even started to clap and murmur well wishes.

“Long live Dawn!” one courtier shouted, and the rest chorused their agreement. My mother and I spoke of this often—having the weight of a kingdom riding on your shoulders. It was something my mother usually dealt with more heavily, but now I was experiencing the full brunt of it.

All of these fae, their husbands, wives, children would all die if I failed in my task. Instead of walking back to the alcove which held the portal, I diverted my steps to the giant window that looked out over most of Summer Court.

The dark wind screamed as it pushed against the glass pane, and I peered down below to see the tops of houses being battered with inky black rain. My palms began to sweat as anxiety pulled me into its clutches.

One moon. I had one moon’s time to return with the heart and restore beauty and order to Faerie. If a whole moon cycle lapsed from the moment the portal opened on the summer solstice, not even cutting a black heart out with the sunstone dagger would bring me home.

Bring back the heart, I told myself.

“Ready?” my mother asked.

I nodded, swallowing hard and straightening myself.

Pivoting away from the window and the reminder of what was at stake, I moved to the dais that held my mother’s throne and stood beside it, facing everyone who had come to see me off.

Emotion clogged my throat when the room took a collective bow in my direction. My mother wasn’t even on the dais yet. This respectful gesture was all for me. My mother stepped up beside me and took my palm, face up, holding it out to the people.

“Thank you all for your hard work in training Dawn over the many years it has taken to ready her for this moment. She will now receive your blessings,” my mother said, keeping my hand held tightly in her grasp.

Master Tor was first, walking up with a wry smile and placing his palm over the center of mine. “Dawn Ambrose, I give you my skilled strength. May it serve you well on your journey.” He dipped his head and stepped away.

Master Elaina stepped up next and touched her palm to mine. “Dawnie bear,” she said, using my childhood nickname, and I let loose with a giant grin. “I give you my knowledge. May it serve you well in your task.”

Instead of bowing, she pulled me into a tight hug.

My mother huffed beside me at the break in protocol, but I simply wrapped my arms around one of my oldest friends and squeezed. “Thank you,” I whispered to her, blinking back the tears that began to line my eyes.

The potions master was next, and then the royal courtiers, each giving me a symbolic gesture of patience, or perseverance, or something I would need on my journey.

My mother and I thanked them all and then exited behind the dais to the private alcove tucked into the back wall behind my mother’s chair.

Here my greatest teacher was waiting for me, Master Duncan, a man even my mother held with high esteem, which was rare.

I approached him and he grabbed my hand and placed his palm over mine. “To you I give my cunning and intellect. May it serve you well in your task.”

I nodded. “Thank you, Master.”

“You are ready,” Master Duncan stated with a confidence that immediately put me at ease.

I stood before him as he placed a strong hand on each of my shoulders and squeezed. “The record is five minutes. I think you can beat it.” He winked.

I chuckled, but my mother scoffed. Master Duncan was an old man with a witty personality, and a leading authority in all things Ethereum related.

We knew from journals and historical records that most champions killed their mark and retrieved the heart in less than twenty minutes.

“She’ll be back when she’s back,” my mother trilled, trying to take the pressure off of me, which I was grateful for.

Master Duncan released my shoulders and pointed to the ancient mirror. Each court had one, but only the Summer Court’s portal, which opened on the night of the summer solstice, had ever been activated. The other mirrors were said to open on their given season’s solstice or equinox, giving each princess a chance to retrieve the heart of one of the villainous lords if the one before them failed.

I had thirty days to complete my task, but I couldn’t imagine being gone for that long. Six days was the longest a champion had ever been in Ethereum. Her lord had run, and she’d needed to track him before eliminating him.

My mother reached out and smoothed my hair nervously, before looking back at the bulky gilded mirror. “Remember, to make the portal bring you right to an Ethereum lord, you have to hold the image of his black heart in your mind as you enter it,” she said, tapping the glass locket at her chest.

When I was younger, the heart inside was so much bigger, the size of a small fist. Now it had shriveled to the size of a walnut. I nodded to indicate I’d heard my mother, but to be honest, this was the hardest part of all of my teachings.

Meditation.

Holding a vision in my head for a long time was not something I was good at. My thoughts wandered and I always had a hard time focusing on just one thing. It was a nuisance at times, but it also meant I was able to read five books at once while holding all the data in my head without forgetting anything. I loved learning. I would do my fencing routine while thinking about my potion recipes. I called it multitasking, but Master Duncan and my mother said it would be my downfall if I couldn’t learn to concentrate when needed.

And now was the time I needed to ace meditation.

I stepped up to the ancient mirror and squared my shoulders. This was it, my moment, everything I’d worked so hard for.

Taking a deep breath, I patted the sunstone dagger at my waist for comfort and allowed the noises of the people in the throne room behind me to fade away. My mother fidgeting with her light hair beside me became a blur, and even the stern yet loving gaze of Master Duncan vanished from my mind.

I closed my eyes and focused on the heart … the cold, dead, black heart of an Ethereum lord. There were four Ethereum lords alive at any given time. When I killed this one, another would pop up in his place, a male fae given extreme powers by a dark magic we knew little about. They were evil monsters, and yet we needed the magic contained in their hearts to keep our world healthy. Faerie only worked when nature was in balance. And for the last ninety-nine years and eleven months it had been. But the month before solstice every hundred years—

“Dawn, it’s opening. Concentrate,” my mother hissed, and my eyes popped open.

The mirror before me, which I’d stared into a thousand times before, began to ripple. Swirls of metallic silver danced on its surface, and a sudden terror gripped me.

My gaze flew to Master Duncan, but he looked as calm as ever.

“Remember your training. Focus on the heart. Kill the target. Bring the new heart home,” he said, unruffled.

If only I could be as serene as Master Duncan.

I nodded once, and then closed my eyes again.

The heart. The heart of an Ethereum lord that beats with the magic to save my people.

I could do this. I was chosen. The champion of my generation. When I returned to my kingdom, my mother, and trainers, and subjects would—

“Focus,” my mother snapped.

I’d done it again. Gotten sidetracked. Stupid meditation! My least favorite class.

Taking a steadying breath, I pulled the vision of the heart that hung from my mother’s neck up in my mind and prepared for the biggest moment of my life.

Stepping closer to the mirror, I focused on the image of the black, beating heart, thinking of the thick purple magic that used to encompass it when I was a little girl. And as I walked through the mirror, my mind wandered, and for a split second I wondered what the man looked like that had been attached to the heart my mother wore in the necklace at her throat.

No.

Heart. The heart of an Ether—

It was as if I’d been yanked at the navel by a fishing hook. There was a pinch and then a pull and I whooshed forward out of the realm of Faerie and into Ethereum.

The heart. The black heart of an Ethereum lord. I panicked and started to chant in my head. This meditation was going sideways.

Every single champion before me had landed at the feet of the lord they were meant to kill, so when I fell into a dirty horse barn, staring a fat potbellied pig straight in the face, I knew I’d made a grave mistake.