Page 60 of The Sunbound Princess
I hurried forward, searching both sides of the road for a safe resting place. Now that the Dokimasi was all but gone, I longed for its return. Yes, its constant tugging had been a nuisance, but I’d never had to think about which way to go.
Now, I stumbled through the dark with a groggy Helios. My stomach growled—a sharp reminder of myotherproblem. Unlike Nikolas, I didn’t know how to hunt. That would be myfirst order of business when I reclaimed my throne: learning how to survive the forest alone.
As soon as the thought formed, dread settled in my gut. Corvus squatted on my throne. I had no idea what to expect if I crossed the Covenant. Would the people rally around me if I returned without the sunstone? Would they even recognize me as my father’s heir?
My feet started to ache. Fresh tears burned my eyes. Helios’s light faded like a banked fire. He grew heavier, his bulk more difficult to pull. Just when a scream of frustration gathered in my throat, the silhouette of a building emerged from the gloom.
My heart sped up. Excitement lent me renewed energy, and I plunged into the grass next to the road with Helios in tow. The structure was a weathered stone barn, its doors hanging askew on rusted hinges. Several holes marred the roof.
“Let’s see if it’s empty,” I whispered to Helios, who roused enough to give a bleary-eyed nod.
The barn was abandoned but it wasn’t empty. Stacks of moldering hay lined the walls. Holes in the ceiling allowed shafts of moonlight to spill onto the dusty floor. It wasn’t perfect, but it was something.
I settled Helios against the wall, then sank onto a bale next to him.
“I’ll keep watch,” he mumbled.
Smiling, I reached down and nudged his spectacles higher on his nose. “We’ll take turns.”
He grumbled something unintelligible before his chin dropped to his chest. Within seconds, soft snores filled the musty air.
I leaned back against the splintered wall, watching moonlight shift across the barn floor. The silence pressed in, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
My stomach growled again, and visions of all my favorite dishes paraded cruelly through my mind. Closing my eyes, I leaned against the wall behind me. I’d have to find food tomorrow. Water too. Those were my most pressing needs, but I also needed a plan. The sunstone was still out there, and I couldn’t return to the Summer Court empty-handed. Not if I had any hope of reclaiming my crown.
But how could I survive in Andulum without my magic? For all I knew, the sunstone had never crossed the Covenant in the first place. Maybe the Dokimasi had simply wanted to test me.
A bitter smile curved my lips. If Dain and Nikolas were a test, I’d failed in spectacular fashion.
Absently, I rubbed at my chest. The Dokimasi was so faint that it might as well have been gone altogether. I strained for it, expecting nothing.
Except…there. The magic pulsed in barely-there beats, its rhythm feeble but present. For now.
Fatigue tugged at me. But I had to stay awake. Blinking hard, I straightened against the wall. Helios slumbered on, his chin on his chest. Stretching my legs on the bale before me, I turned my gaze to the stars visible through one of the holes in the barn’s ceiling. Somewhere outside the barn, a sole cricket chirped.
A bird chirped, jolting me awake. Pinkish light streamed through the barn’s roof. I’d slept through the night.
Helios stirred on the ground. A second later, his eyes popped open. “Is it my turn to keep watch?”
I couldn’t hide my smile. “No. We both fell asleep. It’s morning.”
He sat up straighter, his body brightening as the sky outside brightened. “Oh. Well, that’s all right, I guess. I feel much better.” He frowned at me. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks,” I said dryly.
He floated up, hovering at eye level. “What now? Back to the road?”
I drew a deep breath, a decision solidifying in my mind. “We’re returning to Lum Laras.”
Relief swept his features. “Good. That’s good, Ezabell.”
I rose from the hay bale and shook out my skirts. “I’m not sure what I’ll do when I cross the Covenant, though.” Doubts gnawed at me. “I don’t have a plan.”
“Let’s get your magic back first,” he said. “Then we can figure out what to do next.”
I paced the barn’s stone floor, working the kinks from my neck. “What if my magic isn’t enough? I don’t have the sunstone.” My voice rose, the doubts rising against the dam I’d built in my mind. “Every king of the Summer Court has worn the sunstone in his crown. Without the stone, I’m just as much of a pretender as Corvus. I’m no one. Maybe I’m not meant to rule.”
Helios zipped in front of me, halting my pacing. His expression turned fierce. “You arenotweak, Ezabell, and you aren’t nothing. Because if you’re nothing, then so am I.” He spread his arms. “Do I look like nothing?”
