Wow Nuria, such a damsel in distress,I cringe at my acceptance of protection but I know this is what he is able to give, so I accept it. I suppose I don’talwayshave to be my own knight in shining armour.
I throw one of the pillows out the door and get a grunt of thanks in response before I nestle down in the surprisingly comfortable bed.
Chapter Sixteen
Iam back in the crystal cave but this time I am standing firmly on the ground, feeling the sharp points of the crystals prickling my bare feet. The cave spans double my arm’s reach and twice my height. The colour of the crystals are fading and darkening in a constant wave going from nearly white to the deepest purple. The swirling colours hypnotize me, pulling me in. I shake my head to break the trance I am being lulled into and frantically look around for an exit, but find none.
What am I doing here?I try to take a step but my feet are stuck in place.
“It was not me! What is your proof? Unhand me!” I hear the same voice from my dream earlier calling out. She sounds as if she is struggling.
“Oleander? Is that you?” I call out but receive no response. I whip my head around, searching the crystals but all that I can see are hundreds of my own reflections looking back, so I close my eyes and listen.
I don’t know how to explain it, but I canfeelher presence in the crystals in front of my feet so I crouch down to touch them. When my fingers brush the point of the largest crystal within reach my fingers start to get sucked down, down, down into theground. I try to pull back but next my arm is yanked under, then all of me.
My head pounds as I feel I am being squeezed into a too tight space, a loud pop sounds in my ear as I come out the other end of the floor, straight into a freefall. My stomach sinks as I plummet through a tunnel that is also coated in the sharp crystals, their colours flashing rapidly. I keep my arms hugged close to my body for fear of scraping up against them. The ground is approaching too quickly and I know if I reach out my arms to slow my fall I will rip them to shreds on the crystal’s knife-like edges. My heart is pounding in my ears, all I can do is flinch and scrunch my eyes shut in anticipation of impact.
Instead, I am somehow righted and land flat on my feet in a bone-rattling thud and open my eyes to see that I am standing in a field, surrounded by people on large white horses and vargs. The sun appears to have just risen as the sky is all pink and deep purple and the air feels crisp.
There are two vargs grabbing both of my arms in painfully tight grips, snarling at me with dripping fangs. I look behind me and see the charred forest behind us and the damage is catastrophic. The thick smell of burnt wood shoves up my nose, nearly choking me.
Where am I?I feel a lump rise in my throat and tears sting my eyes at the sight of the destruction.Did the animals manage to escape? Did the rebels get Marissa out?I can feel rage ripple through my body.The fae are just as bad as the humans. They don’t care about nature, all they care about is power!The tears are now pouring from my eyes in an uncontrollable river.
I turn back around and look down at my body and see red curly hair dangling down from my head and realize I must be seeing through Oleander’s eyes.I’m dreaming, I’m dreaming, I’m dreaming…
Fenrick, the grey haired fox Metamorph, is lying face down in the dirt at the feet of the horses. Blood is pooling underneath him and I feel a sob bubble up my throat at the realization of what that amount of blood means. I try to yank away from the vargs but my struggle is fruitless. They have me, or Oleander, well and truly captured. Pure panic seizes my body, coiling around my guts like a boa constrictor and a need to escape from being so near to the lifeless body of a man I had just met, not even twenty four hours ago, causes my breath to come in heaves and my hands to start shaking.Is this real? Please don’t be real!
“By the order of The King, you are under arrest for the destruction of the Heartwood Forest. There are eyewitnesses from the Pyralis estate that validate the claims. We are taking you back to the Palace to await your trial.” An uppity looking fae reads from a scroll atop his white steed, looking down at me with distaste.
“Who? Who is this eye witness? It was my father, not I, let me go!” Oleander’s voice comes tumbling out of my mouth as I struggle in the varg’s grip again. A fresh stream of tears slide down my cheeks and Oleander’s rage sears me deep within my chest, like the white-hot fire that it is.
“Save it for the trial.” The fae waves his hand, shooing us away like flies, signalling the vargs to place shackles on my – her – wrists. I look behind me one more time in a desperate attempt at escape before getting roped to one of the horses and yanked along behind them. Marissa pokes her head out from behind a boulder and I – Oleander – shakes her head, signalling for Marissa to stay put.Safe… she’s safe.
One moment I am looking down as we pass lifeless Fenrick and start to shake as sobs take over my body, the next moment, I open my eyes and am sobbing and gasping in my bed, back in Gaius’ cave.
“What? What happened?” Embrys startles from his sleep at the door and comes rushing over to me, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he stumbles to my bedside. I touch my face and feel the tears that had been freely flowing during my vision and shudder at the memory of seeing Fenrick’s body in the dirt.
“They… they killed Fenrick. And they took Oleander!” I rip the blankets away and go to get up off the bed, as if I can somehow run and save her right now.
“Wait, wait, Nuria! Who has Oleander? What do you mean? How could you know?” Embrys grabs my arms and sits me back down, kneeling in front of me with confusion knitting his brows together. I take a breath and notice I am completely naked and wrap the blanket back around my shoulders.
“It was like the visions we shared, except I don’t think she knew I was there. I dreamt I was in the crystal cave again and it transported me into her body!” I know I sound crazy, but Embrys was right about this place. There is strange magic here and I think I have been unwittingly tapping into it.
“The King’s menarrestedOleander. They are blaming her for the fires. We have to do something!” I grab on to his forearms and give him a little shake. He drops his hands to slide the blanket back up over my shoulders then sits back on his heels, blowing a breath through pursed lips.
“My bloody father put the blame on her. I know it! ” he curses through clenched teeth, bunching his fists in his lap. The flames in his eyes are wilder than the ones I saw last night and I can feel the same rage that I felt within Oleander emanating off of him. “How could he?” His shoulders slump forward as he hangs his head, his hair shields his face from me. I slide down onto the floor until our knees are touching and lift his chin so our eyes can meet.
“What are we going to do about it, Embrys?” I say, gripping his chin a bit harder. I need the man that gets shit done rightnow, not the unraveling one. His eyes widen and I can see a little mischief glimmer in his pupils that I am guessing is the result of the tone that I am sure no one has dared to take with him before. His expression crumples a second later.
“Nuria, we are stuck here for a few days. It is too dangerous out there for you.” He opens his palms in his lap in exasperated defeat. Then I remember what Gaius had said about his father’s flames not being able to burn him, he truly did seem undisturbed by the near boiling lake.
“No…Iam stuck here.Youare not. You won’t be harmed by these flames. Embrys, you must go after her!” I plead and he pauses to chew on his thumb nail and stare at the floor. “Embrys!” I shout and give him a shove.
“I’m thinking, I’m thinking!” He puts his hands up. “I cannot just barge into the Palace demanding my sister be returned, Nuria. I have to play this smart. The Wolf is an extremely cunning man and at this point he believes me to be loyal to him,” Embrys explains.
His eyes dart down for a moment, noticing my nakedness, so I reach back to grab the blanket that I left on the bed.No distractions!I look him in the eye to send my thoughts barreling down our connection. His eyes blink twice before he nods and clears his throat.
“I will have to return to the estate. I will say I had been searching for you but did not locate your whereabouts. My father most likely found out where you were from the direction the horses came from so I will have to lie about losing my horse as well.” He resumes biting his nail as he thinks the plan through.
