Page 38 of The Crown the Fae Forgot
"What..."
"You're a force of nature, Aurra," Shiel breathed, his hair falling slighting over his forehead as he looked me over. His eyes flickered from me to the scene still painted with breathing, frozen bodies over my shoulder. "But I have to say, this bridge is well and truly burned."
There was no point in arguing. I freed Zev and Finch next, their own eyes glittering with a sort of reverence of their own that made something inside me squeeze tight. I'd once seen other fae look at Lady Phyrra like that, and then, I'd felt a sort of jealousy. Now, all it did was make me feel sick.
As if sensing this, Shiel held his hand out to me, no fear or resentment in his eyes. I knew, without having to ask, that no apology would be needed for what I'd done to him today.
"What do you say we take you home?"
I answered almost reflexively, my eyes scanning over the three fae who'd been with me from the very beginning.
"I am home."
A slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You don't really mean that, anymore, do you?"
I looked over my shoulder at the crowd, at the guard, and then finally, at Lady Phyrra.
For a moment, that instinct in my awoke again. It lifted its head like a creature and bore its teeth. But looking at the lady of this court also awakened something else in me that hadn't been there before.
"No," I admitted, because Shiel was right.
I'd never really wanted to go back to the Eastern Court. Never wanted my crown, my power, the last true family that had abandoned me. But now, I couldn't fight the feeling of duty that had begun to grow. As much as these three, as much as Shiel, and Zev, and Finch were the closest thing to family that I'd ever known, there was only one place in this world that would ever truly behomethanks to the blood now racing, unhindered, through my veins.
There was one last thing I needed to do, however, before we could begin our escape. There was no telling, still, how long my spell would hold, and I was sure all hell would break loose as soon as it broke, but I had to finish what I'd started.
The boy from the crowd looked up at me with wide, terrified eyes the moment I released him from the spell, next. His legs gave way beneath him as he finally managed to pry himself free from the two guards holding him hostage. For one, split second, I saw that terrified look turn to something more like gratitude as he realized what I was doing. And then, just as soon as it did, he was gone--disappeared into the cracks in the crowd the way only a true street urchin could.
I had half a mind to invite him to leave with us, but Finch sensed this and was at my side in an instant, one surprisingly firm hand on my shoulder, pulling me back.
"He'd only slow us down, Aurra," he said.
"And we need to go,now."It was the first time Zev had spoken, and when I turned to look at him, it wasn't me he was looking at. His gaze was fixed on something far off, something that took me a minute to see.
But once I did, my feet were already moving.
The birds.
In the far distance, the birds had slowly begun to once again dart across the sun-kissed sky.
The spell was already starting to wear off.
By the time we reached the smaller streets where fae had started to slowly shudder back to life, I'd already torn the last of the delicate silks from my frame. And not a moment too soon.
We darted along a carefully mapped path with Shiel in the lead, taking us closer and closer to the outer reaches of the court, but not fast enough. I might have glamoured an entire court, but the spell could only hold so long.
And we all knew the moment the last of that spell broke.
There was a reason the Southern Court was known for its illusion magic. One moment, Shiel was tugging us into a narrow alleyway to avoid two fae starting to groggily awaken from their glamoured haze, the next, suddenly, we weren’t in an alley at all. The road ahead of us turned into trees and the cobblestone path under our feet into dirt. We came to a stop, looking around uncertainly for just a second until Shiel started to pull me forward again.
The streets once again flickered into view, giving us just enough time to dart into the next street.
This happened again and again, slowing us down as we neared the outer reaches of the court, until, at long last, the forest reappeared—and this time, it didn’t go away.
Zev had taken the lead, but he suddenly stopped, one hand held out to motion the rest of us to follow. He’d half croucheddown, his head cocked as his eyes scanned the deception of the forest.
I knew too well the far-off look in his eyes. Iknewwe weren’t really in a forest. Knew the trees and the fallen branches weren’t real, but theylookedreal. But from the look on Zev’s face, there was something else he knew, too.
Shiel, still holding my hand, saw it too—and the sight of it made him swear.
