Page 4 of Cursed Dreams (Shadow and Dreams #1)

T halia’s head was still spinning when the High Priestess Elara turned to her with that same soft yet unreadable smile.

“Your results will be delivered soon,” she said.

“But for now, please wait in the antechamber.” Thalia’s stomach twisted.

Wait? That wasn’t normal, was it? The other candidates had simply finished their exams and left.

Why was she being asked to stay? Nodding stiffly, she walked to the far side of the chamber where a wooden door led into a smaller adjoining room.

It was dimly lit, with a long stone bench against the wall and a single flickering lantern casting elongated shadows along the uneven stone floor.

It smelled faintly of parchment and dried herbs, as though it was often used for storage rather than anything official.

The door shut behind her, she sat heavily on the bench, folding her arms over her chest as she tried to steady her breathing.

That wasn’t normal.

Nothing about what had just happened was normal.

She had prepared herself for a gruelling exam, for difficult tests and sharp-eyed examiners scribbling down every mistake.

What she hadn’t prepared for Vaelith, for the feeling of something being pulled from her, or the way he had looked at her afterward, like she was something wrong.

Her fingers dug into the fabric of her skirt.

Does this happen to everyone? No. She had seen Lina leave the exam room smiling, hugging her friends in celebration.

Lina had passed, and no one had asked her to wait in some dimly lit antechamber while the examiners whispered behind closed doors.

Her thoughts kept circling back to Vaelith. He was different from the others. Taller, more severe, his features impossibly sharp, his presence like something carved from ice and moonlight. There was something about him that unsettled her, something that felt out of place.

The longer she thought about it, the more it nagged at her.

Unlike Elara or Selena, Vaelith didn’t look like the fae she had grown up around.

His presence, his bearing, he felt other, something beyond the earth and water fae of her village.

Even the most powerful fae she had met before, those with the strongest elemental affiliation, still looked like people.

But Vaelith...

He reminded her of the stories from her childhood.

The stories of the High Fae.

Thalia swallowed hard, shifting uncomfortably on the bench. The High Fae were nothing more than myths now. They had perished in the ancient war between the dragons and the continent. The great conflict that had once shaken the heavens and the earth alike.

The dragons, proud, untamed beings of fire and sky, had grown too bold, too hungry for power.

When they turned their wrath upon the humans and the lesser fae, it had been the High Fae who intervened, standing between the lowers and the beasts of the sky.

They had wielded magic so vast, so overwhelming, that even the gods themselves had taken notice.

And it had cost them everything.

The High Fae had been wiped from existence, their sacrifice allowing Amara, goddess of healing and protection, to shield the lesser fae and humans from annihilation. Their bloodlines had been lost, their power a forgotten relic of history.

But Vaelith looks like he could have walked out of those stories.

She exhaled, shaking her head. No. That’s impossible. The High Fae were gone. They had been for centuries.

Her magic still tingled from whatever Vaelith had done to her, and the look in his pale silver eyes haunted her. He had not expected whatever he had found. He had been confused. He had been shocked.

Thalia wrapped her arms tighter around herself.

What if she had made a mistake? What if she had somehow failed?

What if the way her magic had reacted wasn’t normal?

She knew her pale light was different from the warm glow of others but she had always been able to wield it just as well with the right amount of practice and concentration.

She squeezed her eyes shut. She had worked so hard for this.

She had sacrificed for this. Please, she thought desperately, just let me pass.

From the other side of the door, muffled voices murmured, deliberating. Deciding her fate.

And all she could do was wait.

Thalia was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice when the door to the antechamber opened.

“Thalia.”

The gentle call of her name pulled her back to reality like a thread yanking her from a dream.

She blinked rapidly, her surroundings snapping into focus as she turned toward the voice.

High Priestess Elara stood before her, her soft eyes kind but expectant.

Thalia scrambled to her feet, smoothing her palms over her skirt as her stomach twisted into knots.

Her pulse pounded in her ears as she followed Elara back into the main chamber.

The three examiners stood in a row, waiting.

The air in the room felt heavier now, charged with something unspoken.

Thalia swallowed hard, her nerves winding tighter with every step.

She stopped in front of them, her hands clasped tightly together to keep from fidgeting.

She could hear her own heartbeat, a dull roar in her ears.

Selena, the head of the temple’s scholars, was the first to speak. She smiled, warmth in her dark eyes.

“Thalia,” she said, her voice calm and steady, “you have passed.”

For a moment, Thalia didn’t react. The words didn’t register. She simply stared at Selena, uncomprehending.

She had… passed?

A rush of air left her lungs, and her knees nearly buckled beneath her. A stunned, breathless relief crashed over her like a wave.

Cedric, the human representative of the healers’ guild, spoke next. “You’ll need to be ready to leave tomorrow morning,” he said, his tone firm but not unkind. “The convoy to Vertrose departs at first light.”

Vertrose.

It was happening. She was going .

Thalia barely heard anything else. Elation and disbelief warred within her, her mind struggling to keep up. All the studying, the sleepless nights, the pressure, i t had all been worth it.

Elara stepped forward, her gentle smile unwavering. “You worked hard for this, Thalia. Your dedication has paid off. Be proud of yourself.”

Thalia could only nod, still struggling to process it all.

Elara’s smile widened slightly. “Enjoy the festival tonight. You deserve to celebrate.”

The festival. Right. That was happening tonight. She had nearly forgotten.

Still dazed, she turned to leave, her thoughts racing. But before she could reach the door, a voice, low and smooth, cut through the air.

“I look forward to seeing your progress.”

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

Vaelith.

His tone was even, indifferent, but something about it made her uneasy. She glanced over her shoulder at him. He regarded her with a bored expression, as if he was only speaking out of obligation.

There was something else. A flicker of curiosity in his silver eyes, something calculating beneath his detached demeanour.

She didn’t know why, but the weight of his gaze unsettled her.

Thalia gave a stiff nod and turned away, pushing open the door.

She had passed. She was going to Vertrose. That was all that mattered.

Whatever that had been… she would unpack it later.

Thalia felt like she was floating.

Her feet touched the ground, but it barely felt real, like she was walking through a dream.

The cobbled paths of the village stretched before her, familiar and unchanged, yet everything felt different.

The whispers of the trees, the rustling of the wildflowers that lined the road, even the distant hum of festival preparations, everything seemed brighter, sharper, filled with an energy she had never noticed before.

She had passed.

The words repeated in her mind over and over, but each time, they sent a fresh wave of disbelief crashing over her. She had done it. The weight she had carried for so long, the fear of failure, the endless hours of studying, the quiet doubt that had always lurked at the edges of her mind, was gone.

Tomorrow, she would be leaving for Vertrose. Leaving. The thought was both exhilarating and terrifying. She had dreamed of it, longed for it, and now that it was happening, she didn’t quite know what to do with herself.