Page 42 of Fae Queen Rising (The Crown of Everguard #1)

T he room is dark, but I don’t bother to light a candle. Everything I need I can find by touch. I don’t bother changing, the dance with Sturdevant cost me time. I need to gather my pack and get to Thaliya. From there, we can figure out how to get Baylor out before tomorrow's sunrise.

My bag, already packed with a change of clothes and some fruit and cheese I’ve pilfered from the kitchens these past few days, is still under my pillow. On an afterthought, I grab the small book I’ve hidden under my bed, the one I copied the runes down in. It doesn’t take up much room and I still find myself flipping through the pages when I can’t sleep. On our way up north, I’ll have more time to decipher what they mean. I add my sword belt, and know Patton will have my sword and dagger for me as we set off.

Looking around in the darkness, I mentally check everything off my list. Everything is as it’s been for a lifetime. The made bed is piled high with pillows to my left, where Licia and I would talk through the night about everything and nothing at all.

Lightning flashes from the terrace, outlining my room in light one last time. The proximity of the thunder that follows makes me jump. It’s close, too close. The ride will be a wet one.

The fireplace, burning down to embers now, throws tall shadows across the room, causing the warmth I’ve always felt here to shrink away into the corners. The lurking shadows cause me to turn and make haste toward the chamber door. I must hurry. There are more lives than one on the line here.

With one last glance around the sitting room where Licia and I have gotten ready for countless dinner parties and dances, my fingers hesitantly graze the doorknob. Deep down I know as soon as I leave this room, there’s no turning back. Before exiting the room, I stand in the dark, gathering courage around me like a shield.

“Know yourself, know your path,” I whisper into the darkness. But before I have a chance to open the door, the knob turns unbidden beneath my fingertips.