Page 26 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses (Cursed Fae Courts #1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Aurelia

F or the next three days, I met with the dressmaker, the royal jeweler, a stylist, a wedding planner, a party planner, and four different candidates for the position of second maid—despite my protests about even needing the latter. Vanya quickly became a welcome source of help as I navigated each appointment, especially since I barely saw Callan at all.

He’d been distant since that dinner with Duron, claiming he was busy with meetings involving the strategists and captains who guarded Autumn’s borders in the north.

“Heliconia won’t like being rejected,” Callan told me after dinner that night. “And she’s bound to learn the identity of the one I’ve chosen instead. We need to protect ourselves. And you,” he had added hastily.

“We should go see that oracle you mentioned,” I’d suggested.

“Of course,” he’d assured me. “As soon as you’re settled in.”

And while I’d left that dinner more determined than ever to get to work on breaking the curse, three full days of being pampered and cared for and fully entrenched in the administrative duties that came with being royal had derailed me.

I’d forgotten what it was like to be a full-time princess. And even though Rydian’s accusation had gotten under my skin, I couldn’t help enjoying meals I didn’t have to cook myself, walks in the garden in the afternoon, and basically any day that I didn’t have to worry about the wards being breached or an Obsidian jumping out at me.

My thoughts drifted constantly to Sonoma—to everything she’d told me before she’d crossed over. To Rydian’s cryptic remarks about my tattoo. A rune. From the same lost and fallen kingdom Amanti had suspected held precious answers, no less. I thought of Lesha and Amanti, who’d gone to Vorinthia to look for signs of magic and maybe found their own horrible end in the process. And sometimes to Lilah, though that hurt too much to think about for long. I owed them more than sitting around playing pampered princess.

I trained alone every morning at dawn. I told myself it was out of responsibility to the people counting on me and not because I was hoping to glimpse a certain second-born prince again. I’d half-expected him to interrupt me again. Twice, I’d sworn the shadows that gathered in the pre-dawn light were his, but three days passed, and he didn’t make another appearance.

Even so, I kept the door on my magic firmly shut.

At dinner the third night, which I ate alone in my room, I’d had enough sitting around. Heliconia knew I’d survived. She was out there, likely plotting her second attempt to kill me. And she was clearly getting stronger if the last batch of Obsidians were any indication.

I couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

I found Callan in the council chambers, pouring over maps with several of his advisors. Their discussion fell silent as I entered.

Callan straightened immediately, his sharp gaze flashing with impatience. He hid it away quickly. “Darling,” he greeted, stepping away from the table. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine. Can I speak with you privately?”

“Can it wait? I’m afraid we’re in the middle of something here.”

“No.”

Callan blinked. Clearly, his question had been rhetorical.

“I need to make arrangements to travel,” I said with all the authority I could muster.

“Travel?” Callan asked, alarmed. “Where?”

The advisors behind him scowled, one of them glaring at me with outright hostility.

“I have a lead on a place that could provide clues about my kingdom’s curse,” I said, refusing to give up the information to these strangers. “You said you’d help me?—”

“And I will,” Callan said sharply. He relaxed and tried again. “Aurelia, you can’t think we’d be able to put together a trip before we’ve said our vows.”

What he said made logical sense, but I heard the dismissiveness and bit back my own angry reply. Pasting on a smile, I said, “Of course. We’ll wait to travel until after the ceremony. In the meantime, we should visit the city. I’d like to see more of Grey Oak. Get to know the people I am to rule.”

The advisors frowned, and I couldn’t help the satisfaction it gave me. Yes, I would be ruling them someday, and I wanted them to remember it. Even in these moments where Callan opted to treat me like a foreign visitor and a nuisance rather than his future wife and queen.

Callan’s expression didn’t falter, but something flashed behind his golden eyes. “It’s dangerous beyond the castle walls right now. There’s been unrest in the city. I wouldn’t want to put you in harm’s way.”

“What kind of unrest?”

“Nothing for you to worry about,” Callan said.

I waited for him to explain further, but he seemed content to leave it there. And to leave me to my own devices if the last three days were any indication. Something in me strained at the idea of being kept from the outside world. I thought of the heavily guarded gate that stood between me and freedom, and urgency clawed at me to get through it to the other side.

“I understand,” I replied, keeping my tone na?vely simple. “But I won’t be a proper queen if I don’t know the realm I’m meant to rule. I need to see them— our people.”

He glanced at his advisors, still hesitating, and I realized it was Duron holding the leash now. Callan was only enforcing it. Ugh. More cowardice.

My gaze held his, a challenge woven into my words, one I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. “I trust, as a general and a prince, you are more than capable of keeping me safe.”

I watched his ego war with whatever orders he’d been given. Finally, he nodded. “We’ll go after lunch tomorrow.”

I exhaled softly in relief, a grateful smile masking my triumph. “Thank you.” I turned to go.

“Oh, Aurelia,” Callan said, and I turned back. “My father has set the date for our vow ceremony. Two weeks from today.”

Alarm speared through me. “That soon?”

“We can’t afford to waste time with the stakes so high, don’t you think?”

I didn’t answer.

Of course the stakes were high. That was the problem. Heliconia wasn’t going to sit idly by and let Callan marry someone else .

“Don’t you think we’ll need more time to prepare for battle?” I asked.

“That’s what the party is for,” Callan said, brows crinkling. “We’ve invited every court in the realm. They’ll see our alliance makes us strong, and they’ll ally with us.”

“You don’t think Heliconia will use the party to attack?”

She’d done it with the last one. But, of course, Callan had no memory of that.

“Heliconia wouldn’t dare attempt to cross our borders,” one of the advisors said. He was the meanest looking of the bunch. And he made no attempt to hide his disdain for me. “She is no match for our army or the king’s guard.”

“She is more than a match,” I said, my voice rising. “As she proved the night she attacked my people—and won.”

“The Summer Court has always been weak,” he spat. “Heliconia proved nothing with her destruction of the powerless. Let her try it here.” Magic sparked from his hands, and I shook my head, realizing he meant for me to be intimidated.

But I’d already seen real power, and it wasn’t in this room.

Neither was common sense, apparently.

I turned to Callan. “I do hope, for all our sakes, your reputation for battle strategy has not been overstated.”

Callan opened his mouth to speak, but another of the advisors cut him off. “None of this is your concern, Your Highness.” The way he said my title dripped with insult. I met his stare, unflinching as he added, “Why don’t you leave Heliconia to us and get back to your gowns and tea.”

Anger slashed through me but I refused to waste any more breaths on these fools. They’d see soon enough what Heliconia was capable of.

Even though they deserved it, the thought of her coming here and doing what she’d done to my own people made it hard to breathe. I looked at Callan, who hadn’t said a word on my behalf .

Rather than apologize or give an inch, he flashed that weaponized smile at me. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you then.” I gave myself a pat on the back for not burning them all to ash.

Thirty minutes later, Vanya showed me to the royal library but only after I convinced her Callan had approved the idea. When we arrived, I scanned the high-ceilinged room that was mostly taken up by cozy seating areas and a large writing desk. The space was twice the size of the one I’d left behind in Sunspire but with only half as many books.

I swallowed down my disappointment, determined to see this through. The Obsidian had said my alliance with the prince was the key. But if Callan himself was going to be a complete idiot, then maybe his resources would prove to be what I needed.

It was worth a shot.

“Thank you, Vanya,” I said. “I can find my own way back.”

With a hesitant nod, she left me alone.

On a sigh, I headed for the stacks and began my search for anything helpful. From the looks of it, Duron’s collection veered mostly toward Autumn’s historical accounts. Wars, births, marriages—the king was clearly more entertained by his own kingdom’s chronology than that of any of the others. There was nothing on ancient runes, Vorinthian or otherwise.

I’d nearly given up when I found a small section on foreign customs in the back. It looked untouched and forgotten, judging by the layer of dust that coated the shelves. But there were texts for each court and kingdom in Menryth.

Pulling a dusty volume marked simply Vorinth off the shelf, I cracked the spine and inhaled the scent of old parchment. Along with the familiar scent, memories slammed into me. Nights by the fire in Sunspire, scanning book after book with Lesha, trying to find some clue about the curse’s origins. The ache of loss was a physical pain. My eyes blurred with hot tears that fell too quickly to blink them away.

I wiped my cheeks and forced myself to refocus. None of that would bring Lesha back.

All I could do was look ahead.

I scanned the pages quickly as I flipped through them.

“An interesting choice,” said a deep voice behind me.

I whirled, nearly dropping the book as my heart threatened to shove through my chest.

Rydian stood smirking at me.

“You scared me half to death,” I snapped, taking a deep breath and willing my pulse to settle.

His expression fell, and he ate up the distance between us in three strides. “What happened?” The concern in his face bordered on violence. When I didn’t answer quickly enough, he gripped my elbow, pressing me back against the bookshelf. “Tell me. Is it Callan? Or did Duron hurt you?”

“No one hurt me,” I assured him.

Shadows leaped from his skin. “Don’t lie to me, Furious.”

“I’m not lying. I just… I was thinking of home.”

The nightmare in his eyes winked out. In its wake, a softness remained that left me strangely off balance. There was nothing soft about Rydian Nytherra. Anything that suggested otherwise was not to be trusted.

“What are you doing here?” I asked before he could do something even more off-putting like be nice to me.

He gestured to the shelves around us. “I’d think that answer was obvious.”

“You’re here for a book?”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“Yes,” I said with enough frankness that his eyes narrowed. But I refused to believe this beautifully deadly male wanted a good book to pass the afternoon. Besides, he didn’t live here at Grey Oak Castle, and he clearly didn’t hang out here voluntarily. So, if he was here, it wasn’t by choice.

That left being here on purpose. Either to see Duron or Callan. Or me.

“Or maybe you snuck up on me on purpose,” I said.

He didn’t look the least bit sorry as he said, “Or maybe you should pay more attention to your surroundings.”

All traces of that softness were officially gone. At least, I knew how to handle him this way. Hating each other felt like solid ground at this point.

I glared at him, clutching the book to my chest and stalking past him on my way to the desk. I purposely shoved my shoulder against his, planning to ignore him until he left. But he shot a hand out, wrapping it around my arm.

I stopped, breathless at his touch. When I twisted to face him, his dark eyes raged with a storm I didn’t understand.

“Is this what you sold your soul for?” he asked quietly. “A library?”

I wrenched my arm out of his grasp, my eyes narrowing. I couldn’t help but notice the way his hair fell over his forehead, so long it nearly covered his brow. Suddenly, I found myself fighting the urge to reach up and swipe it away.

Instead, I gripped the book harder.

“I’m looking for answers,” I said in a low voice. “For a way to save my people and stop Heliconia once and for all. What are you doing besides skulking around like Autumn’s little errand boy?”

“If you want answers, maybe try the volume about the Furiosities and their power.”

I went perfectly still. “Why would I do that?”

His brows rose. “Isn’t that where her power comes from?”

I blew out a breath. He meant Heliconia. “Right. ”

But that wasn’t the entire reason for his comment. Not after what he’d said to me at camp the other day. He knew what magic I had. And something told me he knew where it had come from.

“Whatever you think you know about me?—”

“I know more than I care to.”

I gripped the book tighter. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“How exactly did you manage to ward your castle so securely?”

That question again. I was starting to think Rydian only ever asked questions he already knew the answer to. Fuck. “I told you, that’s none of your business.”

He studied me, and I forced myself not to look away. “For seven years,” he said quietly, “I looked for a way to break through the wards the Aine held around your castle. I searched every kingdom, interrogated, hunted, bribed—and I never found a way to unseal your borders. But this new magic is something else entirely. I’ve never felt anything remotely as powerful. And I’ve encountered some pretty otherworldly beings.”

He paused, waiting for me to say something.

I didn’t, and he went on. “I went back and stood where the castle should be. In the very same spot, in fact, as that rooftop where we met seven years ago. But there’s only grass, brown for the winter. It’s like Sunspire was never there at all.”

I stared at him, surprised. “Why?” I blurted. “Why did you try for so long to break through?”

Especially when no one else did.

The look in his eyes turned anguished. “Because your scream was the last thing I heard that night. I couldn’t get the sound of it out of my head.”

“You were still there?” I asked. “When she… I thought you’d gone. ”

“I was there. Just not close enough,” he said bitterly.

“But you remember,” I couldn’t help pressing. “You have a memory of the attack. And of…leaving?”

He looked at me like I’d lost it. I couldn’t blame him. “Of course.” I watched as suspicion overtook confusion. “Why shouldn’t I remember?”

“No reason,” I said quickly. “I only thought… the magic she used that night left me disoriented for a while.”

“Is that why you broke your engagement with Callan then hid away inside those walls for so long?”

So, we were back to baseless accusations then. “I did what I had to do to protect my family. What do you know about that kind of sacrifice?”

His laugh was harsh and humorless. “More than you could possibly comprehend.”

“I highly doubt that,” I tossed back.

His eyes narrowed to slits. He looked like he was about to unleash some tirade, but then, just as quickly, the fire winked out. “Happy reading, Furious.”

He moved to leave, and my own frustration bubbled up.

Using his own move from earlier, I grabbed his arm. My skin hummed at the contact, and when he rounded on me, lightning flashed in his eyes.

Instead of pulling away, he crowded in close.

I took a step back then another until he had me backed against the bookshelf. He leaned down until his face was a breath from mine.

“Careful, Furious,” he crooned. “If you put your hands on me, I expect you to make it count.”

His words conjured images of doing exactly that. Pushing onto my toes and kissing him. Sliding his tunic over his head. Running my hands over the hard planes of his torso?—

I blinked and refocused on the sight of his cocky smirk and challenging stare. He was baiting me. Calling my bluff .

I’d had enough.

Making a fist, I drove it into his ribs hard enough that he grunted.

“Does that count?” I asked sweetly.

Without waiting for an answer, I stalked off.