Page 47 of Manor of Wind and Nightmares (Fae of Brytwilde #3)

“What do you hope to gain from this competition?” the warlock croaked as I paused before him.

Here, two huge trees crowded out the light from the torches, immersing us in shadow.

In the darkness, his bent form and wrinkled face seemed ominous.

He emanated power and strength despite his wizened appearance, and his eyes held the wisdom of countless human lives.

“I think you already know.”

He smiled. “And yet, I want to hear it from your own lips. Voice your wishes, out loud.”

My skin prickled, but I could discern no trick from this request. “I want to ensure my sister survives, so that we can both go home unscathed and live out our lives in peace.”

Allvar scoffed, tapping his cane on the ground again. “So noble. So practical. So dutiful.” He sniffed. “What do you hope to gain ?”

I scowled. “I told you what I hope—”

“You told me that you hope things will return to as they were before the start of this competition, so you may go back to your dull mortal life. You told me what is reasonable, not what you hope . Tell me what you dream, what impossible thing you long for.” He leaned forward, smirking knowingly.

Nerves coiled in my stomach, and my mouth dried. I could not confess that desire, not aloud. Not to him. Not to anyone. I could scarcely acknowledge it to myself. As Allvar had said, it was impossible.

And yet, my mouth opened, words pouring out as if of their own accord.

“I want Prince Kaede to forgive me. I want to atone for my past and live without guilt, and I want him to love me again. I want him to...choose me .” The last words came out in a whisper, breathless and breakable.

I closed my eyes, immediately seeing Laura and the tender way in which he’d cradled her while carrying her from the great hall last night.

Allvar grinned, but it was not a kind look. “I know what you must do to atone for your past and have a chance at his forgiveness and love.”

This time when he tapped his cane against the ground, light burst forth like a fog around it, swirling and growing in a golden orb.

It lifted higher into the air, until it had risen above Allvar’s cane and even above our heads, floating as if suspended by unseen strings.

Within the orb of light, more colors appeared, coalescing until they formed moving shapes.

And then, as the shapes became recognizable objects and people, sound emerged.

I caught my gasp, for now it appeared as if I were peering through a window into a dim room.

Early morning light illuminated Prince Kaede’s quarters in the manor.

He sat upon the edge of his bed, his hair as messy as the haphazardly tossed sheets behind him.

He wore a half-buttoned shirt and trousers, as if he had started to prepare for the day or had never fully undressed before falling asleep the night before.

Even here, when Kaede wasn’t actually present, my cheeks warmed at the sight of his bare, toned chest. He ran a hand along his jaw, shadowed with stubble, and lifted weary eyes toward the door opposite him as a knock sounded.

“Come in,” he called, and Azalea stepped into the room, carrying her bag.

She approached him on swift feet, pausing at his bedside. “Did it happen again last night, Your Highness? Is that why you called for me?”

“Nightmares from which a vampire emerged and murdered someone?” Kaede asked bitterly.

“Yes. Staying here in the manor is not the precaution we thought it would be. My creatures can still haunt the palace—not to mention I’m now a danger to the humans here.

The vampires don’t only attack members of the court.

Not now. Now they attack anyone and everyone .

It doesn’t matter where I am or how many guards you’ve started posting within and without my rooms. And now I’m finding that I conjure them both while awake and asleep.

The darkness is taking hold and I am losing control.

I am a threat to my own people, and the kingdom must be rid of me—”

She raised a hand to cut him short. “No, Prince Kaede. We’ve already discussed this. But that is not what I was asking. Did the change happen again? In you .”

Kaede lowered his head to his hands, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “For a moment, yes. I was the hungry creature growing fangs and claws. I was the one who longed for blood. Am I...turning into one? Will I become even more of a monster than I already am?”

Azalea ran a shaky hand across her brow and cleared her throat.

“That’s just it. I...well, I was finally able to find a book that mentioned demon’s breath, a poison that is crafted in Emberglade.

The symptoms match what you suffered. But there’s more than that.

There was a case in which, by a great miracle of healing magic, a woman survived the poison.

However, the book described a change in her and her magic. It became dangerous and unpredictable.”

Slowly, Kaede lifted his face to meet Azalea’s gaze. “What happened to her?”

The healer shifted uneasily on her feet.

“She died, Your Highness. The poison never truly left her. I’m afraid it has never left you, either, despite your death and return to life.

You are trapped in a sort of half-life, with contaminated magic and a poison that is slowly but surely killing you all over again. ”

The light faded, the orb slowly shrinking before vanishing entirely.

I gaped at the space where the scene had played out, my mind whirling with all I’d just learned. “He’s...he’s dying?” I choked out. “Again? Is this really true? What did you show me?”

“I showed you a moment from the past.” Allvar arched an eyebrow. “I need you to know what is at stake.”

Nausea clung to my tongue as that old ache of grief seized me all over again. “He...he survived. He cannot die again. There must be a way to stop this.”

Allvar’s smile widened. “There is. That is why I showed that to you.”

He snapped his fingers this time, and another orb of light appeared, floating similarly to the first. This one showed Azalea at a bedside in the manor’s infirmary.

She sat beside Laura, who remained motionless, her skin leached of color.

Nearby, Kaede paced and ran frustrated hands through his hair.

“I wish you’d realized my blood was still contaminated with demon’s breath before we dosed all the competitors. Will they die? Have I cursed us all?”

Azalea frowned in thought. “I don’t think so. They were given such a small amount, and their mortal bodies would have already shown the effects if so. But it was probably why they suffered so much pain. It wasn’t only the shock of your magic coursing through their non-magical bodies.”

Kaede cast Laura a worried look. “Could it be making it harder for her to heal? Will she ever wake?”

“She was gravely injured even without being dosed with poison. There’s no saying that has had an effect on her recovery at all.” Azalea shifted in her seat, sighing. “This is all so unknown. If there were time, I’d travel to Emberglade, see if I could learn more.”

“But you told me there is no antidote.”

Azalea shook her head sadly. “None recorded that I can find.”

“And we haven’t the time, anyway.” He sighed.

“No, it is better that you’re here. And better that the poison takes me, if this is what it has done to my magic.

I cannot live with myself, knowing I endanger my own people like this.

That, when the darkness consumes me, I relish it and truly become a monster who wants to shed their blood.

Perhaps the mistake was in my people trying to bring me back to life.

They should have let me go, released me to the afterlife. ”

The scene cut out and the orb melted away before I could hear how Azalea responded.

For a moment, I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. Kaede was dying. Again.

I was killing him all over again.

“Demon’s breath has no antidote,” I whispered, tears gathering in my vision.

“Not quite true.” Allvar’s sharp tone cut through the fog in my mind.

“What? Is there a way to save Kaede?”

His lips curled in a cruel smile. “For the right price.”

I broke into a cold sweat. Now that he has me desperate, this is where he lures me into a terrible bargain. It was all too familiar. “What price?” I managed, my voice coming out hoarse.

“My magic feeds off the magic-less. Promise to grant me your younger sister’s youth and beauty, and I will help you.”

Rather than allow him to see my horror—though he probably knew it already if he could see my deepest fears—I composed myself and asked, “Help how? Can you heal him?”

“I know a secret, closely held among my kind. One that could be the key to his healing, yes.”

“That’s not enough for me to make such a bargain. You are not fae, so you can lie.”

Allvar shook his head. “I am bound by my magic to speak truth.”

“And yet you have given yourself too many loopholes. Your secret could be any secret, and merely saying that it could be the key to his healing is not sufficient.”

Allvar grunted, squinting his eyes and shifting on his feet. “You are a shrewd one. Very well. My secret involves an antidote, but it is difficult and dangerous to obtain, so knowing this truth is not a guarantee of success.”

Shivers coursed over my skin. “I will bargain with you,” I said firmly, “but I will not involve my sister. Let this matter be between us only.”

My heart thrummed so loudly in my ears, I could scarcely hear Allvar’s words.

“Though you are also young and lovely, it is your mind and your heart that give you strength. Vow that I may have them, and I will grant you my secret.”

“You may have them, but only after you have given me time to obtain the antidote and deliver it to the prince.”

Allvar laughed. “Ah, yes, you will not leave out a single detail. Scrupulous.” He reached out a wrinkled hand, and, hesitantly, I shook it.

In a blink, both Allvar and the strange room vanished. Rather than his hand, I held a piece of paper.

And instead of standing inside the manor, I was outside Emberglade’s castle.