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Akra, Istmere

I t had been years since Annelise had stepped foot in The Stone City.

A sense of both familiarity and dread settled deep within her gut at the thought of seeing it once more.

The moment she had received the raven, she had known who it was from.

Zion was the only one who knew of her location, after all.

Annelise packed her things on the Island of Myrene and took off in her narrow boat, braving the Myrene Sea by herself.

By the time she pulled the worn, ramshackle vessel up onto the rocks on the outskirts of Prins, she was exhausted.

Sailing directly into the dockyards wasn’t an option.

To everyone else but Donika… she was already dead.

Only her daughter knew the truth. That she had been spared in the battle of Siraleth, and that Donika hadn’t been able to kill her.

Wh ether it was a moment of weakness or a swell of emotion towards her mother that stopped her blade, Annelise may never know.

She had spent time in those years since in the mortal realm, but her heart always called her home to the realm of Istmere.

To her own people. No matter what, Istmere was always where she returned to.

The only souls she had kept in contact with from her past life were Zion and Isaac.

Isaac didn’t know of her current hideout, and Zion wouldn’t send for her unless it was urgent.

She had unfurled the stained parchment with shaking hands as she read the sparsely worded letter.

Diana has been discovered and captured—she awaits sentencing in the Stormvault .

Those twelve words had set Annelise’s heart thumping so fast she thought it might beat right out of her chest. She knew this day would come, but she had hoped they had more time.

Alastir, the seer, had prophesied at least a decade would pass before the prophecy came true.

The prophecy that the last Stormshade of the Kotova bloodline would end the strife and peril that had waged war in Istmere.

That over a decade would pass before Donika found her sister.

Over a decade of endlessly hunting for her, scouring every inch of this realm and the next.

It had been too long since she had last visited Diana in the mortal realm.

The spell that bound her magic was sure to be wearing off by now—if it hadn’t already.

She knew that the next time she went to maintain the spell—to reinforce it—she would likely need to wipe her memories as well.

But that was dark magic—not something Annelise relished in performing.

But she would do what needed to be done to protect Diana from all of this.

From her own blood, seeking to kill her.

From a realm that had once been a safe and loving place, but had morphed into something hateful and volatile.

From a mother who didn’t know how to care for her but was trying to do what she thought was best.

She knew that they had moved from New York to Silver Oaks, and that meant Diana’s magic had awakened.

Annelise had told Laurel that if her magic showed signs of awakening, to bring her to Silver Oaks.

The portal to Istmere stationed there served as a magical beacon to all Shades.

There would be Shades in that town who could help Diana.

Annelise had cursed herself for letting it get this far, for not having gone to Diana to explain things sooner. She had thought she could keep her safe in the mortal realm forever, changing the prophecy and what Alastir had seen. Changing what the Mother had planned for them all.

Her own demons kept her from revealing herself to Diana. They both needed protection from Donika. The guilt of all her decisions threatened to swallow her whole.

She gathered her skirts and set off at a clipped pace, up the steep bank and towards the open plains that would lead to Prins.

She needed to hurry.

There was no telling how long Donika might keep her alive, toying with her.

Donika wasn’t one to make quick work of someone, especially not her own sister.

She had waited years for this moment, and if Annelise knew anything about Donika, it was that she would want to savor this moment.

She would hold her in the dungeon for some time, torturing her and playing with her until her spirit was broken.

Zion had warned her that this was going to happen, but she hadn’t wanted to listen.

She had thought her interference would only make matters worse.

When Zion had sent word that Donika had sent the young Nightshade soldier to the mortal realm after her, she had immediately gathered herself and left.

It had only been a matter of weeks before the second letter had come, informing her of Diana’s capture.

So much had happened in that short time.

Annelise’s skirts kept tangling around her legs.

She grasped the long skirt in her fist and hoisted it to her knees as she sprinted across the plains, backpack jostling against her spine.

She wouldn’t allow it to slow her down. The only weapon she had on her was a dagger stuffed into her boot—but her plan didn’t involve daggers.

Not necessarily.

When she arrived at the city proper, she slid the cloak out of her pack and fastened it around her neck.

She pulled the hood up to obscure her golden strawberry hair.

She wasn’t sure anyone would recognize her any longer—it had been too long since anyone in this realm had known her—but she wasn’t willing to take any chances.

She slowed her steps as to not draw attention to herself, sticking to the far sides of the road and creeping between the shadows under the merchant shops that she passed. She exhaled a sigh of relief as she turned left onto the queen’s road—the road that would lead her to Akra.

To Zion and Diana.

She had no intention of bursting through the front doors of the castle, that much she was certain of.

She would need to use her secret access to the castle to find Zion…

but she would need to be careful. She had sent the raven back, but there was no telling if Zion would be expecting her immediately.

If he would be there waiting for her. She could only pray to the Mother that he would sense the surge of her energy running through their binding as she stepped foot into the castle and drew closer to him.

Their nearness a physical thing deep in their cores.

They may not have seen one another in a long time, but the binding still simmered inside of them.

Even after all this time, he was still her other half.

Annelise neared the castle and instead of taking the twisting roads that switch backed across the mountain’s face, she crossed the river towards the back of the castle.

Taking the mountain pass. It had been many years since she had seen these paths; tears welled in her eyes at the memories that flitted behind her eyes. The memories she had created here.

The last time she had set eyes on The Stone Palace, she had been carrying Diana away from this place, trying to find a better life for her.

A safer one.

Her plan had worked for some time, but in this, she ultimately failed.

She pulled her hood tight as she approached the back of the castle, the dark void at the base of the mountain coming into view. She kept her head down and her steps quick as she approached the portcullis.

Donika’s rooms weren’t on this side of the castle, but that didn’t mean anyone who might see her through their window wouldn’t report back.

Luckily, her brown cloak blended in with the dead of winter, the colorless grass and the stark trees.

It served as a form of camouflage, and she could only hope that as she approached, no one had seen her.

She advanced towards the entrance only known to a few and could see that the portcullis was already open in a giant yawn, the darkened corridor visible beyond.

Zion was expecting her, then.

She hastily stepped inside, a swell of emotion threatening to choke her as she bent to the lantern that had been left at the entrance. She struck a match against the stone and lit the lone flame inside.

The packed dirt floor of the tunnel came into view as she moved forwards, the lantern light flickering warmly against the ancient stone walls.

She pulled the chain to close the portcullis behind her, allowing no one else who might know of this secret passage to enter.

She didn’t want to chance being followed into the secret passages from behind.

She inhaled deeply to steel herself before moving onward.

After entering The Stone Palace without an invitation… there would be no going back.

Donika would never spare her a second time, and if her plan didn’t work out as she hoped it would, it would be the last plan she ever made.

She prayed to the Mother that she never encountered Donika during her short stay in The Stone Palace.

Her daughter would surely smell the magic on her, despite her own spell binding.

Her disdain for Stormshades had only grown over the years, and Annelise’s own spellbinding had begun to wear off weeks ago.

When she had received Zion’s letter, she hadn’t had time to reinforce it. Besides, she might need her storm magic to make it out of this mess alive.

Despite her past mistakes, she would do anything to protect Diana. To save her from her sister. The same couldn’t be said about Donika, and the guilt only a mother could experience made nausea roll fresh in her stomach.

How could you love a monster?

Annelise wasn’t sure she did anymore, and that fact brought a fresh wave of guilt all its own.