Chapter 8

The Twilight Dynasty royals had a secret.

The two legendary books can be held by them without corruption.

Any other fae who touches the books will be lost…

I t feels like hours, if not days, until I can finally get back to the Moon Dynasty rooms and get away from everyone. I sit down on the sofa and rest my head back with a thump. It's been chaos in the mansion. Absolute chaos. Everyone is frightened and fear makes even the calmest soul act irrationally. Most people don't want to go back to the city while the fae and dragons are still hunting the vampyres that are hiding. The Sun Dynasty fae are listening to Ziven and his people, but I know once Daegan shows his face, that won't last long. Daegan will cause trouble for us all, and I'm certain if he pushes Ziven too far, Ziven will end his worthless life.

Hettie comes running round the corner, and just seeing her makes my shoulders relax. She is yawning wide, with two cupcakes clutched in her hands. She comes to a stop. "You always appear with cupcakes. I knew there was a reason we are friends."

She smiles so widely. "I was planning to hide and eat them both." She rolls her eyes at me, but she's so cute with her light hair and sunshine smile. "But I'm happy you're here. Where's uncle Ziven?" Her eyes latch onto my tiara and brighten. I take it off and hold it between us. "Ziven is busy, and I'll trade this for a cupcake."

She giggles but happily gives me a chocolate cupcake and takes the tiara off me. Ziven might be mad I traded a priceless tiara for a cupcake, but that's a problem for another day. I'm too tired to care. I yawn, leaning back on the sofa to stuff my face with the cupcake with no shame. She eats with me in comfortable silence, and I fold the wrapper up, tucking it into my pocket. My eyes drift to her bandaged arm. "I'm sorry Daegan did that to you."

She touches her arm and frowns. "He's meant to be my uncle, like Ziven."

"Listen to me." I pick up her hand. "He's not Ziven. Daegan can't be trusted, and you must not be alone with him again."

She sniffles. "He was really mean."

Fury fills my chest as I hug Hettie to me. Ruelle's stick tapping on the ground gives her away, and she sighs as she comes into the lounge. "I believe Story might need some rest, Hettie. If you are well enough to escape your guards, again, and run off, then you are well enough for some tutoring."

She groans. "But the doors are finally open! Why do I have to learn?"

I try really hard not to laugh as I turn her to face me. "I saw loads of fae children coming in here. If you study with Ruelle today, perhaps Ziven might let you go and meet them to play. Your uncle is stressed at the moment, and Ruelle is right. I'm tired. Just for a little longer, can you not run off from Ruelle and the guards?"

"Do you promise to ask Ziven?" She puts her hands on her hips. I nod once and she grins, hugging me tightly before running around Ruelle.

Ruelle looks to the ceiling for some deity to help her before she follows the direction Hettie went in. I have so many questions about how Hettie even exists when no other children were born. Why her? What is different? A yawn stops my train of thought, and I stumble through the rooms until I get to my bedroom.

There are still books laid across my bed, and I gently take each off before I get to the last one. The diary. I sit down on the bed with it, touching the cover. "I never believed in rebirth or spells, but somehow, you set me up for this fate. You loved them both, didn't you? The sun and moon you wrote about was Ziven and Daegan…" I put her diary in my drawer and shut it. She's dead and she can't help me now. I don't think she would even if she could. I fall asleep without even noticing it, and when I wake up next, there is a knocking at my door. "One second!"

I tug the cloak off and wash up in the bathroom before opening the door. Kyrell and Calix are waiting for me, and I grin as I throw my arms around Kyrell, who happily catches me. He smells like goats and blood, and I'm happy he has been fed. The window in my room shows me it's night, and I must have slept for most of the day. I look over Kyrell's shoulder. "Where's Ziven?"

"Busy with the newcomers still. There have been fights and deaths. It's a mess." Calix rubs his chin. "I fucking hate the Sun king, but Mazzis and Ziven alone are struggling to keep order over the ten thousand or more fae flooding to the mansion. We will soon have a food shortage if this keeps up."

Kyrell lets me go. "You left me with the joy of the party, Cally boy over here, and I begged him to let me come and see you."

"Cally boy?" I choke on a laugh before smothering it with my hand.

Calix touches his sword hilt. "I told you two hours ago to fucking drop the new nickname, vampyre."

Kyrell winks at me. "I've met nearly all the Moon Dynasty people, and I see why you went for the broody king. I need details, Tory."

"I missed you," I chuckle, knowing he is deadly serious about wanting to know everything about Ziven and me. I wouldn't know how to even begin to explain it all to him though. Entwined mates. I don't know much about them except for what Etena told me. She said entwined mates were two people who are linked together when they're born, by the deities, and a mated pair is extremely powerful with the ability to boost each other's powers. The deities choose the people, and they are linked for certain reasons known to the gods alone. They could be destined for true love, or they could be destined for a deep friendship, or to be enemies fated to end each other's lives. Mates aren't always good picks, but their magic will always complement each other's. Most choose to be lovers, but not always.

Males always know—they can sense their entwined, smell her scent—but Etena said it isn't the same for females. I was drawn to Ziven since we met, and I thought it was because we hated each other. But it was this. This entwined fate between us. I've never had anything to claim as my own, and now I have a dragon and a broody king. I need time with my best friend, and I know just the space to spend some time. "Do you want to come and see the library they have here?"

Kyrell goes to answer, but Calix cuts him off. "No. He shouldn't go walking around." I frown and stare at Calix. He sighs and rubs his chin. "No one's in the library. It's the only place that Ziv's commanded that no one's allowed to enter. None of the new fae can go in there so it is safe, as we must protect the ancient books. But Kyrell shouldn't be walking around alone."

"He won't be alone. You and I will be with him," I remind Calix. "And Ziven won't even notice us taking a short trip there and back."

"If he does, I know Story will calm him." Kyrell wiggles his eyebrows at me.

Calix groans. "By the deities—fine. Come on, then, and for fuck's sake, vampyre, don't lower your hood until we are inside the library."

The ground floor below where Maeve used to be is completely covered in rocks, but someone has made a makeshift staircase out of wood that goes to every level in this place. I'm guessing one of the powerborn has a skill over elements and helped with this. The glass is all gone from the pathways, and instead, there are fae everywhere. Kyrell tugs his cloak tighter as we walk through them, but he needn't have worried. They all stare and point at me, some going as far as bowing. I want to tell each and every one of them not to do that, but I can't risk stopping with Kyrell at my side. Ziven has well and truly dropped me in it now.

My eyes drop to the rocks covering the entrance to the Decidere. "I'm guessing there's another entrance to the Decidere?"

"Yes, in the forest, there are many, and we have a few tunnels here too," Calix fills me in. I still haven't gotten over how Maeve was right in front of me the entire time, and I never noticed her. I knew she was a dragon statue, and I stared at how beautiful she was, but she was mine. She was waiting and watching me in the Decidere with the other dragons. I truly felt I wasn't worthy of a dragon after the Decidere ended and I came out without a dragon…but now I ride Maeve. So much has happened since I was a scared blood slave who wanted to die. I'm glad I decided not to die in the end, and a lot of my decision to fight is because of Kyrell. He might not look like my bright, alive best friend anymore, but he is here, and I will fight to the end to keep him safe.

He has died for me once before. I don't think I could take losing him again. My mother might be gone for all I know, and I haven't seen her in so long that sometimes I think I've forgotten what her face looks like. Kyrell is my family. My brother. I touch his arm, the coldness of his body so easily felt, even through clothes. I remember how cold a vampyre feels from Emyr, and I push down the fear his name strikes in my chest. "How are you feeling now you're like this?" I ask him when we come to the silent corridor to the library, which is guarded by Sun fae who let us pass.

"Different and empty." He touches his stomach with his hand. "When you first wake up…everything's different. My senses as a vampyre are like a fae, but I'm faster. Sometimes it feels like I just forgot how to feel warm and I might suddenly remember. Everything else about my body, I can get used to, but the cold? It doesn't end. I feel it in my mind and soul."

"I'm so sorry," I tell him softly. "I wished to see you again, but I wouldn't have wanted this vampyre life for you. I did everything you asked, you know? I lived, I dated, I made the most of the chance you gave me and fought for life. You told me to burn it all, and I might not have tried to do that, but it happened."

He places his hand on my arm. "You will change everything, Story Dehana. I will be proud to watch."

The doors to the library are heavily guarded. Surprisingly, they're guarded by a team of ten Sun Dynasty guards, including Etena. She tenses when she spots us, her hands clenching as her eyes flicker over Kyrell, then Calix and me. Etena looks tired, a little less perfect than she usually is. The sun marking on her neck catches my eye now that her long hair is braided back. She is all in tight brown leather clothes, and a sword is strapped to her hip. "Did Daegan send you here?"

Etena bristles. "My king is currently busy, but I'm sure he will return, and his first command would be to protect the library, like King Ziven and King Mazzis suggested."

"Good idea," I murmur, looking into her eyes. She is worried about Daegan, and she might be the only one.

Calix grins. "Still think you're on the right side, Etena?" He lowers his voice. "The sun doesn't seem to be shining down on you like it usually is."

She glares at him, and I awkwardly glance at Kyrell. He looks as uncomfortable as I feel. "I don't want your opinions on any part of my life." She stubbornly lifts her chin. "None of you are welcome in here, so you can leave."

"Story Dehana is always welcome in the libraries." Mazzis's soft voice comes from behind Etena, and his footsteps follow until he steps into the light. Dressed head to toe in orange robes, he smiles kindly at me. A sting fills my chest. He lied to me, too. Etena rolls her eyes and steps to the side. Mazzis smiles like the dawn sunlight, beautiful and bright. "Please come in. We need to talk."

"We do," I agree, rubbing my arm before joining his side. "I wanted to show Kyrell the libraries. He is a very good friend of mine, and he knows how much I love to read. He used to sneak me books sometimes."

Kyrell's eyes soften, but there is a glimmer of pain there. His lover used to get the books from outside the castle for me in the end, and he loved reading like me. I touch his hand and he nods once before following me past Etena. She stares at me, but she doesn't say a word. Mazzis looks over his shoulder at Calix. "The guard can stay out here. This is currently the safest place for her."

Calix's shoulders tense. "The vampyre is?—"

"I'm not as weak as you are suggesting. I am still a king, boy, and I will be perfectly able to protect Story from a single vampyre as weak as he is." Mazzis's tone holds a bite I've never heard from him. My lips twitch with a smile, and Calix doesn't dare say a word more when we follow Mazzis through the tunnel entrance. Mazzis moves to step back to my side. "I want to begin with an apology. I find Dawn is always in the middle of the Sun and Moon, two powers that are all-consuming." I nod, knowing exactly what it is like to be between them. Part of me still feels like I am, even if I hate Daegan with every part of my body. "I wanted to tell you the truth, and I begged them both, but I was outvoted. I have so little family left, Story. Did I ever tell you of my two sisters?"

I shake my head as we all stop. Kyrell gives us space, waiting by the wall and staring at the library. I turn to Mazzis. "It is not you I'm angry at. Daegan has a lot to answer for."

Mazzis takes my hands in his. "I tried to tell you the truth through the books I gave you. To give you hints without breaking the promise I made to the other kings on the penalty of death. I like you, Story. I believe people like you are the key to a better world. The people who read, who imagine and cry for words on a page, are the ones who will lead us. I thought maybe the books would give you some connection to the Dawn queen. She was family to me, after all." He sighs. "I was a distant cousin to the crown, and my Dawn blood ran weak. I had two sisters from my mother's side: neither one of them had a touch of royal blood in them. It was my father who made me king. You remind me so much of one of my sisters. She was a reader."

"Many call her the princess, not queen," I remark.

"She was the queen of the Dawn Dynasty for a time, and I dislike that is forgotten in light of the prophecy made," he says with a sigh. "But, yes, the curse always talks about the princess; therefore, she's usually given that name. You might be reborn of her, but who says each of us is not reborn of someone? They do not shape who we are. I know I must earn your trust back, and I will do everything in my power to make sure you have a long life, Story. You deserve it." He walks around me to Kyrell. "And please do tell me your background, Kyrell?"

"I am Story's best friend, and that's the only part of my past that is worth explaining." He turns his pale eyes on me. "And she feels guilty that I'm like this, but it's not her fault. I want the same as you, King Mazzis. A long life for Story."

Tears brim in my eyes. How did I get so lucky to have him as my friend? True love is one thing, but a deep friendship is just as powerful. Mazzis looks between us, and his smile is sweet. "Please come in, Kyrell."

The library is just as I left it last, which feels like years ago with how much has changed in such a short time. It's like it's been untouched by everything that happened to the rest of the mansion when Maeve and I rode out the top of it. Librarians are still walking around with their carts, sorting books out and so calmly it's like they aren't aware of how everything changed in here. The tables are all empty at the front, and no one's reading in here, but soft orange light glows across the room.

Kyrell looks in amazement. "There's so many books. I once travelled with the prince to the king's home in the Lightsun lands." Mazzis looks at him with a clear question of how? "I used to be the prince's guard. I went to the libraries to guard him. The king has a massive library like this, locked away deep underneath the castle in the Lightsun lands. No one's allowed to go into them, and the fae workers there look like they never leave. I never saw all of it as I stayed by the door, but there were hundreds of thousands of books." He looks at me and the shock on my face. "Telling you about a whole library full of books and unable to get you a single one would have been cruel when you were…" He drifts off. When I had given up wanting to live, he means.

"I've been reading so much here. About fae, about legends, and I can't wait for you to read them." The excitement I feel just comes out with every word. "The history of our race is extraordinary."

Mazzis goes over to a cart by the wall and comes back with a book. "Now that you know the truth, I thought maybe you'd like to learn more about the Twilight Dynasty, where you came from, where the princess was from. There aren't any other books on the Twilight Dynasty here because they kept to themselves. Their secrets too. But this is a traveller's history written from someone who lived in the Twilight Dynasty for a time. It speaks about how most of them had red or black hair with a red glow. They had powers of flame and were not governed by the sun or moon for their strength."

I take the book and touch the black cover. "You think I'm from the Twilight Dynasty? Or my ancestors were?"

Mazzis nods. "We might never know, but I personally take joy in learning about the ancestors of the Dawn Dynasty, and I think you should read about the Twilight. They may be gone from the world, but people like you could keep it alive."

"Story…I've missed you." I spin around to face Kyrell as the black bleeds over his eyes. The black moves across his eyeball like a wave, and a cruel smirk twitches on his face. Something about that smirk looks familiar to me.

My heart leaps in my chest as I take a step back. "Kyrell…what's…" Kyrell jumps for me, teeth bared, and red light flashes in my hands. Mazzis pushes me back and Kyrell's teeth latch straight onto his neck instead of mine. I scream as Mazzis goes almost floppy in his arms, orange light flickering from his body. "STOP!"

Kyrell doesn't stop and I'm frozen in shock. Calix is by my side within a second, ripping Kyrell off Mazzis, who slumps to the ground. I catch Mazzis as Calix fights Kyrell across the library. The pair of them are powerful, but Calix is better. He swiftly grabs Kyrell around the neck, flipping him and slamming him onto one of the tables. It snaps in half, and silver light similar to Ziven's flashes out of Calix's hand into Kyrell's face. Kyrell slumps, passed out as I clutch Mazzis tightly, seeing his chest rise and fall.

Etena shouts from the tunnel. "Get a healer! The Dawn king is injured!" I stare at Kyrell, unblinking, as I remember that smile. It reminded me of Prince Emyr.