Chapter 5

FIVE

Cassia

My eyes open to a dark sky illuminated by a fire, a welcome break from the nightmare involving Prince Sulien being tortured in a cold, dark place. I've had similar nightmares every night since we started traveling two days ago, although, to be fair, I've had the occasional good dream mixed in with the bad too. Embers float into the air above me, dancing with the stars. There's nothing but the sound of the cracking fire, and yet, something woke me. I lay on my pallet of blankets for a bit, trying to figure out what disturbed me. I don't hear anything. I don't sense anything.

Lady Nova sleeps peacefully on the other side of the fire, which should tell me everything I need to know. That woman has the instincts of a feral cat. If there was something around, she'd be awake right now.

So what woke me up?

Part of me wants to awaken Lady Nova and ask. Part of me thinks she'd gut me like a fish out of annoyance just for being so stupid if I did. But I guess I don't need to bother her right now. The only reason to wake her would be if I thought there was something dangerous, which I don't think there is.

Still, I can't go back to sleep. Maybe it'd be worth it just to take a look around.

I quietly climb out of the blankets and slip into my boots. I also grab a dagger and hide that in my boots, just in case. Standing, I glance around. The firelight shines on our campsite alone. Outside of that, there's only darkness.

Hesitating just a moment, I pick a direction at random and move away from the firelight. Something in the forest is calling to me. Maybe the lull of the moonlight, maybe something else, but I won't be able to sleep until I find out what.

An indescribable feeling makes me keep going when logic would say to stop. Slowly, there's a sound. Something soft that I can't quite place. I walk through the forest, unimpeded, and follow the sound.

The forest is awake. I hear animals rustling. I see them scurrying about as I make my trek. As the sound grows closer, I notice that it's soft and almost musical. Like the song nature would play if she could. There's drums, or are those the sounds of animals running? And a flute, but it could be the whistling of the wind.

In too deep to stop, I listen and choose my directions with care, the sound growing louder with each step I take. At last, the music reaches an all-time high, and I stop in front of a tree and stare. Is this tree the source of the sound? That's impossible.

Staring at the bark, I squint my eyes. Something's off. The bark looks funny. It's thicker and bumpier than any bark I've seen before, but it could be the fact that everything is different under the moonlight.

Is this some pixie nonsense? I don't know a lot about pixies, but the little creatures are trouble.

This might have been a mistake.

Still, I lean in closer, trying to understand what the hell is going on with this music producing tree when a pair of eyes opens and blinks in front of me. I jump back and curse, grasping my chest as if that will get my heart pumping again. It does. It's too fast though, because my heart is racing.

What the hell am I looking at?

The eyes stare back at me, and I suddenly realize it's a tree spirit. These creatures live in many trees but usually slumber within the tree for long periods of time. Sometimes, no one knows why, they awaken. Knowing that they're harmless, for the most part, I let out a breath and turn my attention back to it. I've never been this close to one.

The spirit's gruff voice breaks through the sounds of the forest. "Who's disturbing my slumber? With the help of a little magical music, I finally fell asleep after the last lizard crawled across my face. Do you know how hard it is to sleep with animals crawling all over you?"

Wait. I bothered him ? "Sorry."

"Sorry," he humphs. "Such a fae thing to say. A useless thing to say. Now, who is it that's disturbed my peace?"

I hesitate, trying to remember tales about tree spirits. Can this one turn me into a beetle if I piss him off? Or shrink me to the size of an acorn? I'm pretty sure he can.

I proceed with caution. Caution and politeness. "I'm Cassia Withers, and I'm honored to meet such a fine tree spirit as yourself," I say, hoping that my words might soothe the creature .

Besides, I can kind of understand where he's coming from. Having animals crawl all over your face while you sleep does sound annoying. Still, this spirit was making the noise that attracted me and woke me up. That's how I found him. So he really has no room to be annoyed at me coming over to investigate.

"Cassia Withers?" The spirit's eyes widen. "It's you! Our future queen! Excuse me for not bowing, but…" The spirit looks down at its non-existent body then back at me, raising what could be its eyebrows.

I frown. "How'd you know that?" What does a spirit that lives in a tree know of the courts and royals? We're far from the Summer Court, and the spirit isn't close to the road where he'd hear passersby.

"Whispers live in the wind and reach far beyond your courts. I know more than you could imagine. Make a light, so I can see your face."

Now tree-beings think I can use magic too. Great.

"I can't."

The spirit stares and laughs. "You're a funny royal, but a light, please, Your Highness!"

"Seriously," I say, feeling ashamed, "my magic isn't strong enough to make a light." Hell, I just learned that I have some fae in me and can do magic. Both things I hadn't quite wrapped my head around just yet.

"You're serious. You really believe that." He's laughing again, this time so hard that he shakes the tree making some birds fly out of it. "Your power is so strong, I can feel it radiating off of you."

I look at him, dumbfounded. I don't feel any power anywhere inside of me. How could he be feeling it? What's more, if I had powerful magic, wouldn't it have surfaced like all the other fae when I was just a child? Wouldn't they have seen I was a magical fae the day I was born?

He looks as startled as a tree spirit can look. "Could it be?" the spirit asks, then clicks three times. "No, it can't be. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm ."

What in the world is he talking about?

He continues speaking, this time softer, almost to himself. "They're the key. Her power's locked. Make the match and then just watch."

"Key? My powers are locked? What does that mean?"

"They're your key," he says, emphasizing each word.

I look around in aggravation. "Who?"

"The who that started this all!" he exclaims.

Who started what all? Wait. "The princes? They're the key to something?"

"To your power's lock. Make the match and then just watch."

Is he talking about me lighting the wood on fire? It's like a match, and then I can use my magic now? This tree spirit is both confusing and frustrating. Why do all these ancient, powerful creatures have to talk in circles? Do they enjoy being annoying?

"Are you talking about when I lit the fire? Listen, I'm completely confused," I admit, and my body begins to tremble.

He pauses, and I get the sense he's considering me for a minute before he keeps talking. "Some fae need a boost to awaken their magic. Troubled births can lock the power up tight," the spirit says more to the forest than to me. His eyes flip around as he speaks.

My chest feels tight. Is that true? "My mother died when I was born."

He frowns. "No. No. It's more than that. Your birth had to hurt so much that it hurt your magic. Pain responds to pain. Goodness gets trapped when bad is around. Magic can't work in the presence of pain." The spirit babbles on and on. I can't understand what he's talking about.

"Give me your hands." The spirit reaches out his own hand that resemble gnarled branches.

My hands instinctively curl into fists, and I hide them behind my back. I don't understand what's happening at all. "Why?"

"So I can help," he whispers softly.

The gnarled hand remains outstretched, and after a deep breath, I offer them to him. When he touches my hands, the lines on my palms take on a golden glow. The glow lights up the spirit's face, and I can see even more detail than before. The lines in the wood look like wrinkles on his face, and his eyes are a brown so deep that they look like knots in the wood.

"You will make a wonderful queen. The kind of queen that's not been seen in ages, if at all," he tells me as he traces a finger along the longest line on my palms. It shines brighter when he touches it.

I can't imagine what being a queen is even like. What does a queen do all day? Who does a queen talk to? Most of the fae royals seem to do nothing at all, but could I do more? Could I maybe help the humans in a way they've never been helped before?

Maybe. If I become queen.

"You will find happiness. More happiness than you can imagine. More happiness than you think should be allowed."

Happiness. What a strange idea. Haven't I always been happy with my father and grandmother ?

My gut turns. In a way, yes, but life was hard. Different from what the spirit is describing. I can imagine that kind of happiness even less than I can being queen. I'm just not built for happiness. Starting your life off with the death of your mother doesn't quite set you up for a lifetime of shits and giggles. It set me up for a life of hardship and servitude.

I shake my head and try to pull my hand away, but the spirit won't let it go. His branches tug my hands into place with a little more force as he stares intently down at the glowing lines.

"There's more. Do you want to hear it?" He traces another line, and four rays of light shine out from it.

"These are the four children I see in your future."

Four? My vagina is not ready for that!

Four children. Is it one for each prince? I have to let that one settle in. All I've ever wanted was to be able to take care of my family–the one that made me. I've never considered making my own family.

"You can have it all, Cassia Withers, but you have to be brave. A lot of good is coming, and only if you are brave will you receive your true destiny. Follow your heart, but only after you quiet the fear. Your fear screams so loudly I hear it in the wind too. Muffle it, and you'll see clearly." He lets go of my hands, and the golden light dims.

I stare at my hands. A future I've never tried to fathom exists…if I marry the princes, I suspect.

"Does that mean my only path to happiness is with the princes?"

"I never said that."

I frown. "Does this mean that no matter what our marriage will be… good? Will they treat me well? Will… any lies that have been told stay buried? Will they be happy with me?"

"Read in between the lines."

That's not good enough. "I need to know if they'll hurt me. Will they break my heart? Will they leave me? If I have children with them, will they be good fathers? Will they make sure we don't suffer? Will they love me if everything we've built is built on a lie?"

"Read in between the lines." He yawns.

I feel a tear roll down my face. "No, you have to tell me. I have to know for sure. I can't give them my heart and have them rip it into pieces. I can't handle it. If they do it, they'll break me, and I won't be able to pull myself back together enough to take care of my family."

His eyes close, and he blends in so much with the tree that I can no longer tell where he is.

"Please. I need to know. It's too much of a risk. Please."

"Be brave, Queen Cassia," he says, the words no louder than a whisper.

Then the spirit fades entirely into the tree, and I'm left looking at nothing but bark. He's left me alone with the heaviness of everything he told me resting on my shoulders. Why does everything have to lead back to the princes?

I huff at the tree that's just a tree now. What does a spirit know about me and my future, whispers from the wind or not?

I can't think about any of that now. There's no future for anyone if I don't go save them first. I turn around and head back to camp.

It's strange. As safe as I felt following the sound, that's as unsafe as I feel now. Perhaps the magic of the music is gone. Maybe it's the darkness of the night or how far away the glow of the campfire seems to be, but I'm rushing, feeling nervous, remembering that I can't afford to run, trip, and hurt myself out here.

Then I hear it. A low growl. A sound that sends every hair on my body standing on end. I'm not alone out here. There's something in the darkness.

The growl comes again, closer, behind me. I whirl around and see it. Red eyes in the darkness. Eyes that belong to… a wolf. It creeps ever closer, stalking me, and I wonder if I should shout for Lady Nova. No, I'm close to camp. I can make it.

A chorus of growls rise up around me, making my stomach sink, and I whip my head left and right, seeing eyes in the darkness on all sides of me. Fuck . A pack .

I'm running now, not as worried about falling as I am about being torn to pieces. Wolves are dangerous in the best of times, and these are certainly not the best of times.

Of all the stupid ways to die.

Then eyes are ahead of me too. I slide to a halt, heart in my throat. "Nova!" I scream, no longer caring about embarrassing myself. "Nova!"

Grabbing my dagger, I yank it out. Even knowing how little it'll do against a pack of wolves, I know it's better than nothing. These creatures won't find me easy prey.

The moon emerges from behind a cloud, and the woods brighten. I finally see the wolves for what they are. They're dead like the crow, undead , flesh hanging off of bones, eyes dangling from heads. Some even have their organs spilling out their sides.

"Stop! Get away!" I shout.

They don't listen, just close in tighter.

Sweat rolls down my back. No, no, this can't be happening. I'm on my way to save my princes. I can't be killed out in the woods before I can even reach them, leaving them and my family helpless.

"Nova!" I shout again, desperate, my hand clenching my dagger, ready to fight to my dying breath.

A ball of flames explodes through the clearing, smashing into one of the wolves. It shoots back, hits a tree, and I watch in horror as its flesh burns away, leaving nothing but bones. I turn and watch as Nova strides from the trees, a sword in one hand, her other outstretched.

"Run for me!" she shouts. However, wolves still stand between her and I.

Moonlight flashes across glinting teeth. Do I run? Stay? Terror consumes me, and for a moment I'm not myself. I'm above me, watching tangled threads connecting me and the wolves, and darker black threads running from them and disappearing into the trees.

Balls of fire come exploding all around me. I hear the sound of a sword striking bone. Nova's war cry, and the crackling of flames.

I blink, still not feeling like myself, but I see wolves watching me. Eerie. Dangerous. Poised to kill.

One leaps at me. I cry out. Nova shouts my name. My blade slashes the beast as I dive to the side.

Stop! Stop! Enough! I feel a familiar rush of energy, then nothing.

Every wolf goes down, collapsing to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

I scramble to Lady Nova. She catches me in her arms, her sword at the ready, but nothing moves.

Is it… over? That's impossible.

"What is this? What does it mean?" Why would undead wolves suddenly attack us? And why did they stop?

She steers us backwards until we're in the light of camp. Breathing hard, her eyes lock with mine. "It means the House of Death knows we're coming."

"But they stopped the wolves? Why?" None of this makes sense.

Her expression changes to one I can't read. "I don't know. But I do know… we're in trouble."