Chapter 17

I t was a full day’s ride to Noreum if we rode fast and hard, but three hours into it, Dawn had us stop at a trader’s stall and we got some fresh fruits and filled our canteens.

We walked over to a shaded rock to take a break and joined some of the seelie fae that were standing there.

“My lady.” One, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, drew himself into a deep bow. His redheaded friend looked confused. “Lady of the North ,” the fae wearing the hat said pointedly, and his friend quickly dipped his head.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I missed the wedding. You are much prettier in person than people say,” the redhead said.

Dawn laughed at that. “Thank you, gentlemen. It’s nice to meet you.”

Ever the polite princess, just as we were taught.

Dawn then turned to me. “‘The Shadow Heart buried in the place that treasures are kept.’ I wonder if it’s in a vault or something.”

The man in the hat perked up. “Does my lady like fanciful tales?”

Dawn frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The tale of the Shadow Heart,” the redhead said.

“Carved of black stone, yet it glows blue with magic,” the man in the hat finished.

I froze, realizing they were talking about what the Wise Ones had told me.

“Yes! I would love to hear that tale.” Dawn caught on and handed them each a piece of fruit. “Would you tell it to us? I just heard it from a friend but he didn’t know the whole thing.”

The men took the fruit from her and thanked her and we sat beside them on the rocks.

“The Shadow Heart is a crystal in the shape of an anatomical heart. It’s worth more than gems or gold,” he said, and I could not breathe for a second.

It was real? Maybe I really could save my people.

“When the founding fathers of our realm first came here, they created the Shadow Heart to power our world. But the magic it contained was so valuable that they hid it.” The man took off his hat to reveal a slightly balding head and dramatically threw his hat into the air and caught it on his head. “In the place where all of Ethereum’s most valuable treasures are buried.”

“Where?” Dawn and I said at the same time.

“In the center of the Jewel Spring Mountains,” he answered. “In the deepest mine within Mount Grimhorn.”

“No,” the redhead broke in, “I heard it was at the bottom of the southern coast. Near an island shaped like a heart.”

They began to argue back and forth and I crumbled, a little defeated. I shared a look with Dawn and she frowned. It seemed like they weren’t sure where it was.

The man with the hat looked me firmly in the eyes. “My great granddaddy was a treasure hunter. He said it’s in Mount Grimhorn.”

I swallowed hard. Stryker’s kingdom. Within his precious mountain range. Could I go there without his permission? I didn’t even know. Though he did say he would help me in whatever way he could.

“Well, thank you, gentlemen,” Dawn told them and we bid our farewells.

We reached our horses and I turned to Dawn. “I feel like I should go to Mount Grimhorn to look for the Shadow Heart. It’s too much of a coincidence that we met these fae right after hearing from the Wise Ones. It feels like fate.”

Dawn nodded. “I think you are right. I’ll go with you. It’s a few days’ ride, which will stretch our provisions, but we can make it.” We saddled our horses and were about to ride out when a woman ran after us.

“Lady Dawn!” she cried.

We turned in our saddles. The woman ran at us carrying something black in her hands; I couldn’t make out what it was. As she neared, I noticed they looked like burned corn cobs.

“What is it?” Dawn asked the lady.

“The fields. They’ve all turned black, the crops gone, the water too.”

My stomach sank. Black water. That’s how it started in Fall Court. Was it happening here too? It was certainly what the Wise Ones hinted at.

Dawn leapt off her horse and rushed to inspect the corn, then she looked up at me with terror in her eyes. No food and no clean water on top of a plague was a disaster for any leader.

“I need to get to Zander,” she told me.

I nodded. “Of course.”

Dawn grabbed a few pieces of the corn from the woman to show Zander and told her she’d be back with reinforcements in two days’ time.

When we saddled back up, Dawn pointed her horse north. “Come on. We can figure out the Shadow Heart once—”

“No,” I told her, pointing my horse to the east and pulling out my map. “I’m going to save our people. You need to help Zander and take care of your kingdom. But I need to find this Shadow Heart if we have any hope of ending the curse for good. We don’t have time to do both. I have to go on my own.”

Dawn glanced back at me with surprise. “Aribella. You don’t know the land, you could be hurt, or—”

“I’m not fragile,” I growled.

Dawn tilted her chin, giving me a proud look. “Okay, Aribella. Go to Jewel Spring Mountains and look for the Shadow Heart. When you’ve found it, come back to Noreum and we’ll figure out what to do. You’ll have a home in the Northern Kingdom for as long as you need one.”

I heard what she didn’t say. That without my faestone dagger and the black heart of an Ethereum lord, I wouldn’t be returning to Faerie anytime soon. So she was offering me what she could: a home.

I nodded, and then felt badly for snapping at her. “I’m sorry, I—”

She leaned across her horse and pulled me in for a hug. We held each other slightly awkwardly with our horses so close together.

“I believe in you,” she whispered, and handed me a bag of coins and her leftover food rations.

She pointed out a village at the base of Mount Grimhorn on my map and gave me the name of an inn, saying she’d send a raven to check in on me there. Then she pulled back and rode off without another word.

I swallowed hard, slightly regretting my boldness now that I was faced with traveling in an unfamiliar land alone. This was the first time I’d been truly alone since I arrived in Ethereum. I’d been with Stryker since we left his castle, and then Dawn these past few days.

Stryker .

My heart pinched, but the truth was that if he hadn’t left me, I wouldn’t be alone right now.

After hours of riding, I stopped at a small town for the night. As I lay down to sleep that night in an unfamiliar inn, in an unfamiliar village, in an unfamiliar land, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Stryker had left me. He kissed me like I was the only woman on earth and then he slunk away in the night. My whole life I’d had a weak heart, but for the first time I could confidently say that now it was broken.

* * *

I was proud of myself. I’d gotten up, ordered breakfast, consulted my maps and compass and set off for the Jewel Spring Mountains. All alone, all without my mother’s voice telling me I couldn’t handle something like this.

Hah. I gave a triumphant fist pump into the air.

I was now about two hours into my journey when the sound of hooves clopping on the lonely road behind me had me perking up. I’d been getting sleepy, but someone else to talk to would be amazing.

I peered behind me to see a sweet older couple, pushing seventy and riding on mules. I smiled as they hurried to catch up with me. As far as I could tell they were both seelie, lacking any horns or fur.

“Hello, fellow travelers.” I waved.

The old woman on the smaller mule waved back and grinned, showcasing a missing tooth. I pulled on my horse’s reins and let them catch up with me.

“Where you heading?” I asked.

“Oh, my husband and I are just going to the next village over.” The old lady’s voice cracked as she spoke.

I peered at her husband, about to ask him a question when he pulled a polished stick from his cloak.

He pointed the stick at me and I didn’t realize it was a wand until a bright green glowing light flew out of it and slammed into my stomach, knocking me off my horse. The wind rushed out of me as my back hit the earth and then the man leapt off his mule and hobbled toward me.

I tried to get up but realized I was immobilized and couldn’t move.

Panic rose up inside me as I noticed the rune on my stomach. My heart fluttered and I willed it not to fail on me now. If it was just an immobilizing rune it had no bearing over my power. It would make me unable to move but not unable to affect their emotional state.

I pushed thoughts of deep regret, and empathy into both him and his wife and he faltered in his steps.

“Please remove this rune and let me go,” I said calmly and pushed sympathy and compassion into him.

“We hurt her,” the woman said to her husband, looking a bit frantic.

He frowned, peering at his wand like he hadn’t known why he did it. “We need the coin, Nettie,” he told his wife.

“Remove the rune and let me go and I’ll give you lots of coin,” I told him, and then again pushed the feeling of compassion into him.

He stared at me for a long moment and then finally dropped to one knee and muttered an incantation as my body was released from the spell. Now free, I sat up and peered at the man in anger. But when I noticed his tattered clothes and Nettie’s thin frame I thought this might be the only way they kept themselves fed. No longer able to work in the fields or whatever they did around here.

Reaching into my purse, I gave them half of the coins Dawn had given me. Then I took back all of the emotions and feelings I’d pushed into them.

“Go on before I report this,” I said.

He thanked me and they turned their mules and rode off the way they came.

With a sigh, and a bruised back, I mounted my horse.

I guess that could have been worse, but I needed to be more careful in the future. I wanted what I told Dawn about being able to take care of myself to be true. But even if I was in over my head, I had no other choice.

* * *

I reached the village at the base of Mount Grimhorn without any further issue at the end of my second day of traveling. It was one of the smaller peaks within the Jewel Spring Mountains, and a raven was waiting for me at the inn Dawn had told me to go to.

Things are bad here, but we are managing for now. Let me know when you’ve reached the inn safely.

Love,

Dawn

I penned her a quick response telling her I had reached Mount Grimhorn safely and would send word when I found the Shadow Heart. I left out the incident with the elderly couple along the way, not wanting to worry her.

The village at the base of Mount Grimhorn, Vonryx, had seen better days. I’d caught more than one suspicious glance my way since the moment I rode into town. It was smaller than the village of Blackrock at the base of the ruby mine that I’d visited with Stryker. The Jewel Spring Mountain range was much larger than I’d thought with many towns surrounding it and just as many mines. In Vonryx there was only one inn and a smattering of dwellings that were still occupied. There were at least a half-dozen other establishments that were boarded up and abandoned.

When I’d asked the proprietor of the inn what was mined here he said, “Nothing.” When I’d cocked my head in confusion he said that they used to mine black sapphires in Mount Grimhorn, but that the mines had all been shut down some years back and many of the village’s residents had moved on. That explained the sad state of the town, but when I enquired about why the mines had shut, he wouldn’t give me an answer.

That night I slept fitfully and the next morning I spent half the day hiking midway up the mountain to where the entrance to the mine was. I couldn’t decide if the mines not being active was a good or bad thing. I was glad I wouldn’t have to try to talk my way past miners to search for the Shadow Heart, but on the other hand, I had no direction on where to go once I reached the mine.

I was hoping I would stumble across a secret tunnel or something that led to a vault inside the mountain and that the Shadow Heart would be sitting on a silver platter waiting for me to grab it. But as much as I hoped for that, it seemed highly unlikely.

When I reached the entrance and saw that the mine was sealed, my face fell. They’d boarded it up, and then chained it shut. I hadn’t considered that since the mines were shut down, they’d have sealed the entrance, but it made sense that Stryker wouldn’t want fae stealing his gems. But why close down the mines to begin with? That, I couldn’t figure out. Maybe it was dangerous? That thought spooked me, so I didn’t allow myself to think of it further.

It took me almost a full hour to pry one of the boards loose and slip between the chains. Thank goodness I was small, or else I never would have been able to fit.

When I entered the dark tunnel I couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of me, but quickly spied a lantern hanging on the wall that still had some oil in it. Using two flint rocks I’d had in my pack I created a spark and got it to light up, and breathed a sigh of relief that I wouldn’t have to blindly feel my way around the mining tunnels.

This was slightly terrifying but I told myself it was for my people. For my mother and father, and not just the Fall fae but Summer too. For all of Faerie.

I felt ill-prepared but determined as I started down the passageway, but as the day dragged on and I lost track of time and the number of turns I’d made, my hope started to wane. It felt like I’d been searching the mine tunnels for hours when I finally stopped for a break.

It was hotter in the passageways than I was expecting. My clothes stuck to me in uncomfortable places and sweat trickled down the side of my face.

Lifting my free arm, I wiped my brow with the sleeve of my shirt and then set the lantern down on the ground. My arm ached from holding it up in front of me for so long and my legs and feet were fatigued from traversing over uneven ground for hours.

Not caring in the least about how dirty it was, I slid to the ground and pulled some food from my pack. All I had were a few pieces of dried meat and cheese and a small canteen with water. I couldn’t stop myself from draining the canteen in seconds, and even after I’d drunk it all my throat was still parched. My mind drifted as I chewed on the food, not really tasting it.

I hadn’t wanted to admit it to myself, but I was lost. It was foolish of me to go into the mine all alone and without a plan. I should have done something to mark my path, but I was so anxious to find the Shadow Heart, and find it quickly, that I’d thrown caution to the wind and now I was paying for it. The oil in my lantern wouldn’t last forever and I wasn’t any closer to finding what I was looking for than the moment I squeezed between the planks and entered the mine.

What was I going to do?

As if it couldn’t get any worse, my heart was beating too fast and a wave of dizziness washed over me. I closed my eyes against it, trying to regulate the beats with slow, even breaths, but nothing seemed to help. I couldn’t calm myself down because I was in deep trouble.

When I swallowed my last bite I picked up the lantern and stood, turning back the way I came. I had to get out of here before I was plunged into darkness. I tried to make myself feel better by saying that I’d return the next day with a better plan to search, but part of my mind whispered that I wouldn’t ever find my way out of this labyrinth.

My heart began to beat faster and harder, and I became short of breath. Panic seized me and I was half-running now, stumbling through the narrow tunnels as my shoulders occasionally hit against the rough stone walls.

I turned a corner and felt a jolt of relief for the first time. I was sure I’d come this way, the stone looked familiar.

A smile started to lift the corners of my mouth, but then a low rumbling echoed beneath me and I halted. Dust rained down on me from above and the ground and walls began to vibrate.

Oh no.

Run, Aribella! I screamed inside my head, but my body was paralyzed. It wasn’t until right before the ground below me crumbled that I started to move, but by then it was too late.