Nightshade: Chapter One
You can read the prologue here.
I saw them before they saw me. Immediately, I straightened my back and slowed my walk to a more sedate pace.
Erebus bowed his head, the long sleeves of his robe almost touching the floor. “Queen Amara.”
“Good evening, Erebus.”
Charlock wasn’t so formal. “You’re perfectly on time! I thought you were going to be the late one for once.”
Erebus glanced briefly at his daughter, his eyes filled with gentle reproach. I was tempted to say I didn’t mind her speaking to me like this, but nobody in the Night Realm wanted to offend Erebus. He was the Royal Counsellor and one of the most magically gifted faeries in existence.
Once, I had thought he might be ruler after my mother.
Charlock linked arms with me and we walked towards the garden, our dresses trailing on the smooth marble floor. In small alcoves, lamps made from green glass cast a familiar, comforting glow throughout the hallway. Nightshade flowers wove their way up the dark pillars; since they had been magically grown, they almost seemed to shine.
Mother had let me grow them. They were the only flowers I was able to create.
“And you’re still not quite used to being called queen yet, are you?”
I should be by now, but it still didn’t feel right. Without the royal authority, I was ruler only by title.
Charlock gave my arm a reassuring squeeze. “Father knew what he was doing when he nominated you; it wasn’t just because you were the princess. ”
Cool air touched my face as we stepped into the garden. Ivy clung to the surrounding walls, but it didn’t touch the sculptures in the likeness of past Night Realm rulers. Wind and rain hadn’t weathered their faces and they all looked as if they might start moving at any moment.
I still couldn’t look at the newest one.
“Did you ask for asphodel wine?”
I closed my eyes. “I must have forgotten.”
Charlock smiled reassuringly. “I’ll go and find a maid.”
When she was gone, I sighed and took a few steps into the garden. It was the only place in the palace that felt old, like a ruin from the human world.
If only I had the royal power the other faery monarchs did. Then I would be able to destroy the shielding spell. But the other rulers had to be present at my coronation for the power to pass to me. It was more than just tradition: when a new ruler was crowned, they filled the void left by their predecessor and if the Night Realm remained separate from the others, there could be consequences for everyone in the faery realms and the human.
I was queen. It was my responsibility to help my people, but how?
Something flickered in the air.
I froze. There it was again, a shard of light that widened with each passing second. Two hands appeared at each side of the shard and pushed it open.
Was it the sorcerers again? I braced myself, hands prickling with magic, ready to call for help.
The shard widened into a window. Cold air blasted my hair back and stung my eyes.
When I opened them, a spring faery stared back at me. Blood dripped from a cut in his arm; his hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat and his face was as pale as the moon.
Just then a bolt of black lightning shot past him. He cried out and staggered but didn’t let go of the window. A man rushed up to him, a curved knife in one hand.
I knew that knife.
Dark blue magic shot out of my hands, past the faery and towards the sorcerer. He moved aside; I grabbed the faery by his uninjured arm and pulled him beside me before lashing out at the sorcerer again.
The window was closing.
“No!” I rushed forward, but it was too late. There was a flash of light and the air was still and silent again.
The spring faery lay on the ground, his eyes closed.
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