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Grieve, Rhiannon, Chatter, and I stood apart, surrounded by Kaylin, Luna, Peyton, as well as Zoey, who had opted to join us. We stared at the woodland. While the others were focused on finding all the Shadow Hunters they could, it was our goal to find Myst’s personal nest. And Grieve knew where she was.
“There will likely be creatures guarding the woods,” he warned everyone. “Goblin dogs and other ill-fortuned Fae. Do not be deceived by the seeming weakness of some—they are all dangerous.”
The Wilding Fae nodded. They weren’t speaking much, but I could see the glimmer in their eyes. They seemed to anticipate the battle and I wondered just what I’d gotten myself into, aligning with them. Kaylin had thought to bring the snow hag’s meat with us, and he set it on the ground in front of her, neatly wrapped. She gave him a snaggletooth smile and motioned to the car.
“One might store this, if one had a thought, until after a skirmish is complete. Otherwise, beasties might snag the meat and be off with it and then both parties would be out meat and money.”
Kaylin let out a chuckle. “One might be wise to listen to such advice.” He put the meat back in the car until we were done.
And then, with nothing to hold us any longer, and the afternoon upon us, we marched across the backyard toward the Golden Wood. Toward our destiny.
The warriors went first, stretching through the undergrowth. Following them were the members of the Consortium, as the Wilding Fae spread out to the sides. We followed, taking the path with a group of eight guards to the front, and I was surprised to see Lainule waiting at the trail mouth. She answered my questioning look with a gentle smile.
“This was my home. This was my kingdom. I will fight to regain it for you and your cousin. I will not go easily into the fading mists.” She stepped into the formation beside Wrath, and leading the rest of us, they swept into the woods, and we followed.
The woodland seemed hushed. Neither bird nor beast made a noise, and I began to think that the Shadow Hunters had killed them all. We silently moved through the bushes, doing our best to keep from setting off any traps. Webs glistened between the trees, huge and filled with the giant fat snow spiders that were Myst’s pets and sentinels. Gold and white, they were as beautiful as they were deadly, and I kept my eyes overhead, making sure we weren’t being trapped from above.
As we approached a web stretching across the path, the warriors went first, shooting them with gleaming arrows. The spiders chattered, scuttling away, but one dropped, and soon a second and third. One of the guards stepped up to tear down the web that crossed the trail, but another spider that had been hiding in the trees lashed out, catching him in its mandibles. He let out a shout that was cut short as the creature injected him with its venom and he went limp. Three others who were at the front of the trail sent arrows into the spider, and it tried to run but then stumbled and fell, jerking spasmodically.
Two men brought the fallen guard back, but it was too late. The poison had worked quickly and he was stone dead. Laying him gently to the side, we moved on, cautious as the snow thickened and the woodland grew darker.>Lainule looked at Wrath, who let out a long sigh.
“No, you are not my daughter,” he said.
“Then who was my father?” Rhia looked like she might cry. She’d waited all her life to know who her father had been, and when Heather died, it looked like there was no chance of finding out.
Lainule looked at her. “You are my niece,” she said. “My brother sired you—you are his child. He was killed during the battle with Myst. You are part Cambyra like your cousin. And as my closest female heir, you, my dear, will be the next Queen of Summer, even as Cicely becomes the new mistress of Winter.”
And with that, our world shifted forever.
Chapter 20
The silence was deafening. Rhiannon and I stared at her, as if she’d suddenly said we were turning into Martians. Ulean swirled around me.
I’m so glad you finally know. I have had such a hard time not telling you over the years. You will be my Queen, even as Lainule was until she gave me to you. I could feel the swish of her tailwind as she danced.
Rhia stammered, seeking words, unable to speak.
But I found my tongue. “I will not become Myst!”
“I did not say you were to become Myst, my child. You are Cambyra Fae, not Indigo Court. You will become the next Queen of the Snow and Ice, even as Rhiannon will be Queen of Rivers and Rushes. There has been no true Queen of Winter here since Myst killed her long ago and took her place.”
“Tabera. The Unseelie Queen.”
“Yes, I see your father has been giving you history lessons.” She smiled at Wrath, then looked back at the two of us. “Myst knows nothing of balance, of give-and-take. She must be destroyed and the proper equilibrium returned. This will also negate your contract with Lannan, though he might still enforce it as an allegiance, but that is acceptable.” Lainule smiled softly at me. “You were born to the waning year, as Rhiannon was born to the waxing. You are two of a kind, born on the cusp. Cousins, who mirror one another.”
Rhiannon stammered. “Your brother was my father? Did our mothers know all of this?”
Wrath shook his head. “They knew some of it. They were chosen from the beginning. Your family has long held the Veil House and land—they have an interwoven history with the Golden Wood.”
“Then what is my animal form, or like Chatter, do I carry Fire as my Elemental form?” She licked her lips, and the eagerness in her voice was tinged with fear.
I turned to her. “Snake. I dreamed it.”
Wrath shook his head. “You and your dreams. But Cicely is correct. You are of the snake people. But for now, leave that be. You do not have time to master the form and it would be too cold for you outside.”
He sighed. “We chose your mothers to bear the two of you when we realized that Myst was rising again. Before she ever made a move, we knew we had to ensure that there would be a summer and winter queen to come, should the unthinkable happen.”
“Why didn’t you stop Myst back then? Before she destroyed your Court?” I shook my head. “Why not prevent a problem before it started?”
