Page 52 of A Kingdom of Magic and Rain

Don’t be silly. I gave a small shake of my head. What we had shared last night… I would experience it with him again. I refused to believe the alternative.

Willing my numb limbs to move, I showered and got dressed in a simple forest-green dress and thick black leggings. After braiding my hair, I stepped into my boots and left the bedroom.

Everyone was gathered in the foyer when I descended the steps to the first floor. My mouth watered at the smell of biscuits and coffee wafting from the dining room, but it quickly became clear that we were skipping breakfast and heading straight to the border. My father was already dressed for the road in a heavy emerald-green cloak that hung too loosely around his broad shoulders. My gaze flicked over his drawn features, confirming that he must have had another sleepless night like most of his nights had been over the past few weeks.

“We will take two carriages,” he said as Killian came up and draped my fur-lined cloak over my shoulders. “You and Sebastian will ride with me.”

“Thea, Tom, and I will ride separately,” Adrian said, drawing my attention to him.

As our gazes locked, images of the previous night flooded my mind, making me blush. The spike of arousal was quickly snuffed out as I took in his ashen face and the thin line of his lips. The shadows that had crept into his eyes earlier still lingered, which made my stomach knot with apprehension. I wished we could have some time alone to talk, but leaving for the border couldn’t be delayed. I took a steadying breath and resolved to speak with him later.

When I reluctantly dragged my gaze away from Adrian, it landed on Tom. The adviser’s features were pinched in confusion as he looked between me and the lord. Something flashed in his sharp hazel eyes a moment before he pinned Adrian with a stare, a look of utter disbelief on his face. Had he realized what the lord and I had done last night? Was it that obvious? It must have been because when my gaze darted to Thea, she was also staring at Adrian with wide eyes.

“Shall we?” Sebastian asked, pulling me from my thoughts. With a nod, I followed him and my father outside, shivering when the cold air blasted my cheeks.

“It snowed again last night,” I stated the obvious after the three of us had climbed into the carriage.

“I know.” The king dragged a hand down his face with a heavy sigh. “When we return to the capital, I will declare a state of emergency.” Sebastian and I exchanged a glance at his words. “The time has come. People deserve to know the truth. We can’t hide it any longer. I will call a council meeting with all the lords. The regions will ration and share resources. I will also seek help from the other kingdoms. My hope is they will be able to send ships with aid before the weather renders the seas too rough for travel.”

I was relieved to hear that my father would finally reveal the truth and ask for help. I hoped it wasn’t too late.

“What about the wards?” Sebastian asked, tension bracketing the corners of his mouth.

“We will know about their condition soon enough. If they have deteriorated further, as I suspect, I will ready the army when we return to Nasyra in preparation for when the Fae attack.”

“Are you sure they will attack?” I asked as fear pierced my heart.

“I’m not sure about anything at this point, but we will prepare for the worst,” my father said gravely.

Heavy silence filled the carriage as the three of us became lost in our own thoughts. It felt as though I had brought some of the darkness with me from the manor, as if it had latched on to me before I had left my bedroom. It hovered over my shoulder now like a dark cloud of wispy smoke and shadows. I needed light to chase it away. Even a tiny spark would do—anything to help ease the tingling sense of foreboding between my shoulder blades. I hoped a reprieve would come soon. Maybe we would find that the wards hadn’t weakened further, buying us more time to find a way to save our kingdom.

When the carriage finally jerked to a stop, I was the first one to burst from the cabin, eager to escape the stifling air of desperation that had pervaded it. My eyes immediately fastened on the border as hope flared in my chest. Without waiting for the others, I set off toward the tree line, snow crunching under my booted feet. My steps quickened the closer I got to the tree line. When I reached the border, I halted in front of it and squeezed my eyes shut. My whole body went rigid as I inhaled the crisp winter air and listened to the magic of the wards, my nails digging into the palms of my hands.

“No,” I whimpered after a few seconds as I hung my head. I kept my eyes closed to keep the welling tears at bay. Weak. The wards were so weak. It seemed as though every time we had added color to the canvas of the border, someone had added water to dilute it.

“This is heart-wrenching,” Sebastian said under his breath next to me. I hadn’t even heard his approach.

When I opened my eyes, I found him and my father standing beside me. Sebastian’s posture was tense as he stared at the woods before us. My father looked defeated for a moment before he straightened his spine and squared his shoulders. As the king, he couldn’t waver, no matter how much he was breaking on the inside. He was a formidable wall, and only select few knew that he, like the wards, was on the brink of falling apart.

“All is not lost. Not yet,” I said low, but the words sounded louder somehow in the gray wintry stillness.

My father’s gaze found mine, and what I glimpsed in his eyes squeezed my heart with icy fingers. Fear. My father, the king, was afraid. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it when Adrian walked up to us.

The lord’s face was all hard lines as he looked past me, peering into the woods on the other side of the border. Glancing at him over my shoulder, I studied his taut features. What was he searching for in the trees? The Fae lurking within? Shuddering at the thought, I followed his gaze, but all that I saw was the green panorama of the woods.

“Are you ready?” my father asked Sebastian, and my brother nodded.

I’m also ready, I wanted to say, but I didn’t dare speak the words aloud. Adrian was close enough to overhear, and while he knew the truth about the state of the wards, my father didn’t know that I had told him. I wasn’t sure if it still mattered, but that was not how I wanted the king to find out. For that reason, I would have to wait for the lord to walk away before I could attempt to feed my magic into the barrier, adding my own splash of color into the nearly colorless canvas.

With a rough exhale, Sebastian shook out his arms before he outstretched them in front of him and closed his eyes. My father began to quietly guide him through the magic transfer as Adrian and I stood by, silently watching the woods.

After a moment, Thea walked up, stopping next to Adrian. Her eyes seemed too big for her face as they, too, zeroed in on the woods. She and the lord exchanged a look as unease stirred in the pit of my stomach. They were acting strangely, but I couldn’t blame them for being wary when only a few feet separated us from the Fae. I expected Tom to join our group as well, but he didn’t. Instead, he walked along the border in the opposite direction, stopping a considerable distance away from us. My eyes narrowed as I watched him turn his back to us, his navy-blue cloak swaying around his stocky frame.

“What is he doing?” I asked Adrian, my eyes never leaving Tom’s back.

The lord didn’t answer at first, too focused on the woods before us, but when my question registered, he blinked as if breaking a trance and turned his head to look at me.

When I jerked my head in Tom’s direction, Adrian followed my gaze.