Page 66 of A Kingdom of Magic and Rain

A hand landed on my shoulder, and a startled gasp escaped as I looked up at the Sorceress staring down at me. “Do not try to give. Only take.”

Her words triggered something in me. The past two months flashed through my mind.

“I’m trying to use my powers to awaken yours,” Adrian had said while holding my hands that night in the library. I had been able to stir my powers awake the following day.

“Breathe. You can do this. I believe in you,” he had said to me in the gardens with his hand on my shoulder as I had healed a plant for the very first time.

The silver glow in his eyes as we had made love last night. My dreams…where I siphoned the ancient magic from Oberon.

“Do not give. Take,” I whispered, still clutching Adrian’s arm.

Letting go, I clasped his face instead. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but the dreams were guiding me. The dreams and the past two months. I had done this before—taken powers from him without even realizing it. Inhaling deeply, I imagined the silver vines on his face soaking into my palms. I summoned them to me, coaxing them out of his skin and into my pores. Bracing for the excruciating pain Adrian had been going through, I winced when I felt Silberium’s cool kiss on the pads of my fingers. The ancient magic began flowing into me, and my features smoothed out because the sensation was…pleasant. Silberium tasted sweet on my tongue. It tasted like sunshine and endless summer, like hopes and dreams, and the happiest childhood memories. My tears of despair turned into tears of joy.

I closed my eyes, reveling in the blissful moments until I heard Adrian’s voice. “Emelin, what are you doing?”

I opened my eyes and met his panicked gaze. “I’m siphoning your magic.” I smiled at him, perfectly content, feeling—knowing—that I was exactly where I was meant to be, doing what I had been born for. “Give in. Surrender it to me.”

“Are you not in pain?” he rasped, his voice raw from screaming.

“Not at all.” My smile grew. “I feel renewed, restored, alive.”

“Your eyes… They are aglow with a dazzling gold light.” He gave a tentative smile.

Lifting a trembling hand to his face, he placed it on top of mine on his cheek and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, he closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, they were glowing the brightest, sparkling silver. The ancient magic began pouring into me, and I gasped at the feeling of abundance flooding my entire being.

“That’s enough,” Lady May said after a few short minutes. “You don’t want to take too much. It’s a delicate balance.”

Reluctantly, I slid my hands off Adrian’s face. As soon as I did, his glowing eyes dimmed. The patterns on his skin were gone. They had transferred onto my flesh, glittering gold instead of silver. I studied the shimmering trails in awe. They reminded me of plant vines, covering my hands to the tips of my fingers, not etched into my skin but swirling below it. On my left hand, one vine ended in a small star near the V between my thumb and pointer finger.

You are my North Star. Adrian’s words floated up in my mind. His proclamation had turned out to be prophetic. I was his North Star, leading him out of the darkness into the light—out of death’s cold embrace into a new life.

“The patterns on your skin will disappear once you release Silberium into your land,” Lady May said, drawing my attention away from the marvelous design on my hand.

Panic rose at her words. “I have to transfer the magic into the land? There has to be another way.”

“It is the only way. You must transfer Silberium into Emeraldia, but fear not. The ancient magic will not harm your realm, only heal it.”

“Heal it?” I breathed, grasping at the sliver of hope that my kingdom could be saved. “How can you be sure?”

The Sorceress sighed heavily. “It’s a very long story. One that I am willing to tell, but not right now. The barrier I have created to hold off the guards is draining me. Celestina,” she turned to the Fae queen, “tell them to stand down.”

“Stand down?! She killed Sorin! She deserves to die!” Celestina seethed.

“What?!” Adrian bolted upright. A rough grunt immediately followed as he braced himself on his hand for support. His gaze stretched to the other end of the room, to where Sorin’s body lay.

“A child of light will slay the Fae king to take power from the most powerful,” he muttered.

It was an accident, I wanted to say, but kept my mouth shut. Admitting to that would be a sign of weakness, and I refused to appear weak in front of Celestina. Gathering my strength, I rose to my feet before bending down to help Adrian up.

“You cannot kill the girl,” the Sorceress said calmly. “She has saved your son and your realm. She will keep saving them both if you let her live.”

“I can keep siphoning Silberium from Adrian?” I asked as the spark of hope began to burn brighter.

She nodded. “And releasing it into Emeraldia, bringing both kingdoms into balance. As Queen Rosalie did, and the ones that came after her. Until one hundred years ago when everything changed.”

“Our magic did not come from the Stars, did it?” my father rasped, slowly sitting up.

“It did not. It came from the Fae. From Oberon himself.”