Page 82 of Three Dark Kings and the Gilded Serpent

A moment later, the scent of burning oil hits me and every memory of the ocean vanishes.

Even the Mothers break their silence, craning their necks and hurrying toward the crest of the dune. “Miriam, what is that?”

My breath catches when I reach the crest.

Along the distant horizon, smoke billows black and ominous from a mountain range.

I’m suddenly transported to my final morning in Frost when Hadrian attacked the Frost Towers, suffocating Frost and Iron Fae alike with smoke steeped in iron.

Every muscle in my body tenses at the dark sight, and then⁠—

A whirlwind of white explodes across the mountains, a tornado of ice wiping the air clean.

I jolt forward before I can stop myself. “Stellen.”

Charis catches my arm before I can descend the dune. “Thyra, no.”

Miriam is suddenly in front of me, her boots kicking up grit in her haste to get ahead of me. “Stop, Thyra.”

“What is happening there?” I demand to know.

Her expression is grim. “War.”

My heart sinks. “How long?”

“Three days now. It began the day before Stellen brought you to us. We had a reprieve on the day you came to us. Today, the onslaught started again. Stellen is fighting beside Maxim now. Frost is the only power that combats the toxic smoke. We would have lost hundreds of warriors if not for the Frost King.”

Three days. With Stellen’s damaged heart… And his drained power…

I can’t breathe. “I have to help him. I should be fighting beside them!”

“No.” Miriam’s tone is suddenly harsh. She takes hold of my shoulders. “You have a path you must follow right now, Thyra, and it is not into that battle.”

Every muscle in my body screams at me to run toward the fight.

As if she senses how close I am to slipping her hold, Miriam sweeps her arm around my back, gripping me tightly.

I could fight her. Easily. But I don’t want to hurt her.

A moment later, the Mothers close in around me. They glance at the battle on the horizon, their faces pale and whispers hushed.

“It’s bad again.”

“They’re keeping the toxins away from the city this time.”

“How did it come to this?”

Their focus is quickly back on me and to get past them now, I’d have to shove them aside.

“Come,” Miriam commands me, scooping me along beside her as she heads west at a brisk pace. “If you want to help, follow your fate.”

It takes every ounce of trust in me to follow Miriam and not break free and obey my crushing need to help Stellen.

“Stellen,” I whisper beneath my breath, visualizing him hearing me. “I’m awake. I’ll come fight beside you soon.”

If the Mothers think it’s strange that I’m whispering to myself, they don’t show it.

In the distance, another explosion of ice cascades across the horizon, even stronger than the first.