Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
My heart races, and I backtrack in my mind and reconstruct a puzzle I already thought I understood.
“I thought you would figure it out when you were able to sit upon the Throne of Shadows,” Mab says. Her hazel eyes, so much like mine, burn into me. I feel that she can see right through me and into my past. “The throne was yours. You could’ve kept it. Though ruling as a mortal might’ve been . . . tricky.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Those of us in the Twilight are unable to speak directly with the living unless they make the journey here. You’re here now only because the priestesses united their power to send you the message, despite the traitor High Priestess’s efforts to keep you away.”
“The Unseelie Court is dying,” I say. “You say I have a role to play, but I cannot sit on the throne without the crown, and Sebastian cannot sit on the throne without the power. Tell us how to get someone on the throne.”
Her smile is wide this time, showing a mouth of black teeth and, between them, endless darkness. “If he forfeits his life, he could surrender that crown to you, my child.”
Snakes slither through those flickering flames around the base of her throne. Their hissing sounds like a warning, a ticking clock.
“That can’t be the only way,” I say.
“It depends what question you want answered,” she says. “Do you want to know how to get a ruler on the Throne of Shadows, or do you want to know how to save the kingdom?”
I meet Finn’s gaze and see frustration brimming in his eyes.
“Help us save your court,” he snaps. “That is why we’re here.”
The snakes lunge toward us, fangs exposed, hissing louder now. “You need more than just crown, power, and throne to save the shadow court,” she says. “Queen Arya has gotten too powerful. You need to bring balance between the courts. The solution demands sacrifice.”
Finn goes pale. “You can’t mean for Abriella to—”
“Sacrifice herself? No.” She cocks her head to the side. “She would, though. Do you realize that? Her love for you would not be enough to keep her. If she believed Arya’s son could be the ruler the Unseelie need, she would already be down here with me.” She tsks. “Foolish girl.”
“Please help us,” I whisper. My voice feels hoarse, as if I’ve been screaming. “Children are dying. The court is dying.”
“Yes, because Queen Arya’s power is too great. Even if Prince Ronan were willing to make the sacrifice, his mother would still grow more and more powerful, and my precious court would still die. She must be dealt with.”
“Your solution is to kill Arya?” Finn growls. “How are we supposed to do that? She’s too well guarded, too well hidden, and too powerful.”
“More powerful every day,” Mab agrees. “The Court of the Sun has grown too strong, and continued imbalance will only make her stronger.”
“You want me to ask Sebastian to sacrifice himself just so I can sit on the throne, but you’re telling me even that won’t be enough if we don’t kill Arya.”
“Yes, girl. You must also kill the queen. Only you can.”
“What if I can’t?” I stare at this ancestor of mine. “I’m nothing special. I’m just a girl who—”
“Who loved so deeply she braved an unknown realm to save her sister,” Mab says. She takes a long, slow breath and looks me over. “I was just a mother who would’ve given anything to save her son. It is our love, my child, that makes us fit to rule, but it also makes us wicked. It was my love that drove me to curse a kingdom and yours that led you to deceive your lover by stealing from the Seelie Court. Don’t lose sight of that darkness in you. Let it serve the light.”
I want to scream. We came all this way for her to tell us what we already knew? For her to suggest that we convince Sebastian to do something I couldn’t live with, even if he were willing?
“But . . .” she says after a long pause. “If you cannot bring yourself to sacrifice your bonded partner’s immortality and find a way to kill Queen Arya, there is another way.”
My heart races, as if it’s trying to get a head start back toward the portal. “How?”
“When I created the Throne of Shadows, I already wore the crown, so I tied the throne to my soul-bonded partner.”
Finn steps forward, in front of me. “Your partner?”
“The throne recognizes a bonded pair as one—as long as the bond has been solidified by the magic within the River of Ice.”
“No,” Finn breathes. His beautiful face has gone pale.
I look back and forth between Finn and Mab, not understanding.
“The River of Ice doesn’t just solidify the bond. It ties your lives together. So if anything ever happened to Sebastian . . . if he were to die . . .”