Page 2 of Cold Hearted
I sat in silence while my mother braided my blonde hair into a golden crown on my head, the style my great-grandmother Mae, the last Summer Court champion, wrote was popular with Ethereum women. While I watched her fingers thread through my hair, I was reminded of when I was little and she would braid flowers into my hair and let me try on her makeup for fun. It had been years since we did anything like that together. As I matured, my training and my mother’s duties as the reigning monarch took up most of our time, and our interactions became more formal in nature. We weren’t nearly as close as we used to be, but maybe when I returned, and the pressure of preparing me for my mission was gone, we’d get the opportunity to reconnect more deeply as she readied me to take over the kingdom.
My mother rested her hands on my shoulders and peered at me in the mirror when she finished. “It’s time,” she said.
I rose and she handed me the sunstone dagger. My fingers trembled as I took the famed weapon in my grip. It had an orange gem embedded in the hilt, and filigree etching in the metal. Each of the Faerie courts had their own dagger that held a powerful faestone. I stroked the orange sunstone, which embodied the Summer Court, and found myself thinking of the other daggers that each court held: a red carnelian for the Fall Court, a blue kyanite for the Winter Court, and a pink moonstone for the Spring Court. Though to my knowledge they’d never had to use them—because the Summer Court champion always delivered.
I tucked the dagger safely into a sheath at my waist that hid the unique faestone from view.This dagger was the most important item I was bringing with me to Ethereum. The portal to Ethereum here in the palace could only be used to enter the mirror world, not to return from it. Once I was there, the only way to get back would be to cut out the heart of an Ethereum lord with the sunstone dagger. When the magic from the sunstone combined with the dark magic of one of the lord’s black hearts, a portal back to Faerie would open. So if I lost the dagger or failed at my task, I’d never see my home again.
After making sure the dagger was safely sheathed, I grabbed my pack of supplies, which consisted of food, extra clothing, basic medicines, various poisons, and a detailed map of the Ethereum realm comprising knowledge past champions had brought back. When I looked in the mirror one final time I no longer saw Princess Dawn Ambrose of the Summer Court. Instead I saw a spy, an assassin, a killer.
My mother and I left the barren room and headed for the throne room, where the ceremony would take place. It was a short and silent trip, but my mother stopped me before entering. Leaning forward, she kissed my forehead in a rare display of affection and then turned to open the doors to the throne room. As expected, the lavish room was filled with all of my many trainers and teachers, as well as high-ranking nobility who served my mother in a political capacity.
My mother, the queen of the Summer Court, held her head high as she glided toward the raised dais at the end of the room where her throne sat. I followed in her wake, keeping my back straight and my eyes forward as I walked past the bystanders who were there to see me off.Each and every person here had some stake in my training. Ever since I was three years old and could heft a wooden practice sword, Master Tor was by my side teaching me to grip it tightly and keep my elbow bent. I peered at Master Elaina as I passed, and my throat tightened. Not only had she taught me about the history of Ethereum and its people and way of life, we’d become great friends as she was only a few years older than me.
The potions master tipped his head with pride as I passed, and I nodded back to him. I could bring down a full-grown horse with one drop of home-brewed black hollyhock. The closer I walked to the mirror on the wall at the back of the room, the more the people who were here to support me pressed in. They even started to clap and murmur well wishes.
“Long live Dawn!” one courtier shouted, and the rest chorused their agreement. My mother and I spoke of this often—having the weight of a kingdom riding on your shoulders. It was something my mother usually dealt with more heavily, but now I was experiencing the full brunt of it.
All of these fae, their husbands, wives, children would all die if I failed in my task. Instead of walking back to the alcove which held the portal, I diverted my steps to the giant window that looked out over most of Summer Court.
The dark wind screamed as it pushed against the glass pane, and I peered down below to see the tops of houses being battered with inky black rain. My palms began to sweat as anxiety pulled me into its clutches.
One moon. I had one moon’s time to return with the heart and restore beauty and order to Faerie. If a whole moon cycle lapsed from the moment the portal opened on the summer solstice,not even cutting a black heart out with the sunstone dagger would bring me home.
Bring back the heart, I told myself.
“Ready?” my mother asked.
I nodded, swallowing hard and straightening myself.
Pivoting away from the window and the reminder of what was at stake, I moved to the dais that held my mother’s throne and stood beside it, facing everyone who had come to see me off.
Emotion clogged my throat when the room took a collective bow in my direction. My mother wasn’t even on the dais yet. This respectful gesture was all for me. My mother stepped up beside me and took my palm, face up, holding it out to the people.
“Thank you all for your hard work in training Dawn over the many years it has taken to ready her for this moment. She will now receive your blessings,” my mother said, keeping my hand held tightly in her grasp.
Master Tor was first, walking up with a wry smile and placing his palm over the center of mine. “Dawn Ambrose, I give you my skilled strength. May it serve you well on your journey.” He dipped his head and stepped away.
Master Elaina stepped up next and touched her palm to mine. “Dawnie bear,” she said, using my childhood nickname, and I let loose with a giant grin. “I give you my knowledge. May it serve you well in your task.”
Instead of bowing, she pulled me into a tight hug.
My mother huffed beside me at the break in protocol, but I simply wrapped my arms around one of my oldest friends and squeezed.“Thank you,” I whispered to her, blinking back the tears that began to line my eyes.
The potions master was next, and then the royal courtiers, each giving me a symbolic gesture of patience, or perseverance, or something I would need on my journey.
My mother and I thanked them all and then exited behind the dais to the private alcove tucked into the back wall behind my mother’s chair.
Here my greatest teacher was waiting for me, Master Duncan, a man even my mother held with high esteem, which was rare.
I approached him and he grabbed my hand and placed his palm over mine. “To you I give my cunning and intellect. May it serve you well in your task.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Master.”
“You are ready,” Master Duncan stated with a confidence that immediately put me at ease.
I stood before him as he placed a strong hand on each of my shoulders and squeezed. “The record is five minutes. I think you can beat it.” He winked.
I chuckled, but my mother scoffed. Master Duncan was an old man with a witty personality, and a leading authority in all things Ethereum related.
