Page 63 of Cold Hearted
“The Wise Ones live in a cave not far from here,” he said from behind me.
“A cave?”
“An enchanted cave,” he clarified.
We trekked our way along the path for what felt like forever, weaving back and forth and slowly ascending the mountain. Zander and I took the time to share stories of our childhood. I found out that Zander was the youngest of his many brothers, and therefore the newest to ruling his kingdom. Even though the four current Ethereum lords shared the same birthday, Stryker was technically the oldest brother still alive, and had ruled the longest out of all four of them.He’d stepped up as ruler of the Eastern Kingdom when he was still a teenager after their older brother died unexpectedly in an avalanche. According to Zander, Stryker had barely had a childhood before the mantle of ruling had fallen to him, and despite myself my heart began to soften for the hardened fae.
Eventually we punched through the cloud cover. It was well into the afternoon and the sun’s rays lit our way until the path ended and a large opening yawned in front of us. It was at least two stories high and just as wide, but I couldn’t see anything past the entrance. It was like a black hole, waiting to swallow me up.
I glanced at Zander with uncertainty.
“This is as far as I can go,” he said with a frown.
He’d warned me I’d have to visit the Wise Ones alone, but it didn’t mean I had to like it. But I was a Summer Court princess, a trained assassin, and the mate of an Ethereum lord. I could do this for my people, for my kingdom, and for myself.
I nodded at Zander and turned from him, marching toward the darkness. I didn’t hesitate when I reached the cave, but continued forward with my head held high, staying alert as I strode into a space darker than night. I was only a handful of steps in before I was completely blind, which told me this darkness was magical in nature. With the sun shining outside the cave, I shouldn’t have lost visibility so quickly, but now I needed to rely on my other senses. Zander told me my magic wouldn’t work in the cave, or else I would have used my sunlight magic to light my way.
With every stride, the sound of rocks and sand crunching beneath my feet echoed in the space around me. I put a hand out as I stepped tentatively.Eventually the air warmed, and moisture clung to my skin, yet I still couldn’t see anything.
After a few more steps, I heard a hiss, so silent at first I thought my ears were playing tricks on me. It grew louder as I moved forward until I realized the hissing was actually whispers. I stopped, trying to figure out where the whispers were coming from, only to realize they were all around me.
I spun in the darkness, disoriented, but starting to pick out bits and pieces of the whispered words.
“Princess… visit… black heart… curse.”
“Who’s there?” I called into the void, but the whispers continued to be a jumbled mess I couldn’t fully understand.
I grunted in frustration, sweat collecting on my brow and making fine hairs stick to my forehead. It was getting so warm I was tempted to peel off some layers of clothes to get some relief, but instead I took off in what I thought was the right direction, blindly stumbling over rocks and bumping into the cavern walls. The whispers became so loud I had to cover my ears. It felt like I was going crazy.
I moved forward as long as I could until finally I stopped. Squeezing my eyes shut, I crouched on the ground and screamed at the voices to stop. My shouts bounced off the cavern walls, and it wasn’t until my own echoes quieted that I realized the whispers had ceased. When I opened my eyes, I gasped to find myself in a candlelit room with no ceiling, the stars sparkling down from above.
I stood and turned to see four male fae seated upon rock thrones in a semi-circle in front of me. Even though they weren’t standing,I could tell they were short by fae standards. Their skin was the color of luminescent pearl, and two small horns peeked out from each of their shaggy heads of hair. But what disturbed me the most, and what Zander had neglected to warn me about, were their eyes. Four sets of completely white orbs stared down at me.
“Welcome, Princess of Faerie,” the Wise One directly in front of me said. Although I heard the words as if spoken aloud, his mouth didn’t move. Something else Zander left out.
“We have been waiting for this day for ages,” the one to his right said. His mouth didn’t move either, but the sound came from that direction.
Ages?Just how old were these fae?
“For—” I clamped my mouth shut. I’d almost asked, “For what day?” which might have used up my one question.
The corner of the mouth of the Wise One to the far left tipped up, and although I probably should have been relieved because it was the first facial expression any of them had displayed, it creeped me out slightly.
“Speak freely, Princess of Faerie. The time for your one question has not yet come,” he said.
Had he read my mind?
“What day have you been waiting for?” I asked, hoping I hadn’t just been lied to.
“The prophesized day when the daughter of Faerie and the son of Ethereum would bond, starting the healing to both kingdoms.”
How did he know we were bonded? Wait, what?Bothkingdoms? What did Ethereum need to be healed from?
My mind spun with what they had just said.
“What—?”
“The time has come for your one question. Choose wisely,” the Wise One to my right said, cutting off my words.
