Page 111 of The Crown of the Dark Prince
“What?” Rankor asked, frowning. “What is that?”
Clay looked at me suspiciously, as if he somehow knew who had told me about the book. “It’s a spell book, created by the Gods. No one really knows whats in it, but it’s rumored to have the spell they used to raise the Veil.”
I looked around the room. “What if Pasnia had been looking for the Book of the Gods in the Zion Archives and not the Sword of Zion? A spell in that book raised the Veil. What if there’s a spell to lower it?”
“That could make sense,” Clay nodded slowly, “but we’ve never had that book; it was lost centuries ago.”
Camilla cleared her throat, avoiding Iris’s stare as she interjected. “I might know someone who could find it. He used to sell crystals to my grandmother.”
Iris turned to Rankor and Kent. “Then let’s move. We’ll head back to the castle and strengthen our defenses. Camilla sends word to her contact. Clay and Thea find Pasnia and deal with her. Then we take the throne.”
Rankor smirked. “All in a day’s work.”
Kent went to Iris, clapping a hand on her shoulder and trying to lead her away before her temporary calmness wore off. She lingered a moment longer, settling her icy gaze on Camilla.
“I hope you are sorry. I hope her face haunts the rest of your dreams. It’s a fate much worse than death.”
I watched her go, her presence leaving a stifling tension in the room. It only heightened when Clay stormed away without another word. Elaina followed, promising she’d talk to him and get him to calm down.
Left alone with Camilla, I sank into a chair across from her.
“Never thought the day would come when you defended me from Iris,” she said softly, seriousness in her voice. “Thank you.”
I nodded. “Elaina was right. It’s not your fault that Pasnia made you do those things. She’s the real villain.”
Camilla stared out the window as Iris, Kent, and Rankor rode away. “Still, Iris will never forgive me.”
“No, she won’t.”
“And your friendship with her will never be the same.”
“No,” I agreed softly. “It won’t.”
Everything had already changed.
Chapter Thirty Two
By the time the afternoon sun rose high in the sky, the manor had long since gone quiet. Camilla dozed on the couch, her body still demanding rest as it healed. Clay and Elaina had yet to return, leaving the house heavy with an uneasy stillness. I lingered for as long as I could before I couldn’t bear to sit still any longer. Wrapping a heavy cloak tightly around my shoulders, I wandered outside, the crisp winter air biting against my skin.
The gardens at the castle had once been my sanctuary, one of the few places I’d been able to find peace. My gardens here at Hyrax Manor hardly compared. The cold had stripped the crops and flowers of their vibrancy, leaving them withered and fragile. Even in the height of spring, though, the gardens had never possessed the same luster as the palace’s carefully tended pathways.
Maybe when all this was over, I’d find time to come out here myself and spend my days ensuring that the garden got the love it deserved.
A sudden gust of wind whipped through the trees, rattling their bare branches. It sliced across my cheeks like tiny blades, but even that couldn’t compare to the icy hollowness in my chest. How was it possible to feel so much in so little time? In a matter of days, I’d gone from the most exquisite of heavens to the darkest depths of loneliness.
Perhaps this was my curse.
I was a lone Goddess walking among Mortals.
There would never be anyone in this realm who could stand beside me as an equal. No one who could truly understand what it felt like to carry this weight, this power. No one would ever feel the same responsibility or utter isolation.
My knees sank into the cold, brittle grass as I lowered myself to the ground. I ran the dry blades between my fingers, letting their rough edges ground me as the steady wave of the ocean roared in the distance.
Chewing my lip, I tried to clear my thoughts, to push all my fears and doubts anddesperationdown. There would be time to deal with it all. Right now, there was work to be done. If I couldn’t focus, people I loved would die.
A terrifying truth, dark and inevitable, crept into my thoughts.
“I’m going to watch them die either way,” I whispered to myself, the overwhelming truth finally escaping.
