Shadow of Thorns by Stacey Trombley EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Stacey Trombley
- Language: English
- Genre: Mythology & Folk Tales
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Rev
I flinch when shouts begin down the hall. Panic shoots through my veins,
but I swallow it down quickly.
I’m home, I remind myself. Safe.
My desk is the same wooden structure my mother had made for me after
Reahgan’s death. My shelves filled with well-worn books I studied for the
last two decades are within arm’s reach.
But I can still smell death and smoke and shame. Can still feel the ash
and blood between my fingers.
The walls that surround me now are solid, luxurious marble. The bed is
the same I’ve slept in since I was a child with silk sheets and a smooth
silver cover. This is my safe place. Bright and clean and familiar.
But I am soiled and scarred. I don’t belong here anymore.
Caelynn is in the bathing room down the hall. She’s here, she’s alive.
She’s safe.
I flex my fingers, remembering what it felt like to hold her lifeless body
in my arms. To watch her soul suffocate before me. My skin crawls at just
that thought.
I’d come so close to losing her. To killing her.
Now, my fingers itch to reach for her. To hold her. To reassure myself
that she’s here and okay. That I didn’t fulfill that terrible vow I’d made to
end her.
The shouts continue, bangs and shuffling feet sound through the whole
palace. I force myself to stand straight, anxiety stirring in my belly, but
numbness fills my limbs.
Something is obviously happening. But what?
I take slow steady steps to the window and stare out at the pristine
courtyard. Painfully bright light reflects off every surface of the
Luminescent Court grounds. I squint, eyes burning, as I peer out over the
gates. It’s shocking how bright the world can be. After a week inside fae
hell—my God, it was only a week—my body and soul had apparently
become used to the darkness. Now, my homelands feel excessively bright
and harsh.
Guards trot down the silver pebbled roadway toward the shining glass
gates. They scurry into a formation, lining the pathway and standing at
attention just as a massive golden carriage pulled by two shining black stags
with golden antlers rattles around the corner. Two smaller carriages follow
behind it.
I blink.
So, that’s what has the palace in a buzz.
The High Queen of all fae has decided to pay us a visit. My chest
tightens. I hoped to have a little more time to recover from our intense
mission before facing the queen but alas, that was a baseless hope.
A gentle knock sounds on the door.
“Yes?” I call. The door cracks and a withered fae leans in, his
awkwardly bent antlers appearing first.
“Sir, your parents have called for your presence in the great room to
greet the High Queen. You—” His dim eyes examine my ragged
appearance. I haven’t so much as changed my clothes since escaping the
Schorchedlands. I don’t want to even think about the source of the muck
covering my entire body. “Well, I suppose it’s a bit too late to get you
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