A Cruel and Fated Light by Ashley Shuttleworth

Author:Ashley Shuttleworth [Shuttleworth, Ashley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
Published: 2022-04-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

Vehan

Holy crap!”

Vehan looked to his side, where Arlo stood in wide-eyed astonishment, taking in the room they’d just entered.

The palace library was a place where he’d spent almost as much time over the years as he had the training grounds. As large as a stadium, it was filled with books on all manner of subjects, folk- and human-written alike, many for study, others purely for entertainment. There were rows upon rows of pale, handsomely carved oak bookcases to contain them all, the entire stretch of every wall inlaid with even more and spanning all the way from the white marble floor to the glass ceiling above.

Like any other library, there were tables and chairs and sofas, tucked-away corners stuffed with enormous satin pillows and more practical, boxed-in working spaces for those looking for more privacy. There was also a tree, rising from the center of the room and stretching up like a support beam. This was a common feature in palace libraries—real or fake, trees were a symbol of great power to the fae, and Vehan had visited enough royal palaces in his eighteen years to know each Head displayed theirs in their own unique way.

Here in the Luminous Palace, their massive oak was made entirely of the same glass it branched out of and fused with at the ceiling, shocks of real, harvested lightning contained to curl and dance and fizzle within.

None of the staff, scholars, or NFA students looking to get a head start on elective or remedial summer lessons paid much attention to their decadent surroundings—they were too used to coming here, as was Vehan, but the visible awe on Arlo’s face made him smile . . . and reminded him of the first time he’d ever excitedly pulled Aurelian into this part of his personal tour.

“Yeah,” Vehan agreed, looking back now at the room—the tree at its center, more specifically. “Pretty cool, right? It was originally solid crystal, back when my grandmother was Head of Seelie Summer. Mother is . . . well . . .” He angled a grin at Arlo. “It’s definitely a power move, just like that iron staircase of hers in the grand foyer, because bottling up that much lightning is really dangerous and practically impossible for someone who isn’t at least a registered Three lightning wielder. I’m sure she expects me to be able to maintain it when I ascend the throne.”

His comment trailed off into a frown.

As little as mere weeks ago, he would have added the boast that this would be no problem, that he had Class Three in the bag and that keeping all his mother’s displays running hot would be easy enough.

Now, however . . .

“This isn’t what I wanted to show you, though.” He tilted his head in silent question, and Arlo tightened her grip on his arm, fastening herself a little closer and nodding agreement to let him lead her inside.

He’d wanted to show her around, yes. It wasn’t until after successfully stealing her away from his mother that he realized he hadn’t actually spent any time with Arlo alone.

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