Linsey Hall - 01 Crown of Fire by Linsey Hall

Author:Linsey Hall [Hall, Linsey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnie Doon Press
Published: 2019-12-31T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 10

The blow from the branch was fierce. We flew through the air, crashing against each other and tumbling to the ground. Once again, Iain somehow managed to roll to protect me, landing underneath me. Quickly, he flipped over to shield me from the lashing branches, taking the hits to his back.

“What’s going on?” he growled.

“We, ah—we didn’t have an invitation.”

He winced as a branch struck him again.

Why was he protecting me so aggressively? Was it to keep me alive until the ceremony? Or something more?

I couldn’t help but think it was partially the second option. I was his mate. He couldn’t help himself. And I honestly couldn’t see how he was going to manage to sacrifice me when the time came. But if he didn’t, everyone in his kingdom would freeze. Including him.

But the alternative was me dying, along with all of my people.

We were both trapped. Terribly trapped. There was no way out of this without one of us dying along with our entire Courts.

I pushed at his shoulders. “Get up. We need to sweet talk our way out of this.”

“Sweet talk?”

“Convince her that our request is worthy.”

He took the hint and climbed off me, then turned to face the tree, putting himself between me and the attacking branches. I scrambled upright and darted around him, drawing a shield from the ether.

I caught his exasperated look and said, “I hide behind no man.”

When I turned back to the tree, a particularly large branch slammed into my shield. I braced myself and skidded backward, but didn’t fall.

“It is Caera, Fae of Fire,” I shouted. “And Iain, Fae of Ice.”

“Fae of the Sea,” he corrected.

I glanced at him and nodded. “Fae of the Sea. We are here to ask questions about the fate of our Courts.”

The tree’s branches shuddered and went still, returning to their original position. My shoulders relaxed slightly, but my breathing still came quickly. Nothing happened for a moment, and Iain stepped toward me.

He leaned close and whispered against my ear, “What’s going on?”

“We’re waiting to see if she appears.”

“The tree doesn’t talk?”

I arched a brow and looked at him. “What, like with a mouth made of bark?”

He shrugged. “You Fire Fae of Dartmoor are strange. How am I to know?”

I scowled at him. “No stranger than you.”

His brows lowered. “We need to stop bickering.”

He was right, damn it. I turned from him and faced the tree, my throat tight with hope. Everything was riding on this.

Despite the blackened bark—or probably because of it—the twisted tree was magnificent. Dark mist formed around the trunk, swirling on the breeze. It coalesced to form a figure, and my heart leapt.

The seer had lived in the massive Rowan tree for as long as my people had been on Dartmoor. Thousands of years, even before the Great Burning. The figure was nearly solid by the time the mist finished swirling, but her features were indistinct because she was made of a thick dark mist that represented the spirit of the tree.

She glided toward us, and I stiffened my spine against the fear that threatened to weaken me.

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