North Garden by Najeea C. Murray

Author:Najeea C. Murray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cinderella retelling, clean young adult fantasy book, fairy tale retelling clean, young adult fairy tale retelling, young adult science fiction fantasy, sci fi romance books ya, ya books for teen girls, forbidden love ya fantasy, young adult royal romance books, cinderella book young adult
Publisher: Najeea Murray
Published: 2023-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-THREE

Entering North Garden, a sense of peace swept over Daelia. They were miles away from town, surrounded by undisturbed nature in a pocket of the woods few rarely visited anymore. If they even knew it existed. No one would come looking for them here. There were too many other places Marcel could have found refuge that weren't so out of the way. Places that were probably now in danger.

Marcel took out his cell, and Daelia sat at the fountain. She let the cold water drain through her hands, seeing the fallen guard with his chest full of black arrows. Oriff lying still on the pavement. The rebels welding their menacing, crude masks, waiting for their time to strike. How long had they been scheming their attack right beneath everyone's noses? These nameless, faceless people could be anywhere, and no one would know what they were up to. How could the Star eliminate a rebellion with so many unknowns?

“Marcel. Thank God...” Daelia got up at the sound of a man's voice and joined Marcel's side. Sitting with his broad shoulders hunched to his ears, Captain Calaur moved closer to the holographic screen. “Are you safe?”

Marcel scanned their surroundings, skimming beyond the sunlit forest for lurking trespassers, compelling Daelia to do the same. If any of the rebels were trailing them, they had plenty of opportunities to hunt them down. They were defenseless. If they were being followed, they would have heard someone coming by now. “We should be. You can send the guards to meet me here. Tell my parents I'll be home soon.”

“Marcel, listen to me.” Calaur's face hardened, producing deep ridges in his forehead. “You can't come home.”

Silence amplified the trickling of the fountain as Marcel processed Calaur's words. “What happened?”

Calaur stayed still for so long their connection seemed to be broken, but then he blinked, shifting in his seat. “The castle has been breached.”

Daelia's skin crawled as The Arrival's shadow hung over the land. The rebels had them surrounded, watching like nightmarish insects from all corners of the kingdom. Closing in. The Pinnacle Star was supposed to be impenetrable. The rebels shouldn't have been able to find a way in. That was...

Impossible? Even the Pinnacle Star had its flaws. She knew firsthand how easy it was to enter the castle as an outsider. But only with the right help.

Marcel's cell trembled. “I need to speak to my parents. Where are they?”

Calaur's brows buckled over his drooping eyes as his face went slack. “The king and queen are dead.”

The cell slipped from Marcel's palm—Calaur still calling out to him as it fell to the ground—and he collapsed to his hands and knees. Daelia held onto him, tears spilling down her cheeks as Marcel broke down in her arms.

Gathering himself to his feet, Marcel moved a few steps away and cocked his head back, staring up at the Star. Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes. “It's all my fault.”

Daelia sniffed, keeping her distance, wanting to give him his space.

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