The Gatekeeper's Trials: The Complete Trilogy by Emma L. Adams

Author:Emma L. Adams [Adams, Emma L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-06T22:00:00+00:00

“The water healed all your injuries,” said Mum. “That’s the good news.”

“The bad news is that Lord Daival saw the talisman.” And it was more the talisman’s fault than mine. The bloody thing had been trying to get the world’s attention ever since I’d left it in the grove and would have probably hopped out of the waters and terrified some poor human next, but that didn’t stop me from feeling like I should have done more to stop it. “And it tried to attack you.”

I’m in way over my head with this one.

I lay under a blanket on the sofa and sipped at a mug of a blood-replenishing potion Mum had insisted on making me. It tasted of ogre piss, but after a few sips, I felt less shaky and more like chasing down Lord Daival. After a nap, that is.

“It didn’t, Hazel,” said Mum, draining the rest of her own mug. I’d insisted she got into the waters as soon as I’d regained consciousness, and the marks from Lord Daival’s attack had faded from her wrists. “The talisman pushed me away from you, yes, but I didn’t feel any adverse effects from its magic.”

“I guess it was focused on me not dying.” I took another sip of the foul liquid. “It still views me as the wielder, for some reason.”

Not that I couldn’t have reached the waters with Mum’s help anyway, but it’d pushed her away. Like it wanted to protect its owner. Why?

There came the sound of a key turning in a lock, then hurried footsteps. A moment later, Ilsa burst into the living room. “Hazel? What did you do?”

“Lord Daival. Thorns. The usual.” I should have figured she’d come here as soon as she saw the disturbance on the Ley Line. “And an attempted necromantic ritual that went wrong. Don’t worry, I dealt with it.”

“So that’s why there are so many Sidhe on the hill near the village,” she said. “Wait, tonight was that party with the cultists, right?”

“You’ve got it.” I put the mug down. “The cultists tried to do a necromantic ritual the wrong way, then figured sacrificing me would do instead. I collapsed the tunnel on them and wasted several barrels of perfectly good elf wine. Oh yeah, and Holly was there.”

“Holly?” said Ilsa.

I told her everything, from my conversation with Holly to Lord Daival’s attack on our house. Including my utter failure to stop him from laying eyes on the talisman.

Ilsa remained silent for a long moment. When I was on the brink of drifting off to sleep, she said, “It’s not your fault, Hazel. Like you said… the talisman wanted to make itself known. And now Lord Daival thinks you’re the wielder, he’s going to think twice before trying another direct assault on the house.”

“He can still target you and Morgan,” I mumbled into the blanket. “He blames our entire family for the Seelie Queen’s imprisonment. And he promised to kill one potential heir every day until I give him the talisman.

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