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Chapters (55)
  1. Title Page
  2. Dedication
  3. World Map
  4. Pronunciations
  5. Author’s Notes
  6. Table of Contents
  7. A Forbidden Fate
  8. Prologue
  9. Chapter One
  10. Chapter Two
  11. Chapter Three
  12. Chapter Four
  13. Chapter Five
  14. Chapter Six
  15. Chapter Seven
  16. Chapter Eight
  17. Chapter Nine
  18. Chapter Ten
  19. Chapter Eleven
  20. Chapter Twelve
  21. Chapter Thirteen
  22. Chapter Fourteen
  23. Chapter Fifteen
  24. Chapter Sixteen
  25. Chapter Seventeen
  26. Chapter Eighteen
  27. Chapter Nineteen
  28. Chapter Twenty
  29. Chapter Twenty-One
  30. Chapter Twenty-Two
  31. Chapter Twenty-Three
  32. Chapter Twenty-Four
  33. Chapter Twenty-Five
  34. Chapter Twenty-Six
  35. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  36. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  37. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  38. Chapter Thirty
  39. Chapter Thirty-One
  40. Chapter Thirty-Two
  41. Chapter Thirty-Three
  42. Chapter Thirty-Four
  43. Chapter Thirty-Five
  44. Chapter Thirty-Six
  45. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  46. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  47. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  48. Chapter Forty
  49. Chapter Forty-One
  50. Chapter Forty-Two
  51. Chapter Forty-Three
  52. Chapter Forty-Four
  53. Chapter Forty-Five
  54. Acknowledgements
  55. About the Author

A sensation grows, like I’m falling off a cliff, and my organs are traveling upwards.

“I can’t move because…because…”

“Tell me,” the voices command.

The plants crawl across the floor; their sinister vines encroach from every corner of the room, bony fingers inching towards me to clutch my throat. They’re moments away from suffocating the very life from our bodies. Then, they begin to glow. Half of the room rests in deep shadows, and the vines undulate in the darkness between them. The other glows as if it’s lit by the bright morning sun, and golden tresses curl in hoops, repeating their patterns over and over. These vines stretch towards me.

“I can’t move,” I breathe rapidly. “Because the Lady has willed it so.”

“What has she decreed?” The voices demand.

I try to take a deep breath, but I can’t. I inhale shallow gulps hoping they’ll keep me awake.

“She has forbidden me from saving them. The darkness will spread until all the Kingdoms fall. Her power is growing…She is almost ready.” I don’t even know what I am saying anymore.

“What has the Lady done that prevents you from saving them?”

My head lolls, and from the corner of my eye, I see vines snake down the wall behind me. I wait to be mercilessly entrapped and defeated.

“Tell me!” The voices hiss.

My chin finally drops; I stare at my spinning feet. “I don’t know!”

“You do know!” The voices wail. “You are a Hyland woman! Search within!”

My eyelids flutter, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep them open long enough to witness my undoing.

“Tell us, quickly!”

I feel the insidious strands inch over my shoulders, digging into my skin like nails. I’m going to die. This dark magic will take me.

“She cursed us,” I sigh, accepting the death that will soon capture me. “She has made it so that we may never touch one another. The Lady…she will not let me. I cannot save them. I cannot move.”

I feel like I’m choking on the words that bubble up in my throat. Without further hesitation, I concede. “Because I cannot be with him.” My palms pulse with furious rage, and my eyelids finally close. Sleep and death overtake me.

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Idalia

Twelve Years Previous