Contents ( 41)
- CAST OF CHARACTERS
- ACT ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- ACT TWO
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- ACT THREE
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- EPILOGUE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- ALSO BY NAFIZA AZAD
“And the HeartStones?” Uaine raises an eyebrow.
Croi sighs but faithfully narrates. “The HeartStones are conduits through which the monarch of a kingdom bonds to the elemental magick of the kingdom. Without the HeartStone, the monarch of the kingdom will not be able to bond to the magick. If the monarch is unable to bond to the elemental magick, the magick cycle, where magick that a kin is born with returns to the land after they die, will break. Once the magick cycle breaks, kin will start dying in large numbers. As if this isn’t grave enough, the Saol ceremony will be impossible without the HeartStones of all four elemental kingdoms. If the Saol ceremony is not completed, the four elemental kingdoms will cease to exist as the lands will unite once again and chaos will reign as it did once before. In simpler terms, without a HeartStone, life will be terrible and no one will be happy.”
Uaine nods, satisfied. “So, the Talamh HeartStone is missing.”
“You… what?” Croi gapes at the dryad. “No, wait, the earth HeartStone is missing? Are you sure? How do you know?”
“My sister sent word,” Uaine replies.
“Which sister?”
“The one who resides in Talamh Caisleán. She awoke not long ago in preparation for the Saol ceremony and found the HeartStone missing.”
“How did she tell you?”
“She sent word through magick. Yes, little kin, it’s entirely possible to do that.”
“But if the HeartStone is missing, won’t…? Has she searched everywhere?” Croi looks at Uaine with wide eyes.
“As much as she can,” the dryad replies.
“Does she know who took it?” Croi asks.
“No,” Uaine answers.
“Will the human world be affected?” Croi knows what shape home takes.
“The Otherworld is linked to the human world through the Wilde Forest, so the human world will not be spared the effects of whatever happens there,” Uaine says.
“So”—Croi swallows—“what are you going to do?”
Uaine smiles at her and Croi has an ominous feeling. “To save the Otherworld, the human world, and yourself, you will need to help me.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to help save the world.” Croi coughs. “In fact, there’s nothing I would rather do, but in case you haven’t noticed, I am currently under the throes of a summoning spell.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I will break it for you,” Uaine replies casually.
Croi croaks again. “You will what?”
“I will break it. A little summoning spell is not difficult for me to break.”
Croi wets her lips, her throat suddenly dry. Does she dare hope?
“Of course, I will only do so on the condition that you will help me,” the dryad adds.
“How can I help you?”
Uaine pauses and her eyes sweep the clearing, looking across a distance Croi can’t fathom, at something she can’t see. The dryad’s eyes grow filmy with an immeasurable sadness before she turns back to Croi.
“By taking my SoulSeed to my sister.”
There’s a gravity to her words that Croi can’t comprehend. She scrunches up her face and thinks hard. Has the Hag ever mentioned SoulSeeds before? She can’t remember, but then again, she didn’t always pay attention to the lessons the Hag taught.