The Lost Fae (The Twisted Crown #3) - A.K. Koonce Page 0,31

of the ship. The bow cuts into the shallowest part of the snowy beach. Beatrice stands on top of the railing and gives us a grand salute before she grunts and jumps off the edge of the ship. The crew follows eagerly, crunching in the slush under their feet as they land.

"Ready?" I take the first step, spinning to watch Lincoln as I walk backward.

"Fuck yes."

The pirates drop off the deck, disappearing from view. When we reach the edge I don't bother to stall at the lip of the boat. I lift my boot and stand on the edge, my gaze following the crew members as they chat amongst themselves and head for the trees. Very few of them look back to make sure that we are following. Not even Beatrice herself cares enough to make sure we make it off the boat safely or keep up with the group.

Raising my arms off my side, I take the risky step off the boat. The drop is relatively short and I land in a crouch with my fingers dipping into the snow. Lincoln lands next to me. He kicks his boot in the ice, sending small wet droplets clinging to my face. I wipe away the flakes from my cheeks.

"You're awfully playful lately." I lift a brow and follow the steps that are pressed into the snow.

"There is just... something about this place...."

"That’s far away from your problems?"

"That's probably it," he chuckles under his breath.

The chill of the air is frigid and makes the skin on my face feel dry and brittle, but the sun shines above us and warms my back through the two layers of coat. My ears catch the wild sounds of life amongst the trees and off into the distance. Animals. Just animals.

No town or city clings to the water’s edge. There aren't any merchants offering goods they brought from over the sea. There aren’t even any signs of human or Fae life around. Just flat snowy land and tall pine covered trees.

Still we trek over the valley in mostly silence. In my head, I mull over different outcomes of today's visit. None of which give me answers to what we will do if she hasn't a clue how to escape The Lost Court.

All royalty has secrets. Lincoln's voice rings in my ears.

Kai sure had a secret, a secret plot against me. But Cordelia? Does she have any secrets she hasn't already shared with the world?

Cordelia doesn't seem like the kind of woman who could contain a secret if she tried. I mean... she knew that I could take the throne away from her and she didn't even try to keep that hush-hush. Instead she made it her life mission to hunt down and kill anyone who could potentially be me at all costs.

Insane.

Sometimes in my thoughts, I watch the few clouds drifting above us move and guess images in their shapes like a child. Sometimes Lincoln's thoughts suggest an image I couldn't see on my own. His voice in my head is the only thing for me to listen to other than the pointless conversations of the pirates. Many of them don't speak either.

Eventually my ears perk up at the sound of running water. The stream sounds too small to be a waterfall, but too heavy to be just a trickling creek. A row of short, squat evergreen trees cuts off our view at a distance. The sound carries from just beyond there.

Rocks, just like the boulders along the shoreline, sit sporadically in between us and the trees. These rocks aren't rounded with years of wear on them to smooth out their rugged edges. These look as if they are statues in the making. Their shapes make up rough faces and vague bodily outlines. I wonder if there is some kind of meaning behind them and the way they are placed about. Perhaps the queen just enjoys this as her own means of art?

The trees only part in one small spot large enough for a single person to walk through without brushing or fighting against the limbs of the evergreens. We file between them one at a time and Lincoln stays at my back.

My mouth falls open as I walk into the large open space. More of the rock carvings are situated over the icy lawn that leads up to a large white building made solely of three round towers topped with onion shaped domes. The windows and curving edges are smeared with a green paint.