daughter. I did that as your father.” King Traevon winked. “One day, you will finally understand where the two lines are drawn.”
“The lines of the realm and the father and the mother are drawn from the eyes of a babe.” I rolled my eyes. “Grandmother Isabella used to say that all the time. I think I get the point, Father.”
King Elon hissed, “Will you two shut up? Truly, what happened to the times where rulers and their heirs hated one another? I really enjoyed those days. It was so much quieter.”
King Athon grunted. “It wasn’t that long ago.”
Father snickered.
“Thirty seconds,” Queen Mikko called down the line, her voice a little louder than normal. I wondered if that constituted as her screaming. “Everyone, prepare.”
I lifted my dagger to my hand and sliced the blade down my palm, cutting deep. Crimson blood pooled in my hand before it quickly healed. I cupped the precious blood, not allowing any to fall, and sheathed my blade. I held my hand directly over a batch of red leaves at waist level.
The rulers did the same, all at varying heights.
Queen Mikko counted it down. “Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Now!”
We flicked our blood hard onto the leaves.
All said, “Giants.”
The gnarled, dark red limbs creaked like a scream.
I flinched and tensed but didn’t step back.
The rulers and I held still. We waited.
The leaves rustled near the ground. They started to travel upward, the thin sharp limbs ever so slowly lifting and unwinding themselves as if they would rather reach out and stab us than open the mystery of the Blood Forest. Right before my eyes, the limbs slid over each other like snakes in a pit, their movement gradually rising higher.
My head slowly tipped back as the red leaves and thin tree limbs formed an archway high above, allowing entry for the five rulers and myself. I lowered my gaze to the view before me and squinted through the thick mist that covered the ground. The trees inside were black, their leaves the same shadowy hue. A few white butterflies beat their beautiful wings in front of us, and then darted away, down into the mist. The sunlight was vastly subdued in the Blood Forest, so at night it would be utterly pitch black.
The five rulers and I glanced at one another.
Then we stepped forward into the Blood Forest.
The entrance slammed shut behind us, showing the true speed of the deadly Blood Forest and jarring the ground so brutally that we fell to our knees as it rocked beneath us.
A scream tore through my throat as my head dropped back—and I was not the only one. Six total cries of fierce agony belted the Blood Forest, our bellows boomeranging back at us and striking our ears in malicious mocking—you have arrived, and we will have fun with you.
The Fae-spark in my heart that kept me warm and safe sputtered, ripping my very being straight from my chest. My back bowed brutally toward the black limbs high above, their mocking shadow leaves swaying in glee. I fell to my side right between Father and King Athon, everyone now lying on rotted leaves and clutching their chests. I rocked back and forth on the ground as hot tears ran down my face, soaking my hair.
The agony never stopped.
My screams forever sprayed the air.
I grasped at my chest as the last of my Fae-spark disappeared in a sharp tug from my heart. I sobbed in agony, just wanting it back. I just wanted to touch it for a moment—a tiny brush against my cheek would make this end.
My eyes closed. And the Blood Forest went dark.
* * *
“Wake up!” Father shouted in fear. His hands shook my shoulders roughly. “Wake up, Trixie!”
I opened my eyes to see his worried face.
And then they shut again. I couldn’t keep them open.
“She is too young for this strain. It will take her more time,” Queen Mikko said softly from somewhere by my feet. “We will need to carry her or make camp here for the night. It is already too dark to go far.”
The leaves crunched to my right—boots stomping over them—and King Elon hissed, “Is Princess Trixie awake yet?”
Father cupped my right cheek with a warm palm. “No, not yet.”
“I can’t see a Fae blasted thing,” King Elon complained.
“Precisely,” Queen Mikko murmured. “We need to make camp here quickly. Where are Queen Alora and King Athon?”
I tried to open my eyes again. But the numbness pulled.
“We’re right behind you,” King Athon rumbled