Sun Broken (The Wild Hunt #11) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,24

the ocean kept me company, the rolling waves hissing up to crash against the shore and then pull out for another assault against the land.

The water crashed around the foundation of the castle. How the structure sat atop the ocean, I didn’t know, but the black of the walls melded into the dark waters that constantly churned against it. The ocean was alive, both at home and here in Annwn, and magic hung heavy in the air, coming from the land, sky, and sea. Everything had a life force, and especially here, everything kept watch.

As I approached the doors of the castle, they swung wide. I entered the hall. Instantly I could feel the Unseen—those beings who walked between worlds. They were all around me, though I couldn’t see them. They seldom bothered with those on the physical planes, but now and then I knew they would come through the veils, either to help or to harm.

The hall was long and stark, illuminated by a cool, blue fire that flickered from the torches resting in wall sconces. At the end of the hall, I came to a pair of double doors. I remembered what Aoife had done the first time I arrived and placed my hand on a panel against the wall. The doors swung wide and I found myself facing a narrow path leading over the water that coiled and hissed inches below either side. The path led to a boulder the size of my house. I cautiously followed the path, placing one foot in front of the other as I navigated the narrow trail. Overhead, as when I had been here before, the clouds churned by, racing as if they were being chased by a devil. The air was thick and humid, and the smell of brine was everywhere.

I steeled myself, remembering that there were sirens in the water, and I held my breath as I passed the rocks where I knew they lurked. But this time, they were silent and didn’t try to lure me in. Before long, I was standing beside the boulder. Tall timber grew straight up out of the sea—fir and cedar. Steps, shimmering mother-of-pearl, led up to a throne created of seashells. Pearls and seaweed dripped down the throne in long strands, and the entire boulder was lined with crows, all watching me closely.

Morgana sat atop the throne, in all her beauty. Here, she dressed as the goddess she was. Her skin mirrored the pale moon, her hair was long and flowing, as black as the night sky and atop her head, and she wore a crystal tiara formed of aquamarine, amethyst, and pearls. Morgana wore a dress the color of spring rain, sheer and glittering with crystal beads, and I could see every inch of her beneath the diaphanous material. Her breasts were full and round, and her waist curved into her hips in a smooth, sensuous flow.

She held out one hand as I approached, her fingers beckoning me to come forward. “Ember, well met, my pledgling.”

I sank into a curtsey, feeling overwhelmed. When she came into our realm, Morgana still felt every inch the goddess, but she was more relatable, more human. Here, her divinity shone forth, and she felt vast as the ocean, as distant as the stars studding the sky.

“My Lady,” I said, my eyes fastened on her face. She was beauty incarnate, with a wild, feral streak that both appealed to me and terrified me.

“Rise, Ember, and be seated.” She waited until I obeyed, then let out a long breath. “I assume you’re wondering why I called you here.”

“Yes,” I stammered, sitting on a bench by the bottom of her throne. “Did I do something wrong?”

Morgana stood, descending the steps to her throne to sit beside me on the bench. And in the blink of an eye, she felt more the Morgana I knew, less terrifying and more friendly.

“Wrong? No, child, you did nothing wrong. But I wanted to talk to you about something. It’s something you need to be aware of and I’m going to set you a task to correct it.”

I blinked. “Correct what? Then I have done something wrong?”

“Not at all,” she said, shaking her head. “When I talk of correction, I mean righting an imbalance that has to do with both sides of your heritage. You’ve been relying on your father’s blood heavily and it’s clogging up your magic.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Think of it this way. You have two magical heritages within