Princess Nymeria's Arc

Chapter 23 of 32

Nymeria woke in her new chamber to warm light through arched windows. For the first time in weeks she had slept without fear. Her wolf lay across the foot of the bed. She sat up and found the black spell book on the table where she had left it. She still could not read a word inside it. The doors banged open before she could rise. "You slept half the morning," Lyra said. The elf princess stood in the doorway, red braid over her shoulder, grinning. "I could have shown you the whole castle twice by now. Get up. You're missing everything." She tossed Nymeria a robe and did not wait for an answer. Lyra pulled her through the keep. She named every room like she owned each one, which she did. She showed Nymeria the passages behind the walls, the hall of silver banners, a balcony above a waterfall. "That's where I hid from my tutors," Lyra said. "For three days once. They found me because I got hungry." She saved the library for last and shoved the tall doors open. "My favorite. Try not to cry." The room climbed higher than any Nymeria had seen. Queen Celeste waited between the shelves, her red hair pinned loose beneath her crown. She held a book in her hands. Its cover was black, marked like the one on Nymeria's table. "Come here, child," Celeste said. She placed it in Nymeria's hands. "This is your book, sister to the one you carry. It kept spells our keepers gathered on your kind long ago." Nymeria turned the pages. She saw the shapes of succubus magic she had never learned to name. Her hands shook. "I can't read it," she admitted. "I never could." "My Keeper can teach you," Celeste said. "He will show you how to read the words and hold the power inside them. But that waits a few days." She smiled and set a hand on Lyra's shoulder. "We hold a ball tonight. My son returns home. And Lyra will wed, as he must." Lyra's grin dropped. "Wait. Wed? Mother, we discussed this." "We did," Celeste said. "I talked. You sulked." Nymeria looked from the queen to the book to Lyra. She had come here for shelter and to break her father's curse on her blood. Now she held a book that could unlock her full power, if she stayed long enough to learn it. But she saw the price forming already. A ball meant a crowded hall of men. Her charm still spilled loose whenever she felt afraid. "I have something now," Nymeria said quietly. She closed the book against her chest. "A way to learn what I am." "Yes," Celeste said. "And tonight you must stand in a full room to earn the time to read it." Nymeria understood. She had her book. She had days until the Keeper could teach her. First she had to survive one more ball, and this time, keep her charm from breaking free.