Page 9 of Black Crown

I opened my eyes. The vibrant threads of power were the color of moss, cast out around my body like a coat of forest leaves. I glanced behind and saw I wasn’t the only thing inside the net.

“That’s odd,” Lani said. “The pumpkin has disappeared too.”

So I was a little protective of the remains of my pumpkin.

“What can you see?” I asked.

“Nothing. There’s a huge hole, like someone scooped out that entire area. Your Phaetyn powers don’t work like mine for some reason. But you can’t do it that way, Ryn, or anybody who looks into the air will see a black space and know something is up.”

“Anybody?” I glanced around the garden and saw someone lurking, pretending to pull weeds. “Ask that man what he sees.”

The lazy gardner told Lani there was nothing there, but the Phaetyn queen insisted I try again.

“You don’t want to be invisible to just humans, Ryn. That’s not who we’re worried about.”

True. Maybe it had something to do with my mixed heritage. I thought of my net, this time pulling it in tighter to me and my body, and then I thought of how it should reflect the light and appear like I wasn’t there but preserve the rest of the space around me.

“Nice,” Lani clapped her hands. “If you can do that, we should be plenty safe all the way to Zivost, and you’ll be safe on the way back. Just remember, this power takes energy. Like strengthening a muscle, it will get easier the more you do it, but the first few times are challenging. Or at least they were for me.”

Having the added protection of the veildidmake me feel safer, but there was someone else who I knew would appreciate the extra security when I left in a few hours.

4

Ihefted my pack higher on my shoulders and peeked around the corner into the foyer of the grand entrance of the Gemondian Kingdom. I hadn’t been back down here since arriving with an unconscious Tyrrik in my claws. The high-ceiled chamber around the corner made what I was about to do real in a way nothing else had. I was leaving Gemond, Tyrrik, and Dyter to protect Lani on the journey to save the Phaetyn. She was relying on me. And I wasn’t relying on anyone but myself.

I shifted the pack again and straightened, squaring my shoulders as I set my face into hard lines. I could do this. Iwoulddo this. Not just for Lani or the Phaetyn. This was for me, and Tyrrik. For Dyter and the empire. It wasn’t the first step in the rebellion, but it sure felt like mine.

Behind me, Lani’s step was the lightest of anyone in the chamber but only because of her child size. The Phaetyn would-be-queen’s grasp on the battles being waged showed just how mature she was.

“Hold on, I want to do something,” I told her without turning.

Tyrrik could hear what I was saying, and I knew he could feel my presence around the corner becauseIcould feel him. I closed my eyes, envisioning my net, and then pulled Lani under it with me.

“You’ll tire yourself before we leave,” she scolded.

“I’m practicing,” I replied. “And it will make Tyrrik feel better.”

Once sure I had everything tucked in right, I took hold of Lani’s hand and strode beside her around the corner.

King Zakai and his son were talking to Dyter and Tyrrik. None of them stopped the conversation, and I grinned with my success. Crazy-strong Phaetyn mojo for the win.

Until.

Tyrrik frowned. And then grimaced, blinking to clear his vision. “Ryn? You’re fuzzy. And why can’t you hear me?”

The first time, I hadn’t felt any drain from creating the veil, but as I dropped it a second time, relief trickled through my muscles and down my spine. I stood still, ignoring the startled yells of the others as my knees shook for a moment. Tyrrik yelled my name through the bond, and I winced.

Please stop yelling.

Lani leaned in as I regained my footing.

“Told you,” she whispered.

“Would you like to walk to the forest?” I asked sweetly, but my enthusiasm waned with my new-found knowledge. This wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d anticipated.

Her response was to show all her teeth in what could’ve been a smile, on a very bad day, in a very inhospitable place. Or maybe her expression was meant to bolster me due to its creepy ferocity.

Tyrrik’s fading alarm still seared through the bond, and I jolted as the image of me, or rather what I had looked like to him, struck me. My body looked like an apparition, completely transparent, but oddly stillhere.