Chapter 20: The Mysterious Painting

~I was running through a dark forest with a sword at my side. A man on a mighty stallion was chasing me, the ground shaking with each stomp.~

~I was losing my breath. When I couldn’t run anymore, I dove behind a large boulder. The man was dressed in a black armor. His face was hidden. Only the light-green eyes shone through.~

~The rider and his horse kept getting closer and closer. I did my best not to make a sound, but it was like he could smell me.~

I woke up just as the horse stopped before me. I was sweaty. My legs ached. Celestria, cocooned in warm blankets, was fast asleep next to me.

It was still early, but I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I sat up and spent a good few hours reading through my potions book. Now that I had free time, I couldn’t put it down. The potion recipes, the vivid illustrations, the little jokes the master had written in the margins—I was captivated by all of it.

I’d gotten through fifty pages by the time Celestria opened her eyes.

“Are you studying? We’re on break,” she reminded me.

“I’m reading for fun.”

“Where did you get that book anyway?”

I remembered the promise I made to Master Rhoslyn. “I got it from the library.”

I shouldn’t have lied, but the words came out of my mouth before I could think them through. It was too late to take them back without, well, looking like a liar.

Maven helped us get ready. As we got dressed, a large tray full of wonderful, colorful food appeared at the end of my bed. There were cinnamon rolls, a bowl of gravy, a plate of biscuits, bacon, sausages, eggs, and a pitcher of iced tea.

It was hard to tell if things were cooked with magic or by hand, but one thing was clear—the food at Oswalda was delicious, but the food here was on another level.

“Should we eat on the balcony?” Celestria asked.

“Sounds like a great idea to me.”

She grabbed the tray, walked over to the window, and pushed it open.

I didn’t even know there was a balcony. It was spacious enough to fit a round table and two cushioned chairs. Planters sat along the railing, the colorful flowers releasing a sweet fragrance into the warm air.

“I just remembered, we were supposed to attend the ceremony for the young Veltrix with our parents.”

“Who’s that?” I asked.

“He is my mother’s nephew. I’m guessing our parents decided to let us sleep the day away after our long journey and the festival.” Celestria handed me a plate, and we dug in. “I should make you a family chart to bring you up to speed on who is who.”

Celestria reached for the necklace around her neck, and a bright smile grew across her face.

“You and Tanner are going to get married and get rid of that list, aren’t you?” I teased her.

She dropped the necklace, but her smile didn’t vanish. “What about you and Hunter?” she asked. “You haven’t taken that bracelet off since he put it on your wrist.”

I could feel the warmth spread across my face, but it wasn’t just that. There was a cold sadness that spread through my insides too.

“You and Tanner could be together if you wanted to. In my case, it’s impossible. You heard what Allyah said. Hunter isn’t free and probably will never be.”

Celestria’s face grew serious. “She is mean, and all she wants to do is stir up trouble,” she said. “But I guess there’s some truth to what she said. Hunter is tied up in the engagement business until the princess is found, dead or alive. I’m so sorry, Drake.”

Allyah’s words stuck with me, but hearing Celestria confirm them hurt even more. I had gone from seeing Hunter as a cocky womanizer to getting to know him as a sweet and considerate guy who had done so many kind things for my sake. Knowing that there could never be anything serious between us cut like a knife.

I took a deep breath. “Ever since I met him, I thought he was handsome, but then he went above and beyond to find me the perfect name, and he gave me this bracelet,” I said and looked down at my wrist. My heart squeezed.

“So, you really do like him.”

“I’ve never liked a boy before. There weren’t very many to pick from in Madison, and even if there would’ve been, they wouldn’t have liked me,” I finally admitted. “I was the loner girl who spent her days caked in mud, working in the fields. The fact that my parents, well, the people who raised me, didn’t want me to be friends with anyone my age, didn’t do me any favors either.”

“That was wrong of them to do,” Celestria said, sounding genuinely upset. “Despite it all, you grew up to be an amazing person. That’s why you and Hunter would make a great couple. I see the way you look at each other. Maybe there’s something my parents can do.”

“They’ve done enough for me already,” I said. “Last night was beautiful, and I enjoyed myself more than I ever have, but now I have to get serious and focus on the investigation and the test that’s coming up at the end of the school year.”

Celestria rolled her eyes and sighed. “Don’t even remind me of the test. I can’t even imagine how it will feel the second time around. The masters definitely won’t be holding back.”

We ate in silence until I saw Celestria’s face light up.

“We need a distraction,” she announced. “Something to get us to stop thinking about tests and heartbreak.”

“Do you have anything in mind?”

A sly smile spread across her face. “I think I do,” she said. She poured me another cup of tea. “Eat up. Our next adventure will require a lot of energy.”

Back home, I’d rarely gotten a chance to do anything just because I wanted to. The farm had been our livelihood, and I’d had to work from the minute I woke up to the moment I went to bed. Now that I thought about it, my fake parents had probably kept me busy so I wouldn’t have the time or the energy to snoop or ask questions.

Once we finished eating, the tray and empty dishes vanished with a loud pop, and we heard footsteps on the other side of the door.

“This is Lilli,” Maven said when she entered my room.

“Pleasure to meet you, Drake,” Lilli said. “I will be your personal lady’s maid whenever you spend time in the castle.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” I told her.

The pale brunette looked to be slightly older than Maven. Maven had apparently filled her in on the fact that I wanted to be called by my first name only. I liked her already.

Lilli rummaged through the selection of dresses in the closet and suggested a dark-blue one that went well with my eyes. I stepped into the gown and pulled it up to my chest. Lilli fastened it in the back and smoothed out the wrinkles.

Once the ladies were gone, Celestria poked her head around the tapestry that separated our rooms. “Ready?” she asked.

I stood up from the desk chair and stepped past the tapestry. “Where to?”

Celestria led me over to a giant floor-to-ceiling painting that hung on the wall next to her closet. It depicted a dark forest. Without looking back, Celestria leapt into the painting and disappeared from view.

“Come on,” her bodiless voice urged.

“You want me to go ~in there~?” I asked, carefully tracing the glimmering surface of the canvas.

“If you don’t, I promise you’ll regret it.”

Fear tingled in my arms and legs. I was nervous, but I trusted Celestria, and I was done letting fear control me. Pushing away the memories of the obedient farm girl I’d been, I let curiosity take over.

Before I knew what I was doing, I took a step, my foot dipped inside the painting, and I fell to the moss-covered ground.