“We will get our first glimpse of Sol Loch just over the next rise. The waters there will be soothing this time of year. Hot, but not too hot.”
“Sounds wonderful.” Alona leaned forward in her saddle, eager to set her eyes on the crowning jewel of Eldur for the first time in years. She’d grown up at the palace in the capital city, Raudur, that lay along the rocky cliffs of the Dalur River. It was cooler there and beautiful in its own way. But Sol Loch was breathtaking in its wildness. She would love to spend her days here among the many lakes and hot springs, but it was far too close to Eldfal, the massive volcano in the northern wastelands. The stability of the land here was always in question.
“I would live here in a heartbeat if the land was fruitful.” Eamon gazed across the rolling sandy hills to the oasis that was Loch Sol in the distance.
“And if the water was drinkable,” Alona added. “We could have a little cottage near the springs and live out our days free of palace gossip and Eldur hierarchy.”
“We can dream.” Eamon winked. “If we ride ahead of the carriage, we’ll be there in half an hour.”
“Race you.” Alona dug her heels into her mount’s sides and flew down the hillside, laughing the whole way.
“Alona Cahill, I didn’t help raise a cheater!” Eamon called behind her.
“Finn taught me!” She galloped over the desolate hills and valleys, but Eamon quickly pulled ahead of her. His men surrounded her, keeping pace with her mount until they reached the rolling green hills of Loch Sol.
“Winner, winner, doesn’t have to cook dinner,” Eamon taunted.
“If you expect me to cook dinner, we are in for a sorry night indeed. I can’t draw my own bath, much less cook a stew over a campfire.” Alona felt so useless in these moments. She hated that she needed servants to take care of her.
“It’s all right, Princess. You are far too intelligent to waste your talents cooking for a bunch of raggedy soldiers.”
“Talents?” She laughed.
“Sir, my Lady,” Morgan interrupted their playful banter. “We’ve set up camp just along the trail ahead. We’ve found hot springs as well as a mud spring for the princess.”
“Thank you, Morgan. I appreciate your fine scouting skills.” Alona nodded to the soldier.
“Thank you, my Lady.” Morgan’s ears turned pink at her praise.
“My men will set up camp, Lona. I will take you to the mud spring and keep watch while you enjoy the rest of the afternoon. I know you must be weary from traveling all day.” Donovan slid off his horse and tossed the reins to Morgan.
Alona dismounted from her horse, feeling every aching muscle in her body cry out for the soothing balm of Sol Loch’s healing waters. The unforgiving Eldur sun seemed to have sapped all her strength. The mud would ease the aches and pains and leave her skin silky smooth. When she finished bathing in the hot springs, she would feel a thousand times better.
Alona stripped down to her shift and sank up to her knees in the sun-warmed mud bath. Sitting down, she made herself comfortable for a nice long soak. The magical properties of the natural spring eased the aches and pains of traveling across the unforgiving desert.
A rustling noise brought Alona out of her sleepy stupor brought on by the steam.
“It can’t be time to go already.” Eamon would die before he would let any of his men near the springs where she bathed, but she wasn’t certain they still wouldn’t try.
Alona was about to turn when a dirty hand clamped over her mouth. A blinding pain ripped through her head, and her mind went dark.
Chapter One
2 Months Earlier
Brea Robinson was a lie.
Okay, not in the truest sense of the word. Brea was really her name, and Amanda and Jack Robinson were her parents. Parents who would never understand her.
This life was what felt like a lie. She’d never fit in this world of high school hallways and concrete jungles. That was what her school was. A jungle. A wild place, unsafe for anyone who didn’t fit.
“I can’t believe I’m back here.” She sighed as she hiked her backpack higher on her shoulder.
Myles, best friend extraordinaire, sported a giant grin, one she couldn’t match.
“Why are you so happy today?”
He lifted his hands to the blue sky above. “It’s a beautiful day, Brea.” He never said her name with only one syllable like everyone else. Since they were kids, he’d called her Bree-ya.
“It’s…” She lifted her eyes to the building they’d tried improving with brick columns and colorful banners flapping in the breeze touting the Southern Ohio school’s many accomplishments. “A day. A freezing day.”
“Don’t be so glum, chum.” He draped an arm over her shoulders and squeezed. “I’m just glad you’re back.”
Back. Because she’d been gone. How could she forget? Mentally unstable Brea Robinson missed the first month back from winter break because she was at the Clarkson Institution for Troubled Teens. It was where they put you when you had a freak out on Christmas morning.
Her ever-eloquent mother named the episodes freak outs. Brea wasn’t really sure what they were. All her life, she saw… things—for lack of a better word. Sometimes when she looked at a person, she saw features that weren’t there. Pointy ears, flashing eyes, bright colors.
Sometimes they were the stuff of nightmares.
The psych-dude she saw when she was young claimed she was having night terrors, but during the day.
It wasn’t just seeing things though. When she got angry or sad or even happy, it was like she lost control of the emotion, and it expanded within her, overcoming every thought and even manifesting as this weird energy beneath her skin.
An energy begging for release that sometimes got her into trouble.
“Do they all know?” She climbed the front steps, walking under a banner proclaiming the school as the football state champs.
Myles hesitated before he spoke. “I mean… there were rumors.” He pulled open the glass door and waited for her to enter.
But how was she supposed to do this? Face them? It wasn’t the first time she’d been two-sleeves short of a straight-jacket.
If her mom had any say, they’d have lost the key to her room.
Sucking in a deep breath, she repeated her personal mantra. “I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy.”
Myles reached for her hand, threading their fingers together. “No one thinks that.”
He overestimated the kids in their nowhere town. The people of Grafton, Ohio loved gossip. It entertained their small minds.
He squeezed her hand tighter as if sensing she didn’t believe him. She looked down at their joined hands. “You know, this is why everyone has thought we’re a thing since like the fifth grade.”
“And since when do we care what they think?” He never had, but as she walked down that hall, Brea couldn’t think of anything else.
Maybe her mom was right. She did belong at Clarkson permanently, somewhere that could help her rid herself of the hallucinations and surges of anger and fear she couldn’t control.
“If you didn’t spend all your time with me, maybe you’d have more friends.” She pulled her hand free, pretending to adjust the strap of her backpack.