Chapter 65 THE LIBRARY OF LOST SOULS
HAVEN
I stare at Eryndor like he has just suggested the sun rises in the west. “You think the Library is just an illusion my mother created in her head?”
The words leave my mouth sharper than I intend. We stand in the lesser archive room off the main library, the one stacked floor-to-ceiling with scrolls no one has touched in decades. Dust motes drift through the narrow shafts of afternoon light that slice between the shelves. Neraya sits at the long oak table, fingers tracing the edge of an ancient map, while her brother leans against the wall, arms crossed, looking far too calm for someone who just shattered what little hope I still carry.
It has been almost a week since Auren found out I planned to enter Euron.
Almost a week since I let him believe I changed my mind. I do not have it in me to argue with him anymore. Every time he pulls me close at night, every time he whispers “stay” against my skin like a vow, I choose peace instead of truth. We spend the hours we have left in love—fierce, desperate, laughing—because I know the clock runs out soon.
While he sat in court dealing with the endless stream of reports about the creatures still slipping past the portal, I slipped away with Lyra, Amelyn, and Imogen. We have turned this entire castle upside down searching for the Library of Lost Souls. I have read every book, unrolled every scroll, and still I am not even a tad closer to finding it.
Neraya lifts her silver eyes—eyes that look too much like mine—and speaks gently. “It was never meant to be a place on any map, Your Highness. Your mother always wanted somewhere she could escape to for a while without anyone finding her. A refuge no enemy could reach, no war could touch. After the last great war, when Eurolys was locked inside Euron, she simply… disappeared into that refuge she had created inside her own mind. The Library of Lost Souls is not stone and parchment. It is her sanctuary made real by fae magic older than this continent.”
Eryndor nods, pushing off the wall. “The flowers that keep our people alive are tied to that same magic. They bloom only where her power still lingers. When she helped weave the final seal on Euron, she poured the last of her strength into the Library so that something of her would remain. If the Library truly exists anywhere outside her thoughts, it exists inside the fracture itself, anchored to the very place she sealed shut.”
I press my palms flat on the table to stop them from shaking. “So you are telling me the only way to reach the place that can save the fae… is the same place I already planned to walk into and never walk out of.”
Lyra, who has been quiet beside me flipping through yet another useless ledger, looks up with wide eyes. Amelyn stands at the far end of the room, arms folded tight, jaw set like she wants to argue but knows better. Imogen leans against a shelf, rubbing the bridge of his nose as if the entire conversation gives him a headache.
Neraya leans forward, voice soft but urgent. “We believe the Library is the key to everything. The flowers, the withering of our race, even the corruption leaking from Euron. Your mother did not simply hide there—she became part of it. If you enter Euron and reach the Library, you may be able to draw her power back into this world. Restore the flowers. Strengthen the seal from the inside. Save your king. Save us all. But only if you cross the threshold.”
I laugh, short and bitter. “And if I do not find it? If it really is only an illusion in her head?”
“Then we lose everything anyway,” Eryndor says quietly. “The flowers are down to their last petals. Our people are already fading. The monsters at the portal are growing bolder. The choice was never truly a choice, Princess.”
The room falls silent except for the faint crackle of the wall sconces. I feel the weight of every gaze on me—Lyra’s worried, Amelyn’s fierce and protective, Imogen’s calculating. I think of Auren waiting for me upstairs right now, probably pacing because I slipped away again without telling him where I went. I think of the way he held me in the bath last night, voice raw as he begged me not to leave him. I think of the lie I let him believe so we could have these last few days in peace.
I straighten my shoulders and meet Neraya’s eyes. “Then I go in a month as planned. But I am not walking in blind. You two will give me every detail you remember about my mother’s stories, every symbol she ever drew, every word she ever spoke about the Library. If it exists inside Euron, I will find it. And when I do…” My voice does not waver, even though my heart feels like it is cracking in two. “I will do whatever it takes to bring her power back.”
Amelyn steps forward, mouth opening to protest, but I lift a hand before she can speak.
“I know what you are going to say. Save it. This is the only path left.”
I turn toward the door before anyone can see the tears that threaten to spill. My hand rests on the latch for a heartbeat.
“Tell no one,” I say without looking back. “Especially not the king.”
The door clicks shut behind me, and I walk down the corridor with my head high and my heart in pieces, already counting the hours until I have to break the only promise I ever wanted to keep.
“Haven, " Imogen calls from behind me. I stop and turn around. " You can't seriously leave for Euron.”
I ignore his question and reach into my head for him. I don't think Eryndor is right about the library being in Euron.
Do you have an idea where it is?
Once, when mother still visited my dreams, she showed me something similar. But I'll need your help with it.
He nods. What can I do for you, Haven?
I take a deep breath and stare up at him with utmost seriousness. I want you to send me into my mother's memories.
His eyes bulge out in shock. “What!"