Young Adult Fiction
The stars are far away and the moon is touching someone else tonight. The only sound is the wind and dry leaves crunching under my feet. I wish I was alone, but I'm not. She's here, in her black dress with its long beaded train, watching me, following me. The Shadow Lady.
And I'm lost.
"It was a nightmare," Robin said. "A—a vision, Your Highness. There was a man drowning in clouds...when I touched him, I saw things, things he'd seen, things he knew."
"What things?" I asked.
Robin took a deep breath. "They've taken the baroness."
"Who? Where?"
"Enemies," she said simply. "He didn't know where. There was a dead woman..."
My mouth was open. I know that because when I did the face-plant into the bottom of the wave, I was gargling salt water, thinking that maybe I was about to die. The wave drove me deep into the water. I flapped my arms around, thinking that going back up to the surface was a good idea.
But it wasn't. At least not then.
I surfaced just in time to open my eyes and see my airborne surfboard eclipsing the morning sun. And aimed straight for my head. Wham.