The Soulsaver (Starlight #3) - Kim Taehyung/BTS

1

Cloak bellowing in the wind, Kim Taehyung paced the gallery lathered in crusted snow, his boots thudding against the carpeted floor relentlessly. Min Yoongi and he had returned from yet another excursion into the forests outlining Ellura, cherishing hopes that they might perhaps find the queen held captive somewhere deep in the heart of the foliage. Hopes which had been crushed for the millionth time.

Neva had simply vanished.

The late afternoon sun beat down upon his weary frame, his face shrouded in shadowy lines. Taehyung's handsome features contorted in trepidation when he recollected how they had turned the palace of Veritos upside down in order to find the queen. Upon realizing that Neva had chosen to stay behind and hold Ilia at bay while allowing the others to escape, the prince had immediately flung himself onto Izarra, the dragon scarily attuned to his panic and fear. But when they had landed in the Kingdom of Shadows, there was no sign of either Ilia or Neva.

It was as if they had never existed.

Only the devastation which lay in their wake was proof of the tussle between the ice queen and the shadow priestess. Cracks ran down the stained walls of the palace, jagged lines rupturing the once smooth expanse of the tiled floors. The King’s Guard and other attendants, however, had been released from whatever magical stupor had bound them to the will of Ilia, their faces twisting with regret and shame once the gravity of their actions had dawned on them.

Danae’s parents were unharmed, Ilia apparently harbouring completely different motives than what any of them had expected. And Taehyung had finally realized that it wasn’t the rulers of Veritos that the priestess had wanted at all; it was Neva. Always Neva.

But why?

The only answer was the prince’s own thundering heartbeat which drowned all other sounds.

For days after the conflict which had ensued in both Miystica and Veritos, search parties had scoured every inch of both kingdoms and any other place Ilia was likely to have taken Neva as a hostage. But each time, they had come up empty. The other princes, too, had rallied their forces to hunt for the missing queen, but their luck had run dry. And her absence had only triggered a wave of mass hysteria to course through the streets of Ellura, the people constantly demanding to see their queen.

It had broken Taehyung’s heart to lie to them, to tell them that the debacle in Miystica had taken a toll on Neva’s health, that she needed to rest.

And to make matters worse, the prince could see that the others were slowly beginning to give up. After almost four weeks of unsuccessful searching, he could see it in the way Leith’s face went completely blank at the mere thought of the queen, could see it in the way Alex’s eyes narrowed every time Taehyung suggested another search. He could see it in the way Yoongi’s shoulders slumped whenever he mentioned Neva.

It was only Jimin and the prince who refused to lose hope. Taehyung had promised himself that he would find her. And he would honour that vow. At any cost. That was the reason he was still here in her palace, sleeping, or at least trying to sleep, in Neva’s chambers, immersing himself in memories of the queen to help him cope with her jarring absence.

And Taehyung never once stopped looking.

The sound of brisk footsteps pulled him out of his turbulent thoughts, and Taehyung whirled around to find Yoongi studying him with a terse expression on his face. The captain’s cheeks were flushed from exertion and there was no doubt that he had been in a hurry to get to the prince. Rummaging around in the satchel slung over his shoulder, he fished out an intricately carved envelope.

“A letter from your father, the King.” Yoongi’s voice was neutral, controlled, but Taehyung knew that his friend had a good idea of what the contents of the message were.