Read The Potion Diaries for Free Online

country itself – in mortal danger. Rather reckless that you would allow this to happen under your roof, King Ander. All the better for me, though.’ She walks over to the Horn, placing her finger on the pad.
    The Horn sparks once more.
    She turns to the crowd, and my skin crawls as her ice-blue eyes glance over me. Thankfully, they don’t linger long as she regards each one of us in turn. ‘I will be the one to save my niece. I suggest you all bow out gracefully now, while you can.’ With two bounding leaps, she jumps into the Summons, disappearing back to wherever she came from.
    The King’s voice breaks the shell-shocked silence. ‘What are you waiting for, get after her!’ he bellows to his guards. They leap through the Summons, attempting to follow her trail. ‘As for the rest of you, I will double the Hunt’s prize. TWO million crowns and forty-eight hours of power, to whoever finds the cure before that woman.’
    ‘Who was that?’ I whisper to my grandad, when I’ve finally stopped shaking.
    ‘Emilia Thoth,’ he says, his voice grave. ‘The King’s exiled sister. Come on, Sam. Let’s go home.’
    ‘We’re not joining the Hunt?’ I ask.
    But I already know the answer to that.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Princess Evelyn
    S
HE’S OVER THERE, BY THE MIRROR. I CAN just about spy her out of the corner of my eye. My god, she is so beautiful. I should go over to her. I should say hello.
    The truth was, she felt paralysed with doubt.
    I wish I was as bold as her
. She decided to risk another glance, and she turned her head slowly, ever so slowly, over her shoulder.
Oh! She’s looking directly at me.
Her eyes met the other girl’s but she dropped them quickly.
Breathe, Evelyn.
Her breath came and went in deep waves, and she felt her cheeks fill with heat. She couldn’t remember if blushing made her look more beautiful or just odd, so she didn’t want to risk turning around again.
    Frankly, Evelyn couldn’t quite believe the girl had the nerve to follow her here, into her private chambers. She should go over there and confront her, but she was nervous. Evelyn scolded herself. A Novaen princess should not be such a coward.
    She spun around, taming stray strands of her hair. Then she swallowed, and looked up at the beautiful stranger. ‘What is your name?’
    What is your name
?, the girl replied.
    ‘Evelyn.’
    Evelyn.
    ‘Truly?’
    Truly.
    That was it, then. It was fate. Somehow, they shared the same name. She could see the truth of it written on the girl’s face – this was no joke. The two of them, the same, one half of the other. But it would not do for them both to be called Evelyn. ‘I will be Eve, and you Lyn.’
    I will be Eve, and you Lyn.
    Ah, the girl was simply being amusing. Eve could see the twinkle in Lyn’s eye. It was fine; she could see they understood each other.
    She had never felt so connected to someone before in her life. She could hardly believe that only a few hours ago, she had almost made a hideous mistake. There had been so much pressure for her to choose a partner – pressure from her parents, pressure from her magic – that she had plotted to potion Zain. He was all right, but he was so butch, so
male
compared to the exquisiteness that stood before her. Thank goodness Lyn had caught her eye at the last moment.
    Eve had always known that it was her duty to make sure she handled her power responsibly. She could hardly complain about her privilege, but the thought of being with someone that she didn’t love for all of eternity had terrified her into desperate measures. Her parents didn’t love each other, not at first and not now. Eve knew they were always off dallying with other members of the court – the intrigue kept the gossip columns in business. Her mother had readily agreed to the marriage though, for the power and a lifetime of the very best of everything.
    It was rare for any Royal to be as lucky as Eve.
    She had found her true love, and just in the nick of