Chapter 9
ARIEL
L eaning over the water barrel, I was on my second mug when I looked over my shoulder to find a frail woman with kind eyes grinning at me. Her yellow wings were faded and weak, barely able to spread wide, but there was a resilience to her hunched frame that could not be denied. I swallowed one final gulp before I dragged my arm across my mouth.
“Sorry,” I said with a sheepish smile. “I don’t normally drink like a wild animal.”
“Of course you don’t.” Her gaze fell to where Hemming and Shayfer sat in quiet confidence. “You’re just thirsty from your… exertions .” If I’d had any water in my mouth, I’d have certainly spat it out at her words. She turned her attention back to me as I composed myself, her grin still very much intact. “That was quite an impressive demonstration.”
“Thank you.”
“I will admit, I did not know what I expected to find when I arrived here this evening, but the Aima Kori facing off against a fae warrior twice her size certainly wasn’t it.”
Embarrassment flushed my cheeks. “The younglings were rather insistent that I demonstrate my abilities with my weapon.”
Her smile widened further. “And are they satisfied now?”
“The younger two seem to be. The oldest is harder to read, though, so I’m not sure.”
“I saw the delight in their eyes as they watched you,” she said as she took my hand gently in hers, “so I will be sure for you.”
“I appreciate that…” I let my sentence trail off, cueing her to offer me her name.
“Lyselle,” she said with a stiff, shallow bow.
I smiled back at the old woman as she rose. “It’s an honor to meet you, Lyselle.”
She chuckled, amused by my formality. “Says the Aima Kori to a withered old crone. It is I who am honored to meet you . I wasn’t sure I’d live long enough to see this day come to pass.”
“Me either.” Mainly because I hadn’t known it should, but Lyselle didn’t need to know that. “Lyselle, can I ask you something?”
She spread her arms wide. “I am at your service.”
“Exactly how long have you been waiting for me?” The joy in her expression faltered at my question. “I only ask because it sounds as though your people have been hunting for me for as long as I’ve been alive, but how could that be? My mother disappeared and never returned. She died in the Midlands, having no contact with this place, from all accounts. So how did that information reach Eldrien’s father?”
There was a sharpness in her gaze as she stepped closer—a wisdom that bore right through me. “A strange wanderer to these lands told of your existence.” She spoke those words as if they were a dark secret she did not wish for the wind to carry.
I leaned in closer to keep it from doing just that. “Will you tell me everything you remember about this ‘strange wanderer’?”
Her golden eyes looked off into the distance as though she were searching it for her memories. “I was in the kitchen when he arrived on our doorstep in the dead of night, looking for Master Ruven. I’d just been upstairs to check on young Master Eldrien, who couldn’t have been more than eight or nine at the time, and I distinctly remember being in the kitchen because I put the kettle down to peek into the hallway when the stranger entered. It was a terribly late hour for visitors of any sort, so my curiosity was piqued. Master Ruven met this shrouded male in the grand entryway as though he were foe, not friend, but after a few words, he escorted the visitor into the private sitting room and closed the door. I overheard nothing of their meeting, save but a few passing words as I made my way upstairs, but I did hear the master retelling what he’d learned to the men of his council the next morning when he sent for them.”
“What did you learn?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“That the wanderer had been exiled from the Midlands, and he told a tale of a young Minyade girl who’d been born of Siora before she perished.”
“That’s when the search parties began,” I surmised.
Lyselle nodded. “Wherever Lord Corvallym had you stashed away, none could find you.”
I steadied my expression at her remark. “Kaplyn is a very resourceful and powerful being.”
“Indeed.”
“Do you know anything else about who this wanderer was—or what ?” She shook her head. “Do you know where he went after he met with Master Ruven?”
“As far as I know, he was never seen again.” I tried to ignore that ominous information.
Then an even more disturbing thought occurred to me. Perhaps this wanderer was the being Kaplyn had been too afraid to name. Perhaps he was the one who sought me, and had enlisted the help of the desperate Minyades. Lyselle had said he’d been exiled from the Midlands, so he’d have needed to recruit someone to bring me to Anemosia.
But for the same reason that exile made sense of my theory, it also unraveled it. Because Kaplyn would not have been so worried about him coming for me if he were unable to travel through the Midlands.
My head began to hurt, and I pinched the bridge of my nose to ward off the pain.
“Is everything all right over here?” Eldrien asked as he approached. My hand fell back to my side as I looked over at him.
Lyselle turned to face the young Minyade leader with a mischievous smile on her face as she bowed. “Of course, young Master Eldrien.” He stopped short at her words, and when she raised her head to look upon him again, his face went slack. “It’s been a long time.”
“ Lyselle ?” he said, his voice thin and hollow and full of shock. “Is it really you?”
The frail woman reached a weathered hand toward him and cupped his cheek. “You look so much like your mother now. Such a pity that she and your father are no longer here to see the man you’ve become.”
“I’d heard rumors that you’d died,” he whispered, falling to his knees as the weight of their reunion pressed down upon him.
“And yet I am still here,” she said sweetly. “Now rise, young master, and let me look at you. It’s been so long…”
Eldrien did as she asked and rose to his full height, but the look of wonder in his eyes as he stared at the ghost before him revealed the boy inside of him. “Lyselle was my sisters’ governess,” he explained to me once he finally dared to look away from her. “She helped raise them, and me. Her presence was a fixture in our household. I have few memories of my childhood that don’t include her.”
“Wonderful memories,” Lyselle chimed in, “until everything went so terribly wrong.” The sadness in her voice was palpable, and Eldrien wrapped an arm around her, tucking her into his side as he turned his attention back to me.
“I came over to let you know that it’s time,” he said with a smile. “It appears that everyone has arrived.”
“Time for what?” Lyselle asked.
“To attempt to appease the gods and lift the curse.”
He ushered her toward the clearing, and I followed them through the massive crowd encircling the fire, creating concentric rings that expanded to fill the whole area. I took a seat between Hemming and Shayfer, trying not to notice the tension in the former’s body as my shoulder brushed against his.
Eldrien stood before the fire and turned slowly to take in the tired yet hopeful expressions in the crowd.
“Tonight we call upon the gods to release us from this curse brought upon our lands,” he said in a booming voice, “because we have done what was asked of us. The Aima Kori is back on Anemosian soil, as it should be.” He looked over his shoulder and reached his arm toward me, beckoning me to take his hand. I slowly stood and walked over, accepting the gesture. The masses cheered as he lifted our joined hands into the air, and he leaned in close enough for me to hear him over the din. “Your people rejoice in your return, Ariel.” I looked at the joy and relief on the faces highlighted by the flames, and I could not help but share their feelings. “You are a gift we can never repay,” he said as he reached behind his back with his free hand. When it emerged, a dagger was clutched firmly in his fist, and I looked up to find him smiling widely. “Let your sacrifice end this curse.”