Chapter 20 Fertile lands
It had been a week since my last visit to the town, a brief window of peace before everything shifted.
Yesterday, Aylin finally returned home. When he told me about the trial, the words died in my throat.
I was entirely speechless. He had left me completely in the dark, carrying the terrifying weight of potential imprisonment all on his own.
While I knew he was working alongside Vesper and the Bloodmoon pack, a bitter sting remained, I should have been informed.
But there was no time to dwell on hurt feelings. I showed Aylin my notes from visiting the town and the truth of the matter was that the kingdom needed to heal starting with our soil.
Having already spent time training with Joe to control and project my internal energy, I sought him out for counsel on a new challenge, blessing our struggling crops.
Together, we devised a plan, pushing my limits and connecting with the earth until I could finally manifest a completely new aura of warm, golden light, and today I was going to test out what I could do.
We made our way to the empty flower beds outside the Inn.
“Okay my Queen, focus on the golden light of the sun like we practiced. Feel the dirt between your toes, and push your aura out. That’s it Celest, keep going. My queen, open your eyes, look upon the ground!”
I looked down and around my feet, tiny sprouts surrounded me.
This should work, I told myself, a spark of hope flaring in my chest.
Reaching into the familiar network of our people, I opened a mind link to the head priest.
“Hello, Father Thomas. It is Queen Celest. I intend to visit the fields today to bless the grounds. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes, my Queen,” Father Thomas’s voice resonated warmly in my mind.
“Please, come whenever you wish. I will have the laborers take a break the moment you arrive so you may have complete solitude for your work.”
“Thank you, Father. I will be there shortly.”
Aylin joined me, and we took the royal carriage out to the farmlands.
The rhythmic clatter of the carriage wheels against the dirt road did little to mask the heavy silence sitting between us.
Aylin stared out the window, his jaw tight, while I kept my hands folded neatly in my lap, refusing to break the tension.
Finally, he let out a long, ragged exhale and turned to face me. The fierce Alpha who had just faced down a tribunal looked entirely vulnerable.
"Celest, please look at me," he murmured, his voice thick with an emotion he rarely showed.
I shifted my gaze to him, keeping my expression neutral despite the ache in my chest.
He reached out, his large, calloused hands gently enveloping mine.
"I am so sorry. I know I kept you in the dark about the trial, and it was entirely unfair to you. When I went into that courtroom, there was a very real chance I wasn't coming back. The thought of you watching me be dragged off to a dungeon... it tore me apart.
I foolishly thought I was protecting you from the anxiety of it."
He squeezed my hands, his eyes searching mine with fierce sincerity.
"But I see now that hiding it only hurts you more. You are my Queen, my Luna, and my partner. You deserve to know every burden I carry, especially when it risks my life. I promise you, by the Pleiades pack, I will never shut you out like that again. Can you forgive me?"
The raw honesty in his plea melted the icy wall I had built up since yesterday. I let out a breath I felt like I'd been holding for days, allowing myself to lean into his touch.
"I forgive you, Aylin," I said softly, the tension finally leaving my shoulders. "But remember that protecting me means standing with me, not hiding from me. We face the pack's threats together."
He nodded, a look of deep relief washing over his face as he kissed the knuckles of my hands. By the time the carriage slowed, the rift between us was healed, replaced by a unified front as we prepared to face our people.
The view out the window stole my breath. It was shocking. The earth was parched, yawning open in deep, dry cracks, and only a pitiful scattering of seedlings had managed to pierce the crust.
As the carriage stopped, the gathered crowd parted.
“My Queen. Alpha Aylin,” the people spoke in unison, bowing their heads in deep reverence.
“Hello, Father Thomas,” I said, stepping down and offering him a reassuring smile. “It is wonderful to see you. I am deeply hopeful that this blessing will help. I’ve already managed to bring life back to the barren soil beds at the castle.”
“Anything you do will be a blessing, Queen Celest,” he replied softly, bowing again before ushering me out into the waiting expanse of the quiet field.
I closed my eyes and took a deep, grounding breath.
I unlace my boots and step barefoot into the dry furrows, letting my toes sink into the cool, lifeless earth.
"Call upon the roots," I whispered to myself.
I extend my arms out to my sides, palms facing the ground. For a moment, everything went completely still. Then, a soft, rhythmic thrumming vibrated through the air, a deep pulse that resonated in the chests of the onlookers.
A pale, golden luminescence began to bleed from my skin. It wasn't blinding like sunlight, but warm and steady, like the glow of a hearth fire through a window. As I exhaled, my new spiritual aura expanded outward in a perfect, shimmering ripple.
Wherever the golden light touched, the air filled with the scent of ozone and crushed mint. The heavy, metallic tang in the air evaporated instantly.
The aura sank directly into the dirt. Pale gold veins of spiritual energy spread across the fields like a web of glowing roots. The cracked, earth softened, turning a rich, dark, fertile brown.
"Look," Father Thomas whispered, pointing a trembling finger.
A few feet from my feet, a dormant seed cracked open. A vibrant green shoot pierced the soil, uncurling its leaves in seconds. Within moments, tiny sprouts began to dot the entire field and the fields around me, drinking in the residual light of my blessing.
I lower my arms, my aura gently fading back beneath my skin.
I look back at the stunned villagers with a tired but reassuring smile.
The ground was finally fertile. “I am still working on what we can do about the homes and earth serpent.”
I say while fastening my boots. “These are things that will take time, and now that Alpha Aylin is back, he will help me figure the rest out. In the meantime, if you all can spread the word that we still have some open rooms at the Inn, I would appreciate it.”
I look around and everyone is standing there staring at me.
“You…You saved our lands Queen Celest,” Father Thomas says while canvassing the area.
“We will be able to feed our people and have a good harvest. Thank you, my Queen.”
“Father Thomas, do you know where I can find Emerelda, or the other carpenters?
“They are most likely at city hall, they have been looking into purchasing more land for homes.”
“Thank you father, I am headed there now if you don’t require my assistance farther?”
Everyone bowed to me. Aylin and I climbed back into the carriage and traveled back into the town.
“Aylin, do you think you can work with Emerelda and the carpenters to figure out the situation with the lack of housing? I want to return to the castle and research the Earth Serpent with Archer.”
“Yes of course Celest. I have some plans, actually, that I would like to discuss with Emerelda, she is the head coordinator of the construction team after all, so this would be the perfect time.”
The carriage finally groaned to a halt outside the grand stone steps of City Hall.
Before the footman could even reach for the door, Aylin turned to me.
The heavy weight of his alpha duties seemed to slip away, replaced by a sudden, intense warmth.
He leaned across the seat, his hand cupping my cheek as he pulled me into a deep, breathless kiss. It was a kiss full of lingering relief and unsaid promises, making the rest of the world fade to absolute silence.
When he finally pulled back, his dark eyes were soft, locked onto mine. “I have missed you, Celest,” he murmured, his voice low and laced with emotion.
Then, with a lingering squeeze of my hand, he turned, pushed open the carriage door, and stepped out into the bustling city air, leaving me with a racing heart as he closed the door and I returned to the castle.