17. Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Maeve is growing up human. Her father will show her love. She will see it on the faces of Blackgrove. I need you to show her strength. I need you to be the one who shows her what it means to be Immortal. I’m sorry.
~Brenna Morvyn, letters to Vesta
Maeve
I dangle my feet in the river and grin at Cole, who’s sitting next to me with a fishing pole in his hands. Today is another simple day. No training. No fighting. No thinking about the end of the world or his father or what’s going to happen when Darian and Lee get information out of Casimir. We’re just doing some lazy fishing on a cold autumn afternoon while Da whittles a little box out of a fallen branch.
The water is frigid, but Cole’s always warm, and I run my leg along his. He gives me a grin, and things feel so right. “It’s almost like these past four months haven’t happened,” he says as he pushes his shoulder against mine.
“Not true. When we were here last, you were an ass, and I was barely more than human.”
He laughs, shaking his head and looking down at the ripples in the water, distorting his reflection. “That’s fair. I was an ass, but there were reasons. I guess you understand that now.”
I do. Beneath the laughter, pain lingers—unhealed and raw. It clings to both of us, shaping the unspoken distance between who we are now and who we once were. The red crystal is slowly climbing the obsidian tower of his mind, but it’s far from complete. Cole still hesitates to let me see him fully, to see the vulnerability I know hides behind the mask. He is healing, though. We both are.
It’s a slow process, but it’s worth it. He’s worth it. It’s just going to take some time. It’s too bad that time is something we have very little of. I’ve already spent too many days doing nothing, and I know Gethin isn’t just standing around.
I’m enjoying my time with my Da and Cole being lazy, but truthfully, I don’t know what else there is to do. We need to understand what Gethin’s long-term plans are before we can make our own. Right now, we need to focus on being defensive. Just like when we were fighting the Nothing, a single mistake means we die. Not someone else. Not a handful of our thousands of soldiers. No, if we make a mistake, our entire resistance dies with us.
The thought is more than a little terrifying, and I’m glad that Cole is with me. I couldn’t do this on my own. How’d he spend almost thirty years playing the part of the Shade with no one to lean on?
“What do you think?” Da asks before blowing the shaved wood off his creation. It’s a tiny box made of raw pine. Not big enough to hold anything more than a piece of jewelry, it doesn’t seem very useful. Yet, he’s smiling as he looks down at it. I don’t understand until I see it.
A tiny star that’s been carved inside it at the bottom.
“A little star hidden in the dark,” he says with a sly smile and hands it to me. Nothing else. That’s all he says before he walks away, back toward the trees. He hums that same song of power as he walks with his hands in his pockets. I glance at Cole again, but he shrugs.
We’ve both tried to figure out where we’ve heard that song before, but neither of us can remember. All Da can tell us about it is, “I don’t know. It’s just always stuck in my head.” Cole and I can’t even seem to remember the tune until we hear it. It’s infuriating.
Duncan the gnome runs up to Da, clutching a wide, flat piece of broken bough. “This would make a good bowl,” he says hurriedly, his voice brimming with excitement. He bounces on his heels as he speaks, clearly delighted to receive what feels like special attention from Da. They’re both whittlers, but Duncan’s skill far surpasses my father’s.
I glance down at the box in my hands. It’s rough. The edges are uneven and carved with the clumsy strokes of someone who’s never truly mastered the craft. The walls are warped and uneven, and the lid barely fits, no matter how hard I wedge it on. Even then, it wobbles precariously. Yet, it’s the first thing anyone has made for me since Hazel’s painting all those years ago.
My heart swells at the thought. My Da made me a little box. I have no idea what I’d put inside it, but I’m sure that there’s something that will need a home.
Then Cole’s hand flashes out and grips my wrist tightly, interrupting thoughts and emotions I hadn’t believed possible until a few days ago. “Darian’s calling for us,” he says with pressing concern in his voice. “We need to go.”
My heart’s racing immediately, but a bit of fear wrestles its way inside me as I look at my Da. “We have to leave,” I say loudly enough that Da and Duncan look up from the pine bough. “Cole and I have to go to Stormhaven immediately. We’ll be back as soon as we can, but it could be a few days.” I hand Da the little box and say, “Please keep it safe in the cottage for me.”
Da frowns and stands up from his seat. “You’ll be safe?” he asks as he takes the box back.
I nod to him. “I don’t know what we’ll be doing, but we’ll be as safe as possible.”
He takes a deep breath and clutches my hand. He slowly nods his head, and a tear looks like it’s going to well up in his eyes, but then it’s gone. “You’re a grown woman, and you’re your mother’s daughter. I know you can protect yourself even if I remember you as a little girl, but, Maeve…” He pauses for a moment before saying, “Be careful. I know you’re stronger than I’ll ever be, but you’re still young. You’re dealing with people thousands of years old, and you’re still my Little Star. Be careful. There are some truly terrible people out there. I love you.”
Somehow, it feels like this is goodbye for more than a day or two. “I love you too, Da,” I say, and give him a hug. “We’ll be safe. You be safe, too. Don’t let Bog convince you to do anything too silly. I know from experience that he’ll try.”
Da gives me a smile, but it’s broken, and he turns away from me. I don’t know why, but I’m a little afraid to leave. And then I feel Cole behind me.
When I turn to face him, his expression is as serious as it was when we fought the Nothing. His friends are taking risks, and he needs to reach them the moment they call.
I nod, and this time, it’s my shadows that spill onto the ground around us. Moments later, we’re plunging through the darkness into the void, and I focus on Darian’s chambers to pull us back into the physical world.
It all happens in the span of a heartbeat—faster than Cole could shadow walk that distance, faster than I’ve ever done before. Right now, I feel alive in a way I haven’t in months, and that makes everything easier. The past few days have invigorated me. Seeing my Da, being filled with shadows again—it’s given me a vitality no amount of solitude or combat ever could.
When we slip out of the shadows, Darian and Lee are standing in front of us, both of whom are wearing House of Steel uniforms. Darian frowns when he sees Cole without the Shadowed Cloak on. Lee is staring at me.
“What’s going on?” Cole asks immediately. “Have you learned something?”
Both of them look at Cole as if he’d asked how to milk a rooster, but I know they’re just seeing how much we’ve changed. “Things are a little different,” I say, addressing the shock in their eyes. “I’m more like I was before I received the Painted Crown.” They don’t say anything, and it occurs to me just how terrible I’d been to them. I realized how I’d treated Cole, but Darian and Lee have been far away. I hadn’t… Memories flash through my mind of the way I’d talked to them, of the fact that I’d nearly killed them both.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, my eyes becoming downcast. “Both of you deserve so much more than the person I’ve been. I… I hurt you. I nearly let you both die and treated you like you meant nothing to me. You’re my friends… at least, I hope you’re still my friends. I’m so sorry.”
Lee doesn’t hesitate. Instead of saying anything, she just moves to me and wraps her arms around me. “I missed you, Maeve,” she whispers.
“You remembered what it was to be human?” Darian asks without moving.
I nod to him as I embrace Lee. “I did.”
Cole chimes in. “She also found out that her father is still alive and well. He was just taking a nap in the void.”
“For fifteen years?” Lee pulls away, and the look on her face is one of pure terror, which isn’t surprising. The void kills people. It is terrifying and the idea of being stuck there all alone for fifteen years would send most people into convulsions.
“He was asleep,” I say. “My mother protected him, but I pulled him out, and now he’s in Aerwyn teaching Rivertail how to cook steamed fish.”
Everyone pauses for a moment, and then Darian just starts laughing. It doesn’t take long before Lee’s fear turns to laughter as well. I glance at Cole, and he’s just as confused as I am. The twins just laugh harder and harder, and I’m reminded of when Cole looked like he was going to burn us all alive on the road to Draenyth when he lost control.
Finally, Darian tells us why they’re laughing. “We’ve been terrified that one of you would have broken completely since you left and didn’t come back.”
Lee continues, “We were sure that no one would have answered when we called for you. Now, we find out that you’re better than ever? Thanks for the information. We’ve only been on the verge of giving up completely for three days.”
I can’t help but smile at them. I can see the instantaneous regret on Cole’s face. He put his friends through hardship, and that obsidian tower is anything but stable. I reach out and take his wrist. “It’s fine. They’re fine.” He looks at me and takes a deep breath, letting it out in a soft hiss.
He’s looked so much better since I started his healing, but this just reminds me of how unstable he still is.
“I apologize,” he says formally to his friends. “I should have told you. We got a little lost, I guess.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’re just glad you’re okay.” Lee’s words help. She’s still smiling, and when Darian pats his friend on the shoulder, I can see the happiness in his eyes.
They’d been worried about both of us. This whole time, they’ve been watching us both fall deeper and deeper into our own despair, and they were powerless to stop it. Now we’re getting better. There’s no doubt that we’re both still very fragile, but we’re better. We’re going to make it.
Lee turns to Darian then, and they both get very serious. Darian says, “We have news. You were right about Casimir being unable to keep secrets to himself if I just talked to him. Genius approach, actually.”
He pauses, and I feel like he’s trying to be dramatic, but before I can say anything, he says, “Gethin thinks he can create new bloodlines. Well, not bloodlines exactly. He thinks he can use objects from each House to tie someone to the Throne. Then he’ll be able to control all the Thrones and still keep the world alive.”
I frown and glance at Cole, who looks just as confused as me. “What do you mean? What kinds of objects?” Cole asks.
“Things like the Shadowed Cloak,” Lee replies. “Each House had artifacts made for it, most of which were hidden by the original leaders of each House, and they all give some kind of power to the wielder. More than anything, they hold the power of the dragon who gave itself to the House. Inni created the Burning Brand before she became the Throne of Flames. I don’t know the others, and Casimir doesn’t either, but he’s sure that Gethin knows them and possibly even where they are.”
Everyone knows the power of the Shadowed Cloak. If there are other weapons just as powerful, then Gethin could use them not only to control the Thrones but also to wield the powers of all the Houses.
“We can’t let him get a hold of all of them,” I hiss.
Everyone seems to agree with that statement, but they’re looking to me for direction. I glance at Cole before saying, “Keep getting information, Darian. But Lee, I have a different job for you. We need to find out more about these artifacts. We need to find out where and what they are. There’s a book that my tutor had called A History of Magic and Dragons that I’m sure has that information in it.”
Lee opens her eyes a little wider. “You want me to find a book?”
I shake my head. “No, I think that would be impossible. I want you to find my tutor. Vesta. She’s a sylph.”
“The one that was at the Midsummer ball?” she asks.
I nod to her. “Yes. She had the book, but I don’t know where she’d be. I would probably start with the Keep of Shadows.”
Lee nods. “That would make sense. Nobody goes in there anymore except the sylphs, so it’d be safe for her. I can do that.” There’s a lightness to her I feel has been missing. “I’ll pack my things, and then I’ll fly to Draenyth.”
I shake my head. “I’ll just shadow walk you to the outskirts of the city before I take us back to Aerwyn.”
Lee visibly shivers at the suggestion. “I’d rather fly. It’s only a two-day flight.”
She’s terrified of the void. Ever since the time that I almost let her and Darian become lost to it, she’s done everything in her power to stay out of it. Even flying for two days straight is preferable to a minute in the void.
I don’t blame her. She’s powerless there. Just a few extra seconds could be death to her. It’s like pulling her into the ocean when we all know she can’t swim.
“That’s fine. There’s some rush, but not enough that two days matter. But Lee…” I pause, and she perks up. “Be careful. The world is quickly becoming a much more dangerous place. I want you to tie yourself to Cole like Darian did. That way, if you need help, you can call us. It may not be optimal for us to shadow walk into the middle of the House of Steel, but we’ll do what we have to. I will not lose you to the House of Steel. Do you understand?”
She swallows hard. “Yes, my Queen.” Her tone of voice changes in an instant, and I recognize that there’s a difference between her deference right now and her fear of me when we were fighting the Nothing.
It’s the difference between a loyal member of my court and someone who doesn’t have any other option. The first is expected. The second is close to slavery, and I hate that I ever made her feel that way.
She puts her arm out, and just like so many times in the past, Cole presses his nail against bare skin and a black tally mark appears on Lee’s wrist. It’s a debt that will never need to be paid.
Then it’s done, and we’re hugging. Darian squeezes her tight and whispers in her ear, something I’ve never seen him do before. She nods at him and then turns back to us. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find her. I’ll make sure she and the book are found.”
I nod to Lee, and she hurries away. Darian’s gaze follows his sister, and I can see just how hard it is for him to be away from her already. Now that I think about it, I can’t remember a time when they’ve been apart. I almost call her back or tell Darian to go with her, but I need him here. I need to know if there’s any more information that Casimir can give us, and there isn’t anyone else to get that information from him.
But I need that book, too.
I look at Cole, and he takes a deep breath, but he doesn’t disagree with my decision. These are his friends, and even when he felt completely broken, he wouldn’t have let me do anything terrible to Darian and Lee.
“We should stop in and talk to Aric while we’re here,” I say. Darian nods, his eyes still on the door that Lee walked out of.
Without turning to look at me, he says, “Aric wanted to talk to you. There have been attacks closer to Stormhaven, and he’s having to deal with refugees. He wants advice.”
I glance at Cole again, and he speaks up. “Thank you, Darian. We’ll go chat.” He moves closer to his friend, and like Darian’s done to me several times now, Cole puts his hand on Darian’s shoulder and gives it a good squeeze. “She’ll be fine.”
“I know,” he says softly. “I just don’t like not knowing. We’ve never been apart from each other. You know that.”
“It’s necessary.”
He just nods, but there’s nothing we can do about it. Logically, this is the only answer. There’s no one else who can do either of the jobs, and we don’t have the luxury of dealing with one task before starting the other.
Cole takes my hand and leads me out of the room, but both of us look back at Darian before we walk into the hallway. Still staring in our direction, he looks completely alone in the world. I want to reach out to him, to tell him to go with Lee, but I know I can’t.
This is the part of wearing the Painted Crown I didn’t want. I hadn’t wanted to be required to hurt people who had done nothing wrong, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. No, I’m not cutting him or setting him on fire, but being away from his twin is going to be agony for him.
“I would have done the same thing,” Cole whispers and pulls me out of sight. “We all have to make sacrifices, and if the worst one is that Darian and Lee have to spend a few weeks apart, I’ll count them lucky.”
I take a deep breath, but I can’t stop the quivering inside me. I know I did terrible things before. I’d forced all three of them to fight until they nearly died from exhaustion, but I’m not that person now. I’m… I’m not quite so broken. It pains me to see them suffering.
“You’re right,” I say. But somehow, it doesn’t feel right.
“Come on. We have to talk to Aric. Then you need to go back to your father and spend a little more time with him. He’s helping your soul to heal, and that’s more important than anything else right now.”
The rest of the thought goes unspoken. Because if you don’t heal, you’ll go back to being the Queen of Earth. I was worse than the King of Flames. At least Casimir enjoyed the suffering he created. At least there was something in him that felt almost human. The Queen of Earth was dead inside. I was so broken.
Cole leads the way to the Throne Room where King Aric is talking to a group of obviously rich people, all of whom are wearing the absolute latest in fashion. Velvet dyed bright purple seems to be the highlight. It looked like what the servants wore in Draenyth. The human voices rise as the heavy door swings open on iron hinges as Cole closes the door.
Aric looks up at us and immediately stands. It’s surprising, almost as though he were trying to show us courtesy like his nobles most likely do for him. “Queen Maeve,” he says, his eyes focused on me. “Let me introduce you to the small council.” He rattles off their names, and I try to take them in, but I know I won’t be spending very much time with them, so they’re mostly forgotten. “This is Queen Maeve, the rightful ruler of Draenyth,” he tells the men and women seated around the table.
Most of them seem annoyed at the fact that I’m standing in front of them, and I can only guess it’s because I’m a woman or that I’m so much younger than them. Sometimes, it’s hard not displaying my power just to remind people of what I could do. Then I remember what Vesta told me when I was growing up. They’re small thoughts by small people. Ignore them.
That’s the truth. Proving myself to them only gives them power. Let them think I’m weak. “King Aric, we would like an audience. We were told you had things you wished to discuss with us.”
He glances at the people seated around the table and says, “Why not just discuss it with me and the small council at the same time? Sir Alistair Hawking is my Master of Defense, and he has read all the reports of the invasions in detail, while I’ve only seen the brief version.”
He nods to a man at the table who’s leaning back. Dark-haired and barely older than I am, he doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the senior men and women at the table. A long scar crosses his face, running from his left eyebrow all the way down to his chin, a grisly memory of a long ago battle. He slouches in his chair and smirks at me, not a bit of humbleness in him.
“Don’t mind his age,” Aric says immediately after I look at the young man. “He spent nearly his entire childhood in the field, and he’s unmatched in strategy. I trust him with thirty thousand soldier’s lives, and he has yet to let me down.”
“The young are daring,” Alistair says in a lighthearted voice. “And daringness wins battles the fearful would lose.”
Cole snorts beside me, a sound very unusual coming from him. “Power wins battles. Daringness only gets people killed.” I whirl on him, surprised at the response he gave the man.
Alistair smirks at Cole as if he were better than the Prince of Flames. The arrogance . Cole isn’t glaring at Alistair, but the derision is impossible to miss. I feel like I’m dealing with two petulant children who need to be dragged outside by the ear and thrown into a river. “That’s enough,” I growl to both of them, and I turn to Alistair. “What’s happened?”
Alistair grins at me like we were talking about an altercation in the marketplace and not the most important things that have happened in the last thirty years. “The Fae are going to war with all the human kingdoms, it seems. At least that’s what we’re considering this. What else would you call an army burning a dozen villages to the ground? It’s not only our villages, mind you. They’re attacking everyone, and they’re not even taking anything. They massacre a village and burn everything down, including the temples inside them.”
I blink and this time, when I glance at Cole, he has none of the annoyance toward the young man he had before. He caught the mention just as much as I did. “Temples?” he asks.
“Yes,” Alistair responds, sitting up a little straighter. “Each of the villages had a major temple. This doesn’t seem to be a religious movement, as the Fae soldiers are indiscriminate in which temples they’re destroying. We didn’t think very much of it since most villages that close to Draenyth have a temple of some sort. The closer that people live to the Fae capital, the more afraid they are.”
I nod. “Temples, Cole. Gethin’s not going to war with humans. He’s hunting.”
Cole’s expressionless blue eyes don’t betray any of his emotions. Instead, he turns to Aric. “We need to see a map of all the villages that were attacked and all the ones that weren’t. It’s time that our protection extends beyond Stormhaven’s walls and encompasses your villages as well.”
Alistair huffs. “If that’s true, then we’re expecting Fae troops to attack a village with a temple to Veris about a hundred miles from here.”
I smile. We fought the Nothing for months on end. We fought and fought and barely got anywhere because the Nothing is an impossible to defeat entity. But Immortals? Oh, fighting them would be such a relief. The tiny battle that we had getting Casimir out made me feel so alive. The thought of getting to do even more makes my heart race.
For the first time since we ran from Draenyth that very first day, I feel like we aren’t flailing in the dark. We know what Gethin wants, and we want to keep him from getting it. That’s a goal—a workable goal.
Today just became so much better.