43. Chapter 40
Chapter 40
I miss her so much. My daughter. My light. My Little Star. If there was anyone that could walk the path before her, I would do everything to pull her from it. There isn’t, though. She’s the only hope, and it breaks my heart to know that she’ll end up just as hard as I was. We did this, Vesta. We sacrificed our Little Star to save the world.
~Brenna Morvyn, letters to Vesta
Maeve
I expect the world to be swallowed in mist so thick I won’t be able to see my own hands, but it isn’t. The air is clear, touched only by the faintest wisps of silver, like breath on glass. It’s as though I’ve stepped through a doorway, into a place that shouldn’t exist. Like walking through a mirror and finding another world waiting on the other side.
I brace for pain, for something sharp and hollowing. Every story I’ve heard says stepping into the mist is a death sentence. The bodies I've seen that the Nothing left behind were… terrible. My breath curls in the still air, waiting for agony to sink its claws into me.
But nothing happens.
No searing pain. No gory destruction of my body. All that I feel is the slow ebb of my power, no different from when I stood too close to the mist.
I look at the world in front of me, still slightly in shock, and realize that it's warm here.
Winter hasn’t touched this place. No snow clings to the unfamiliar trees, and no frigid wind twists the mist. The Nothing is silent here. Still. It feels untouched, like this place has existed this way forever, waiting.
Then a voice shatters the silence.
“Little Star,” a woman says from behind me.
I whirl, my body still primed for battle, and I freeze.
A woman stands behind me and is both real and impossible. Like Vesta is air given life, this woman is made of mist—solid yet shifting, defined yet insubstantial. She looks like she was once human or High Fae. Where Vesta has always seemed like something else entirely, this woman is something changed . Something other .
A strange pull settles in my chest. A connection I can’t place, like a name on the tip of my tongue, like a memory just out of reach.
“Queen Brenna,” Cole whispers in reverence.
The moment he says it, the pieces snap into place.
My mother.
The Nothing.
The truth feels too big to fit inside my head. We'd thought… We'd walked into the Nothing because we believed that my mother controlled it, but part of me can't accept it as real. My mother has been here all along. In the Nothing. She's been part of it all this time. And she’s—
She takes a step toward me, her misty form moving as effortlessly as if she were flesh and bone. “Little Star,” she says again, her voice soft, aching, and everything I had imagined it to be. “I’ve been trying so hard to bring you here. Ever since your twenty-second birthday, I’ve done everything I could to reconnect with you.”
I don’t know what to say. My mind is still catching up, still struggling to make this real.
Minutes ago, I was fighting for my life. Steel soldiers. Blood. Running. Then the Nothing came, and I thought—I thought I’d lost everything.
Now my Mother is here, standing in front of me, reaching for me like she knows me.
She moves to embrace me, and I take a step back.
“You’ve been here this whole time?” My voice doesn’t sound like my own. I glance around at this strange, mist-filled world. At the silence. At the absence of movement. “This… this is where people have gone when they were taken by the Nothing?”
She smiles, her lips curving softly. “Yes, Maeve,” she says gently. “I’ve saved everyone you've cared for and brought them here. Now no one can hurt them.”
I go cold as memories crash into me.
The pain that had torn me apart when I thought Da had died. A moment when I’d nearly given in to the void, shattered beyond repair. The way I’d woken to Cole’s eyes filled with impossible hope after six weeks of waiting, of fearing that I wouldn’t come back at all—because my mother had been trying to help.
Something in me snaps.
My body reacts before my mind catches up. My arm moves, possessed by instinct. I don’t hold back. Every ounce of Earth strength surges through me, my fist moving as fast as if I were fighting Cole.
It connects with a sharp, satisfying crack. Brenna staggers, her misty nose shattering with the force of my blow. She cries out, but I don’t care. I don’t even watch her recover.
Because behind her—
Hazel.
Da.
My breath catches as I take them in, frozen where they stand several feet away. They’ve been here all this time. Here. In the Nothing. Unlike my mother, I feel no hesitation, no tangled emotions.
I had thought they were dead. I had mourned them both.
Brenna says something, but I don’t hear it. I push past her, my steps unsteady as I cross the clearing. Da isn’t smiling, but Hazel—Hazel’s grin is wide, wider than I ever remember. She's different, so unlike the woman I'd come home to after receiving the Painted Crown.
I stare, trying to understand what’s different.
She had always been the perfect noble’s daughter—graceful, demure, careful. But now… now she looks free. There’s a brightness in her eyes I’ve never seen before, a confidence that wasn’t there when I lost her. She stands taller. The nervous edge she used to carry has been wiped clean from her frame. Even her body has changed to become curvier, more assured. Somehow, I know it isn’t just time that did this to her.
I don’t realize I’m staring until she speaks.
“Maeve,” she says, sparkling laughter in her voice. “You can’t hit Brenna.”
“That’s your mother,” Da agrees.
I want to argue. I want to be furious. I should be furious because I was sure they were dead. But how can I be angry when they're here?
Part of me wants to embrace them, to hold them so tight they can never disappear again.
The other part is afraid that this is all a cruel trick and they'll disappear as soon as I touch them.
I stare, my breath uneven as my emotions war inside me. Hazel’s different, but Da—Da is exactly the same. The sparkle in his eyes, the way his mouth curves just slightly at the corners. He feels right. He feels real.
Then I don’t have a choice because Hazel closes the distance in two steps and pulls me into a tight embrace.
I freeze. Then, slowly, I let go.
It feels exactly the same as when she hugged me in Blackgrove. A ragged breath slips from me, and I barely notice the tears that fall.
They’ve been here all along. I didn’t have to lose or mourn them. We were all just too stupid to put the pieces together.
“I thought you both died.” The words come out hollow and thin compared to what I should feel. It doesn’t seem real. I’ve lost my father twice. I nearly shattered when they both disappeared into the mist. How can they still be alive?
Hazel’s grin softens, turning thoughtful. “Isn’t it better that we didn’t?”
If they’re alive, then everyone is alive. My friends. My family. Aerwyn. Blackgrove. Everyone.
Hazel’s expression shifts as she senses my confusion. Her eyes harden and her voice takes on a strength I’ve never heard from her before. “Be happy, cousin,” she says, and for a moment, I see Aunt Prudence in the firmness of her gaze. “This place is good. It’s better than Blackgrove, and almost all of Blackgrove is here.” She tilts her head. “And your mother is wonderful, so maybe you shouldn’t punch her anymore.”
I blink at my cousin.
Hazel has never told me what to do.
She's never spoken with this kind of confidence, this kind of certainty. She's always been soft and gentle. Now, as I look into those deep brown eyes, I see a woman who knows what she wants. I see a woman who isn’t afraid to say it.
A hand settles on my shoulder, grounding me. Da.
“I’m sorry that you were hurt because we came here,” he says gently. “I… I’ve missed your mother. And when I heard her voice, I couldn’t stay away.”
I meet his eyes, and something in my chest loosens.
For the span of half a breath, I consider being angry. I could be, but the feeling flickers and dies before it can take root because I understand.
I know what it’s like to be bound to someone. If Cole had been in the Nothing, lost to me for twenty years, I would have run straight into it too.
Of course, Da couldn’t stay away. Of course, he had to go to her. I let out a slow breath and offer him the barest smile. How could I ever blame him for that?
“You couldn’t have come and told me?” I ask. “I’d have loved to see mother, too. And Hazel.” I look pointedly at my cousin.
He shakes his head, and I hear my mother say, “I wouldn’t let them leave. The world is too dangerous. They’re humans, and both of them have the House of Earth bloodline. I had no way of knowing if Gethin had put the pieces together. I needed them safe.”
Her voice is soft, but there’s a strength behind it. It’s exactly how I’ve imagined her. The Immortal that fell in love with a human. I turn on her. “You couldn’t have sent anyone?”
“Who?” she asks. “And where? The only way I found your father was because I knew about Aerwyn, and I guessed you would take him there to keep him safe from Draenyth after you pulled him from the void. Then, the Prince took you away, and I couldn’t sense you. You were nowhere. It wasn’t until the soldiers began dying that I realized what was happening. I waited until there were enough soldiers that I was sure you’d come, and you’d be too busy fighting to realize I was here. Luckily, it worked.”
I stare at her. Her broken nose has already healed, and out of the corner of my eyes, I notice Casimir and Cole watching. “You could have sent someone out. I would have trusted anyone from Aerwyn to tell the truth.”
“It isn’t…” My mother sighs. “You’re right, Maeve. I should have done something else. You’ve proven to be more than capable of escaping my traps for you. I’d thought that by taking away your power to wield shadows, I’d have easily trapped you, but you surprised me by wielding Earth powers as well as Roderic.”
She pauses again, but I don’t say anything, letting her speak and really taking it in that my mother is alive and has been right here this whole time. I’d gone to war with her.
My mother smiles at me. “I’m so proud of you, Little Star,” she finally says. “You’ve grown into the woman that I dreamed you’d be and so much more. I’ve talked to your friends in Aerwyn, and not only have you become powerful enough to stand against Gethin, but you’re kind and compassionate. You’re the best of humans and Immortals, and you did it all without your father or me to guide you.”
I stand up a little taller. “Vesta was always there, and Da taught me kindness and compassion when I was small. And Aunt Prudence was never as cruel as she could have been. She was hard, yes, but she was hard on Hazel as well. Then I met Cole…” I turn to him, and my mother finally seems to see him.
And Casimir.
“Prince,” she says with a very formal nod. “Thank you for fulfilling your oath and for protecting my daughter before she could protect herself.”
Before Cole can respond, she turns to Casimir. Without saying a word, mist appears around him, slowly swirling like a storm, beginning at his feet and climbing his body.
A grimace appears on his face as he stares at Brenna. “Casimir Cyrus, you are the reason for the death of hundreds of my House. You are the reason that I could not help Roderic. You’re why Nyth was almost destroyed.”
The mist climbs higher, crossing his waist, and his grimace turns into an angry snarl. The normally white fog that swirls around him turns pink as Casimir responds. “I did what I believed was the best way to save my House. If you’d been there—if you’d answered any of my correspondence instead of hunting for that stupid book—then I wouldn’t have faced the impossible option to ally with Gethin or to fight a losing war against him. There was no way I could have won against him, so I chose to protect mine rather than yours.”
My mother’s anger wavers for a moment, and the mists stop swirling around Casimir momentarily. “I was there. I was…”
“You were consumed with your search, Brenna. You were just as lost to the shadows as Roderic and Gethin were lost to their powers. Roderic became isolated. Gethin became power hungry. And you, dear Brenna, got lost in the forgotten. How long did you stay in the void listening to the Darkness to find that book? Days? Weeks? Months?”
“Years,” she whispers. “Years to find the answer to questions that I didn’t dare believe were true.”
He nods. “Questions that could have been answered after Gethin had been forced to return to the Throne. How long would you have stayed the Queen of Shadows? How many more secrets would you have ferreted out as an excuse not to return to the void? All of you were lost, and maybe I fell for my House’s curse? Maybe I gave into destruction rather than cleverness. We are the Conduits, Brenna, and we’ve been Conduits for too long. If you need to destroy me, I won’t fight you, but I think that my temporary survival will help your cause.”
My mother hesitates again briefly, and then the mists around Casimir disappear. “You did your best to eliminate the House of Shadows. That isn’t something that I’ll easily forgive.”
“And you ignored my pleas for help,” he responds before glancing down at his lower body. The clothes that had covered his legs are gone, along with most of the skin, showing muscle and bone. “Do you have another pair of pants?”
His words are at odds with the carnage, and I can’t help but laugh a little at the comment. My mother was going to turn him into one of the corpses that people would find when the Nothing left this area of the world behind. Flayed and barely recognizable other than bits of his clothing.
Brenna and Cole don’t smile, but Da and Hazel do. Which is a little surprising since I’d expect them to both be disturbed by the blood and gore. Maybe they understand more than I’d expect humans to.
Already his skin is regrowing, and my mother warns in a tone wholly meant to frighten, “One wrong move, Casimir, and I will finish what I started.”
He huffs at her. “Do you have a map? A rulebook?” Anyone else who’d just experienced what he did would be afraid of my mother following through with torture and execution. Casimir seems to be less worried about that than the fact that his dress pants are ruined and I can see his thighs.
“You know exactly what I mean,” she growls, and I’m reminded that once upon a time, she was the Queen of Shadows. “Don’t try to hurt anyone here. This place is a sanctuary for those who can’t protect themselves. If you came here to disturb their safety…”
“…then you’ll flay the skin from my bones. Yes, I understood that the first time. I’m on your side. I’ve always wanted to be on your side, so you don’t have to worry about me murdering random villagers like some kind of bloodthirsty monster.”
He says it all so flippantly, as though being flayed was nothing to be afraid of. Then again, other than an initial grimace, he hadn’t reacted very much at all. I glance at Cole, and through the bond, I ask him, “Would you have been able to withstand that much pain without crying out?”
“No,” he says quietly in my mind. “I’m realizing that I might have underestimated my father in more ways than one.”
“He’s not what I’d thought he’d be.”
Cole’s focus is still on his father and Brenna, but he responds, “He’s not who I thought he was, either.” His response is cold, but there’s an air of interest.
Brenna’s expression changes in an instant, and she slowly looks at the rest of us. “Well, now that you’re all here, why don’t we show you around? There are quite a few people who can’t wait to see you both. We should probably start with a certain goblin. He keeps mentioning that I should have used a net to catch you. ‘Like you catch birds,’ he’s insisted for months.”
I chuckle at the thought of Bog the goblin, and when my mother walks away, Da comes up beside me. “You recognized the song, didn’t you? That’s how I knew it was her.”
With a smile and nod, I follow my mother, and both Hazel and Cole move with us. Only Casimir lingers behind for a few moments before following us. Something has happened to him in the past twenty-four hours, and I don’t understand what it is. I know he’s trying to make amends for the way he treated Cole since he’s accepted that Cole will sit on the Throne of Flames when we take back Draenyth. It’s more than the way he’s treating Cole, though.
It's like a mask of anger has been removed, and he’s not forcing anything. He was happy in battle. He seemed serious, yet somehow cheerful when his skin was being flayed from his body. This is decidedly not the King of Flames that even his own son knew.
So what exactly is the difference?