Chapter 19 #2
My words seemed to shake something loose in her. She nodded, gesturing, and I followed her out the door as the elder tree consumed everything left in the greenhouse.
The humid air seemed cold compared to the warmth inside the glass greenhouse. We stared as the tree finally stopped growing. It was twice as tall as any elephant, its trunk shattering the greenhouse into nothing more than shining glass and strips of warped framing.
I shook my head, staring at the green leaves, shocked that it had grown from just a few of my memories.
What had they been? What had I given up to grow this?
But that was part of the sacrifice. I had entered the greenhouse not understanding forest magic, and now I knew, intimately, what sacrifice was demanded.
Na? twisted in my grip, turning her head and snapping at my wrist until I let her go. She dropped to all fours, hissing at me.
“Never do that again,” she snapped.
Then she began to grow, first as large as a dog, then a horse, then she was so large her snout brushed the top of my head. She turned to the elder tree, her teeth bared. “Come out.”
At first I thought the tree was shedding its leaves, but then I realized each of the little green flecks was a dragon.
They swirled around each other, linking together into a new shape until each of the miniature dragons was no more than a scale on a single dragon’s hide.
The creature was at least as large as Na? and bent its head to her.
When it spoke, it was in chorus. “Ice dragon.”
“Forest dragon.” Na? sounded displeased. “So? Do the elves have their elder tree back?”
The annoyance in her tone sent a shiver of amusement through the forest dragon. “The world has an elder tree once more. We thank those who stood guard for us. And those who sacrificed for our birth.”
“It was my honor,” Lady Chaliko said, her eyes wide. She reached up with a hand, and the dragon snuffled at her palm, raising its chin so that her fingers dragged down its neck.
“And what of those who sacrificed for you?” I demanded.
The dragon turned its head, looking at me, then down at Riini who lay helplessly in my arms. Her eyes were still closed, her body slack.
“This one has sacrificed the most for us. But, we cannot forget that you, too, have sacrificed. So we will repay the honor.” The dragon leaned forward.
“Airón—” Na?’s voice rose in warning, but it was too late.
I felt the small dragons that made up the forest dragon’s body part for us as if they were a thousand butterflies passing around us, their wings fluttering over my face and arms.
Then I felt the silver threads winding around my neck. I screamed out, raising one hand to try and loosen them, but that left me off-balance holding Riini. I dropped to my knees as they tightened, pulling so tight that I was sure they were a garrote about to slice my head from my body.
Just when I had no air left in me, the knowledge flooded in, the threads loosening as my mind absorbed what the silver threads contained.
The ancient stories of the elves, ones that would be sung around campfires. I remembered what it felt like to burn alive, to know that the knowledge and memories of millennia were disappearing into black, sooty smoke.
The elder tree’s gift to me was the memory of its own demise and I choked on it. If Kacha came to Tavornai again, the tree would burn. If he came, the nation would not survive. There were no more elder trees to hold this knowledge and it had taken what was left of the knowledge from inside Riini.
If this tree burned, so would the last hope of the elven people.
Kacha could not be allowed to set foot inside Tavornai.
The dragon pulled back, regaining its shape. Riini sat up in my arms, her eyes wide. She turned to me, the bright green spark of the elder tree disappearing slowly.
“I remember my mother. As she was when she was young, when she was a child no more than my age.” Tears streamed down her face, and I wondered what sort of gift that was, to remember the childhood of someone who was dead when it meant sacrificing your own memories in exchange.
Then again, I could still feel the gap in my own head, the ache of something I knew I had forgotten. When I was sure Riini could stand on her own, I pushed myself up, unsurprised to see Irad?o melt out of the forest.
My cousin was glaring at me, her expression matching Na?’s. “We need to get back.”
I didn’t argue, and Lady Chaliko shook herself. “Will the emperor burn this tree, too?”
Her question seemed small, helpless, and it definitely should have been asked before we had sacrificed to regrow an elder tree. I looked at Riini, her shoulders hunched, her face showing the lines of a woman twice her age.
“Why couldn’t any of the elves living here help you with this?”
“They tried. Some of them tried. But the poison of the Imperium ran deep in their souls. You cannot sacrifice, not truly, when what you want is revenge.” Riini swallowed.
“It was worth it. For me. It was worth it. Now I can meet Sagam and Joxii without carrying the weight of the elder tree inside me.”
She wrapped her hand around my forefinger, squeezing tightly. “Will you take me to them?”
I nodded, glancing at Irad?o. “Let’s go back.”
The swamp was no longer frightening, the colored vines and glowing trees parting as I walked.
I could have used magic—forest magic—to part the trees, to give us a path as Sagam and Joxii had done earlier, but I didn’t have to.
The elder tree had left its mark on my soul, and the trees around us responded.
It wasn’t exactly the sort of tattoo I had been looking for, but it did mean we reached the house without being eaten by any native flora, which was a considerably better outcome than we deserved, having trekked into a strange swamp with carnivorous plants.
The house was lit up brightly when we arrived, General Saxu’s men posted at the doors and windows, a few watching us from the edge of the forest as we approached. Their eyes were wide, and they didn’t try and stop us.
When we walked up the steps, I caught sight of myself in a reflection in the nearest window. I was glowing, my skin just as luminescent as the vines in the forest, my braids hanging over my back, their color a pale purple that shifted to blue and teal.
Inside, Lord Chaliko waited, General Saxu standing next to him.
“Wuli?” Lord Chaliko asked, both of his hands resting on his cane. His eyes searched his daughter’s face.
“It is done,” Lady Chaliko said, her face splitting open in a broad smile.
“Well, then, the emperor’s task has become that much easier.” Lord Chaliko turned to General Saxu. “Tomorrow, you will meet the only person in Tavornai waters who can find Namati.”
“Consort Airón, what did you do in the forest?” Saxu asked. Nohe stepped out of my rooms, freezing on the stairs as she stared at me.
“I believe I should tell the emperor first.” I nodded to both Saxu and Lord Chaliko, aware that Na? had disappeared and Riini was trailing behind me like a ghost.
“Prince Airón—” General Saxu turned to me, his hand dropping to his sword. “Did you endanger the Dragon Chosen Emperor?”
“Saxu, I can promise you this: the only thing I have ever done is try to save Tallu. We can speak in the morning.” I trudged up the stairs, Nohe stepping back as I approached. I passed by her, walking straight to Tallu’s rooms.
A servant opened the door, and Sagam turned from the window quickly, his knives out, but he faltered when he saw Riini. He looked between us, clearly uncertain.
“Sagam, I believe you and Joxii should have a conversation with your sister while I speak with the emperor.” I stepped to the side, nudging her forward.
She still glowed, but it was fading quickly, and the tendrils growing from her back shrank when Sagam strode forward. She took a step back, and he froze, looking down at his hands where he still held his knives tight.
In two quick motions he had sheathed them and then he reached out, before hesitating. He gazed back into the shadows of the room.
“Go. Leave us to our privacy,” Tallu ordered. He hesitated only a breath. “Send a servant with water to clean my consort.”
Sagam bowed, his fingers forming a triangle. He still hadn’t spoken but motioned with his hand and the other two guards inside the room followed him out.
Then it was just me and Tallu. I paused, holding myself back, but he was faster, striding across the room and running his hand over my cheek.
“What have you done?” he asked, and it was only in the reflection of his eyes that I realized how terrifying I must look to an imperial, trained since birth to fear all foreign magic.
“An elder tree grows in Tavornai,” I said.
Tallu drew in a shocked breath. His eyes went wide. “You found an elder tree?”
“If I was going to lie about something, it wouldn’t be this exciting. Sagam’s youngest sister and I regrew an elder tree. She said that if I did that, Spider would come find us.” I tried to take a step forward, but one of my knees gave out, and Tallu caught me easily, tugging me against him.
“You put yourself in danger again,” Tallu said, his voice sharp.
But he raised his hand, sliding one of my glowing braids through his fingers, delicately twining it around his forefinger.
“I am going to save you, Tallu.” I gripped his face between my hands. “Do you hear me?”
“You regrew an elder tree for me?” He let my braid slip from his fingers, lifting another.
“I learned forest magic for you,” I said.
Tallu was taking more of my weight, and I could feel him begin to tremble.
There was a soft knock at the door and Tallu gently perched me on the edge of the bed before striding to the door and grabbing a basin of clean water and washcloths from a startled servant.
He shut the door in their face, and then was back, kneeling in front of me.