Chapter 31
Vera
Odella waits a moment to walk beside Ikar, all grace and peaceful elegance.
They immediately fall into quiet conversation, leaving the rest of us to follow.
I feel a nasty sting in my core at the sight of the two of them.
Her beauty matches his effortless good looks, and from the appearance of their easy conversation, they get along well.
But I can’t focus on that for long because right before us are large flat leaves wrapped around a large tree trunk that create a set of steps that look too fragile to actually use, but Ikar follows Odella without hesitation.
Darvy follows next, and Rhosse motions me to go before him.
I tentatively step on the first leaf, and even though I’ve seen three others use the steps before me, I still expect it to fold beneath the weight of my boot…
but it doesn’t. So I step on the next and the next as we circle the trunk upward.
Above, I continue to hear the occasional word and the deep timbre of Ikar’s voice, and the uncomfortable feeling in my belly continues to grow.
I’m so distracted by Odella’s light, tinkling laughter that I miss a step, and my foot falls through a gap.
Rhosse snatches me by the arm and sets me back on my feet.
“Careful there,” he growls.
But as I steady myself, Darvy whispers over his shoulder. “He means… quit being jealous and focus on not falling out of the tree.”
I whip my gaze to his, finding a completely unapologetic look on his face. “That is not what happened.”
The commotion has Ikar and Odella peering down through a gap above to see what’s going on, and my cheeks heat.
Ikar eyes me closely. I’m reminded that with plentiful lucent here, he can surely pull magic to increase any of his strengths without my help—including his hearing.
I inwardly groan knowing he likely heard everything.
“Continue on,” Rhosse says, but he watches me as if he’s waiting for me to fall through another gap.
I try to ignore him and pay extra close attention to these stupid branches so I don’t draw further attention to myself while I seethe.
I want to rage at Darvy. Scream at him that he’s wrong.
Punch him for suggesting it. I am not jealous.
This feeling is simply stress curdling like sour milk in my belly knowing we are close to finding out if the Field of Tulips still exists.
Everyone but the cozy couple ahead is silent as we follow them through twisty treetop paths.
The humidity and warmth of this little piece of lucent land has my hair springing up into fuzzy fly-aways that refuse to be poked back into my braid or stay behind my ears, making me feel extra frustrated as we trail behind a stunning forest queen.
The leaves above us form a canopy roof, and within those leafy branches, I spot numberless colorful birds of all varieties whose songs blend and mix in ways I’ve never heard—it would be calming if I wasn’t so riled up.
Just as I begin to feel the first waves of dizziness from the height of our ascent, we reach the top.
Odella walks forward across space between trees that’s empty—one that would have me free-falling to the forest floor, but solid wood grows and reaches outward from beneath her feet with every step, creating a gleaming balcony that spreads out around us, long and wide.
I watch with continued amazement as a table and chairs fit to grace a royal dining room arises, growing from the wood itself.
Once everything is still, Odella gestures to the head seat, and Ikar nods his thanks.
He seats Odella to his right before he seats himself, and she smiles kindly as she waits for the rest of us to sit.
I have the urge to race Rhosse for the chair second to Ikar’s left, not wanting to torture myself by sitting right beside him and unable to say it out loud since his blazing hearing is so good.
Instead I hang back momentarily, trying to get Darvy or Rhosse to sit to Ikar’s left, but to no avail.
They’re both too gentlemanly to let me have my way.
They usher me toward the table, and Rhosse pulls out the chair for me.
“Thank you,” I offer tightly.
I scootch up to the table, feeling flustered, and suddenly find my knee pressing straight into Ikar’s solid thigh.
I make the mistake of glancing up to meet his blue eyes that are just as aware as I feel.
My lucent hums with pleasure, rushing toward him as if I’ve given it permission with the accidental contact. I snatch the rebel magic back.
Odella didn’t appear to make enough space at her table for the height of these men.
I attempt to move to the left toward Rhosse, but it only bumps my chair into his awkwardly, and I realize if I attempt to scootch anywhere else, I’ll be drawing attention.
I finally give up and slide back in my chair until my back is straight against it, leaving my knee a whisper from Ikar’s leg, and sigh, causing all the fly-aways to float out around my face.
I accept that this isn’t my best moment.
Ikar shifts just then, relaxing into his seat and allowing his long legs to stretch out, appearing without care as his thigh presses more firmly against my knee now—with nowhere for me to go.
I see the smallest hint of a grin on his lips, but he turns his attention to Odella when she says his name in a magically soft way that makes me tense.
I direct my gaze to the edge of the balcony so I don’t do something ridiculous, like leap over the table and throttle her.
It’s then I realize there is no edge or railing to this balcony; it just simply…
ends, offering a full and unimpeded view of the healthy, vast forest beyond.
I admit, it’s incredible in a way I can’t describe.
I even spot a waterfall in the distance that I would love to investigate.
Rupi flutters to the edge, perching alongside a flock of vibrantly-colored birds in hues of red, blue, and purple.
She hops excitedly amongst the bunch, appearing to have made friends easily enough.
For a moment, she meets my eye, and I can’t help but smile at the way her fluff blows in the gentle breeze and how relaxed she seems. It makes visiting the nymph queen worth it, even though it makes me feel like a raggedy pauper.
Rupi and her gang take flight a moment later, and once again I’m left staring at the blunt edge of the fancy wood floor beneath us.
If this woman wanted to kill us, would she simply tilt the floor and slide us off?
It’s a morbid thought. But better to think of that than the heat I feel from Ikar’s thigh still pressed to my knee. I try not to move. At all.
A nymph dressed in similar petals to the first sets food before me.
What looks to be fresh roots, seeds, perfectly ripened fruit, and fresh-caught fish lay within a large vein-covered, green leaf.
I sigh in relief. No bugs—this, I can handle.
The fae eat in a similar way, but they do enjoy their insects.
I think of my teenage years with Mama Tina and the variety of insect dishes she served at her fancy parties: sides of queen-ant eggs, salted grasshoppers with a dash of lime, cocktails garnished with worm salt among others. I gag just thinking of it.
I lift a crunchy root to my mouth and chew, but when Odella lowers her voice, I wish I’d chosen something softer so I can listen better.
“Your mark is black,” she says bluntly, her vivid blue eyes flashing.
Ikar smiles in a self-deprecating way. “Your guards told you.”
A fiery urge to defend him rises to my lips.
She should know how much weight and guilt he carries, how he worries about his people…
but I keep quiet. What am I going to say?
He’s doing everything he can, and I care about him…
except I also want him to fail, and I hate him?
I cringe as I realize that’s the truth of my feelings.
It doesn’t sit well. I’ve never been more emotionally confused in my life.
“They don’t have to tell me,” she says softly. “I’m connected to everything here.”
“Then you know it’s not completely black.”
She nods. “Which means we still have time, short though it is. The shadows have been devouring my nymphs, sucking the life from them as it spreads. It’s only this small portion of the mountain left.
” She looks out over the forest that spreads before us.
It’s difficult to think that this part of the forest is struggling when it appears so vibrant and full, but apparently she considers this small, and it makes me wonder what it used to be like.
“I can’t maintain it forever.” The tone of her voice tells me she has accepted her fate as she turns her wrist over, and my eyes widen with shock at the black that darkens her veins and crawls up her arm.