Chapter Forty-Six
Arianna
It felt like hours. Days. Years as she stood there in the still water, watching the last bit of serenity drip into the calm pool, becoming one with the stillness.
She hadn’t moved since Rion’s departure.
Wife.
Mate.
Her fingertips lifted to touch her lips. Fire still burned there, as if he’d branded himself upon her before going to meet his end.
One chance, Eimear had said. They had one chance to survive this, and that chance started here. With her.
But the battle was already underway. Vairik was already tearing across the land, stealing the lives of the very people she was meant to protect.
And she’d done absolutely nothing to help them.
She should be on the battlefield. She should be standing by Rion’s and Talon’s side, fighting against the darkness no matter how grim.
One chance.
A sacrifice.
Was she meant to be that sacrifice? Was it meant to be done here? In this pool of water?
Arianna looked down at her hands. The water had already wrinkled her skin.
Divine or not, she was just one person. How was she supposed to make a difference in anything when she didn’t know where to start?
She’d gladly give her life, if that was the price to pay. But where was she supposed to pay it?
Arianna’s hands began to tremble again. Her heart ached with an emptiness she could never put into words. It was as if her soul had been carved right out of her chest, leaving a gaping wound no one could fill.
Hopelessness. This was exactly what hopelessness felt like.
She was about to lose everything. She didn’t even have the memories to tell her exactly what that meant.
Maybe that’s what hurt the most.
Would she regain her memories once death claimed her? Would she walk through the gates of the afterlife and greet her old friends the way she used to know them? Would Rion even be there?
A sob tore through her body, nearly making her double over.
She wrapped her arms around her middle, clutching it tightly.
She was fracturing, her body coming apart at the seams. She was glass under too much pressure.
Cloth being pulled too tight. Pieces splintered off, dripping into the cool liquid.
Tears, those pieces were her tears, consumed by the world as if they meant nothing.
Arianna struggled for breath, still holding her center like her life depended on it. Her body kept shuddering, spilling out against her will.
Gone.
Everything she’d ever loved was about to be gone.
And there was nothing—
Another sob.
Nothing—
Why did it have to end like this? Why wasn’t anything they’d done enough? How could evil triumph in a world they’d fought so hard to protect?
A feather-light touch against Arianna’s arm had her startling, glancing down to find a pair of beady eyes staring up at her. She blinked through blurry vision, focusing on the tiny creature with a large lotus flower blooming from its head.
It looked hopeless, too. A mirror to her pain. She thought she saw tiny track marks down its cheeks, as if it too had been crying for a world they could no longer defend.
A few more floated closer. Arianna looked up to find dozens, no, hundreds in the trees, all staring straight at her as if she held the answer to saving their dying world.
They didn’t sing. They didn’t play their musical instruments.
They were just … still. So utterly still, as if echoing the gaping wound burning in her chest.
Another laid its spindly fingers against her skin. Then another. Perhaps they were trying to offer her comfort. She couldn’t even muster a half-hearted smile.
“What do we do?” she asked, voice breaking. When the world fell, Vairik’s darkness would consume them, too, taking every last one with his shadows and fire. Not even The Guardians would be strong enough to protect the sacred beings.
The Fairy Folk continued to stare, watching her as if they were the ones who’d asked the question instead. She didn’t know how to answer. She didn’t even know why she was here.
Foolish.
She was a fool.
Her entire life had been nothing but mysterious prophecies. Maybe those were all lies, too. Nothing more than a fabrication. Everything had been tainted by Vairik.
Arianna turned slightly in the water, staring out at the trees and the warriors she knew stood just beyond, ready to lay down their lives before she fell with them. She’d die with strangers. She’d watch them fall. Maybe she’d be the last to go. There had to be something poetic in that.
Or she could leave right now and join the healing front.
Maybe she could give their warriors a fighting chance.
Perhaps with her help, killing Vairik was possible.
Maybe it wasn’t. But standing here doing absolutely nothing while their world burned didn’t feel right.
Whatever Eimear had seen wasn’t here. What had everyone told her?
That a seer’s visions were fickle at best?
Arianna was crying, that much was true. Maybe she’d just needed to come here for a final goodbye with Rion.
Maybe this was where she realized exactly where she was needed on the battlefield.
Maybe she’d never know, and it wouldn’t matter in the end.
Arianna turned back to stare at the trickling falls one final time. She looked at the Fairy Folk next. She’d never seen so many in one place. Perhaps they’d all fled here, a refuge in the event the world was ever about to end.
She wished she could give them safe passage across the ocean. Maybe they could form new lives there, live in peace on the outskirts of the human lands. Anything was better than being consumed by the wicked creatures Vairik had been cultivating.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Arianna backed away, moving to the water’s edge. Her body trembled, another sob sapping her strength. Her legs gave out, and she sat, her lower portion still submerged in the water.
The Fairy Folk drew closer, forming a circle around her body as if to protect her. Perhaps they just wanted one final chance to bring someone happiness.
She watched them, all the various shapes from mushrooms to flowers to branches that could blend seamlessly with the trees.
Had her ancestors known their purpose? Did the original, untainted texts tell their story?
Maybe someone far into the future would finally uncover the truth about their world.
Or maybe Vairik would just kill them, too, and forever rule the land, believing everything he did was right.
She clenched her fists again, body shaking. Arianna stared at her reflection in the water. Her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed, and tears streaked her cheeks. She didn’t bother wiping them away.
Another moment passed. Arianna took a deep breath. They needed her. Talon needed her. Rion needed her.
Arianna touched her lips again, still feeling the shadow of his kiss.
She’d never forget the desperate way he’d crushed her body to his own.
He claimed his soul was damned, but those blood-soaked hands had been so gentle.
Everything he’d done over the last several days had been …
gentle. The way he’d waited for her, talked to her, touched her.
Wife.
Husband.
Rion was her husband. She’d made the choice to declare him King over all of Alastríona.
And he’d kept it all to himself.
Whatever Vairik believed or tried to claim, Rion certainly wasn’t a monster. And she hadn’t told him any different. Guilt flew through her as she recalled calling him such.
Rion, her mate, her husband, was fighting on the front lines, and she hadn’t told him—Arianna choked on another sob. She covered her mouth, pressing her face into her knees.
Gods, please, just tell me what to do.
A light exploded through the darkness, and Arianna’s head jerked up to see the Fairy Folk glowing, their little bodies illuminated by that same bluish light that had been carved throughout the underground library.
She took them in, noting that at least a dozen had their little hands directly on her. The others had placed their hands on their kin. They’d connected themselves, every single one of them, with her at their epicenter.
Warmth flooded her body. A warmth that felt like home.
Her shoulders relaxed, chest eased, and Arianna finally drew in a steady breath.
The warmth reached even further, igniting parts of her soul that she’d thought lost to grief.
She closed her eyes for a moment, letting it wash through her, letting the Fairy Folk lift her from the pits of despair.
Arianna’s eyes fluttered open again and stared up into the canopy. Enough was enough. She wouldn’t meet her end on her knees. She’d do it the way every Fae dreamed of doing it, with a sword in hand, fighting beside the people she loved most.
She’d make a final stand and ride out to let her people know they weren’t alone. They’d see that the queen they’d looked up to and believed in would die right alongside them. They deserved that from her.
Arianna smiled down at the little creatures. “Thank yo—” Her head rocked sideways, and everything vanished, swallowed by a sea of blurring colors. She knelt upon a stone floor, the very floor that had been plaguing her nightmares for weeks.
Arianna stared into Rion’s misted green eyes.
His lips were parted, cheeks flushed, heart beating fast. A priestess draped a white cloth over their hands.
His were shaking. Hers too, but they were both …
smiling, then laughing as he struggled to slide a slender ring onto her finger.
The stone in the center was swirling emerald, a perfect shade to match his eyes.
The one she slid onto his was cerulean blue to match hers.
A symbol to always remember the other if they were ever apart.
Smoke rose from an incense bowl resting on the ground between them. It twisted around their clasped hands, binding them body, mind, and soul. The priestess sang to the heavens, speaking the names of gods Arianna had never heard before.