Chapter 26
Elorie
While Arches allow travel between different realms, Gateways are doorways within a realm, allowing Fae to move from one place to another in an instant.
I didn’t fully understand what it would be like to shift between places so quickly until I enter the Gate between the Ley Court and Ruse Village, and my insides spin.
Greer opens a swirling gate, and I reach with my fingers first. My body following as my stomach turns.
Like I’ve stepped through a mirror and into myself.
For a flicker, I swear I taste home. Snowy forests and the saltwater breeze.
My nose is flooded with the distant stench of death.
And then I’m falling, so hard and fast I’m on the verge of vomiting again.
One foot finds the ground on the other side of the Gate, and I’m split in half as I fight to break free of it. It tries to tug me back, so I pull. My heart thunders as I stumble through, falling to my knees and vomiting in the dirt.
“Traveling through the Gates is intense the first few times,” Greer says, walking past me. “You get used to it after that.”
I push to my feet and nearly trip on my dress as I try to catch up with Greer. She doesn’t slow down or wait for me. While the king’s court treats me like an incapable human, Greer doesn’t. She never takes it easy. It’s appreciated, even as I stumble after her.
“Greer!” a honey-sweet voice calls, and I look up, squinting.
Everything is cloudy, like the Gateway left a haze over my eyes. Blinking through the fog, I see a large white structure cloaked in shadows ahead. Pinpricks of light shine brighter where the curtains are cracked.
With another blink, I make out the outline of a female walking toward us. Beside her is a child holding a stuffed rabbit in her arms.
The little girl pauses in front of Greer, but she’s watching me.
“You didn’t warn me you were coming tonight. Much less bringing a guest.” The female wraps her arms around Greer, and to my surprise, Greer allows it.
“The Guard is preparing to change shifts, and they’ve decided to send a batch of new recruits to Alyssium. The king asked me to confirm they were ready.” Greer’s eyes meet mine over the woman’s shoulder, and my back stiffens at her mention of my home.
My vision is instantly sharp. Greer didn’t say anything about Alyssium when she said we were coming here, and I was too caught up in grief after what happened to Isolde to consider why Greer might be heading to Ruse Village. I just wanted out of the palace. But now, it makes sense.
Ruse Village is the meeting point between the palace and Alyssium. Where Alyssium’s guards stay when their magic wears thin, and they need to recharge.
Which means, I might see guards from my home here. I might finally be able to find out how my friends are doing.
Greer pulls from the woman’s arms, but she hasn’t taken her eyes off me. “Elorie, this is my aunt, Millicent, and her daughter, Lune.”
Lune hurries over to Greer when she squats low, running into her arms. “I missed you.”
Greer’s eyes pinch closed. “I missed you too.”
When Lune lifts her head from Greer’s shoulder, she eyes me again. “Is she a princess?”
A laugh bursts out of Greer. “A princess? No. You know there is only one princess in the palace. Princess Hazel.”
“She’s dressed like a princess.”
I glance down at my dress. There wasn’t time to change before leaving the palace, and this outfit is entirely out of place here.
“I’m no princess,” I confirm with a smile, tucking my hair behind my ears as the breeze continues to whip it over my face.
Lune and Millicent’s eyes widen as they take in their rounded shape.
“She’s a human.” Millicent’s voice is nearly a whisper.
“Half.” Greer stands, but Lune doesn’t leave her side. “Elorie is the one who woke magic on Alyssium.”
“Gods’ blessed.” Millicent presses her palm to her chest, drawing out the wrinkles around her eyes.
A tight smile forms on my lips because I know I’m supposed to be happy about what I’ve done, but I’m starting to wonder if there’s anything worth celebrating anymore.
“Is she the one who is going to bring the magic back?” Lune asks, clutching the rabbit close to her chest.
While Millicent’s cheeks are bright, Lune’s are not. Her eyes are dim, and her face is hollow.
Greer tucks Lune’s tight black curls behind her ear. “She’s going to try.”
The weight of my promise has never been so heavy. Lune’s eyes hold so much hope that I’m terrified to see it wane. I nod, wishing my smile wasn’t a lie. At least it’s enough to earn me one from Lune in return. Though Millicent’s falters like she senses my hesitance.
I couldn’t even save Isolde tonight. How am I going to save an entire kingdom?
“Do you still have the extra set of leathers I left?” Greer asks, steering us toward the house. “Elorie needs a change of clothes.”
“In the spare room.”
Millicent guides us down the path, and Lune walks quietly beside me. She glances up every few steps, not saying anything. With my head finally clearing, I take a look around, noting the wilting vegetation.
It’s still green, with flowers dotting the edges of the forest, but it’s nowhere near as lush as the trees at the palace. The leaves don’t shine. There’s no shimmer through the darkness. Shadows are thicker here, dulling the greenery. Like it’s slipping away.
Houses line the shore, and my feet freeze in place when I hear the lapping of the waves.
Those same waves reach my home. A home too far to see from here, even if it were daytime. But I scent it on the breeze—feel it in the air.
Alyssium.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, holding the saltwater wind in my lungs, not quite ready to let it go. When my eyes flutter open, home has never felt so close or far.
“This way,” Millicent calls.
I turn to find her and Greer watching me while Lune disappears into a house. I make my way inside as well, discarding my sandals by the door so I don’t drag sand across the floor.
Millicent continues to watch me from the corner of her eye, but she keeps her lips pressed tight as if she’s holding her tongue.
It’s strange being around others after spending so much time in King Malachi’s court. Fae at the palace look down at me, like I’m beneath them. But Millicent eyes me with hope.
I can’t decide what’s worse. The pressures of succeeding are just as heavy as thoughts of failing lately.
“Here you go.” Greer hands me a set of leathers. “Unless you want to wear a dress to meet with the front line, I suggest you get changed.”
“We’re going to meet the Guard tonight?” My eyes widen.
“They’ll be gone before daybreak. Unless you’d rather stay here and sleep—”
“No.” I grab the clothes from Greer’s hands. “I’ll get changed.”
I’m desperate to hear about Alyssium. Sleep can wait.
Greer stays with her aunt while I get changed.
Since I’m shorter than Greer, her leathers don’t fit quite like mine back at the palace, but I make do.
The laces at my breasts have to be tightened more than usual, and the bottoms hang below my ankles, so I scrunch them up.
Securing my hair off my face with a braid, I finally meet Greer by the door.
We wave goodbye to Millicent, and she promises to have food ready for us when we return.
“Will the troops report to King Malachi that I was here?” I ask as Greer closes the door behind us.
“He already knows.”
“What do you mean he already knows?”
“The king knows all, Elorie. There’s no hiding this from him.”
“You made it sound like we’d get in trouble if he found out.”
Her eyebrow lifts. “We’ll get in trouble if anything happens to his precious chosen one. So let’s make sure it doesn’t. But there’s no hiding where you are when you’re bound to the king.”
“Right.”
The promise we made for the Rite. While the tie with Wilder is stronger, there is a tether to the king as well. One I sometimes forget about.
“You’ll be fine. Ruse Village is more of a warrior camp than a civilian village. You’re safe here. The rebels wouldn’t stand a chance against these forces. The king knows that.”
My chin dips with my nod, but there’s little enthusiasm behind it. What was an escape—a hint of freedom—is another orchestrated lie. I’m not free from anything. Invisible threads tie me to the palace. To my responsibility.
To King Malachi.
To Wilder.
How many of my decisions are mine anymore? Or am I simply theirs?
“At least it’s not the courtyard.” Greer glances over at me, and I realize I’m still staring at the ground.
I look up to the forest—to the trees waning like the moon does. Not as full as I’d expect when the ones at the palace flourish.
“Is there something wrong with the forest here?” I ask, and Greer glances into the darkness.
“Besides the magic fading?”
“I didn’t realize it was already fading in the Ley Court. I thought that was only happening closer to the Well.”
Greer shakes her head. “It’s stronger by the Well, but it’s a sickness in the land. It spreads more each turn of the moon.”
“How much longer does Lyrichia have?”
“It’s hard to tell. For a long time, the effects were isolated to the territories immediately surrounding the Well.
Now…” Greer pulls her bottom lip between her teeth.
“There are signs stretching as far as Solace. Some at the edges of the Ley Forest. Echme is the only territory yet to see the impact.”
“What kind of signs?”
She wrings her hands together in front of her, a nervous tic when I’ve never seen her nervous before.
“Signs in the youngest of us. Magic swims in our veins from birth, but like with you, Elorie, it must be woken. For a Fae, that process is generally as simple as growing up. We age to a certain point, and then our hearts begin to slow. Our magic preserves our bodies, allowing us many centuries. Sometimes thousands of years of life.”
It's why it’s impossible to guess the ages of the Fae. For a Fae to start to appear older, it takes millennia, and few are that old.
“But our magic is weak when we are young,” Greer continues. “Like yours is now. The children have it stirring within them, but they can’t wield it yet.”
“Children like Lune?”
Greer offers a tight expression, nodding. “With magic weakening, the children are suffering first. There isn’t enough to see their magic bloom. And when it doesn’t bloom, they—”
Die.
Greer doesn’t dare say the word out loud, and I don’t either. The truth is too painful.
Her hugging Lune plays different at that realization.
Greer is worried she’s going to lose her niece because of the Well’s destruction.
It’s like what Callum said—human hearts manage to beat without magic to sustain them, but with the Fae, it isn’t that simple. And with the young, they can’t survive.
Reaching for Greer’s hand, I’m surprised she doesn’t pull away. “We’ll hope that Evaline will give us the wisdom to see us through.”
Greer gives me a tight smile, and a familiar weight presses on my shoulders again. I can fix this. I can save them.
Even as Vaelier suffers this same fate?
I shake that thought.
We release hands and walk toward the camp on the beach. Tents and fires form a makeshift village that is less permanent than the civilian one nearby. At the edge of the tents is a blacksmith sharpening weapons.
A few gazes linger as I walk past. Making note of my round ears and hair before they whisper among each other.
“The king’s chosen.”
“The king’s whore.”
I’m not even my own person. I’m an extension of him. A rumor they whisper about.
I roll my shoulders back, not shrinking under the weight of their judgment. They can assume what they want. At least if I fail, I’ll know I’m not disappointing everyone.
“General Balk.” Greer stops at a male who towers over us both.
His blond hair is tied in a long braid off his face, while dark circles brighten his green eyes. They’re an unusual green. Not like the trees or the grass. Brighter. Like they were plucked from another realm.
“General Maliren,” he greets her, but his gaze is set on me.
I’ve never considered Greer’s rank, but she outranks Callum.
“When do the soldiers return?” Greer asks, pulling General Balk’s attention back to her.
“They should have been here this afternoon so we could prepare the ships for the rotation.”
“What do you mean, they should have been?” I step forward, my heart racing.
General Balk narrows his eyes, likely annoyed I’m asking questions, but Greer seems unbothered.
“Answer the question,” she tells him.
His gaze snaps to her. “There’s been no word. They never arrived.”
“Maybe they’re a day behind due to the waves.” Greer looks over at the steady lapping of the sea, nothing like the brutal tide on Alyssium.
“It could be many things, but I doubt the sea is one of them. We sent a boat to check for any problems. They didn’t come back either.”
My stomach sinks considering what he’s saying. The Guard should have been here by now. They never miss a rotation. What does it mean for Alyssium if they haven’t?
“The king won’t like this.” Greer’s face tightens.
General Balk doesn’t argue. If anything, the mention of the king fills his eyes with something akin to fear. But it’s gone in a flash as a sharp breeze cuts through the air. It slices like a torrent, ripping across the beach. The sudden rush knocks the air from my chest.
“What was that?” I clutch my stomach.
“Gods, can’t we have one quiet night?” Greer unsheathes her sword as screams start to crest at a distance.
Another blast rushes the camp, this time stronger. The strength of the vibration shakes me to my bones.
General Balk runs for his unit, yelling orders.
“Is it the rebels?” Heat drains from my cheeks.
“I wish,” Greer says, her sword glinting in the moonlight. “Not rebels. Ravagers.”
My throat tightens. “I thought they were rumors.”
Even after Callum and I talked about what is happening with Fae near the Well, I wanted to believe it hadn’t gotten that bad.
Ravagers are Fae that drink down so much magic that it burns away who they are.
It makes their minds run wild until they become something else entirely.
They are no longer Fae. They are creatures that drink and drain, becoming as bad as the nightmares crawling out of the Well.
They’re also nearly impossible to kill since they only take physical form when they want to.
“Ravagers aren’t rumors.” Greer shakes her head.
“Far from it. And worse than anything you have read. Their desperation from the Well draining has made them even more dangerous. They will not just kill you; they will drink the magic straight from your bones until you are nothing but an empty vessel.”
A blood-chilling scream cuts through the darkness as something dark explodes in the sky, blocking out all light. Greer unsheathes her only dagger, placing it in my hand.
“Run.”