Chapter 9
Rylee
“Now look to the left, please.” Dalfon Faras, the top Occuli healer employed by the kings, gently turns my head in the direction he wants.
I shift my focus to a wardrobe on the left wall, but it takes everything inside me not to keep looking at him.
When we first entered Jax’s rooms in the palace after we returned this afternoon—at the kings’ beckoning—to find this guy waiting for us, I thought I might crawl out of my skin.
The idea of letting one of the ancient conjurors touch me with those green flames was as appealing as undergoing the Athanry again.
But when Dalfon manifested the flames from his palms, they weren’t green.
His are a cerulean blue and glittering silver.
When he drags them against my skin, they don’t burn like the green ones did when I was cornered by one of the kings’ Occuli in the Ruby Aire library.
These feel cool, tingling, like the flow of blood after circulation has been cut off.
Dalfon has solid black eyes, the signature of an Occuli, and wears the customary purple robes, but his face is soft. Approachable, even. I don’t know how to explain it, but his disposition is less harsh than the other Occuli I’ve encountered, though he’s the first healing Occuli I’ve met.
“No offense,” I say, careful to keep looking to the left as he manipulates his blue flames to narrow and focus the light toward my eyes. “But I didn’t know Occuli knew that word.”
“Which word?” he asks, his tone flat, as if he only has access to some of his more basic emotions. There’s still a trace of the gravelly otherworldliness in his voice, but it’s not as imposing as the kings’ Occuli.
“Please,” I answer, hoping I’m not offending the conjuror, especially since his focus is on me. He could easily command his magic to put me to sleep in seconds.
A shiver races down my spine at the thought, and the sleeping mate bonds awaken inside me, along with the collective power attached to them.
I breathe, turning inward as I coax the powers to calm. I’ve started visualizing my mates’ powers as synonymous with their mating bonds inside me. It’s the only way I can keep them in control, so I’m running with it, even though I’m not certain that’s how it works.
Dalfon drops his palm, extinguishing the blue flame.
I shift where I sit on the edge of Jax’s bed.
“You have not had much exposure to the whole of Occuli, yet you make a sweeping assumption about my kind?” There’s no malice in his tone, no tension in his body language, and of course, I can’t read his eyes because they’re pools of black.
“I’m sorry,” I hurry to say, guilt an oily grime beneath my skin.
How many times have I wanted to rip someone’s head off for making assumptions about the Ashlanders? And here I am, doing the same thing because a few of the ancient conjurers scared me during the Choosing months.
“I meant no disrespect—”
“Of course you did,” he cuts me off, his tone more casual.
“There are many Occuli across the realms, most in Silvac, but many here in Lumathyst,” he says, his long purple robes billowing about him as he shifts some things he’d placed on the bed next to me—small glass vials, herbs, and tonics.
“And your first interaction with them wasn’t a good one.
I can respect that. But don’t fault us all. ”
“I won’t,” I say, my stomach twisting. “I apologize. Genuinely.”
“You don’t have to apologize for anything,” Kal grumbles from where he waits impatiently in one of the armchairs across the room. Pierce and Axl sit on a small sofa next to it, and Jax lingers against the wall near the door, his eyes never far from me.
“Yes, I do,” I fire back, fastening him with a stern look. “I do,” I repeat, then shake my head as Dalfon finishes gathering his effects, slipping the items into the deep pockets of his robes. “I need to do better,” I say, more to myself than them.
“You’re doing wonderfully,” Pierce argues.
“Yeah.” Axl nods his agreement. “Don’t feel bad because the healer got his feelings hurt.”
“My feelings are not hurt,” Dalfon says. “It’s quite difficult to do that, actually.”
“I don’t want to be the sort of person who assumes things about our people based on a few bad experiences.”
“And that’s the key, isn’t it?” Dalfon asks.
“What is?”
“Figuring out what type of queen you want to be.”
I swallow what feels like a rock lodged in my throat. The realization of just how big this world is, and how little I actually know about it, hits me in the chest. I somehow feel heavier, even though the powers inside me are already sinking me like a stone.
Queen.
I’m going to be queen.
“She’ll be the perfect queen for Lumathyst,” Kal says without hesitation.
My eyes soften at him, then at the others nodding their agreement.
“I won’t be,” I say as I stand. “Unless I work at it.” I turn to Dalfon. “I will do better, and I hope you accept my apology for the assumption. The Legends told me how you cared for me while I slept. I can’t thank you enough for that.”
“I do accept it.” Dalfon dips his head. “And it’s my turn to apologize to you, your highness, for in the time I cared for you, I couldn’t rouse you.”
I smile and shake my head. “That wasn’t your fault.”
He returns my smile—sort of. His expressions are as flat as his voice. “Your vitals are operating at regular levels. If you get headaches, which are common after being unconscious for so long, take the herbs I’ve left you.”
I nod my thanks to him.
“And send word for me if you encounter anything strange.” He heads toward the hallway. “It has been so long since a new immortal was made,” he continues as he opens the door. “We must be open to all possibilities.”
I’m about to respond, but he bows deeply and leaves.
For a moment, we stand in silence, staring at the closed door.
Then, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion hits me, and I slump down on the bed, feeling the full, overbearing weight of not only my mates’ powers but the daunting prospect of what it will mean to be queen.
“Are you okay?” Pierce crosses the room to take my hands in his.
“I’m just . . . I’m overwhelmed.”
“We know,” Kal offers from where he sits.
“And out of control,” I add. “I have no idea how to deal with your powers or even use them properly.”
Jax slides his hand down my back before shifting away, giving Pierce space.
“We have time to sort it out,” Pierce assures me. “It’s a problem, but one we can solve.”
I smile up at him. The Mind, ever excited about a challenge.
“Do we have time, though?” I ask, hope building inside me. “With the attack yesterday . . .”
“We have time,” he says. “The Faders haven’t increased in their numbers. Haven’t shown a motive other than destruction and a general hate for all things royal.”
I blow out a breath. I still need to tell them about Erin. But we’re in the palace, and it doesn’t feel safe to talk about anything here.
“Are we done here? Can we go someplace . . .” I lower my voice to a whisper. “Soundproof.”
“We—”
A knock on the door sounds, startling me. Pierce’s power alerts, weaving inside me in one quick blink.
She’s been awake for two days and hasn’t sought us out? I’m going to kill her.
Happy tears spring to my eyes as I squeal. I drop Pierce’s hands, his power settling deeper at the loss of touch as I race to the door.
“Rylee.” Kal says my name cautiously, rising from the chair as if he can stop me. “You don’t know who that is.”
I make it to the door in a blink, faster than I’ve ever moved before, and throw it open.
“You have some nerve not sending for us the second you woke up!” Ivy chides immediately.
She stomps into the room, her long black hair falling in waves over her shoulders, her dark eyes pinned on me. I throw my arms around her.
She embraces me back. “I could kill you for scaring me like that,” she whispers.
I draw away, releasing her to grab hold of Layce. She looks equally concerned and relieved, her mouth trembling as she holds back tears.
“You had us worried,” Layce says before letting me go. “But we never gave up on you.”
“I almost did,” Mirren says, her tone filled with ice as Ivy and Layce move to give her room. “One more day. That’s all I was giving you before I smothered you with one of those pillows.” She nods to Jax’s made bed, but there is genuine relief in her eyes.
“I missed you, too, Mirren,” I say, hugging her.
She awkwardly pats my back before shoving away from me. “No embracing,” she says, straightening her shirt.
I laugh, my heart filled with so much love and joy now that my family is all together in one room.
Well, almost my entire family.
My shoulders drop.
“We need to talk,” I say to all of them.
“You’re damn right we do,” Ivy says.
“For one,” Layce says, a tease in her tone, “you held out on us for months. The clothes you have access to now.” She shakes her head. “I’ve already lifted six dresses, and no one has even batted an eye.”
I laugh, Kal doing the same at my side.
“We already told you both,” Kal says. “As the future queen’s ladies-in-waiting, you’re welcome to whatever you want.”
“All you have to do is ask,” Pierce adds.
“You made them my ladies-in-waiting?”
“We requested the positions,” Ivy answers instead.
I swallow hard. Of course I want them with me, need my friends by my side on this journey, but . . .
If our enemies see how much they mean to me, they’ll be at risk. They already were, just from their association with me, but now? There’s so much more to lose.
“I feel like dinner in the Ruby Aire is called for?” Kal offers.
I nod, thankful for him keeping me on track.
We need to talk. All of us, including Layce and Ivy.
“Please—”
Another knock on the door cuts me off, and foreboding skitters through me at the wall of power I detect on the other side of the door—unstable, heavy, and sharp. It’s so much more distinguishable to me now that I’ve been awake a while and have grown more accustomed to bearing my mates’ gifts.
“Baydel,” I whisper.