Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Deafening silence falls over the garden.
It’s so loud that I feel like my head is ringing.
For a while, no one says anything. No one even moves.
We all just stand there and stare in shock at the now empty air.
On the ground, the dryads are lying completely still, stunned and confused and afraid to move even though Alistair’s fire has stopped.
“Make way,” Rin Tanaka suddenly says, her steady voice shattering the dead silence.
Dryads leap up from the ground. The ones on the edges have finally recovered their wits enough to move farther out so that the ones in the middle can at last move out of the way as well.
Roses and jasmine bushes rustle as the dryads squeeze past to reach the more open stretches of grass outside the elegant garden.
It gives both Rin and Isera room to finally reach Orion.
Isera drops down on her knees in front of Orion, who is still sitting on the ground. For a moment, it looks like she is about to reach out a hand, but then she just flexes her fingers in her lap instead. And before she can say anything, Rin comes to a halt behind Orion’s back.
“I need to remove this and reverse the effects of the ice flames before it starts spreading too far through your body,” she says while motioning down at the shard of ice fire that is still sticking out of Orion’s shoulder blade.
Orion, however, doesn’t seem to have noticed either of them. He is just sitting there, staring at the space where Grey’s portal used to be.
Rin glances down at him, still waiting for an answer or acknowledgement or any kind of sign that she can start working.
After all, this isn’t just a random person.
This is the Unseelie King. The ruler of one of the great realms of this world.
No ally would use magic on the Unseelie King without his permission.
After flexing her hand again, Isera at last reaches out and carefully touches Orion’s arm. “Orion?”
His mind seems to snap back to reality. Blinking, he gives his head a quick shake, confusion still lining his face. “What?”
“She needs to heal you before the ice fire spreads,” Isera says with a nod to Rin, who is still standing behind him.
“Oh. Right.” He clears his throat. “Yes.”
Rin grabs the ice shard with one hand and his shoulder with the other.
Then, without a word of warning, she simply yanks it out.
He sucks in a small breath between his teeth.
After laying the ice down on the grass beside them, she moves her hands up to the wound in his shoulder.
Magic shimmers above it as she begins reversing the effects of the ice flames that would otherwise spread and freeze his entire body from the inside.
Turning towards them, Alistair summons his magic as well and melts the shard of ice into a puddle on the grass.
“You saved them,” a shocked voice rasps.
We all whirl towards the Dryad Queen. She is standing there on the grass while her people huddle around her like frightened children.
The Dryad Queen stares at Orion with wide eyes.
Shock and terror still linger on her face, but they’re joined by two even stronger emotions now. Relief. And gratitude.
“You saved my people,” she says, her wide eyes still locked on Orion. “At the risk of your own life.” Her gaze darts towards where the portal used to be. “And at the cost of your friend’s.”
Pain flickers in Orion’s eye for a second before he manages to hide it again. With his usual expression of control and authority back on his beautiful features, he clears his throat and simply says, “Yes.”
“Why?”
“I do not leave allies to be slaughtered if I can do something about it.”
Next to me, Draven is watching Orion with intense eyes. There is an expression I can’t read on his face.
The Dryad Queen draws in a shuddering breath.
Though I’m not sure if she actually needs to breathe, so it might just have been more a way to communicate her emotions.
Lavendera, whose eyes are now fully in focus again, draws her hand down the Dryad Queen’s arm, as if comforting her.
All across the garden, the dryads seem to suck in a collective breath of relief.
And suddenly, that oppressive tension disappears from the air.
I didn’t even realize that it was there until it’s gone again.
It’s as if the dryads’ fear and stress were physically affecting the space around them.
And now that it’s no longer there, it’s suddenly much easier to breathe.
I draw in a lungful of air while Rin finishes healing Orion.
“Done,” she says, and dusts her hands off while taking a step back.
Orion reaches over his shoulder and runs a hand over the spot where the wound used to be. His fancy shirt is torn, but the skin underneath is now smooth and undamaged. After climbing to his feet, he turns towards Rin and inclines his head.
“Thank you,” he says.
She looks surprised for a moment, as if she hadn’t expected him to thank her, but then a small smile blows across her lips and she nods in acknowledgement.
“Are you okay?” the leader of the Blue Clan asks, sounding more curious than worried.
That customary half amused, half threatening smirk slides home on Orion’s lips as he turns towards him. “Of course. You just saw her heal me, did you not?”
“I meant your friend. You just watched him die.”
Ejnare, who doesn’t know Orion the way we do, doesn’t appear to see the way Orion’s expression flickers for a fraction of a second. But I do. And I’m sure the rest of my friends do as well.
“People die all the time,” Orion replies with a lazy wave of his hand.
“But still. He was your friend, wasn’t he?”
“He was my subject.” Orion shrugs. “He was a skilled magic user. It’s a strategic loss. Nothing more.”
All of us who actually know the Unseelie King are fully aware that he is lying through his teeth right now. Orion cares a lot about his people. Much more than he lets on. All the decisions he makes, he makes for the good of his people and the strength of his realm. Regardless of his personal wants.
But the Unseelie King has a reputation to uphold, especially in front of the leaders of several dragon clans, so none of us contradict him. Based on the way he quickly slides his gaze over us, he is aware of that as well.
“Shall we move on to more pressing matters?” Orion says.
And before anyone can so much as open their mouth to respond, he simply turns to the Dryad Queen and says, “I know that your people dislike cities, but there are several forests outside this capital of mine.” He points to the left.
“I recommend the forest on the other side of the river over there. It’s spacious, untouched, and very beautiful this time of year. ”
The Dryad Queen blinks at him. It’s such a human expression of surprise that I almost forget that she is an immortal plant. “They can stay?”
Orion’s dark brows scrunch up slightly in confusion, as if he doesn’t understand the question.
“All of my people,” she begins, and motions around at the massive crowd of dryads that now fill the gardens. “They can stay here in the Unseelie Court for the duration of this war?”
“Of course. The dryads have always been welcome in the Unseelie Court.”
“No, they have not,”
“Well, in my Unseelie Court, they are.” A devilish smile curves his lips. “That’s the best thing about being the king. I make the rules.”
She lets out a sharp breath of amusement. There is a slight smile on her lips and a knowing glint in her eyes as she inclines her head slightly. “You have shown rare honor today, Orion Nightbane. It will not be forgotten.”
Vines rustle and leaves flutter as all the dryads start bustling away across the grass.
Several of them cast questioning looks back at their queen, but she just gives them a nod and remains where she is.
Relief fills me when I see that, because she has promised to help us in this war.
And now, we are going to need it more than ever.
“Lavendera,” I say as I turn to the gorgeous fae standing next to her. “You need to teach us about that partnership between fae and dragon shifters now.”
Her pink and purple eyes are clear as she shifts her gaze to me, but her flowing brown hair is slightly messy after she ran her hands through it and whipped her head back and forth like that earlier.
The scar that cuts across her cheek and jaw is otherwise the only thing that distracts from her incredibly beautiful face.
I’m still having trouble remembering that this is the Seelie Queen’s second daughter.
The actual daughter of the last Seelie Queen.
A six-thousand-year-old fae who fought in the great war against the dragon shifters.
An actual member of our royal family. Which means that Lavendera isn’t just another fae.
As the only living female with royal blood, she is the de facto Seelie Queen.
Technically, I should be treating her the way that Hana and Haldia and everyone in the Unseelie Court is treating Orion.
With deference and subservience. But I just can’t seem to reconcile that truth with the person that I got to know her as.
First a friend. Then a traitor. And now…
as someone who has been through a hell worse than any of us can even imagine.
Lavendera watched her sister die in the war and her mother be executed afterwards.
She watched almost her entire race be rounded up and slaughtered.
She watched the children she knew from her realm be trapped alone in a city surrounded by a forest of thorns that she was forced to create.
She was betrayed by her own friends, tortured, and fused with an immortal dryad.
Then she was made a slave while her mind deteriorated due to both the long millennia and the fact that she has another being trapped inside her head.
To be honest, I’m not sure if I could have survived the things she has endured.
“I’ve already told you,” Lavendera replies, though not unkindly. She sounds more desperate than angry. “First, you need to get me the Soul of Trees.”
“We know where it is,” I say.
Her eyes widen, and a devastating amount of hope crashes over her features.
“Orion was able to find the location in Bane’s memories before he died,” I explain. “So now, we just need to retrieve it. But to do that, we need all the power we can get. So please, you need to teach us.”
For a while, she just looks back at us all in silence. Indecision swirls in her eyes, and she bites her lip slightly. Then she at last draws in a long, bracing breath.
“Alright. I will teach you how to bond with dragons.”