Chapter 33
33
MEV
“Perhaps you should wait a few days.”
That, from Lyra.
I turned from the Aetherian Gate to look at my father. He agreed. I knew because he’d spent the day attempting to dissuade me. Comforting him, and myself, with the knowledge that, if it did work, I could likely return, I finally asked him point blank to take me here.
I had to know.
Was I stuck in Elydor or did the fact that others had attempted to pass through since my arrival have no bearing on my own journey? After all, I shouldn’t have gotten through in the first place. It stood to reason that there was something unique about me that had enabled the portal to open, despite the fact that Kael’s father had closed it.
Kael.
There was a chance this did work, and I could not return. Could I really live with that? Never seeing him again? And on such bad terms? It was like the ultimate “no contact” after a breakup, but this time, there would be no temptation to check their social media profile or send that text.
There was a part of me that wanted to go back for that very reason. If there was ever a complicated relationship, it was mine and Kael’s. I was as angry as when my father told me about Kael’s role in my mother’s abduction, but still… his intentions toward me were pure. He had helped safely reunite me with my father and, even in the throne room, had sought to protect me.
He loved me, and I loved him. That should be enough, but this wasn’t Earth. Our fathers were enemies for good reason. And worse, Kael had asked me to trust him knowing he wasn’t giving me that same trust back.
“Mevlida?”
I had no words. My desire to stay, to see him again. Talk to him. Kiss him. Make love to him. It was almost as strong as the urge I had to step through and be surrounded by familiar sights and sounds. I imagined wrapping Clara in my arms and thanking her for being such a good friend. Going home and telling my mother everything. She’d think I was crazy, of course, but she had to know.
“I will bring her back,” I said, not for the first time.
That was the plan, if the Gate was open for me. I’d step through, go home and tell Mom. We’d make our way back to York and come through again. My parents could reunite. By then, I wouldn’t be so angry at Kael because I’d miss him so much. It was a perfect plan, except for all the things that could go wrong. Namely, my inability to come back.
I only had to reach my hand up, as I’d done on the other side, and watch the symbols of Elydor come alive. I looked at each now, understanding them. Winds for Aetheria. Stones for Gyoria. Waves for Thalassaria.
“Where are the carvings for Estmere?”
Neither my father nor Lyra spoke. There was no need. As soon as I asked the question, I knew the answer. No humans had sat on the Council. They may have been able to pass through, but only because their right to do so was closely monitored and controlled. For all intents and purposes, the humans were not a legitimate clan in Elydor.
And that was the reason there were no symbols of Estmere carved into the marble. How could they be so advanced in some ways but have such little foresight when it came to the damage such divisiveness would wreak?
I had said my goodbyes. All that was left to do was place my hand up and either watch the energy of the Gate come alive or be crushed with the knowledge that it was as closed to me as it had been for the others.
Heart pounding, I approached it as the familiar sting of tears forming clouded my vision. If I looked back now, I would run into my father’s arms. I would call Kael’s name, mourning the loss of a love I couldn’t explain even if I tried. More of me wanted to stay than return home, but the people who loved me there needed answers. And there was a comfort in the familiar, too.
Do something each day that scares you.
It was one of my favorite quotes, but deliberately staying in a place where people wanted you killed was a hell of a lot different to getting up to speak in front of a crowd. What if I stayed? Talked to Kael? Spent some time with my father.
This wasn’t just about me though. It might not happen for a long while, thanks to the passing of time here versus on Earth, but eventually the day would come where Clara had to step into my mother’s house and tell her I’d disappeared. I could not let that happen.
Wiping my face, I reached up.
I pressed my hand onto the etchings, waiting for the hum and their illumination. Waiting for the blue glow. But nothing happened. I pressed a second hand, my father’s instructions still ringing in my ear.
“That illumination, as you call it, is the Gate coming alive. When it was open, it remained that way at all times until King Balthor closed it. Simply walk through, as you did the first time, and keep your eyes closed. It’s easier, that way.”
But I couldn’t walk through a wall. It didn’t take an expert to realize nothing was happening. The Gate was, for all intents and purposes, still closed.
Pulling my hands back, I turned. Even through my tears I could see there were more people in the room than there had been when I’d approached the Gate. One of those people was Kael.
It was him I ran to.
Kael opened his arms to me as I soaked his tunic. He held onto me as if he’d never let go. I had no idea when he’d come in. Or what my father thought of this display. Or how to make sense of the fact that, even though I’d come through the portal in York, it seemed to be closed to me going back. The only thing I knew was that I never, ever wanted to let go.
“You were going to let me pass through,” I said finally, through sobs and as many tears as that first time I’d broken down.
“It was your choice to try. I’d not take that from you.”
This wasn’t the same Kael I met. But I supposed I wasn’t the same Mev either.
“I can’t go back.” That fact was beginning to crystallize, the implications washing over me in waves of nausea. When we did finally separate, my father was right there. Wiping away my tears, in his unique air-king way, glaring at Kael, but saying nothing.
“We will open it again. I vow to you, daughter, we will find a way.”
I went from one man’s arms into another’s. “My mother?—”
“We will reopen the Gate,” he said, letting me go. That was when I noticed Kael’s companions.
“Rowan.” I went to him, nearly smiling at Kael’s expression as I hugged the human.
“That’s enough,” Kael said, his voice familiarly gruff.
“He has something to tell you,” Rowan said, pulling away and looking at my father. “To tell you both.”
If Kael wasn’t pleased with Rowan before, he definitely wasn’t now.
“That can wait.”
“No,” a man next to Rowan said. “It cannot.”
Who was he?
Kael reached for my hand, and I took it. He addressed my father.
“I knew nothing of your wife’s abduction. It is true, I stole the Crystal. It is also true I gained entry into the Temple for my father and… another. The moment I did so, before my father joined me, a rockslide called my attention. By the time I returned, it was done. I do not tell you this to excuse my actions but only so you can know… I never would have allowed it. At least, not in that way.”
Before my father could react, I stared incredulously at Kael. “Why did you let me believe otherwise?”
“Because he is a hard-headed fool who thought he deserved to be punished for lying to you,” the newcomer said.
“Mev, this is Adren. My right-hand man. And best friend.”
Adren bowed. “I am pleased to meet you, Princess Mevlida.”
“Mev,” I said, absentmindedly. “How did you come to be here?”
“I will tell you later,” Kael said. “Are you okay?”
Was I?
I looked around the room. It was filled with people who loved me, and who I loved in turn. People who had risked their lives for me. Family. Friends.
Kael.
He would have let me go. Not because he wanted to, but to honor my choice.
“I will be,” I said, “if we can find a way to reopen this thing before my mother learns of my disappearance.”
“I will make that happen,” my father said, resolute. And clearly unhappy with Kael’s presence, evidenced by the way he glared at our joined hands.
“ We will make that happen.” Kael let go of my hand, moved to stand before my father, and bent down on one knee. Before I could stop him, he bowed his head.
“As recompense for my involvement in closing the Aetherian Gate, I offer myself into your service and vow to reopen it.”
Kael on his knees, before my father, was a sight I couldn’t really reconcile. I wasn’t sure who looked more surprised. Lyra, Rowan, Adren… or the King of Aetheria.
Probably, the latter.
He recovered quickly. “I cannot accept the word of King Balthor’s son.”
Kael and I had a lot to talk about, but remembering the sleepless night when I’d thought he might be in danger, and the torture of turning him away this morning knowing how much I loved him, firmed my resolve.
My father had asked Lyra how much I’d learned under her tutelage. It was time to show him. I knew the precise moment when he felt the channel between us open. My father looked directly at me, ignoring Kael.
He is also the man who brought me safely to you. We’ve heard the rumors. Ask him if they are true.
My father’s smile when I began whispering to him made me feel like a young child who’d just received praise from a parent they adored.
“Is it true you battled your brother to allow Lyra and Mevlida to escape?” my father asked Kael.
“It is.”
My heart lurched at his admission. Kael loved his brother above all. Why did it have to be Terran, of all people, to come after me?
We only talked about my Aetherian abilities but not about the ones passed down from my mother. I didn’t know until coming here that I had any, but those have manifested too. I can sense intent, and sometimes, future intent too.
My father’s kind eyes widened.
Why did you not tell me?
I didn’t trust myself with these newfound abilities, until now. But I can tell you for certain, Kael and I are meant to be together. If you’re not able to trust him, which I totally get, trust me instead.
Kael hadn’t moved or uttered another word. Instead, he remained, knee bent and head lowered, at the mercy of my father.
Do you love him?
As much as he loves me.
It was more powerful, to my thinking, than a simple yes. A Gyorian prince simply did not bow to the Aetherian king without very good cause.
With a final glance at me, my father looked down at the kneeling prince and hovered a hand above his head. For a second, I thought he’d change his mind. Instead, he placed his hand on Kael’s head as my shoulders sagged in relief.
When he stood back a few seconds later and Kael rose, the two stared at one another. Neither smiled. Nor did they shake hands. Instead, Kael bowed, as if my father was his king, and backed away.
“It seems we have much to do then,” my father said, turning his attention to the Gate.
Kael took my hand.
“An understatement,” I said with a resolve that could only come from being separated from the one person that had loved you unconditionally your entire life. “But we will open it. Together.”