Thirty Three
You stumbled, but you didn’t fall. Rise up and take another step, more confidently this time.
My mother’s words were on my mind when I woke up the following morning.
I was lying on my right side, having rolled over in my sleep, but the space in front of me was empty.
The room was quiet, and Adrian was gone.
I couldn’t believe that I had spent the night in his bed.
When he had asked me to stay, I could have turned him down, but something had told me we wouldn’t have come back from that.
I had stayed. Lying close to the one who had caused me pain, but whose touch I craved like no other.
With a sigh, I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed.
I was facing the balcony now, and the portrait Adrian had painted of me.
Seeing the canvas only reinforced the decision I had made last night.
My steps were sure and light as I walked over to my chambers and summoned Inara. She helped me to get ready—a long, pale-sage dress with floral patterns my outfit of the day.
“Should I fetch you something to eat?” the maid asked as she finished working on my hair. Two loose braids were swept away from my face and secured on the back of my head with an elegant flower-cluster hair clip made of sparkling gems.
“No, I will come down for breakfast. Will you show me the way to the dining room?”
Her eyes widened before she offered a small smile. “Of course, milady. Are you ready?”
“I am. Well, almost. There is just one more thing.”
I rose from the vanity and walked over to my bed, where the crumpled-up note from Finn still rested on my pillow. I picked it up and threw it in the waste bin before exiting my room.
“Do the Queen Mother and Prince Tarn usually join the king for meals?” I asked Inara as we descended the staircase to the first floor.
“They occasionally join him, but it was only His Majesty and his advisers in the dining room this morning before I came up to answer your summons.” When a breath of relief inadvertently escaped me at her words, her hand flew up to her mouth to conceal a faint smile.
“The king will be delighted you decided to join him for breakfast. He always asks about you at every meal.”
My heart gave a little jolt in anticipation. I couldn’t wait to see Adrian’s reaction to my presence. With the bubbly excitement came a bit of apprehension, and for a split second, I considered turning back and retreating to my chambers.
“We’re here.” Inara led me through a set of double doors.
There was no turning back now as we entered the dining room.
My gaze immediately stretched to the head of the long wooden table, but I didn’t find Adrian there.
The space went silent as Tom and Thea abruptly stopped their conversation.
They were seated next to each other on the left side of the table, near the head.
“Emelin?” Thea asked in a bewildered tone.
“Good morning.” The greeting came out as a croak, and I cleared my throat before continuing. “Where is Adrian?” I walked along the length of the table with Inara trailing behind me.
Thea and Tom only stared at me as I stopped by the seat on the right side, opposite them.
Inara pulled the chair out for me, moving it back after I had lowered myself into it. “What would you like to drink, milady?”
“Coffee. Black, with a splash of milk.” After she had disappeared through the servant’s entrance, I prompted. “So, the king?”
Thea came out of her shocked stupor first. “He had some coffee and then left. He said he needed to visit Lord Riestral.”
Tom scoffed. “I can’t imagine what business he might have with that weasel.”
“He went to see Finn?!”
“Finn?!” Thea exclaimed.
At the same time, Tom narrowed his eyes at me. “What did you do?”
“Nothing! I just… I went out to dinner with him the other night.” My cheeks burned with the admission.
Thea’s eyes lit up, and she looked like she couldn’t wait to inquire about every little detail.
Tom, on the other hand, grunted in disapproval. “Of course he would be the first one to try to win your favor.”
“Why do you seem less than impressed with him?” I asked him as Inara returned with my coffee.
“Anything to eat, milady?” the maid asked.
The advisers had already finished their breakfast, judging by the mostly empty plates in front of them.
“Yes, eggs and toast. Thank you, Inara.”
After she had walked out again, Tom said, “Nobody likes Finnian because he gained his title by getting the previous lord of that province killed.”
“Killed?” I gasped, appalled.
“That was twenty years ago,” Thea chimed in. “Besides, Finnian didn’t kill Lord Warn; Sorin did because Warn was trying to stage a coup to overthrow him.”
“Finnian was the captain of Warn’s private guard. The lord trusted him, and he betrayed him,” Tom countered.
“For someone who has always been so loyal to the crown, you should appreciate that he exposed Warn’s plans against the king.”
“He only did so for his own personal gain. That male doesn’t do anything that doesn’t benefit him in some way.”
“Oh, just admit that you don’t like him.” Thea waved her hand dismissively. “He’s very handsome,” she added, focusing on me. “You will have to tell me everything about your time with him.” Her eyes became glassy as a wistful smile graced her lips.
Tom’s jaw flexed as he picked up his fork and began stabbing the leftover pieces of meat on his plate.
Thea seemed oblivious to the strange reaction. “What would you like to do today?” she asked me as Inara brought out my meal.
“Well, I was hoping that you and Tom would help me to learn more about Aubrielle,” I said, taking a bite of my toast.
Tom grumbled ‘about time’ under his breath before emitting a low grunt when Thea elbowed him in the ribs. “We would be happy to.” She beamed at me. “Tom, why don’t you go first? We can start with geography.”
He narrowed his eyes at me again as if not trusting that my request was genuine. I stared back at him in silence as I chewed my food.
“All right,” he finally conceded. “I will return momentarily.”
As soon as he had glimmered out, Thea leaned over the table and whispered, “It’s good to have you back.”
Tom returned a few seconds later with a scroll in his hand.
“This is a map of Aubrielle.” He moved his and Thea’s plates out of the way and unrolled the parchment before me on the table.
“Our kingdom comprises four provinces, each one named after the ruling lord. We’re here.
” He pointed at the capital of Tardor. “The Ariet Province, which is my father’s domain.
It’s the only area that borders Emeraldia. ”
“Your father… Lord…” I racked my brain for the first name.
“Elwood.” Tom gave me an indignant look. “You met him and my mother, Valynore, at the coronation.”
I pursed my lips, unappreciative of his chastising tone.
“That day was so hectic. It’s not surprising that you don’t remember.” Thea stepped in to mediate the conversation. Her voice was full of understanding. “Allow me to refresh your memory.”
She glimmered out, and while she was gone, I continued to study the map. The Ariet Province bordered the Riestral Province in the west, the Rolamin Province in the north, and the Dellari Province in the south.
“What’s this?” I indicated a small peninsula below the Dellari Province.
The isles were surrounded by a body of water, which Emeraldians called the Celestaire Sea.
On the Fae map, the waters bore a different name.
“What’s this land in the Divided Waters?
None of the Emeraldian ships ever made it there to find out. They all got lost at sea.”
“The Eclipse Isles,” Tom replied. “The Isles of Lumen and Nox. They cut themselves off from the rest of the Fae realm right before Oberon became the High King.”
The Eclipse Isles. According to Lady May, the binding spell, which was the cause of Silberium, had come from those lands. Had they cut themselves off because they knew what Oberon was planning to do?
“Here we go.” Thea reappeared at the table.
She unrolled the scroll she had brought with her next to the map.
The parchment revealed a series of miniature hand-painted portraits with names written underneath.
“This is Lord Elwood.” Thea pointed at the portrait of an older man. “And this is his wife, Lady Valynore.”
I glanced at Tom, who had his mother’s angular features and his father’s hazel eyes.
“No siblings?” I asked.
“No, I’m an only child.”
“That explains a lot,” I muttered under my breath, making Thea giggle.
Tom arched a brow. “I don’t have any siblings, but Gray is like a brother to me.
That’s why I acted the way I did during your stay at Bradford Manor.
Never in my wildest dreams, or rather, nightmares, would I have thought that he would fall for someone like you. A mortal,” he spat the last word out.
“And now your queen,” I said through my teeth to put him in his place.
“I’m glad that you have finally decided to act like one.”
When I couldn’t come up with a retort because the criticism wasn’t entirely baseless, I did the next best thing. I offered a slight smile. The strangest thing happened then—he smiled back.
“Aww, look at you two,” Thea crooned. “This makes my heart so happy.”
Tom and I rolled our eyes at the same time.
“Moving on.” I looked back down at the portraits.
“Right. You already know Lord Finnian,” Thea said, blushing, as she pointed at the portrait of the young man. “At fifty, he’s the youngest of the four lords.”
Finn was fifty? It was still difficult for me to grasp the concept of faeries aging at a much slower rate.
“If Finn is the youngest, how long have the other three lords held their positions? Were they alive during Oberon’s rule?” I asked as I didn’t recall Lady May’s journal going into detail about that.