Chapter Thirty-Eight
In the days following the summer solstice and the return of Aemyra’s magic, the temperature had soared alongside the itching in her veins. The power surge of Brigid’s season was making the queen restless, and the heat had slowed the army’s progress to Edinbane.
It was stiflingly hot in the council tent, but none of them dared open the walls lest someone notice their experiments.
Both Adarian and Fiorean were shirtless and Aemyra felt inclined to join them.
Fiorean’s reappearance had raised many questions, but thankfully the council were putting on a good show of supporting the queen’s choice. Aside from Draevan and Thear, who had been keeping their distance.
“No one threw their breakfast at me when I walked through camp this morning,” Fiorean said, reaching for a steaming bun a servant had brought.
“A few people hissed though,” Riya replied. “And I’ve noticed an uptick in knife sharpening.”
Fiorean smothered an answering smile.
Perhaps it was because she had witnessed Katherine’s confession herself, but Riya had been the first to be civil toward Fiorean. Aside from Elizabeth and Maggie, who had welcomed him back like a hero.
Turning to Maeve, Aemyra asked, “Why has Sorcha not accepted her place on my council? I haven’t seen her since the solstice ritual.”
Maeve dabbed the sweat on her brow with a kerchief. “Sorcha has been particularly affected by Fiorean’s continued presence in camp.”
“Well, he’s my husband, and the king. She’ll need to get used to it.”
“Fiorean captured her, threw her in the dungeons…” Maeve began.
“Fiorean is also the one who rescued her,” Aemyra retorted.
The general kept her eyes on the vials she was sorting. “Sometimes clemency is beyond what we are able to endure.”
The mark on Aemyra’s palm twinged. If anyone ever asked her to show mercy on Alfred, she would singe their eyebrows off.
“Fiorean has already proven himself trustworthy by teaching us how to harness crystals and gemstones,” Aemyra said, aiming to put an end to this discussion.
“He could be lying. It hasn’t exactly worked yet,” Maeve said, gesturing to the vials on the table before her. Some were a congealed mess of indistinguishable gloop, others had shattered, one looked a moment away from catching fire.
Clearing his throat, Fiorean replied, “I have as much reason to want a working antidote as anyone. My brothers and nephews remain Alfred’s prisoners in àird Lasair—”
“Laird Lorna has hundreds of imprisoned Dùileach in Edinbane. We hear reports of priestesses being tortured,” Maeve interrupted.
“Which is exactly why we lay siege to the city in one week,” Aemyra interrupted. “With the antidote, we will be able to overthrow Clan Sutherland and the Covenanters.”
Before the discussion could escalate into an argument, Adarian rationalized, “This has never been done before, so we cannot expect it to work overnight. The liquid suspension might be ready, but we must still learn how to combine our magic and neutralize the binding agent.”
Laoise eyed Riya’s amulet in trepidation, knowing she was about to make the next attempt.
“If we aren’t making progress with the gemstones, should we practice with a crystal instead?” Laoise asked.
Riya crossed her arms. “I sent two phoenixes to àird Caolas. They are flying as fast as their wings can carry them.”
Unwilling to use Bronwyn’s crystal in case they needed to travel through the stones again, the council was working with what they had in hand.
Aemyra inclined her head. “I think we need to amplify our elements with a gemstone in order to push them through the crystal. Otherwise we won’t be able to get them out of the crystal and into an antidote. This is the part we must master first.”
“You think?” Maeve muttered skeptically.
Aemyra exchanged a glance with Fiorean.
They hadn’t told the council about Bronwyn, instead making it sound as if amplification was something Aemyra had discovered by accident when forging her dagger and Fiorean had read about the crystals somewhere in Caisteal Lasair.
As the only spirit Dùileach in living memory, Bronwyn was vulnerable. Aemyra would not jeopardize her safety.
The decision had pleased Terrea, who had also hidden herself away for decades. Briefly, Aemyra wondered if something had drawn them all together. The last female heir, the last female dragon, and the last spirit Dùileach.
Deciding she could research prophecies after the war, Aemyra focused once again on the experiments.
“Try again,” Aemyra instructed Laoise as Riya raised her ruby amulet.
The fire guard looked around at the singed furnishings. Riya had taken to bringing Sujaron everywhere just to have someone to blame the incinerations on—much to the phoenix’s displeasure.
Laoise shook her hands out before taking aim at the ruby and the brazier beyond.
“Just a spark will do,” Adarian reminded her.
Exchanging a nervous glance with Riya, Laoise did as she was bid and sent the smallest spark flying toward the ruby.
When her magic made contact with the gemstone, the tent flared with fire as Laoise’s magic roared into a jet of flame. The fire Dùileach held their shields in place as Iona, Nell, and Clea cringed away from the heat.
Thankfully, Laoise’s magic ignited the brazier perfectly.
“Finally,” Riya said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“At least it’s progress,” Adarian added, smiling encouragingly at Laoise.
Aemyra was less pleased. Bronwyn had made it sound so easy, but so far their attempts to amplify magic through the gemstones had only succeeded in shattering vials and setting tents on fire.
“Edinbane is still a week’s journey away. We have time to learn how to get all four elements through at once,” Fiorean said, laying a gentle hand on her arm.
She sighed. “Six thousand soldiers await us outside the walls. We are outnumbered—”
“We have three dragons.”
“Who I will not use if I can help it,” Aemyra replied. “If this antidote doesn’t work…”
“It will,” Fiorean said firmly.
Aemyra looked at the exhausted faces of her queen’s guard, who were valiantly trying to obey their queen’s command with little information and less experience.
When her eyes landed on Riya stroking Sujaron’s feathered head, Aemyra knew what she had to ask. Preparing to extend her trust to everyone in the tent, she took a deep breath.
“Only a few weeks ago I was struggling with magic myself.”
Riya’s eyebrows disappeared into her hairline and Maeve stilled.
“Aems…” Adarian muttered.
Ignoring her brother, Aemyra continued, “I had to learn how to balance my power, focus my mind, and let go of what was holding me back.” She lifted her gaze to Riya. “Would you be open to allowing my queen’s guard to partake in the phoenix ritual?”
Sujaron lifted his regal beak as Riya got to her feet. “It would be an honor. I will send a servant to fetch my tea things.”
“What does she mean?” Nell questioned.
“What tea?” Laoise asked.
Aemyra faltered; the visions the tea induced had been brutal, but effective. If this would help her queen’s guard master combining their elements, it was the right choice.
Taking pity on his sister, Adarian waved Aemyra out of the tent. “Go. I’ll prepare them.”
With a sigh of relief, needing a reprieve from the crippling pressure, Aemyra slipped from the tent for a moment alone.
She didn’t get one.
Before she had even stepped over the tent peg, Thear rounded the corner.
They noticed each other at the same time and froze, staring as soldiers passed by with armfuls of weapons and laundry.
Thear recovered first and cleared his throat. “Should we talk?”
When Aemyra nodded, he took a few steps closer. She had missed his steady presence, but hadn’t wanted to push him into a conversation before he was ready.
“I want to apologize,” she began, taking a shaky breath. “I appreciate you throwing yourself into organizing the siege on Edinbane now the translations are finished, but I know you have been avoiding me.”
“With good reason.”
She weathered the bite in his tone, so different from his usual easygoing manner.
“I am sorry to have hurt you, but I never once lied about my feelings or intentions,” she said firmly. “I respect you as a warrior, and value you as a friend.”
“Friend,” he scoffed.
“Yes. A friend,” Aemyra repeated. “I would have told you Fiorean was alive upon my return to Dildain but a fucking dragon attacked the town, Thear. At exactly which point did you want me to make you a priority? When I was facing down Kolreath or when I was rescuing the princesses from a burning building?”
His crestfallen expression made Aemyra feel small for the first time in her life.
“I suspected your feelings had changed after the ritual, I just wasn’t sure why,” Thear said, letting out a breath.
“At first I thought you were simply prioritizing your role as queen, which I respected. But then I saw him arrive on his dragon…” He swallowed back a laugh.
“I knew I didn’t stand a chance after that. ”
His dejected tone almost broke Aemyra’s heart, and she reached for his hands. He let her take them.
“For what it’s worth, I think we could have been happy together.”
Thear shook his head. “I used to think so, but I’ve watched the two of you this last week. The way you move around each other, the way you look at him.” His hands tightened around hers. “I heard Riya sent two phoenixes to my father. Why?”
Lowering her voice, Aemyra whispered, “To request permission to mine crystals from Loch Deur. We need one for the antidote.”
Thear frowned. “What for?”
“You confirmed the translations yourself. Combined magic is the key, and crystals can bind our elements together,” she said.
After a moment of hesitation, Thear dropped her hands and reached under the collar of his shirt.
Aemyra’s heart stuttered as he hooked his fingers underneath the delicate chain and pulled it over his head.
“No, Thear. I couldn’t possibly—”
“Take it.”
“No. It belonged to your mother.”
He pressed the necklace into her hands, the crystal warm from the heat of his skin.
“My mother would be glad to know something of hers was being used to make sure the people who killed her never harm anyone else,” Thear said fervently, his amber eyes swimming with emotion.
Aemyra shook her head. “I cannot ask this of you.”
Thear dropped her hands, leaving the crystal necklace in her grasp. “You didn’t ask. I offered.”
The tent flap opened behind her and Fiorean stepped out into the sunlight.
In a lower voice Thear said, “Take this as a sign of my continued loyalty to my queen. And my friend.”
Aemyra wondered what she had done to deserve Thear.
“I will always need you to be my friend,” Aemyra said quietly, closing her fist around the necklace. With a sniff, she continued, “But I’m afraid your queen has one more thing to ask of you.”
“What might that be?” Thear asked.
Fiorean answered as he approached. “We need a small group of warriors willing to make their way north while the army takes Edinbane. My mother has provided pertinent information about how we may infiltrate àird Lasair.”
Thear did not meet his eyes, instead addressing Aemyra. “You would send me away?”
“I would have you help me win this war.”
The warrior was quiet but, after a moment, he rolled his shoulders and seemed to slip back into the easygoing persona of the warrior she was familiar with. Although, this time, she knew it was an act.
“Thank the Goddess, I thought you were going to ask me for a threesome,” he said with a flashing grin.
Fiorean scowled but Aemyra didn’t rise to the bait.
“You will set off at dusk with Brodie. His father, Colm, will meet you at the north of the Forc and sail you into the city. There you will meet with the rebels and Marilde will sneak you inside the caisteal,” Aemyra said, passing him a letter containing every detail.
“If you are set upon, or captured, burn this letter to ash.”
For the first time, Thear seemed genuinely offended. “I will not get captured.”
“You don’t exactly blend in,” Fiorean commented, eyeing the warrior’s bulk.
“Chimeras are far more subtle than dragons.”
Before they could begin arguing, Aemyra put one hand on Thear’s chest, pretending not to notice when he flexed his pectoral muscles.
“Go, and take the very best of your trodach,” she said. “We will see you in the capital in just over one week’s time.”
Thear’s eyes widened. “How fast do you expect us to travel in this heat?”
“Already questioning your queen’s orders, cat?” Fiorean asked.
“Not at all, lizard.”
Ignoring them both, Aemyra pulled his mother’s necklace over her head and tucked the crystal under her shirt. Thear gave Fiorean a threatening smile before bowing to Aemyra and disappearing between the tents.
When he was gone, Fiorean’s eyes went to the base of her throat.
“Wearing a gift from another man?” he asked quietly.
Aemyra fingered the crystal. “A gift that might save every Dùileach with my army,” she replied.
Fiorean looped their fingers together, his skin soft to the touch as he whispered into her ear.
“Your queen’s guard will be occupied with Riya all day, and you need a break. Fly with me.”