Chapter 59 One Last Lie
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
ONE LAST LIE
ADELINE
Simu circles over the low hills until we spot the cemetery. Its white headstones gleam like snow on the gentle slope.
We fly lower, and I can’t say I got the hang of flying on a phoenix or flying in general, but since Simu spoke into my mind, I feel safer on his back than before. A sentient, intelligent creature will take care that I don’t fall off his back, right? Especially since Roane asked him to obey me.
“To obey and protect you,” Simu whispers in my mind. “You are right. I will not let you fall.”
“Wait… you hear my every thought?”
“Yes. I also receive the touch of your emotions. I have felt that you like Roane, which is why I have agreed to his new orders.”
“I thought you had to obey him? That he tamed you?”
“A phoenix cannot be tamed.”
That makes sense. “So why do you obey Roane?”
“You’ll have to ask him for the story.”
“Everyone keeps telling me to ask him,” I mutter, “and he lies or evades my questions.”
Simu flies even lower, skimming trees. One of them catches on fire. “He is the story master.”
“Not fair. He doesn’t even like stories.” As we prepare to land next to the cemetery, I focus on staying put. It’s a surprisingly smooth landing. “But thanks for flying me around.”
“My pleasure. I will wait here.”
Sliding down his back, I land on my feet with a wince, then walk over to the tombs. It’s easy to find which one Roane had stood before. It’s the only one without a name.
“And how will looking at a blank tombstone help you?” Olm asks, not sounding sarcastic for once but genuinely curious.
“The tombs follow a chronological order. I know the names of the last two librarians, Ingene Leafcrowned from two centuries ago, and Velirius Fonserres from the last century, Ersil’s direct predecessor.
I only need to check the tomb before the blank one, which is the last one of the line.
It’s obviously the most recent one in the cemetery. ”
“Clever,” Olm says in a dubious tone.
It is a bit of a stretch, I’ll admit, but something tells me I’m on the right track, at last. Hurrying through the cemetery, I spot the last tombstone and head straight for it.
Blank and pristine. No name was erased here. No, no name was ever etched into its white marble surface.
Holding my breath, I move to the next two tombs. Was I right? Could it be true?
And there they are, the two names I expected to find. Ingene Leafcrowned, and next to it Velirius Fonserres, between Ingene’s tomb and the blank tombstone.
“What does this mean?” Olm sounds confused. “So the last librarian was Velirius Fonserres. So what? What’s so interesting about it?”
“If Velirius was the last librarian, then who is buried here?”
“It could be an empty tomb, like Roane said.”
“Roane wouldn’t come and sit at an empty tomb, no matter what he said. I know who is buried there.” I swallow hard. “It’s Ersil Davara.”
Simu says nothing when I climb back onto his back and we fly off once more.
Olm is right. In the end, what does it matter? I may have solved part of the riddle, but Roane is still dying from the hydra’s venom. I still failed him.
We land on the rock shelf and I clamber off Simu, bid him goodbye and open the library doors. I enter, moving in a daze. I don’t want to face Roane and his friends and admit my failure. I don’t want to watch him die.
Facing the griffin and asking her, begging her for a way out might be easier.
“See?” Olm says.
Which is why I won’t do it. It’s the easy way out. It means I wouldn’t face my fears.
And that I’ll never see Roane again, which is an unbearable thought. I’d rather take his presence like a blade to the heart than walk away.
Good Gods, this is awful. What is this feeling that won’t let me breathe?
You love him, I think. There’s no walking away from that.
Closing the library doors behind me, I climb down the stairs and walk through the temple, my steps echoing.
Here I come, bearing no good news, bringing nothing that can save you, Roane, nothing that can cure you.
I wipe impatiently at my eyes. Enough weeping already. Enough with doubting and carrying all this guilt and fear.
Ardruna pads out of the nest to meet me. “Did you get it?”
“No.” I follow her into the nest area, this little found family’s home, to find Roane lying on top of the furs, Talton standing by his head. “I didn’t.”
“Fuck,” Ardruna growls.
Roane’s lashes lift. “Ellin. You’re back.” His voice is barely audible and my throat constricts.
“I don’t have the antidote,” I whisper. “The egrets wouldn’t let me approach.”
Talton croaks. “No. You have to go back and get it. Aline, you have to go back—”
“Shush, Tal.” Roane props himself up on his elbows, long black strands sticking to his pale neck and face. “It’s fine. You have to find a way to get her out of here. When I die, I can’t protect her anymore.”
“You won’t die, Roane,” Talton insists, “she will find the antidote, she will—”
“You know that won’t happen, Tal.”
He croaks again, flapping his wings. “Don’t say that. I’ll go and get the godsdamned egrets, make them regret the day they hatched—”
“Hush.” Roane falls back on top of the furs, a grimace on his face. “I never thought I’d go out this way, but it’s all right. Better sooner rather than later.”
Talton hides his head under his black wing and whines.
I press my trembling lips together.
“Sit with me, Ellin,” Roane rasps.
I walk over to the nest and sit down beside him. I pull the furs up to his chest. “Why didn’t you tell me you were dying??”
He draws a rattling breath. “It doesn’t matter.”
But it matters to me. He matters to me. No matter how I fought, my feelings have only grown deeper.
I want answers, I want more time. I want… “Roane, there has to be another cure. Talton is right, I’ll go find it.”
“It’s too late,” Roane breathes. “Kiss me for the last time.”
Fighting a sob, I do. I kiss his lips, tasting the salt of my tears. Another sob escapes me and I don’t care if I seem weak. It feels like I’m dying, too.
“Roane.” Talton spreads his wings over Roane’s head. “Roane, you can’t leave us.”
“You have each other,” Roane whispers, stroking my cheek. His hand falls back to his chest. “You will be fine.”
Ardruna lays her head on top of the furs, blue eyes half-closing. “Roane…”
“You’re my brother,” Talton says. “I’d give my life for you.” And then, impossibly, Talton weeps, too. Crystal tears fall from his eyes and splash on Roane’s face.
For a long moment, I sit there, stunned. Wait… wait. How?
It’s Talton. Talton must have a human form. But what matters now are the tears.
Galvanizing myself into action, I reach out and cup my hand over Roane’s face, catching some tears. Then, in a frenzy, I pull at the laces of his pants, dragging them down.
“Aline?” Ardruna growls. “What are you doing? Now is not the time to ravish him.”
“Help me!” I say impatiently. “The griffin said any bird’s tears would help.”
“Are you serious?” Ardruna sinks her teeth delicately into the fabric of Roane’s pants and together we drag them down enough to bare the wound. I smear Talton’s tears over the angry cut in a sticky coating.
“Is something happening…?” Talton hisses. “Good Gods, look!”
I am looking. Staring, in fact. Gods. It’s working. It’s working!
I didn’t expect magic, but then I don’t know why I didn’t. This is a magical world. Instantly, the wound loses that angry redness and the edges start to knit together.
Heaving a long breath, wiping again at my cheeks, I sit back. A crazed laugh escapes me. “He isn’t dying.”
“He isn’t?” Talton asks. “Are you sure?”
“You might have saved him. How are you feeling, Roane?”
He blinks at me, his gaze drowsy. “It… doesn’t hurt so much anymore.”
“Talton was the cure all this time.” I lay my head on Roane’s chest and wrap my arms around him. “You’ll be all right. You’ll live.”
His hand comes to rest on my hair. “But you’re crying, too. For me?”
That snaps me out of my exhausted relief and drags me back to reality. How dare he? How dare he lie to my face over and over and make me weep for him? Kiss him? Trust in him?
I lift my head and scowl at him. “Seeing as you aren’t dying anymore, let me tell you a little story.”
His brows go up. “Aline?”
“Thirty years ago, something happened and changed this world. The Book of Areon was opened, but you were not the one who did it. It was Ersil. But you’re not Ersil, are you?”
A pause.
A shrug of broad shoulders against the rumpled furs and other nest covers.
“What are you talking about, girl?” Ardruna’s blue eyes glow. “Ro, say something.”
Talton bobs his head. “What is she saying, Ro?”
I narrow my eyes at Roane. Won’t he even try to deny it? “Which is your book and your real name?”
“I can’t tell you that,” he says quietly.
“You’re not human or fae,” I say. “You’re a character from a book. The question is, what happened to Ersil, how did you take his place, and above all… what else have you lied about?”
“I can’t answer that,” he says softly. “You shouldn’t have cured me. Nothing has changed.”
“Meaning what?”
His dark lashes lower, hiding his eyes, and his mouth twists as if he’s in pain. “I still want you gone.”