Chapter 78
Semuel let out a wild laugh, reminding me of how infectious it was.
He grabbed hold of my waist and lifted me up, then swirled me around before lowering me back on my two feet. His hands went to my face, and we searched each other’s eyes. We both ignored the sound of glass shattering behind us, which also came with a low rumble.
“How in Amfir’s name are your eyes blue? And what are you doing here?” His last few words faltered, morphing into a whisper as he made the connection. “You’re—you’re her. You’re the Queen of Ilma.” It sounded as both a whispered question and a realisation.
“I am. And what are you doing here?” My last word was close to being mouthed as a familiar voice had me snapping my head towards it.
“You do realise that my husband is not into women at all, right?” Faern shook his lowered head, directed at Aegir’s feet, or rather at the broken glass barely visible against the shiny floor.
Jealous brute. My jealous brute.
“You!” I bellowed at Faern, before running into his arms.
“Don’t let him kill me,” Faern whispered close to my ear. I let out a muffled laugh, face buried into his chest.
I held Faern’s hand with my right and Semuel’s with my left, noticing the golden bands at their ring fingers. My gaze shifted from one to the other.
“How are you here?” I barked out half a laugh. “I cannot believe it. It’s you! You’re here. And you got married!”
“And I see you’ve gotten yourself a tattoo,” Semuel added, grinning.
“Tattoo? Who cares about that, she finally has a scent,” Faern howled. Then he winked at his husband. “Which means, no more sneaking up on me.” Us, he meant to say. “And blue eyes? How?”
“Good question,” King Ryvar cut in. Amani, who stood at his side, gave me an I-told-you-so glance. “Shall we sit down and start the meeting so that we can all find out?” he added, gesturing towards the table behind us.
My gaze trailed his hand movement and I noticed two unfamiliar faces along with those of Marshen and Eldric.
The former, who happened to be my advisor, was finely dressed and serious-faced.
He gave me a small nod. The latter, on the other hand, pierced me with a death gaze so intent, it told me I’d be hearing an earful from him sooner or later.
I looked away and for a moment took in my surroundings.
I swore that every room in the palace of Nivaria made me gape at some point.
The circular meeting room was something out of this world.
Its perimeter consisted of grand white marble slabs with a series of intermittent stone pillars surrounding its circumference.
And in between the tall pillars were grandiose fountains, each uniquely sculpted in the shape of a wild animal—each one ready to strike.
Wolf, bear, tiger, shark, eagle…animal Fae forms. The floor beneath my feet was made of polished stone, while the ceiling above my head was made of glass.
Its geometrically and symmetrically dome-shaped centre was truly astonishing.
It allowed me a clear view of the full moon above our crowns.
The shimmering silver circle perfectly complemented the green and purple hues in the sparkly night sky.
“Well, shouldn’t you introduce us first?” said a beautiful Fae with hazel eyes and brown hair that faded into yellowish ends.
“Of course, where are my manners?” Ryvar said. I knew the answer to that—he didn’t have any. “Queen Elara, meet Princess Leannon Leigh.”
I suppressed a gasp. “Leigh? As in the sister of Queen Tamer Leigh? The Queen of Sijar?”
“In the flesh. Don’t tell her you’ve met me, though. She doesn’t know I’m here.”
I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to meet Queen Tamer Leigh anytime soon. So I told her, “Your secret is safe with me. And it’s a pleasure to meet you, by the way.”
Princess Leannon only nodded, no hint of a smile. Unlike the dark young man with black curly hair who beamed as he moved my way. “And this is Yanik Naudi, the youngest Prince of Jebel,” King Ryvar continued. “He would also like to keep your encounter discreet.”
“It’s a pleasure to discreetly meet you,” I said, giving him a soft smile.
“The pleasure is all mine, Queen Briartide,” Prince Yanik murmured, bowing from the waist. Then to my surprise, he grabbed my hand and pulled it close to his full lips. He pressed a soft kiss on the back of it.
“Shall we begin?” Amani bellowed, hugging three bottles of wine. Aegir acted all territorial and grabbed hold of my waist, taking me and my trailing arm with him.
We occupied the round table equidistantly. Marshen sat to my left, Eldric to his, Aegir sat to my right, Ryvar to his. Amani sat to Ryvar’s right, leaving Faern, Semuel, Leannon, and Yanik seated across from me.
Faern and Semuel. I still couldn’t believe my eyes.
Ten servants entered the room and poured us each a tall glass of Amani-chosen red wine, then walked away silently, except for one, who lingered to clean up Aegir’s mess. The servant bowed as he silently closed the double door behind him.
I took one giant sip from my wine. Mmm.
All right, I thought. That was definitely a great start.
I cleared my throat as I looked back at the people who stared at me, waiting for me to say something.
“I was told that you were here for me, for my people. I do not mean to sound rude, but help me understand, why are you all here exactly?” I asked, forcing my words not to tremble.
“You know why we’re here,” Faern replied.
“I do?”
Semuel did me the favour of answering. “We’re all here because we believe in the liberation and freedom of the Ilmans. Who turns out, are your people.” Semuel looked at his husband and laughed. “Can you believe it? Our Wildheart.” Faern shook his head.
I pursed my lips at his heartwarming reaction. But then they tightened at the realisation. Were Semuel and Faern rebels? Were we all rebels?
“Can one of you explain whatever this is?” Leannon asked, pointing a palm in my direction, then at Semuel and Faern’s. “And oh, since we are not meaning to sound rude, I have to ask”—she shifted her gaze from me to Ryvar—“are you sure it’s her?”
“Yes,” I replied, before the king could answer.
“If I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t have called this meeting,” Ryvar added defensively, and the princess lifted both palms at him.
“Do we at least get an explanation?”
Ryvar gestured a silent demand that meant, “You, explain.”
And so I did.
“So let me get this straight,” the Jebeli Prince, Yanik, said, twisting one of his dangling black curls around his forefinger.
“A witch was bound to your mother through the oath of tears, and she aided your hiding when Naar attacked. Then a full shifter, who happened to be your soulbound’s cousin, sacrificed himself alongside your parents. ”
I was certain my eyes turned glassy, but I forced an impassive front. I didn’t want to appear weak in front of these powerful people, so I only nodded.
“Can you tell us why the immortal king came after you and your mother?” Amani asked. She shook her head. “What kind of a spineless beast must one be to kill a child?”
“That, I do not know. Well, when I asked—I mean, when Galen asked—that why, King Arden mentioned something about visions. But that could be just a rumour.”
“Visions, huh?” she murmured, swirling her wine. “Vague much.”
“It is, but there is someone I know who may be able to confirm it, or better yet, explain it. But I’d have to return to the Sand Castle first.”
“That’s where you met these three, right?” Prince Yanik asked.
“Yes. Oh, and four. I met Eldric there, too.” I sent a soft smile his way, which was not reciprocated. No, Eldric looked at me with glowering eyes that made my stomach clench.
“And you remembered nothing of your childhood?” Faern asked, yet my gaze fell on Semuel. The way he lowered his solemn face told me that he’d rather I’d shared more with him. But he, too, kept secrets from me.
Princess Leannon gave me a staring look. “And now you do? Now you have recollections that you are indeed Elara Briartide?”
“I do.”
“How?”
“That has nothing to do with knowing if I’m really her.
But let me reassure you that I vividly remember being forced onto a table as I watched my mother holding my hand.
Except it wasn’t my hand that she held, but Galen’s.
I remember the two of them leaving me to go die while the witch cast her spell on me. ”
“Yet you do not share with us how you broke free of it.”
I gave her a fuck-off stare, taking two gulps from my wine. This was becoming dreadful and I’d rather we moved on. What made me break free of it was intimate and tore me down to my very core. It was something that I wished to remain shared between my soulbound and me.
In that moment, I knew I couldn’t make it through this world without Aegir. Ayla, the witch, must have known it, too. She made it so that I could never remember unless Aegir was at my side.
“Oh, don’t be a stubborn ass, Lee,” Amani said, pouting her lips at Leannon.
“It’s her. Queen Elara the undead. Queen Briartide the risen.
Accept it already. Now for Boreas’s sake, can we get on with the meeting?
” Amani ended her sentence with a grunt, resting her back against the chair, glass in hand. Then she let out an exasperated huff.
“Do we really need to get him involved in our meeting?” Ryvar snarled at Amani.
For a second, I studied him—Ryvar. “But agreed,” he said.
“There are two other important discussions on today’s agenda.
Why don’t we start by discussing Aegir’s return from Ramel.
He says he brought news of our alliance. Care to share, brother?”
Oh, lovely. That.