Chapter 25 #4
My plan worked, and by the time I arrived at the city’s center, a hefty crowd had followed, along with the men from the palace.
I’d sent Nidara to fetch Alixe and the women of the Royal Guard.
I’d even called in Tybold and Sorae. The gryverns marched at my sides like two mighty sentinels, eyeing each other with indignant glares.
I climbed onto the low stone wall around the oasis. The toxic, blackened water froze beneath my feet as I strode to its center. I turned to the crowd, and when the final Ignosian arrived, I began to speak.
First, I told them who I was. How I’d been raised and where I came from, the healer’s trade that shaped my soul.
I told them how I’d come to be Queen, and my rocky past with Guardians and Crowns alike.
I showed them my magic, dispelling their doubts by filling empty barrels with water and urging a handful of potted plants brought in from Arboros to flourish and grow.
Then, I told them what I was. Though I kept Ophiucae’s Kindred status to myself, I acknowledged him as my sire. I explained the bloody goal he sought, and I gave them my word that I would never let him win.
And I told them about the mortals—that I was fighting for them, too. I warned them the days of persecution were over, and I laid out the same ultimatum I’d given to everyone else: accept the mortals as equals or leave Emarion for good.
“I have come to set up a council to govern this realm’s affairs,” I announced when I’d finished.
“I want it to represent the people of Ignios. Rich and poor. Descended, mortals, half-mortals. The soldiers”—I paused, gesturing to the women gathered behind Alixe, then cut my stare to the robe-clad men—“and whatever you all are.”
“We don’t have mortals,” someone called out.
“Or half-mortals,” another added.
“In time, you will,” I said. “I put an end to the wards that kept the mortals out. When they return, you will welcome them. Your hospitality was once this realm’s greatest pride. It can become so again.”
One of the men scoffed loudly, this one wearing casual clothes that hinted at a lowborn status. “We can’t feed the people we have. I had to choose between slaughtering my family’s goats so we don’t die of hunger and keeping them for the milk so we don’t die of thirst.”
“Once I’m back in Lumnos tomorrow, I’ll send money for—”
“You can’t leave. If you don’t use your magic to keep making us fresh water and food, we’re not going to survive.”
I frowned. “I can stay a few days more to help you all find a new oasis.”
Nidara shook her head. “There isn’t another oasis, Your Majesty. Ophiucae destroyed them all.”
“There must be one he missed.”
“I assure you, we checked. Perhaps, in time, new ones will form, or the sand will filter the water to make it drinkable again, but for now . . .”
For now, I thought, this desert is a cemetery. These people are standing in a sandy grave, waiting to be buried.
I took a deep breath. “Then you all will have to leave.”
I braced myself for screaming backlash but was met with silence instead. The crowd stared at me as if I’d started speaking in tongues.
“We have plenty of open land in Lumnos,” I said.
“You can stay in your own community, away from outsiders, if you wish. There’s plenty of food and water.
Land for farming, schools for your children.
I’ll release you from the Forging spell, so you won’t even lose your magic.
I’ll make sure you’re all taken care of, I swear it. ”
In the long quiet that followed, distant water burbled in the palace’s poisoned waterfall, an insidious reminder of the damage Ophiucae had wrought.
“But this is our home,” someone said.
All around them, faces were heartbroken and defeated. Knowing I was right made their pain no less real.
“I lost my home, too, not that long ago,” I said. “I wish I could tell you the pain goes away. It hasn’t—not for me. I don’t know if it ever will. But I think, if we keep close to the people we love, the part of it that matters stays with us, no matter where we go.”
My mating mark warmed, reminding me of Luther’s words to me in Montios: Diem . . . you’re my home.
My heart reeled. “I’ll do everything I can to help you, but I cannot stay here. This war threatens the entire continent. I’m trying to save a world, not just one realm.”
“She needs our help to stop him, and we need hers to survive,” Nidara said loudly, her fierce gaze sweeping over the throng.
“We have closed ourselves off for so long. Perhaps it’s time for the rest of Emarion to meet the people of Ignios.
” She raised her hand high into a fist and turned to me.
“I will fight, Your Majesty. For my home . . . wherever it may be.”
Her Vice General raised her fist, then another woman, then another, fists rippling over the sea of heads as more of the guards joined in, along with a handful of poorer residents. The pompous, wealthy men who had dominated the realm, however, hesitated to join them.
The crowd parted as an elderly man—the same one who had challenged me in the palace—came shuffling forward, hands on his cane. He stared out at the blackened oasis, sorrow stark on his weathered face. With a heavy sigh, he bowed his head and nodded.
“For our home.”