Chapter 30
Ian
“Idon’t understand how Lucien has magical abilities that are supposed to help us,” Lana said, hands resting on her hips as she paced around her private garden.
Still midsummer, the massive rows of hedges still protected us from any outside view despite their decayed state.
Though the garden lay deadened like nature and life in Ellevail currently, it had been the only truly private place we could think of.
The palace and most of Ellevail remained in a state of chaos as staff and Fae we trusted restored order.
Still, I didn’t miss the pained expression on Lana’s face when we assembled here and she took in the sight.
She’d immediately wrapped her arms around herself, trying to hold it together.
This had been her special place with Corbin, a world they’d created together.
Seeing it destroyed after losing him pained me.
I could only imagine how it made her feel.
“I told you the pugron understood us,” I murmured, shrugging while trying to distract her from our surroundings. “You were the one who didn’t listen.”
Her gaze snapped to mine and she narrowed her eyes, even though her lips quirked ever so slightly. It was the closest thing to a smile I could ask for at the moment. “Understanding us and possessing some kind of magic are two very different things.”
I crossed my arms, watching her intently as she paced again. Strands of her hair whispered in the breeze, falling disheveled from her loose braid, and the dark circles under her eyes had deepened through the night.
A few hours had passed since we left the library, just as confused as when we entered.
When Vivienne and Cassandra left us, they indicated we needed to meet them here at daybreak.
We took that time to set up shifts for our people to bury the dead and begin cleaning up Andras’s mess of our capital.
With all our stomachs rumbling, we needed to take a moment to regroup.
Kalliah managed to wrangle up breakfast. Now most of us sat along the stone benches in silence, eating various fruits and sweet breads. Storm stood stoically, tracking all of Lana’s movements, watching her as if he thought she might disappear next.
Storm and I only had a few moments to talk in between the chaos. Both of us were in full agreement on one thing—convincing Lana of our plan would be tricky because it required her to stay behind. But it was the only way.
Vivienne and Cassandra claimed Lucien was the key to helping us. The shock of that statement lasted all of two seconds before I remembered how often he’d randomly appeared throughout the palace.
The problem now would be ensuring Lana remained here while we made our way to Firestone.
There was no other choice. Heading to Mysthaven could not include her.
In the end, she would be the one to defeat Thames, and right now, she wasn’t ready for that.
If we did anything to risk her life or chance Thames getting to her too soon, everything would be over.
Lana stopped pacing to stretch but immediately winced as she twisted her back.
Storm stepped forward, stopping her motions. “Your tattoo is still healing, be gentle with your movements. You don’t want to cause any more friction than necessary for at least one more day.”
“Okay, okay,” she sighed. “I’m just tired and so damn worried.”
Storm nodded. “I know. Me too.”
“Lana.” I stared at her, determined to convince her as soon as possible to go along with staying behind.
“I know you’re dealing with so much right now.
You’re concerned about Kade, you want to help with figuring out the weapon, but we can’t risk potentially running into Thames while we gather more details.
” I sipped at the tart juice in my cup before swirling it around.
I took any distraction for a break from having this conversation with the one woman who might stab me for demanding she sit anything out.
Well, except my mate. I glanced toward Raya, who gave me a small encouraging nod before looking at Lana.
The fierce glare she wore appeared weaponized to kill.
“Besides, you just won your home back. You’re needed to start rebuilding and to provide some stability for your people here.
You are their queen. How would it look if you left again? ”
“So you want me to send all of you off to destroy a weapon we know nothing about while I sit here?”
I tilted my head, raising an eyebrow.
Her shoulders slumped. “I hate this,” she sighed as she collapsed onto a bench, resting her head in her hands. “Logically, I understand, but emotionally? I don't want you all to do something risky while I remain here, helpless.”
Storm backed away and leaned against a hedge row next to Leif, while Kalliah approached to sit next to Lana.
“Your feelings are understandable, Lana, but you are the only queen here. Let us be there for you, and for Brook— Atheria in other ways. We’re all here, able and willing to do anything to ensure we come out of this the victors.
While this may be our home, and you may be our queen, you are first and foremost our friend.
It’s that friendship, that love, that we fight for. ”
Lana smiled and placed her hand on Kalliah’s, resting both on top of her leg. They sat there for a moment, leaning into each other,sharing further unspoken feelings, when we heard rustling.
Vivienne and Cassandra appeared between the hedges; their matching lavender gowns flowing behind them. They looked so content together.
“Judging from the look on Lana’s face, I’m assuming you convinced her to stay behind?” Cassandra asked, her voice low and full of hope.
Lana scowled at Cassandra before softening her gaze when she looked at Vivienne.
Lucien pranced around a hedge into the garden and strode toward Lana’s feet. He nuzzled into her dark brown leather shoes, then rested his head comfortably on top of them. His tail wagged slightly as he took in the surrounding courtyard.
The sound of a sharp intake of air in front of me returned my attention to the seers. Vivienne stood preternaturally still. Her eyes had turned milky white.
“Lana—” I ushered her over to my side for safety, and Lucien growled as she moved him out of the way. Worry laced her expression as she stared at Vivenne.
With Vivienne’s head tilted back, she spoke. “Sacred magic twisted and scorned, all so he can be reborn. Fire, fire set it free. Fire, fire, the world will be.” Her head snapped forward, as the words hung in the air and the color returned to her eyes.
Cassandra reached for Vivienne, holding her arm.
“I’m all right,” Vivienne said softly, but stumbled the moment she tried to take a step.
Cassandra didn’t let go of her sister but looked to me. “We must forge ahead. Time is of the essence.”
“What was that?” I asked, nodding to Vivienne.
The seers glanced at each other. “We’ve been getting glimpses, flashes of things, but nothing consistent. Fate is at a breaking point now. Everything that’s happened is converging into a final showdown. Each choice that is made reforges Fate’s path.”
“So we could ruin everything with one wrong move?” Jax asked.
Cassandra’s gaze softened, surprising since most of her time here had been spent snapping at everyone. “We are trying to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
“How can Lucien help us?” Lana asked, shifting the conversation back to the task at hand.
“Lucien is a pugron.” Cassandra bent down and called him over to her.
Lucien lifted his head before snorting out smoke and lying back down in front of Lana, ignoring the seer.
Cassandra let out a disgruntled hmpf. “These creatures always did love Evelyn the best. She had quite a way with animals. No matter how hard I tried, I never had the touch she possessed.”
“That actually makes a lot of sense,” Lana thought out loud, clearly reconciling all the information we knew about Evelyn and everything that had happened in the Southern Forests. “If Evelyn could command the strox and the razorven, a pugron would’ve been easy, I’d imagine."
Genuine smiles graced Cassandra’s and Vivienne’s lips as they simultaneously moved closer to Lana.
“Tell us what you know of a pugron’s powers, my dear,” Vivienne said.
Everyone waited for Lana to respond. She frowned, looking down at Lucien for a moment. “Well, I’m not exactly sure. It’s always been a mystery to all of us. I mean, he breathes fire, but he also moves about the castle in ways I’ve never understood.”
“He came to me many times when I was in the dungeon,” I offered my previous thoughts aloud. “He appeared out of nowhere and would vanish into thin air.”
“Yes, that is a pugron’s major ability.” Vivienne smiled. “Lucien is a portal keeper.”
Jax snorted. “A what? A portal keeper? Come on, is that real?”
Cassandra and Vivienne were unamused by Jax’s disbelief. “Yes,” they snapped in unison.
Jax quickly shut his mouth.
“Pugrons can create portals to anywhere they, or anyone in their familial line, have been before,” Vivienne continued. “All you have to do is ask and I believe he will take you to the volcano.”
“That would mean that Lucien is either a thousand years old—” My mind whirled at the insane possibility.
Lana cut me off. “Or pugrons in Lucien’s line were here before the world split in two.” She reached down and scratched behind his ears. “How old are you, sweet thing?”
“Old,” Cassandra chuckled. “Pugrons live extremely long lives for such little creatures. It is likely his parents were here with Evelyn.”
Honestly, it just seemed insane, but after everything…was it really? Who knew what we should and could believe anymore.
“So all we have to do is ask little Luci here to make us a portal and it can take us to Firestone?” Jax asked incredulously. “That’s it?”
Vivienne straightened her gown. “I would suggest Illiana ask, he is loyal to her. If you ask, he may incinerate you.”