Chapter 13
Leita had promised the mayor of Hallevale and his wife that she would return soon. It was the only way to alleviate their worry when she’d left last time after staying just two nights. “But what if you should need aid, my Queen? How will we find you?” Glenys had fretted.
So, Leita promised to return soon. And she did.
She hadn’t necessarily planned it to coincide with her and the faelands’ magic healing the forest. A happy accident, really.
As Leita and Thalia walked into town, this time they were met with smiles and well-wishes.
“The Queen! The Queen is here!”
“Bless you, my lady.”
“Thank you for healing the forest.”
“It’s Queen Leita!”
She allowed herself a grin and tried to take their praise with humility.
“Thank you. I merely did my duty. Thank you all.” It was startling at first when they reached to touch her hands or shoulders, but Leita bit back her initial alarm.
They wanted reassurance after centuries of uncertainty and a vicious wildfire.
They walked with her to the center of town, a crowd of happy faces gathering round her. Some clapped, some cheered, some lauded her new reign. It was all a heady mix, one Leita never could have imagined just a few weeks ago.
The fae of Fallorian had met her reign with wariness, and her policy of returning to eating and drinking had proven unpopular. Here, though, she was being celebrated, praised. It felt…good.
Between the townspeople of Hallevale and working with the faelands’ magic, Leita had gotten a taste of success—and she wanted more.
The problem was, not only did she not know what’d caused the faelands to finally connect with her enough to heal the forest, she didn’t know how to recreate it.
Just that morning, she’d sat for over an hour attempting to talk with it, but the faelands remained uncertain.
Being denied again took the shine off her success.
And, if she was truly honest, she suspected why it’d suddenly worked. Well, not really why, but she could at least say she knew the difference between that day and others. Attalus sitting with her.
She didn’t like the possibility. Something about it made her success feel as though it belonged to him. That maybe, perhaps, the faelands actually liked him.
It was an uncomfortable thought, and Leita didn’t like it almost as much as she didn’t like the ugly jealousy she bore.
So while she might have a few small misgivings about receiving so much praise, she still accepted it, needing the encouragement just as much as the people of Hallevale.
That praise may have also been why, when someone cried, “Dragons again!” and the crowd’s mood shifted suddenly, Leita decided to act.
Gasps rang through the crowd where there’d been cheers just a moment ago. Fae murmured worriedly between themselves, all looking skyward at the glinting dots high above. They flew in formation again, this time somewhat lower than the last.
Taking a wide stance, Leita raised her arm to aim two fingers a little ahead of the lizards.
A bolt of magic shot into the sky, white-hot as lightning and just as bright.
Leita counted down in her head, and just before the bolt could hit the dragons, she snapped her fingers.
The magic burst into whorls of sparks, a firework bright enough to see plainly in the daytime sky.
Sweeping her hands across the empty space before her, she created a stiff wind, churning the air until a great gale blew from the north. It caught the dragons in its bluster, sending them careening south like little mayflies, blown away.
A cheer rang out from the crowd as the dragons were lost in the blue horizon.
Amazing, they called her, a blessing, a guardian.
For the first time, Leita felt like it.
Buoyed in spirit, she shook hands and accepted their admiration. They even seemed unafraid of Thalia this time, patting her withers and slipping flowers into her mane. Someone handed Leita her own beautiful bouquet as well as a sparkling crystal goblet of sweet wine.
When Leita tipped her head back to drink, the fae cheered.
They eventually made their way to the mayoral house, and by the time she stepped forward to greet Glenys and Narinda Berengion, Leita’s cheeks had been thoroughly kissed, her shoulders thoroughly patted, and she’d blessed more than one little child.
The mayoral couple welcomed her warmly, and Leita mounted the few steps up to their house feeling like a conquering hero. She paused to wave at the crowd, and they waved back, their smiling faces filling Leita’s heart full to bursting.
Inside Narinda’s cool, sweet-smelling parlor, Leita finally caught her breath.
Her heart raced with the excitement; she felt capable of blowing a whole army of dragons all the way back to the Droplets.
Still, she sat where Narinda indicated, and she couldn’t help noticing the significant looks passed between the couple.
“We’re so glad to have you again, my Queen,” said Narinda.
“Indeed, we were just talking about it yesterday, weren’t we, my dear, that the Queen herself was due back any day.” Glenys leaned forward in his seat, eyes twinkling. “You seem to have a knack for picking a good day.”
Leita wasn’t so sure, but she took the statement with a nod.
“Other than those dragons, all has been well here?”
“Just so, my Queen, just so. We were able to gather the other things you asked for and have them ready for you. We’ve kept your room ready, too, and the stables for Thalia, of course.
There’s a bevy of craftspeople hoping to meet you—we’re very proud of our work out here in the hinterland. If you’ve time still to—”
“My dear, the message.”
Glenys sat up straight in his seat. “Oh, yes, you’re right, of course. One moment, please, my Queen.”
Leita blinked after him, a niggle of worry fluttering in her stomach.
That sense only deepened when he quickly returned with the spelled crystal she’d seen him use before.
Retaking his seat, he warmed the crystal in his palm.
When it began to glow between his fingers, he held it out, allowing Leita to hear Charis speaking all the way in Fallorian.
“Thank you for your confirmation of our Queen’s health. Please inform her next time she arrives that she’s urgently needed back in Fallorian. It is of grave importance that she return to the capital.”
The parlor went silent.
All Leita’s giddy pleasure fizzled out, leaving behind a cool resignation.
“That was sent to us two days ago,” said Narinda.
“Thank you for showing me.” Leita sighed before downing the rest of the wine she still held.
Fuck, she didn’t want to go back. Not yet. Not with a surprise dragon in tow.
This complicates everything.
“No. Absolutely not.”
“Attalus, I must return.”
“That’s fine, let us leave. I’m more than ready for a proper bath and bed.”
Attalus watched Leita pinch the bridge of her nose in a clear sign of exasperation, but he wasn’t moved.
Ever since she’d returned after a night in the nearby town, with news of her imminent, urgent departure, he swore he could hear glass shattering.
Again and again, the crack and crash of so much breakage.
First, his good humor shattered. He’d been pleased with his progress these past days, enough that he wasn’t as worried to see her venture off to the town this time. She’ll be back. This second time, it hadn’t felt like she was actively fleeing him. Now, though…
Now, he thought it might be his patience he heard breaking. Over sleeping out in the wilds. Over her exceeding reticence and stubborn wariness. And now over the asinine assumption that she’d be going anywhere without him.
With a sigh, as though she were the one nursing beleaguered patience, Leita said, “You know you can’t come with me. Not yet.”
“I don’t know anything of the sort.” And the implication that he would think it reasonable for her to leave him behind was almost as galling as being left. “I won’t be left behind, doe.”
“I can’t bring you to Fallorian—especially not without warning them first.”
“Then use that magic crystal to tell them.” They could have a warm bath and fresh sheets waiting for them upon their arrival, for gods’ sake.
Spreading her hands in a gesture that made her look like she was trying to be reasonable, she told him, “The situation is precarious in Fallorian. If they didn’t need me as Queen, I doubt I’d have their support.
And…” Her look soured even further. “It’s not as though I’ve been able to hold up my end of the bargain. ”
He heard the disparaging tone and reached out to grip her shoulder and offer his support. “You’ve made progress, that’s undeniable. Let me come with you, let me continue to help.”
But Leita shook her head vehemently, not raising her sharp gaze to meet his. There was something about that, in the deliberate way she avoided his gaze, that made his scales itch.
After her success, why pull back now? He thought he’d been helping, at least in some small way.
He couldn’t say for certain exactly how, but it seemed realistic to think that whatever breakthrough she’d had was helped along by their growing bond.
He’d no evidence, only feelings and guesses, but Attalus had hoped that this all might finally mean something to her. Prove something to her.
To have that thrown back in his face was its own kind of slap.
His patience in tatters, he searched for another argument. “What about the patrols of Savrakae? I saw the one yesterday.” Never mind that it was no doubt she who’d sent them blowing southward like great tumbleweeds, end over end.
“I’m not the one they’re looking for,” she reminded him, her mouth grimly set.