Chapter 2 #2
“He should have died, honestly. A disease of the mind from that woman he’d been fraternizing with.
I won’t speak her name.” Elowen waved her hands in the air, whispering something about the woman being cursed with magic, which piqued Kienna’s interest even further, but then Elowen tsked.
“Anyway, Avenna went to the forest, wandering around for days. Eventually, Galric revealed the city to her, if only to question why she would spend so long searching for what she knew she couldn’t have.
” Elowen glanced out the window, her eyes flicking back to Tislin.
“They wouldn’t heal him; their queen forbade it.
But that didn’t stop Galric from visiting Dove Port more often. ”
Moira placed her hand to her heart. “He was smitten.”
“Why didn’t he heal him anyway?” Kienna scoffed, not sure why anger was the emotion surfacing.
“He wasn’t a healer, hon,” Elowen answered.
Kienna searched but couldn’t find any pride within her parents’ story.
It only made her sympathize with the king again, and she was tired of doing it.
Connak had told her Vaerin was sick, but she didn’t realize it was meant to kill him or that he got it because of dark magic—from a woman, no less.
Knowing how desperate for control he became, it was no wonder he tried to siphon it all from her to stay alive.
“So, what did you all do?” Moira was on her knees now, inching closer to Elowen. “I mean, as rebels? Why would you call yourselves rebels?”
A plump, rat-like critter with gray and white fur scampered onto Elowen’s lap.
It happily munched seeds from her pouch, its beady black eyes gleaming with delight.
She patted the thing and smiled at Moira.
“The Elvish were worse back then, extremely closed off. They didn’t provide aid or food.
No trade. They hid in the forest and refused to help when others struggled.
Dove Port can hold its own most of the time, but there have been famines.
And wars. Things a magical forest could have helped with, especially when they pushed other creatures out. ”
She took a breath, and Kienna could almost see the memories replay in her eyes.
“So, we ran missions. Harboring fugitives, pulling slaves from the forests before they disappeared behind the barriers, sending supplies to ailing cities, and even negotiating a treaty among the Elvish. Galric helped a lot with that, and Avenna’s family provided funds and supplies when they could.
The rebellion may have died when Vaerin went mad, but we hope it will rekindle. And maybe that you—”
Tislin cleared his throat. Kienna slid her gaze to him to find flames dancing in the shadows of his strong cheekbones. He neared the door, something glimmering in his eyes. “Excuse me.”
You should follow him, Ruva suggested.
Kienna needed the air. Hearing things her parents did to weaken the very reign she found herself under sent ripples through her skin.
She only wished that she knew Avenna, that maybe she could have shared a life with her instead of sharing it with Avenna’s brother.
And then there was Maren, whom she was now guilty of having forgotten.
She excused herself and followed Tislin out into the crisp air, the distant echoes of the sea coloring the breeze.
Tislin stood in his normal stance, hands behind his back, quietly studying. He glanced at Kienna from the corner of his eye while shadows danced around them. He was hard to read. Kienna could never get a pulse on his thoughts, which was exactly what made him so fit for the Hollow Blades.
“I imagine you’re frustrated,” Tislin sighed. “Connak and I aren’t intentionally hiding this from you. I hope you know that.”
“This entire journey has been filled with riddles.” Doubt crept back in. “I hate riddles, Tislin.”
“Understood,” Tislin said, looking out into the city. “The Elvish don’t believe in clarity. We are bound by those customs and must allow others to find their own way.”
Kienna huffed, tightening her fists. She was fully aware Tislin knew way more than he was ever letting on at one time, but if he ever shared them with her, he’d lose his value. “That’s a shit answer. What can you tell me?”
“The movement Elowen talks about was powerful, but they always forget to mention Vaerin’s part in it.”
Kienna’s head snapped, disbelief striking her face like the palm of a hand.
She had no words for that revelation. Her stomach dropped.
The cold seeped in through the sea breeze, slipping beneath her skin.
His name didn’t belong there, tied to what her parents were building.
The puzzles in her head were piecing together and bending away from each other all at the same time.
She only wanted to heal from the king, not have him woven deeply into her history.
The fear struck the chords of a familiar melody and the fucking song returned.
Round and round the silence spins,
The dark has teeth and grins and grins.
Kienna rubbed her eyes to wipe the exhaustion away. “You will need to speak clearly, so I can stop wrestling with whose side I need to be on.”
“You have enough of us standing for you, Kienna, that you should not be concerned with sides and deception. We are not tricking you into a trap that will put you back into a similar situation to the King of River Storm. Connak, for one, has dedicated his life to you.”
“It doesn’t mean you’re the good guys.”
“There are no good guys in war,” Tislin said, the shadows flurrying around his eyes. “Probably no right or wrong side, either. Simply a cause you’re willing to die for.”
Kienna clung to his words for a moment. It was the first thing anyone said to her that sounded like the full truth. “What cause are you willing to die for, Tislin?”
Tislin’s hands remained in his pockets, but he turned further into Kienna.
“When your parents fell in love, the queen refused their marriage, but the Eternal Mother did not agree. The Crown Above bound your parents in marriage and magic. In that, magic was gifted to the world, and they succeeded for a time. Avenna was given power. Children were born with it. But Vaerin couldn’t cope with not being gifted with magic. It drove him mad.”
“I know most of this,” Kienna reminded him.
“We are fighting for the sanctity of magic. It is a beautiful gift to those who know how to wield it,” Tislin added.
“Or a curse if you don’t,” Kienna whispered, remembering when King Vaerin gave them magic and called it a gift. Her hand brushed her charm.
Tislin tilted his head in agreement. “Or that. In the end, we are working to rid the world of the tainted magic that Vaerin created from the darkness so the Eternal Mother will deem it fit to give again.”
“No one is born with magic anymore?” Kienna’s eyes grew wide.
Tislin turned from the shadows and looked at her, his face solemn. “Not many. And once it’s gone, the Mother dies.”
Kienna shifted her feet in the grass beneath her boots. “Why do you think that is?”
His eyes fell back into the shadows, shoulders slumping as if he had a secret so great that it had been weighing him down his whole life. Kienna placed her hand on his elbow, and his attention slid back to her.
“I imagine it’s retribution for the magic she cannot take back. There are legends that Vaerin’s magic has grown so dark that it is now infecting the Mother. So, she withholds it to keep it from darkening the world.”
Kienna’s heart sank, but she understood why the king needed to be stopped. She hoped that Tristian and his army could figure it out. She kept Tislin’s elbow cupped in her hand and smiled at him. “I am grateful for you. For the truth that did not feel forced or half.”
Tislin shook his head. “The Elvish are cryptic. We don’t speak half-truths because we want to. We give complicated explanations because we have to.”
Kienna chuckled, her ash-woven hair falling over her face and catching a glimmer in the moonlight. She pushed it behind her ears, brushing her fingers through it. She caught Tislin studying her through the side of his eye again, this time a wicked little smirk crossing his face.
“You may be more Elvish than you’ve been letting on,” he told her, eyes floating to her ears. “How long have those been there?”
Kienna pushed her hair forward, self-conscious of the change. “About a day after they gave me my charm.”
Her fingers caressed the bracelet, the lavender catching the light.
She had watched the curvature of her ears slowly move into a point when gazing into a reflection of water as she bathed.
They still looked more human than Elvish, rounded and soft, but they now had the faintest upward taper at the tip.
Enough to prove an Elvish kinship in her bloodline.
Tislin sighed. “The woodcarver’s name is Calder Ashfell. He’s an old man. He…” He trailed off. “Well, he’s mean.”
“Oh, great.”
“He’s willing to pay you a fair wage to get by in Dove Port, though. I think it’ll be worth your time. Pretend you’re talking to my brother, Tristian.”
Kienna fought against a smirk. Tristian had his benefits as the High Commander of the Elvish army, but he was hard on everyone, and it was suffocating.
They both laughed, tears forming in Kienna’s eyes.
It was a lightness her heart needed. She gazed out into the night sky, milky stars spilling into the blackness.
“Tislin?” Kienna paused, afraid to ask. “Is this the woodcarver I’ve been looking for?”
“You start early,” he said. “Goodnight, Kienna.”