Chapter 6
Six
Fluorite
Bile creeps up my throat, and I feel Calix press his shoulder into mine.
“She got injured in the explosion,” Leda grits out through clenched teeth.
A fae I don’t recognize rushes past us, his hair cropped short and the color of fresh snow, making his sea-blue eyes stand out even more. He wears clothing similar to Willow’s, his tattered green tunic cinched at the hips with leather straps and a hood secured over his head.
His arms wrap around Willow, her cheek pressing against his chest. He whispers something into her ear, too low for me to make out. Willow freezes, her body going rigid. A flurry of emotions passes over her face, and she peels herself away from the fae.
“Brielle,” she murmurs quietly, her eyes distantly gazing at my friend’s slack, propped-up form. Everything slows to a halt—time suspended as Willow remains stock-still and the white-haired fae beside her mirrors her shocked state.
A gurgling noise comes from where Brielle is slumped over, the sound snapping all of us into motion.
My breath catches as Willow flies to where Brielle is being carried behind me, muttering curses and shouting orders. Two of the warriors follow quickly on Willow’s heels, reaching for Brielle.
Leda bares her teeth at them, her ears pinning back as she warns them to stay away.
“They’re here to help,” Willow soothes. Leda doesn’t move, her eyes hard as she clutches Brielle. Willow shakes her head and adds, “What other choice do you have? We can help her, and if you don’t let us, she may die.”
Leda hesitates, but the fury in her gaze fades as she looks toward Brielle. “Fine,” she hisses through her teeth.
The warriors immediately step closer, reaching for Brielle. This time, Leda lets them, her eyes watching their every move.
Brielle’s head lolls to the side as she’s handed over. The two warriors prop Brielle up with her arms over their shoulders as Leda and Maddox had done.
My chest squeezes, not from sadness but from rage. The numbness melts away, replaced by a steady tremble that starts in the tips of my fingers and works its way up to my shoulders. Pure and unfiltered fury sweeps through me.
Daimon did this to her.
Once they have her settled between them, Leda asserts, “But one of us will be staying with her.”
Maddox steps forward immediately, motioning with his hands, his gaze on Sidra.
“Maddox will go with Brielle,” she explains.
I briefly remember when I first met Maddox, and Brielle explained they had met years ago. I can’t imagine how he feels—my chest is painfully tight looking at Brielle, and I’ve only known her a short time.
Maddox’s brilliant green eyes meet mine, reminding me of a pair of emerald ones attached to a man I can’t bring myself to think about right now.
A mix of blood and dirt is smeared across his cheeks, and a freshly healed wound has formed just above his left brow.
He nods at me, his brows creasing together.
I give him a sad smile, wishing I’d spent more time learning his language.
His shoulders sag, and he sways a little before he takes a step to trail behind the guards carrying Brielle, briefly patting me on the back as they pass and giving me a small smile, one that brings comfort to my pounding heart.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I whisper, voice strained.
His eyes track the movement of my lips forming the words, and he gives me a quick nod, his hand falling away as he trudges ahead to catch up with the warriors.
My insides twist as I watch them drag Brielle away. I have so many questions for her—how she knew my father, what she could tell me about him—but mostly, I need her guidance. The steady confidence that pours out of her.
Willow watches them, too, a sadness flowing off of her in waves. “Update me as soon as the healer knows what’s going on,” she calls after the soldiers.
The soldiers give her a half nod over their shoulders, hurrying their pace.
The Undine we’ve yet to meet shifts closer to Willow, his arm resting on her lower back as he says in a low hum, “She’ll be okay. She’s strong.”
The way they speak about her… Willow and this fae beside her know Brielle—just as Brielle knew Daimon. I see the same haunted look in Willow’s eyes.
“Do you know her?” My voice startles them—slicing through the silence.
Willow’s mouth turns up, the smile not reaching her tear-lined eyes. “In another life, I knew her very well,” she whispers. Her face shifts, the eyes of an assessing warrior taking over as she meets my gaze. “Who are you?”
Her gaze scans over all of us as she asks—the question not entirely unfriendly, but still holding a hint of a warning.
“Leda Manor,” Leda says strongly, causing Willow and the Undine’s eyes to widen slightly. Leda nods her head to me and says, “Lunaria Manor.”
The two warriors turn to me, a question in their eyes.
“Calix, Orla, Maddox, and Sidra are all in Brielle and Lunaria’s fleet,” Leda continues. Her jaw flexes as she adds, “And you?”
Willow’s gaze flickers toward the empty space where Brielle and Maddox disappeared. “I’m Willow, and this is my bonded, Aster,” she answers, not seeming to mind Leda’s brashness. Aster’s chin lifts a fraction, silent and steady.
Something changes in Leda’s face, her cool mask slipping away at the names. She sucks in a sharp breath as she blinks rapidly at each of them, gaze swinging from one to the other.
“Willow and Aster?” Leda breathes. “Of the commander’s fleet?”
They both nod, a glint of pride shimmering in their eyes. I watch them closely, trying to piece together what’s going through Leda’s mind.
“Leda?” I ask, my patience wearing thin as exhaustion presses against my shoulders.
My sister tenses, snapping out of whatever haze she was in, her piercing gaze meeting mine. “Our mother knew them—I grew up on stories of her time riding with them during the war,” Leda breathes.
I swallow, a pinch of jealousy tugging at my stomach. Not of Leda, but of the life Reichardt robbed me of.
“And you two,” Willow says with a softening smile—the mask of the warrior in her gaze thawing. “Are the queen’s daughters.”
Leda and I glance at each other, but ultimately Leda nods.
Willow steps forward until she’s an arm’s length away from Leda and me, lowering her voice though the others are still well within hearing range.
“When I knew your mother, I could see Eurydice’s light within her,” Willow says gently. “Her magic of light was unlike anything I had seen. It was invaluable in the war—on more than one occasion. We likely all would’ve lost our lives had it not been for her.”
I swallow, unable to speak as emotions claw at my throat. I wish I could’ve seen that side of our mother—could’ve grown up hearing the stories of her heroics.
“We know of the prophecy.” Willow’s gaze slides to Leda, and my sister shifts beside me. “If anyone is gifted by Eurydice, it’s the one they say has the mark of her gift in light—of the one born the night before it revealed itself.”
A memory surfaces at Willow’s words, of Leda trying to train me and telling me about how this vague prophecy points to her being the realm’s savior.
Until now, I hadn’t understood what caused Leda to seem so uncomfortable at the idea of it. But seeing the hope in Willow’s face—that she truly believes Leda is her savior—makes me understand.
Leda stays quiet, so Willow pushes on.
“It is for those reasons that I’m allowing you to enter my home,” she continues, voice sharpening. “This place—it is not one others beyond here know about. If you stay here, you’re agreeing to keep this place and everything you see here a secret.”
I nod, seeing Leda do the same out of the corner of my eye.
“What you do is of no concern to us as long as it does not endanger our people,” Leda says with finality.
Willow raises a brow. “We’ll see about that.”
I glance at Leda, curious as to why she didn’t press harder about Willow’s secrecy. But Leda trusts her—based on a past life she heard about from our mother. Let’s just hope the person Leda heard stories about then is the same person Willow is today.
“Great,” a gruff voice says from behind my friends.
Leda growls and spins toward the voice.
Willow gasps and takes a step forward as she asks, “Humans? In Penyth?”
A wave of nausea rolls through me—I had almost forgotten they were there, hidden behind my friends and shrouded within the cloud of my relief that everyone was alive. I avoid looking in their direction, my anger bubbling up inside of my chest at the mere thought of the king of Crea.
“The humans—” Leda’s eyes flash with anger, and I force my gaze to stay on her instead of on the man who might cause me to finally snap.
“Are not on our side.” I cut in. Leda looks at me, pride in her eyes as she nods for me to continue. “I wouldn’t consider them a danger, but they should be treated with caution.”
Willow and Aster begin whispering with one of the warriors who stayed behind.
“Do you have a place to lock them up?” Calix asks, his tone even, no hint of a joke to be found.
A familiar, masculine laugh follows his question, and red begins to seep into my vision. Adrian. The man who put his kingdom at risk to save me. The man who got into the middle of something he shouldn’t have, and now Graylen is paying the price in the Vale.
I grind my teeth together, forcing myself to look anywhere but at him.
Instead, I look at the village beyond Willow and Aster, the lights still illuminating what seem to be empty cottages.
This is their home, their sanctuary. Adrian and the Lyles have already proved they can’t be trusted, and I can’t risk ruining whatever peace stretches thin between these villagers and us.
Locking them up is the only way to ensure that right now. If it were up to me, I’d kick all three of them off this island and let them swim back to Crea.
Aster nods his head in a quick, jerking motion. His eyes slide to Willow, and he angles himself just slightly so that he’s between her and the boys. The air between us tenses, a thick silence settling heavily.