Chapter 26
Talvie
The forest falls silent. Only the wind moves, shaking frost from needled boughs.
The fenriswulf that is Mikael stands imprisoned in my block of ice, tracking our every motion, muscles twitching beneath thick fur. The sheer power contained inside my icy prison is a sight to behold, but all I can think of is what this means for Lark.
Where is he? How did Mika escape? Could Lark have survived if the fenriswulf attacked him?
The broken shackle around the wolf’s hind leg taunts me in eerie silence from inside the ice. Below it, long deadly claws flex. No one could survive those, let alone the glistening teeth. My head and heart both pound.
“Where would they have gone?” I turn to Katja, who is deathly pale under the full moon.
Her mouth hangs open.
“Kat! Think. Where would Lark have taken him? You must have some idea!”
Her mouth snaps shut, and she shakes the frost from her hair. “I might know. I’ll fly there.”
“Not alone. I’m coming with you.” I leave no room for argument.
“We’ll come too!” Johannes says.
“No. You all need to stay with Mikael. This shouldn’t melt anytime soon, but we can’t let anyone find him like this.”
Katja seems to have regained her composure, dipping down to face Helkki.
“Use your masking magic. Practice extending it to others to hide him,” she tells the redhead.
“Is your magic strong enough for that, Hellion?” I ask. “Can you make someone invisible?”
She flips her hair over one shoulder. “Duh. The princess almost ran me over in the forest once. Never even saw me.”
“You…what?”
Katja cuts in. “We’re wasting time.”
My thoughts stumble, but there’s no time to chase them.
I glance at Mikael again, and to Helkki, already halfway up the block of ice using shards of my spear like pick-axes.
My gaze finds the twins, fiercely determined, jabbering together about patrol strategies and perimeter watches.
Aili stares back at me, just as blazing in her loyalty.
Then I glance down at Eevi’s sleepy face, her warm weight strapped to my chest. I need to keep them safe for Lark, but I need to find Lark for them just as much.
“If anything happens, you two,”—I gesture to the girls—“shoot fireballs into the sky. I’ll be back here fast as I can. Stay together, all of you. No matter what.”
I need to find Lark, for them.
I need Lark.
I need him.
My breath is sharp in the cold as I look up at the full moon overhead, and at Katja, ready to fly. It’s not enough. We have to find him quickly.
I know what I have to do.
“Lumi.”
Are you sure, Valkie?
“I’m sure. We can trust them. I need you.”
She materializes above me in a shimmer of pale light, vanishing from the pendant around my neck. Her glow illuminates the path, reflecting off the ice block, delicate and ethereal. Gasps of shock and delight greet the little moon.
“Is that—?” Johannes starts.
“A celestial,” Katja breathes.
“A moon? I thought only…” Juani trails off.
Everyone knows celestials only bond with Point Fae. At least, I think that’s true. Unless it’s another lie.
I lift my chin. “This is Lumi. You trusted me with Mikael’s secret. I’m trusting you with mine. Lumi can search faster than any of us.”
For a breath, no one speaks. Then Helkki sighs. “She’s beautiful.”
"Thank you, fiery one," Lumi replies.
I exhale slowly. I’m sure they’ll have questions, but they say nothing more for now.
“Go,” I whisper.
Lumi rises through the trees, a glowing wisp against the dark branches. Katja follows, hovering low enough to direct me after them both. I tighten the sling holding Eevi, then race after the light.
The forest closes around us in shadows and silver.
My breath comes in clouds of mist. Lumi searches high and fast, darting one way, then the other.
Her shifting light sends the trees’ shadows dancing across the path like skeletons brought to life.
Twigs snap beneath my boots as I push on, keeping Katja in view as she occasionally calls down directions.
My legs pump in time with her wings. They ache, but I ignore it.
Every jumping shadow and unknown sound sends my heart lurching to my throat with fear. I ignore that too.
More than fear drives me forward. It’s deeper than that.
I can’t let them down.
I can’t lose him.
I can’t fail.
I can’t…
I care. I care.
About Lark. About all of them.
Somewhere between snowball fights and play rehearsals, this family became mine too. I care for them.
I—I lo—
“Here, Valkie! Over here,” Lumi calls down.
My heart tumbles down the path in front of me.
“Straight ahead, Val,” Katja directs.
A flash of white hair through the trees.
“Lark!”
Urgent squeaking confirms we’ve found him as Hugo races out to meet us, quills flying. Katja and Lumi beat me there, but I sprint to join them.
He’s slumped at the base of a tree, half-buried in snow, one leg bent at a wrong angle. His coat is torn, his shoulder bloody, and one side of his face is scraped raw. But he’s alive.
“Mika. Where’s Mika?” Lark is saying. Hugo squeaks along with his urgent probing.
“He’s safe. Val froze him.” Katja’s reassurance only makes Lark’s head jerk up.
His gaze finds mine. Pain tightens his face, but if I live a thousand years, I’ll never forget the look in those jade-honey eyes when they lock on me. Relief. Hope. A look like I’m the answer to his every question. It drives the breath from my lungs.
“He’s alive, Lark. Contained in ice, but otherwise fine. The others are with him. Everyone is safe.”
His eyelids droop. “Thank you,” he whispers.
Katja is already moving toward his shoulder.
When she wrenches open his cloak, he groans and pitches sideways.
Deep claw marks have torn through the fabric and left long tatters of his tunic soaked in blood.
Pixie dust shines under Lumi’s light as Kat’s hands go to work.
Her wings twitch, casting more dust over Lark’s prone form, beginning to heal the scrapes and bruises while she focuses on the worst wound at his shoulder.
Her hands glow with the amount of pixie dust she’s pulling to work her healing magic.
Slowly, the bleeding stops, and Lark sits up with a groan of relief. Until Kat straightens his leg and he cries out, cursing the Deep.
“Easy, Doc. Have a little bedside manner,” he chuckles after he recovers.
“Oh, get wet. You’ve been through worse,” she quips right back.
When she rocks onto her heels and gathers more dust, I stop her with a hand on her shoulder.
“Not so fast.”
They both look up.
“You can answer my questions first,” I tell Lark. “You’ve been hiding things from me.”
He drops his gaze, but when he lifts it again, he casts a deliberate glance toward Lumi.
Right. Fine. We’ve both been hiding things, but I have a drowning good reason!
There’s none of the shocked awe that there was with the kids, but his point is well taken. He’d probably seem more shocked if he weren’t still injured, because it’s clear he knows what Lumi’s presence means.
“Yes, I have a moon companion. This is Lumi, and you can thank her later for finding you.”
If he only knew the rest of my secrets. Then he’d be truly shocked.
But I’m too preoccupied with the understanding that’s been rising from the back of my mind, all thanks to a certain redheaded Hellion.
“First, I want answers. Explain yourself.”
He swallows.
Katja hovers nervously, looking between us.
Lark gives her a nod and takes a breath. “I should have told you. From the beginning…I wanted to, but—”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because it’s dangerous. The way my magic works…
it’s not safe for Wilder Fae to have such powerful magic.
The stronger our magic is, the more they fear us, and the more they fear us, the more they come after us.
I wanted to tell you so many times, but if you knew my magic was strong enough to have a mirror—”
“You attacked the royal caravan on the road! You staged that bandit attack!”
He falls still.
“That terrifying druid was you! You and your illusions!” I’m shouting now, obscene in the quiet night.
Lark regards me slowly. “Oh. That.”
“Yes! That! What did you think I meant?”
“Lumi thinks Valkie should take a deep breath, yes?” the traitor moon interjects.
“Valkie thinks not!” I snap.
“Well, Lumi wonders why Valkie is so angry, if she was not there.”
Oh.
That.
Drown me.
“I, uh…”
Lark reaches a hand toward me. “Come here.”
Gingerly, I mince forward and let him take my hand.
“Were you there, Val? Is that what you’re trying to say?”
“I was…nearby.”
“I’m sorry. That was the scary fire incident you mentioned, wasn’t it?”
“It was terrifying. Of course, I had no way of knowing it was mostly illusion magic. Storms, I’m so gullible.”
“Val…”
“No, it’s fine. I’m fine now. Why did you do it, though? At least tell me that.”
His thumb strokes slow arcs over my hand held in his.
It’s soothing, and my heart rate slows. “It was a job. The troupe was paid to stage a distraction; that’s all I know.
There wasn’t any real danger, but I’m sorry it scared you.
I didn’t know you would be there. We were just supposed to scare the huntsmen. ”
“It worked. A little too well.” I swallow hard, but a squeeze from his hand on mine calms me.
At the time, it felt like the worst thing that had ever happened to me. That day ended everything I knew. I thought my life was over.
But haven’t I found so much more out here than I ever did inside the palace walls? I thought that day was so terrible, but I’ve seen suffering much worse out here, yet I also see joy, and hope, and resilience.
If the carriage hadn’t been attacked, I would be dead by Beron’s axe by now. Really, the way things have turned out, I should thank Lark and his troupe.
“I’m sorry.” He says it so quietly, so earnestly, I almost forgive him on the spot.
“Um…” Katja’s voice startles me. I forgot she was here. “Does that mean I can heal his leg now?”
“Storms! Yes. I’m sorry, Lark. I didn’t mean to…”
He grins at me, dimple popping. “Seems like the least I deserved.”
Tension eases from his brow as she sprinkles healing dust and works her magic. The air smells faintly of lavender, and Lark breathes a sigh of relief as she finishes and he thanks her. Together, we help him stand.
He winces as soon as he puts weight on his leg, but a few tentative steps later, he stands in front of me and ruffles Eevi’s hair. She woke up during the run, but never fussed once while we dealt with Lark, seeming to grasp the seriousness. Now she coos at him, earning one of his bright smiles.
It puts my heart at ease.
He’s okay. They’re all okay.
Hugo grunts his own appreciation, then scrambles up my leg to my pocket. Lark only raises a brow and then shrugs. I feel like I’ve been bestowed with a great honor, carrying both his baby and his pet.
“I can use dust to levitate you back,” Katja offers him.
“No, Doc. You’ve done enough. Don’t exhaust yourself.”
“But I can help.”
He smiles at her. “You already have. Don’t waste more dust on me. There are enough people in this world who’d want to take advantage of you, kiddo. I won’t be one of them.”
She frowns.
I step in. “Then you can at least lean on me.”
He loops an arm around my shoulders. “Now that’s an offer I can’t refuse, ihana.”
We start the slow trek back to the others. Lumi guides us, staying low between the trees, lighting the path ahead. Katja walks sedately behind us as I help Lark limp along.
“Okay back there, Doc?” Lark asks after a long stretch of silence.
Katja grumbles. “Sometimes I wonder what the point is of having power if I’m not allowed to help people with it.”
“You do help people,” Lark says.
“I help our family,” Kat replies. “But what about everyone else? Who’s helping them?”
I look at her, at Lark, at the moonlight slicing through the branches.
What is the point of power if not this?
To protect. To try.
Not to hoard it like my stepmother. Not to take it for granted like most Point Fae. Not to pretend it doesn’t exist like I once did. But to wield it with care, for those who need it.
For everyone waiting for the cold to end.