Chapter 14 #2
My fingers brushed her skin, and she shivered.
Was it cruel of me to dampen her magic? Yes, but I didn’t trust her to stay, and now that the unicorn had deemed her queen, there was no turning back for either of us.
I knew the human was powerful, but to bond with the unicorn that way…
Racing through memories, I searched for stories of similar instances, trying to decipher the meaning of this.
Anna and Ella would certainly be thrilled, among other members of my court, my cousin in particular, who seemed to have an interest in my human bride.
Gideon wouldn't dare cross me, but his friendship with the human did not sit well with me either.
I walked ahead of Deirdre, deciding that I needed to focus on anything else but her. It was odd to be thankful she survived and yet the thought of wedding her… I shook my head. It should have infuriated me. Instead, a flicker of curiosity entered my thoughts.
Anna and Ella fluttered in the air around Liora, all three of them waiting.
When their gazes landed on Deirdre, the pixies clapped their little hands in glee and buzzed around.
I walked past them and my cousin.
Gideon looked up, not making any movement in either direction. “So the human passed the test.”
He glanced over at Deirdre, a sly smile on his devious face. “And there's the new Queen of the Fae.”
Olivia flew by my ear. “You don't have to marry her.”
Word would spread like fickle vines through my court. There would be no talking my way out of this and though I pretended not to care about my court's opinion, it mattered. “See that she is put back where she belongs, for now.”
“Where are you going?” Olivia hissed.
“Home.”
“This is your home,” she said through gritted teeth.
“One day it will be.” Needing to get out of the forest, I shifted into my dragon form, flying up and leaving my pixies behind.
They didn't understand. Nobody could.
Yes, Caste Castle was my home, but it had been tainted with death, lies, and betrayal. I had grown up in a different place against my will and yet when I needed to run, to hide from the politics of my court, I ran there.
I soared through the sky, flying toward the castle, knowing that I would return much faster than my companions.
When the castle came into sight, I flew toward the open garden: the Royal Courtyard.
Below, a magical barrier kept anyone without the royal runes out.
I shifted above the barrier, my dragon form too big and bulky to land inside.
My skin tingled as I passed through. Using my shadow wings to hover, I dropped in front of the lilac tree, then placed my hand on the bark.
The bark wavered under my palm as I spoke the ancient words. Wood shimmered and I pressed in, stepping through the portal into the Dryad Realm.
My surroundings shifted, the sky turning into hues of pink and orange. It was already sunset here. The sky was like our realm, though instead of clear blue, it was varying shades of oranges and pinks. At night, those shades darkened to more silvery, muted tones of purple and navy.
There was a silence that filled the Dryad Realm different from the chattering busyness of my court. The only animals here ate plants and there were no other races. Endless vibrant foliage, flowers bigger and larger than any of their kind back in our world.
You've returned.
A voice entered my thoughts.
Axelia.
The dryad who had raised and protected me for forty years.
I didn't come here often. At first, I was terrified that time would pass as quickly as it did when my mother had sent me here. One week in our realm was forty years here.
I don’t think my mother knew about the abnormality of time.
I could never forget that moment I returned to the castle. I had been so angry after she abandoned me.
The glow of the ancient lilac tree warmed my back as I stepped into the realm I had once called home.
Mother was there, hands clenched, with blood covering her dress. Her face paled, as if I were some ghost she hadn’t expected to see again.
I knew I looked different. My once pale skin had tanned, tinged with the magic of the dryads and the draconic bloodline that had overpowered everything else after my first transformation. My silver eyes, once so like hers, had shifted into an amber that matched the fury in my veins.
I was no longer the boy she had thrown away.
Tallis released her, stepping forward as I emerged fully into the torchlight.
His eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”
I didn’t hesitate. “I suppose you would forget about me after forty years.”
That wiped the confusion from my mother's face.
Her lips parted in shock. “It can’t be. It’s not even been a week.”
“For you, maybe,” I said coldly, folding my arms. “But for me, it’s been much longer.”
Forty years. Alone. Abandoned. Left to make sense of a world I hadn’t chosen.
She’d once disappeared into that realm and returned unchanged. I hadn’t been so fortunate.
“You left me alone for decades in a strange world,” I said. “Without any answers. Not once did you come to check on me.”
“Kane. I—”
“I don’t care to hear your excuses, Mother.” The words felt like ash in my mouth. I dropped my gaze to her hands, slick with blood. “Why is there blood on your hands? What has happened?”
She didn’t answer. Of course she didn’t. She never had.
Tallis stepped in, a fae I used to trust with my life, his tone firm when he said, “The king has been attacked. You need to go to your father’s chambers. Right now. He doesn’t have much time left.”
I didn’t waste any breath responding. They didn't deserve it.
Spinning away, I raced toward the raised wall, shadows shifting into claws from my fingers. With a powerful leap, I embedded them into the stone and began climbing toward the castle.
Toward the man who had made me.
Toward the throne I never asked for.
And away from the woman who’d left me behind.
Everything after finding my father, stabbed and dying in his chambers, blurred inside my head, except key parts, which I did not want to re-think about now.
Kane. What troubles you?
Axelia wasn’t in sight, but her soothing voice found me.
Thinking about the past.
I’m coming to you.
The sunflowers reached for me, and I extended a hand, brushing my fingers along their soft petals. A joyish warmth flooded me before I continued on toward the only place that had ever truly felt like mine.
For years, I’d avoided the Dryad Realm, afraid to lose time again. But when the magi sealed the Rift into the Never, the temporal imbalance had healed.
Axelia came to the royal courtyard herself to tell me: It’s safe to visit. If you want to.
Now, time here moved only slightly differently. An hour, maybe two. Never forty years again.
The Dryad Realm was where I came so I wouldn't be bothered or bugged or questioned, and I could just sit with my thoughts.
Lush vegetation crowded the forest floor, humming with unseen life. Some of the plants could speak; others only shimmered with emotion. Their magic was quieter than most fae would bother to notice. But I always did.
I climbed the hill where Axelia had built my home, the silent river below gleaming like twilight. My cottage had grown from the bark of an old tree that welcomed me each time I returned. One window overlooked the forest. Vines curled around the wooden frame.
Stepping through the open doorway, a sense of longing filled my chest. Everything had remained untouched: the viny table with chairs, the corner table where various tools and bowls sat among jars packed with mushrooms, different jellies, and nut butter.
I sank onto the mossy bed in the corner and stared out at the forest beyond.
Axelia appeared in the doorway.
The dryads were unlike any other race, their bodies almost like living bark.
Her long green hair covered her naked form, which was comprised of patterns of bark and vines.
Her skin was the rich color of olives. She was slender and tall, like one of the city elves, and I wondered if at one time the dryads were elves.
Ducking as she entered the home, she gradually moved toward me. She sat on the moss, her greenish skin almost swimming with life, and placed a hand on my leg.
Speaking to me with her mind, she asked, What has happened?
I brought the human to the castle, killed her husband in the process, and when I thought the unicorn would kill her, it not only blessed her, but seemed to bond with her. Once the priests find out, the wedding will happen immediately.
Why is this bad?
I sat up with a sigh. I have been alone for too long.
The dryad tilted her head at me, confused by my words.
Yes, I have my pixies, but… I picked at the moss that I sat on. The marriage ceremony will bind me with this human, connect us in a deeper way. I'm not ready for that type of commitment.
It is time for you to heal.
I raised a brow at my guardian. I’m immortal.
You know that's not what I mean.
I swung my legs over the mossy bed, planting them on the dirt ground. Resting my elbows on the top of my thighs, I stared out at the magical forest before me.
Axelia reached over and brushed my hair off my shoulder, placing her hand there. It's time to move on.
Her barky touch sent me back years to that moment when I was thrown into this world and left alone.
I wasn't ready to let go of the anger.
I wasn't ready to let some human into my life.
This had started as a game. A way to prove something.
Now… Now it was something else.…
Sometimes healing is more difficult than living with the pain. It's easier to stay stagnant. Axelia’s words filled me with unease.
I left the makeshift home and stared out at the forest, then I headed out to the stream.
After shucking off my clothes, I stepped into the cool waters.
The bioluminescent algae created a blue twinkling to the waters, something I had always been fascinated with.
If it weren’t for the beauty and serenity in this place, I might not have survived.
Wishing for death felt impossible when life bloomed all around you.
Hiding here will not change your destiny. Axelia stood at the edge of the water, her gaze calm.
“No,” I replied out loud. “But it will delay it.”
I ducked my head under the waters, needing to escape from the conversation.
I fear that will only make your suffering worse.