Chapter 32
Deirdre
Gideon paused as soon as we entered the Dryad Realm. “I never expected it would look like this. It's more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.”
We needed to keep moving. Soon someone would come looking for us here.
Glancing back at the lilac tree, guilt shoved a dagger in my stomach. I couldn't imagine what Kane was thinking and he had every right to. This had been my plan.
I had never wanted to stay.
“Come on. The faster we get out of here, the safer we'll be.” Gideon held up the tuning fork, holding it in front of us.
“Wait,” I said, “put it away.”
Without question, he slid the fork into his coat.
Axelia walked forward. Why is this fae with you? There was no anger in her tone.
“This is Kane's cousin, Gideon.”
Gideon gawked at the female in front of us. “She's speaking to you?”
I nodded. “Telepathically.”
“Extraordinary.”
“The king is back at the palace. I’ve brought Gideon to show him the storm, in hopes he can help.”
The dryad nodded and ambled away, never even attempting to see through my lie. Her slow steps were full of ease and peace as if nothing in this realm was a danger.
I glanced back at the tree, desperately wanting to return and fix what I messed up. If there was an attack on the palace, they would need Kane’s help.
What if Liora or the pixies got hurt?
As if Gideon could read my mind, he said, “Would you stop worrying about them? You can't control what happens next.”
“I could help them.”
“No, you can't. Time is already passing there. The longer we stay here, the more time will have passed. We need to keep moving as quickly as possible.”
We walked faster, heading up the hill.
“What is that?” Gideon said, pointing to the house I could only assume Kane had grown up in.
When he had taken me here, there was a sadness in his eyes when I had asked what the structure was. He didn’t say that was where he had lived, but his expression said enough.
“I think that's where he lived.”
Gideon walked toward it. “He really lived here all that time by himself.”
I nodded. “He's not who you think he is.”
Gideon scoffed. “I know my cousin better than you. He's exactly who I know he is. Just because he's been nice to you doesn't change what he's done.”
“And what has he done?”
“Nothing. That's the problem!” Gideon’s voice rose and he shook his head, his normal relaxed decorum fading quickly.
“Decades have passed since he became king.
You know, when the magi fought to close the Rift, he didn't even help. None of the fae did. We were forbidden to! Our cousins from the Underground did more than us. And the magi could have used our help; more lives could have been saved with an immortal dragon fighting with them. But no, he wasn't concerned. He only cares about his castle and his pixies.” Gideon’s bright-blue eyes darkened.
He pulled out the tuning fork and pointed it at the room.
He’s not wrong. Kane seems to care only for those within his castle’s walls.
“While all of Saol united to heal our world, we stood and did nothing. Our legacy is a joke and one that will be laughed about for eons.” Gideon’s angry expression switched to a deep sadness, regret. “He has disgraced our people.”
In the temple, I had read the tomes on the Rift War. The Magi Council had spent decades creating a spell that would seal the Rift to the Never for good. No more darkthings or sickness plaguing the land.
Everyone had played a part in that war, except the surface fae.
Gideon was right. Kane had been silent, and being immortal, he could’ve saved lives.
We stood there in silence, and I wondered what I could say.
With a deep sigh, Gideon stepped into the house, looking around. “It doesn’t matter anymore. We will right our wrongs.”
Following him inside, I glanced behind us to see if any creatures or Kane himself followed, but there was nothing but the humming of sentient flowers.
“Do you think he knows that it's here?” Gideon asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“No. I don't think so.”
“He has to know, doesn't he?”
“Well.” It was a good point, but I truly believed Kane thought his immortality had come from living here.
“There was nothing in the diary that explained what made him immortal. Only that he believed his mother had something to do with it and it was a side effect of being in the Dryad Realm too long.”
Walking over to the table, I brushed my hand across the top, drawing with my finger in the dust. “He questioned her bargain with the Lich King, but how he became immortal… he didn't even know about that book I found, which I'm surprised nobody had discovered before.”
“Because no one was looking.” Gideon moved to an old wooden wardrobe and opened it. A trio of white moths fluttered out. “Who would be going through the queen's chambers? We all believed she ran off with Tallis because they were in love. It was no secret how close the two were.”
“What about the pixies? Surely, they would know the truth?”
Moving to the bed, I examined the shelf along the wall holding a few wooden toys, whittlings of different forest creatures. It was still difficult to believe that this was where Kane grew up. It explained so much about his distant attitude.
“They might, but as much as they love Kane, they are loyal to Moira… and I know that somehow they still communicate with her.”
The pixies still talk to Kane’s mother? “Does Kane know?”
“No. The queen mother was exiled and no one is allowed to speak with her, even his precious pixies.” Gideon held out the tuning fork. “It’s not here. Let's keep moving.”
We walked farther. The sensations of the flowers reached us: curiosity, excitement.
The wind stirred the tall grass and vibrant bluebells, which seemed to whisper secrets between each rustle. Glowing pollen drifted in lazy spirals, catching sunlight. Petals brushed our ankles, murmuring with wordless curiosity, the ground beneath our feet pulsing faintly.
Gideon’s eyes went wide at the daffodils giggling in our minds and the bluebells playing a song, the melody wrong for the tune thrumming within my heart.
The fork vibrated and Gideon held it up. “This way.”
As we walked up the hill and deeper into the realm, I looked back at the little house and the lilac tree far in the distance.
I didn't know what was happening at the palace, but I knew after what I had done that I could never return.
My only chance at survival was with the fae walking beside me, but could I really trust someone who just betrayed their king and their own blood?
He had saved and used me for his own schemes. It wasn’t brave to follow him now, but I had no other options. Gideon was right about one thing. Kane would never forgive me.
And unlike his mother, I didn’t think exile would be my fate.
The Deathless One would come for me, and this time, nothing would save me from his wrath.