Chapter 42
LYRA
“Speak with her, please. Mev will not listen to reason.”
It wasn’t the first time the king had made his request, but unfortunately, Mev had inherited more than strength and skill from her father. She was as stubborn as a Gyorian and refused to listen.
“She truly does not believe she should be eligible,” I said, peering out from the king’s solar windows yet again. The Skyway was clearly visible, and my guess was that Terran would arrive on horseback rather than by sea. He could, in theory, make better time if not traveling to the coast.
“There is little time before the Trial,” I said. “Perhaps you could delay it?”
“I would, if there was any indication she would listen to reason.”
I couldn’t understand a parent’s frustration at being unable to control their child, even as an adult, but imagined it would be frustrating.
Knowing from experience what was best for them but watching them take another path…
the truth was, however, Mevlida was an adult woman.
And though she respected her father greatly, she also truly believed the possibility of her as queen of Aetheria was not her place.
She’d not been in Elydor long enough.
She was half-human.
The list of reasons she gave was long, but those were the two I found most difficult to refute. As to the second, we attempted to point out that perhaps it would be a good thing, now that the shared goal of all clans was for a united Elydor, including the humans.
But so far, she could not be swayed.
“Will you try?” he asked.
As if I would deny him.
“Of course,” I said, the lump in my throat near constant now, as the day approached.
When Galfrid first announced his intentions, I had been as surprised as the remainder of his court. And now the day was upon us. Terran had still not arrived. Mev refused to discuss the matter. And the king became more and more distraught each day.
He’d assumed his daughter would participate. Assumed she would proceed him as queen. And while it was true, Mev was extraordinarily strong, there were others that could potentially best her.
“Remind her that a lifetime of training does not measure against the skill of a true king or queen.”
I could not agree or disagree. I’d never considered anyone besides Galfrid as the ruler of Aetheria. Would there be some comfort in having his daughter as the next ruler? Aye. But she was, as Mev pointed out, the least experienced air-wielder in the land.
“I will do so,” I said, hurrying toward the window. A sole rider, large enough to be him.
“It is Terran,” Galfrid said.
I spun toward the king.
“I can sense his power.” The corners of his mouth lifted. “Which is how I know Mevlida is destined to be our queen.”
“I will greet him briefly and then find her. We’ve still time.”
No sooner had the sun risen than Galfrid had summoned me to him and the Trial was to be performed, as was custom, at dusk.
“Report back to me,” he said, clearly worried.
I bowed, leaving Galfrid just as his Council began to file inside the chamber.
Since his announcement, meeting after meeting had commenced.
It was no small matter to lose a king who had been in power for centuries.
Eirion had attempted to persuade Galfrid to wait, to ensure all was ready for a smooth transition.
But the king insisted on speed, clearly anxious to go through the Gate before his wife returned home.
Running toward the courtyard, I did not stop to speak to anyone, even those who called my name. It was the last time we’d be separated, I decided. Doing so was too painful, by far.
He dismounted just as I ran down the marble steps of the palace’s front entrance. Without hesitating, I jumped into his arms, Terran catching me as my legs wrapped around his waist.
Kissing me for all to see, he stopped only when the whistles grew loud enough that they couldn’t be ignored.
“Quite a greeting from a normally reserved lady. I don’t believe I’ve seen you run before, if not in battle.”
He smelled like the land. Like Terran. Felt so solid against me. Being wrapped up in his arms was where I belonged.
“You have an effect on me,” I said, disengaging myself.
“Do I?” he taunted.
“Shall I take him, your majesty?”
“Aye, thank you,” Terran said to the stablehand. Giving him the reins, he followed me back into the palace.
“It’s set for tonight,” I began, telling him all that had transpired since he left. Terran appeared less surprised than I’d been, but his brow drew together at mention of Mev.
“Why not let the Trial decide?” he said, echoing the king’s words precisely.
“She refuses. Mev believes she will be humiliated and thought poorly of, for even attempting to participate. I even challenged her to a duel, one which she won easily, but Mev insisted I went easy on her, which I did not.”
“Can she win?”
“Aye. Her progression of skills is unlike anything I’ve even seen. Galfrid believes it is because she is destined to be the next Aetherian ruler, but Mev disagrees. She will not be persuaded.”
“And Kael?”
“Is useless.”
Terran stopped short. Remembering this was his brother, I amended. “He refuses to take a stance on the matter. Says it is Mev’s choice alone to make.”
“Hmm.” Terran clearly disagreed.
“The king asked me to speak with her again. Will you come with me?”
“I assumed that’s where we were headed.”
It was difficult not to grin from ear to ear. Terran was back, and I appreciated his unwavering support.
“I know you must want a bath and a meal—”
“I want a few things more than you can imagine,” he said, “but a bath and a meal are not among them.”
“No,” I asked coyly. “Not even a little?”
“We can have this conversation, if you’d like, but do not expect me to care if we’re overheard.”
Even that, in Terran’s deep voice, drew attention.
Grinning, I turned a corner. “She is in her bedchamber. Or was the last time I left her.”
Heading to Mev’s chamber with Terran following, I knew immediately she was still there due to the presence of her guards outside the door.
“Good day, Lady Lyra,” one said, hand over his fist to Terran. “Your majesty.”
“Good day,” he replied back as the guard opened the door, escorting us to her antechamber and calling her name.
Kael rushed toward us, though there was no sign of Mev.
“Brother,” he said, embracing Terran as the guard retreated.
“I came as quickly as I could.”
“The lower quarter?”
“Taken care of. We can discuss later.”
Embarrassed I’d forgotten to ask in my rush to see him, I said as much silently to Terran, who winked at me, seemingly understanding.
Winked.
Actually winked.
“Why don’t you persuade her?” Terran asked Kael without preamble.
“It isn’t my place to—”
“By the Stones, Kael. Then whose place is it?”
“She is a grown woman, her mind, her own. If Mev doesn’t wish to participate—”
Without waiting for him to finish, Terran brushed past him and headed deeper inside the chamber. Mev stood on the balcony, her long white hair flying behind her like a banner. Dressed in pale blue with silver lining, she certainly looked like a queen, even if she didn’t feel like one.
“Terran, she’s not from here. Do not—”
He wasn’t listening. Bracing for what he might say, I followed him out as Mev turned to greet us. At least, she’d been prepared when Terran spoke.
“There is no one in Elydor less deserving of ruling their clan than me,” he began.
“I allowed hate to guide me, despite being taught to love. I was nearly too late to change course, and did so only after killing my own father. But here, Princess Mevlida, we do not decide. This land”—he waved a hand to indicate the snow-capped mountains beyond the balcony on which we stood—“is not somewhere we simply occupy. Elydor lives alongside us, its will as important—if not more so—than any one of our own opinions.”
Without warning, he reached his hand out to those very same mountains Terran had pointed out to us, and incredibly at such a distance, sent a boulder the size of Mev’s chamber rolling downward. If allowed to continue unfettered, it would likely cause an avalanche.
It took Mev a moment to realize none of us were stopping it. The distance was so great, I would have had difficulty doing so anyway.
With a scowl at Terran, she lifted a hand and harnessed a gust of wind so strong it not only rushed upward toward the boulder, stopping its descent, but it also tore leafless trees from their roots, the wind’s path left barren.
Terran twisted his fingers again, this time melding the boulder, somehow, into the mountain as if it had always been there. Then, with a sweep upward, he regrew everything in the wind’s path, leaving it as if no such disturbance took place.
“She could not have done that,” Terran said, speaking of me.
I didn’t refute his words.
Mev stared at him and then turned to Kael. “Your brother is mad.”
Kael grinned. “Aye, he can be.”
“What if I hadn’t stopped it?”
“Not the right question, princess,” Terran said. I recalled the last time he used a similar phrase toward me.
I withheld my smile, unsure Mev would appreciate it at the moment.
“What’s the right question?” she asked, not hiding her annoyance.
Terran smiled as if he’d won a great prize.
“Why aren’t you training for the Trial?”
Mev opened her mouth, and shut it.
She looked at me.
I shrugged, with little to say.
Is he always this way?
Her whispers were seamless, as if she was born using them.
No, I whispered back. Sometimes, he’s worse.
Unable to help myself, I laughed at her expression of horror which is when Kael and Terran realized we’d been whispering. And while the mountains still trembled with his power, it was Mev’s silence that promised the greater storm.