Chapter 34
thirty-four
Three days later, they arrived in Axelton. Vade hadn’t received a response from King Aradonis, but he’d told her no news was better than bad news. After Vade retrieved the money he needed to leave the king’s service, they wound through the city and up the green hills to Gretern’s Keep.
The druid temple in Dorsey had been fairly plain on the outside, with nature bursting to life inside, but the Keep was entirely nature—brimming with leaves, roots, moss, and life.
Birds flew through arched windows and lounged about their nests built into the gray stone covered in ivy.
Deer frolicked about and butterflies of every bright color danced upon the gardens of flowers in full bloom.
Breathtaking. Absolutely breathtaking.
Vade led Orelia up the steps with a hand on the small of her back. He’d barely kept his hands off her since they’d left Ravere. She hadn’t been one to complain and her hand had rested comfortably in his for most of the journey.
Two druids standing guard politely greeted them both. Wearing leaf-laden garb covering thick leather vests, they were far less imposing than batalins. Though their glaives were just as sharp—and just as tall—the weapons appeared less menacing in the hands of someone not naturally prone to violence.
After explaining why they were there, Orelia and Vade were ushered inside.
Oak trees grew from floor to ceiling all throughout the halls, as if the Keep had been crafted around them.
Water babbled as it slid down stones into holding pools.
Ducks fluffed their feathers, some waddling down the hall, others resting on rocks.
Dragonflies buzzed about the space, landing on perfectly circular yellow bulbs tucked inside large pink petals.
The aroma of fresh flowers perfumed the cool air and the sun shone in bright beams through openings in the ceiling.
Orelia found herself envious she wasn’t a druid. What a beautiful place to live and learn.
The man leading pulled back a vine-clad curtain and motioned for them to enter.
The most beautiful woman she’d ever seen stood behind a live-edged table of warm teak, reciting something in a language Orelia had never heard to the squeaking squirrel in her palm.
A small orb of orange light grew in the woman’s other palm, swirling in a mesmerizing circle.
She tilted her hand and the ball deflated, pouring like liquid light onto the squirrel.
After the light had absorbed into the animal’s fur, the squirrel’s head shot up and its tail wiggled back and forth.
“All better,” the Archdruid said in a voice as smooth and unhurried as winter molasses. The squirrel leapt off her hand and bounded up the oak in the center of the room, joining the others who chittered, welcoming their friend back.
Gretern’s almond-shaped, yellow-green eyes shifted to the two of them. A warm smile grew on her teal tinted lips. “How may I help you?”
Orelia wasn’t sure how to address her, so she dropped into her best curtsy as she would if she’d been presented before the king himself. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Miss Gretern.”
“No need for that, child. You may rise.” The lithe woman lifted her arm.
She pushed back a strand of wavy chestnut hair over her shoulder, then clasped her fingers together in front of her.
A modest dress of woven leaves and vines wrapped around her body and fell to the floor.
Clusters of brown and white feathers were draped across her shoulders like a shawl.
Everything about her was poise and grace, but it was the set of antlers on her head that drew Orelia’s attention most. They were twice the height of Devlin’s and sat upon the woman’s six-foot frame with apparent ease.
Without trying to be too obvious, Orelia counted sixteen tines jutting out from her buff-colored antlers. Vines hung from the tines and a sparrow sat at the tip of the highest point. She wondered how someone with such a slender neck could hold such weight.
Vade nudged Orelia’s arm. She quickly cleared her throat, realizing she’d been staring. “We’re sorry to bother you, but we were hoping you could help us with a binding spell.”
The Archdruid glided around the table, her dress of ivy trailing behind her. “I have many binding spells available for purchase. What kind are you interested in?”
“Oh, we aren’t looking to buy one. I, uhh, accidentally bound myself to him when I was trying a spell on my garden to get it to grow. My spell latched onto him instead.”
Gretern’s eyes slid to Vade, the kind smile still gracing her oval face. “And now your lives are bound to one another’s.”
Vade nodded.
The druid tilted her head, eyeing him curiously. “And your hearts belong to one another now as well.”
Orelia wasn’t sure how she could tell, but Vade slipped his hand in hers. “They do,” he said with his shoulders back and his chin high.
Proud. He was proud to be hers.
The corners of the druid’s eyes crinkled as she smiled, the only physical sign other than the specks of white on her antlers that gave away she was further into her lifespan. “Love is the most beautiful spell of all, is it not?”
Orelia squeezed Vade’s arm and beamed up at him. “It is.”
Gretern beckoned them over. “Come. I will reverse it for you.”
They joined her near the far wall lined with shelves that reached the ceiling, stocked with glass bottles full of every color liquid in the rainbow. Orelia recognized a few elixirs, but most were foreign.
The inclination to discover what each one did threatened to burst from Orelia, but she tamped it down. She needed to focus. They had spent over a month on the road and had finally reached their destination. Now wasn’t the time to indulge in curiosities.
“Face each other, please. Extend one arm and rest your palms against one another’s.” Gretern turned her back to them and rummaged through a drawer in the desk.
Vade turned a hand over, and Orelia placed her palm on his.
She caught his eyes going to her visible bit of cleavage as a smirk tugged at his lips.
Orelia subtly cleared her throat, pulling his dark eyes to hers.
She snickered quietly at the wicked look he gave her that said he couldn’t wait to continue what they’d started in the forest after this was finished.
Gretern approached and wrapped a moss green linen cloth around their joined hands. She tied the ends in a loose knot and let the fabric fall over the sides.
The druid placed one hand under Vade’s and one hand on top of Orelia’s.
Gretern began reciting an incantation in the same unfamiliar language she’d used with the squirrel.
As the words flowed out of her mouth, pink light grew from under her palms. The light twisted into multiple strands that wound up Orelia’s forearm, then Vade’s.
Warm in their touch, the coils tightened until they rested snugly against both their arms, tethering them together.
Gretern spoke a few more words, the lilt of her voice spiking at the end of her incantation.
When she was through, the light seeped into their arms and disappeared.
The druid stepped back and bowed her head to them both. “It is done.”
A rush of relief washed over Orelia. No longer would her foolish mistakes put the man she loved at risk.
Vade smiled in equal relief.
“Devlin said you would be able to help us, and we are so thankful,” Orelia said.
Gretern’s eyes dimmed. “We were so saddened to hear about his passing. He was an extraordinary druid. I learned everything from him.”
The two women exchanged pained smiles of solidarity. The kind offered in grief, brought on from fond memories of the one who had been lost.
Vade clasped Orelia’s hand and turned to speak to the druid. “We appreciate your help greatly.”
Gretern nodded politely. “Safe travels wherever you go, my friends.
The two of them made their leave, but they didn’t make it down the Keep steps before a dozen uniformed batalins stopped them, each gripping a glaive in their brawny hands.
A carriage pulled by a team of draft horses waited behind the guards.
Bannerman sat atop more horses, each carrying a white banner marked with a silver dragon head that rippled in the breeze.
When the carriage door opened, King Aradonis stepped out.
His jeweled, silver crown glinted in the sun, nearly blinding Orelia.
He ran a hand over his groomed salt and pepper beard, his pointed ears sticking out of perfectly coiffed salt-and-pepper hair.
He straightened the immaculate silver and white jacket hanging off his broad shoulders, fixing the cuffs of his sleeves.
The obsidian gems making up the buttons of his ensemble swallowed the sun, stark against his light-colored apparel.
The most powerful ren in Nivinia locked his ocean blue eyes onto Vade and spoke in a voice of polished gold. “We need to talk.”