Chapter Fifty-Five Riela
Chapter Fifty-Five
Riela
I clung to Garrick’s arm as he stepped us to the courtyard. His offer of marriage echoed through my mind, a temptation that
I was hard-pressed to resist. I wanted him. I’d nearly died for him. But if he regretted our marriage in the future, it would shatter me.
The part of me that was used to looking out for danger warned me away.
My head swam, and it was only partially because of the decisions weighing on me. I probably should have stayed in bed another
day, but the Blood King wasn’t going to extend his deadline. I needed to see what I was facing.
The courtyard was still solid stone, though a flat path had been carved directly to the closest ballroom door. I sucked in
a breath at the destruction.
“Can you turn it back?” I asked.
Garrick’s jaw clenched, and he silently shook his head.
The area around the dais was flattened and stained with blood. Two soldiers stood guard, looking far more relaxed than I would
have expected from the stained ground.
Garrick led me to the dais. The silver inlay was now a sort of silvery lavender, and the whole dais radiated magic.
Familiar magic.
“How did you close the door? Before, I mean.”
Garrick’s gaze cut to mine. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“No, but this is my magic. And if the door is closed, you wouldn’t have to guard it so carefully, right?”
“I’ve gotten most of the protections back up, so we don’t have to guard it as closely now. And I will not trap my people in
Edea.”
“Then we’ll cross and send them through before I try anything.” I tipped my head at the door. “You can’t control it?”
“No. I’ve tried all week. It effortlessly resists my efforts.” He grinned ruefully at me. “Kind of like its creator.”
My heart turned over, ready to forgive and forget if only he’d keep smiling at me like that, but I stiffened my spine. I wouldn’t
be won by a single smile, no matter what my heart thought.
Garrick helped me up the stairs. The door’s magic welcomed me like a hug from a friend.
“Ready?” Garrick asked as soon as we were steady on the stone.
“Yes.”
The world shifted far more easily than it had before, and I blinked as we arrived in Edea. Six soldiers guarded this side
of the door. They looked weary but relaxed. At the sight of Garrick, they bowed and murmured greetings.
This courtyard was still vibrantly green, though the burned grass around the dais had been trampled into mud.
When Garrick told me I’d pulled magic from the land, I’d been too scared to ask if I’d killed his mother’s flowers. I was
glad that one tiny joy still lived.
But when Garrick stepped me to the top of the castle, I blanched in horror at the state of the forest. The once stately trees
were shriveled and twisted everywhere I looked, as far as I could see. “Are they alive?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
“Most of them are clinging to life,” Garrick said. “The forest held a lot of magic, and you took the majority of it. It will
take time to bring it back, but all is not lost. If you look carefully, you’ll see the closest trees are already starting
to recover. One benefit of a wide-open door is that the magic from Lohka can leak through to this side.”
I squinted, but I couldn’t tell much difference between the close trees and the farther ones. “How did I do this? I didn’t
even know I could pull magic from the trees.”
“You didn’t know how to divert a flood, either, and yet you did. Desperation is a powerful motivator.”
This wasn’t desperation—this was devastation. Vastien had been right to be wary of me.
“How do I replace the seal on the forest so monsters and Etheri can’t attack humans?”
Garrick sighed and rubbed a hand over his head. “The seal was put in place during my parents’ reign. They had help from the
Emerald Queen and the Copper Sovereign, and still it drained them to near death. The other courts were . . . displeased.”
“So none of them are going to jump to help now?”
“No.” He hesitated, then added, “Especially not once they see the forest. A powerful focus is a thing to be feared or controlled,
not aided.”
I closed my eyes and took a slow, deep breath. I was responsible for this mess, so I would find a way to fix it, even if I
had to do it by myself. But first, I had a door to close.
“Call your people back,” I said. “It’s time to see if the door obeys me.”
While we waited for the soldiers to return from the border, I ate a bowl of stew, then forced myself to drink a cup of replenishment
tea. Garrick had only deployed those who could step through the ether, so it wasn’t a long wait.
I felt better after the meal and the tea. My magic was recovering more quickly, and I wasn’t sure if it was the tea or the
fact that the last of the binding had broken.
Maybe both.
It was a shock to see Vastien striding around on two legs in the green courtyard, and when he caught my astonished look, he
grinned at me and inclined his head. “Now I can use thumbs on both sides of the door. Thank you, my lady.”
“I’m glad the curse is broken, but I don’t know how I did it. You don’t need to thank me.”
“Doesn’t matter. People are whispering that you’re a cursebreaker, which isn’t really a thing—until it is. Magic is funny that way.”
“I need to be a curse-putter-backer,” I grumbled, then winced and waved my hands in apology. “Not you. I was talking about
the forest. I’m worried about the villagers.”
His expression turned serious. “We’re doing what we can, but your worry is not unfounded. Garrick sent our fastest scouts
to warn those we could, but I’m not sure if they’ll be heeded.”
The Silver King sent the last of his troops through the door, then turned to Vastien. “You should go, too.”
Vastien laughed. “If I didn’t listen to you last time, what makes you think I’ll listen this time?”
“Being trapped as a wolf for a hundred years?” Garrick asked drily, one eyebrow raised.
“I’m staying.”
“You could both go through,” I offered. “Then I would be the only one stuck if it doesn’t work.”
“We could all—” Vastien started.
“No,” I interrupted. “I have to stay in case it closes for good again. I made this mess, and I’m going to clean it up.”
“We’ll all stay,” Garrick said. He gestured to the dais. “Whenever you’re ready, Riela.”
I’d gotten so used to my name on his lips that I barely felt the low tug it produced, but it gave me something to focus on
other than the butterflies dancing in my belly. “I’m going to need a little more direction than that,” I whispered nervously.
Garrick drew me close while Vastien watched our backs. “Can you feel the door?”
“Yes.” It was seething with magic.
“You need to draw away enough magic so that it goes dormant.”
I shook my head. “But what if I don’t have enough magic to open it again?”
“It doesn’t take a lot of magic, only a certain kind of magic. You’ll be fine.”
I wasn’t entirely sure that was true on any level, but I closed my eyes and felt for the magic of the door. It wasn’t the violet of my own newly changed magic, but it was still mine. I reached for it with the little magic I had, and it leapt toward me like an eager puppy.
I gasped as power flooded my veins.
“Gently now,” Garrick murmured, squeezing my shoulders to anchor me. “You shouldn’t be able to take too much, but you’re a focus, so the normal rules might not apply.”
The magic around the door settled and disappeared between one heartbeat and the next, and the magic draw cut off before I
could do it myself. Power that both was mine and yet wasn’t sloshed around in my chest, and I groaned with the effort of holding it.
“Grim, try the door,” Garrick demanded.
Vastien hopped up on the dais and his magic rose, but he didn’t disappear. “Closed.”
“Will you be okay if I leave you for a moment?” Garrick asked.
I clenched my jaw and nodded. “Be quick,” I urged.
Garrick joined Vastien on the dais. “If we leave and don’t return in a moment, open the door on this side.”
“How?”
“Give it some of your magic and will it to open.”
“Of course,” I muttered sarcastically, but if Garrick heard me, he gave no sign. His magic rose in a moonlight wave, and right
when I thought the door wouldn’t open for him, he and Vastien disappeared.
Dread clamped icy hands around my throat. I counted silently. I would give them to a hundred, then I would attempt to open
the door myself.
I was well over sixty when Garrick and Vastien returned.
“The door is closed in Lohka, too,” Garrick said. “And I can open it in both directions, but it appears that others can’t.”
“What should I do with the magic I’m holding?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
I tapped my chest. “There is a lot of foreign magic swirling around in here, and it’s getting uncomfortable.”
His frown deepened. “That shouldn’t have happened.”
“Yes, well . . .” I trailed off and waved a helpless hand at myself.
He hurried to my side, concern in his eyes. “Can you give it to the castle?”
“Probably not, but I’ll try.”
“I’ll help,” Garrick murmured, quietly confident. “Just follow my lead.”
His magic rose and guided my own toward the silver pool of the castle’s magic. It was smaller than the last time I’d seen
it, but not as low as I’d feared.
I poured my borrowed magic into the pool and the ground rumbled under our feet before settling with one last heave.
I locked my knees against the desire to sink to the grass and not move again. Maybe channeling magic so soon hadn’t been the
best plan, but I had too much to do and three days to do it before King Roseguard declared war.
Garrick helped me onto the dais. “Try to open the door.”
I reached for the door with my remaining magic. There was an answering thrum, then we were transported to Lohka.
Garrick slanted a glance at the soldiers milling around us, then his magic rose to envelop us in a moonlit cocoon. “You’re
also a key.”
“Is that bad?”
“It would be better if the knowledge didn’t get out.”
“So it’s bad.”
He smiled, but there was tension in his eyes. “It’s dangerous,” he corrected. “For you.”
“Story of my life lately.”
“I can protect you, if you’ll let me. If I ask you a third time, and you turn me down a third time, I will not be able to
ask again,” Garrick murmured. “But the offer stands.”
“Sneaky Etheri,” I grumbled without rancor.
He gathered me close, until I could feel the heat of his chest and see the sincerity in his expression. “I know you have doubts, but don’t doubt that I want you, Riela. Give me a chance, and we’ll work the rest out.”
“Except that chance affects the rest of our lives.”
His nose brushed against my cheek. “It does,” he agreed. His eyes heated. “I officially ended my betrothal with Bria this
week, but tell me to stop and I will.”
I could feel my resolve weakening, shredded by his nearness and the news that he was free of other entanglements. When I didn’t
say anything, he pressed a soft kiss to my lips, barely touching. I tipped my head up, seeking more pressure. He obliged and
desire ignited in a slow wave.
Our heads might still have concerns, but our bodies were in perfect alignment.
He kissed me with leisurely thoroughness, like we had a lifetime and not three short days. I buried my hands in his hair and
dragged him closer, then sucked his bottom lip into my mouth.
He groaned low, and his arms tightened.
When my knees turned to jelly, he lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, where I felt him, hot and stiff against
me. I moaned into his mouth as I rocked against him, and he groaned out wordless encouragement.
I stopped kissing him long enough to suck in a breath, then I glared at him with narrowed eyes, though the effect was ruined
somewhat since I hadn’t stopped rocking my hips in tiny, delicious increments. “Are you trying to seduce me into saying yes?”
His grin was equal parts heat and sin. “I am if it’s working. Is it?”
“No,” I gasped as he thrust against me, all strength and focus. He did it again, and I admitted, “Maybe.”
“Bond with me,” he demanded. “At least give me that.”
“What about Vastien?”
Garrick’s eyes glowed silver and he snarled, “You are not bonding with—”
I pressed my fingers to his lips with a smile. “Vastien is in Edea. Alone. He has thumbs this time, but he still might not appreciate being trapped.”
Garrick groaned deep in his chest then pressed his forehead to mine, breathing hard. “Fuck.”
I laughed even as thwarted desire simmered through my veins. The Silver King put me back on my feet, his reluctance clear.
“This is not over, little mage.” He reached for me once again, then drew back, tension in every line. “Tonight.”
I took a chance and leapt, hoping I’d survive the landing. “Okay.”
Garrick’s eyes went fully silver. “Never mind. Grim can fend for himself.”
I swatted at his hands and danced out of reach. “We’re not leaving him there alone, Your Highness. And you need to return
the soldiers you brought back.”
Garrick snagged an arm around my waist and drew me close. “If you insist.”
I smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I really do.”
He opened the door with a heated look and a grumbled curse.