Chapter Seventeen Shielding #3
The smile Thance gave her was full of teeth, almost conspiratorial, and she’d never wished so badly not to like someone.
He continued, “We wanted to try again, but the Order refused to risk more losses. They decided not to attempt another assault on the prison until we could strengthen our numbers.”
Everything suddenly made much more sense. “So Caelan went to ask the Fae for aid.”
Thance nodded. “He wanted to rebuild the bridge between our two peoples, believed it was our best chance. Our Elders forbade him to go, believing it to be a fool’s errand, but they’ve never been able to control Caelan.
At first, we weren’t worried. Caelan sometimes left to be alone, and we were all grieving after the prison.
I should have known what he was planning, but he hid it well.
When he never came back, we determined that, for whatever reason, he didn’t want to be found. ”
Caelan had been searching for a cure for almost a year, and he hadn’t wanted his friends to know. Had he merely been ashamed, or was there more to it?
“Reya, what you’re doing for Caelan is more important than you realize,” Thance added. “It’s bigger than one life.”
“I’m not doing it for him.”
The curve of Thance’s lips was full of meaning, and Reya shifted uncomfortably in her saddle. “And what if I told you the fate of all magic-born hinges on you saving his life? Would that change things?”
She was careful to give nothing away in her expression, even as he spoke so earnestly.
“With these letters, we have a good chance of persuading the King of Delthia to send aid. But he won’t grant us an audience, we tried. Not when Rothmire is looking for any excuse to invade and has spies in every court. Caelan, however, he trusts.”
“Caelan said he owes him a favor.”
Thance snorted. “I’d say, considering Caelan once saved his ancestor’s life and effectively prevented civil war in their country.
” Reya nearly sprained her neck whirling to look at Thance, whose admiration for his friend was written on every line of his face.
“Caelan Halcyon is the most powerful Sage in recent history. Second only, I would wager, to you. Without Caelan, we cannot hope to get the aid we need. And without that aid, we cannot hope to destroy whatever has come from these experiments inside the prison or stop Rhiterran poison from spreading to the rest of the world.”
No pressure, then.
Reya wondered if Caelan was listening or if he was lost in his countless years, in the memory of a place that haunted him. “Is there another way to break a curse?”
If the Kraken blood was on the Balfour, she would be swimming away with it.
Reya simply never did a job without a backup plan.
If things went awry in Port Talluah, she wanted to know whether there was another way she might see this through.
Especially now that the stakes were so high.
When none of them spoke, she said, glancing between them, “The three of you have lived at least fifteen human lifetimes between you. There must be something.”
“If there were any other option, thief,” Omira said, “we would not be putting his life in your hands.”
Reya took a swig from her waterskin, smiling at the female around the mouth of it. “Then it’s a good thing I’m the best at what I do.”
Thance’s expression was contemplative as he reasoned aloud, “Fae magic isn’t like ours.
When they drank from the Pool of Life, they were gifted time.
Sages will eventually grow old—it just takes us two thousand years or more—but the Fae were gifted true eternity.
In their infinite time, they discovered how to take magic from another source.
Every time they do, a price of some kind is exacted—one that’s never revealed to them beforehand.
The more the magic drives the world out of balance, the higher the price, and once it is paid, it cannot be undone. ”
“That’s vague,” Reya said.
“That’s balance.” Thance shrugged. “Anytime a Faerie makes a bargain, they’re willing to pay whatever it will cost them, which means there’s always more in it for them than there is for you.
That’s why you don’t make deals with Faeries.
” He scratched his jaw. “One thing we do know is that all curses have loopholes, which leads me to believe Caelan would have been given one as well. But whatever it is, he isn’t sharing.
I don’t blame him, either. That they left him alive at all tells me the Fae Queen chose her words to torture Caelan in the worst possible way. ”
Reya sucked on her teeth. “All for daring to ask for help.”
Thance smiled sadly. “The Fae are not the delicate creatures time and human lore have made them out to be. Imagine experiencing all the ages of this world, forced to watch others change, easily have children, and grow old in ways you are not capable of. What is the value of life to someone who cannot truly live?” Reya found her stare drifting back to Caelan as Thance said, “Eternity is the death of conscience.”