26. Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ena
Ena crouched down to brush aside the snow, revealing some burdock.
It was summer back home on the other side of the Chasm Mountains—where everything would be in full bloom, and harvests would be plentiful—but here, everything was still intermittently covered in snow.
The days were longer now, though, and more light brought more vegetation, at least. Ena’s Knowing had adapted to the landscape more, under Kaya’s guidance, and she could identify the best harvesting spots more easily now.
Leaning over as far as her significantly rounded stomach would allow, she began to dig at the base of the plant, revealing the roots she was after.
Working in this position pressed the baby into her bladder, so she instantly had to pee, but she ignored it for now, focusing on finishing the task at hand.
After a few minutes of digging at the hard earth, she stood up, her hard-earned prize in hand, and placed it, along with her small makeshift bone trowel, into the leather satchel she carried.
Feeling satisfied with her haul for the day, she began her long walk—or waddle, more like—back towards their current camp.
They’d moved again last month, looking for spots with more game for the summer season.
She’d be lying if she said all the moving hadn’t made her uncomfortable.
As difficult as walking was, riding on horseback was even worse.
All the swaying and bumping made her feel like the front of her was about to fall right off.
It both terrified and excited her to know that the baby would be born soon—she was in her last trimester and just a couple weeks away now—and to be honest, she couldn’t even comprehend what life would be like for her after all this. After everything that had changed.
When she neared camp, she looked up to see a figure moving purposefully towards her, and a smile graced her face when she realized it was Ty. He, too, smiled when their eyes met, but something in his gaze looked preoccupied.
“What is it?” she asked. She knew enough by now to know that that look meant something had happened. Whether it was another storm coming, or a failed hunt, something was weighing on him.
“I’ve got Turner waiting for us at camp,” Ty said, reaching out to take her leather satchel for her. “There’s something the three of us should discuss.”
“Alright,” Ena said, her stomach tightening at the prospect of what it could be.
Together, they walked back to their tent, and she entered its warmth willingly. Turner was already there, stoking up the center fire, and he looked up at their approach.
“Hey there, tubby,” he greeted teasingly.
Ena rolled her eyes at him. He’d taken to calling her that over the last couple weeks now that she was noticeably…enlarged.
“Afternoon, Shadow,” she said, quirking up the corner of her mouth at the nickname she knew he hated.
He smiled widely at her. “Oh, I’ll have to get you back for that one,” he said, huffing a laugh.
“Yeah, yeah,” she said dismissively. “Now, Ty, what did you need to speak to us about?”
He had been noticeably silent during their lighthearted bout of teasing—another indicator that something serious was up.
“I had a conversation with Max while we were out on the hunt,” he began. “It wasn’t successful—again—and things are not looking good, to say the least. We haven’t been able to find nearly enough game—for any of us.”
“What does that mean?” Ena asked, her brow furrowing.
She knew they’d been having a hard time on hunts, and even though the meat they’d been finding, and the foraging she had been doing, had been enough for the three of them to get by, she worried about what might happen if things deteriorated more.
“Well, long story short, I think it means that we can’t stay here much longer. And I’m not sure they can either.”
Ty’s bluntness hit Ena like a bucket of cold water dumped on her head.
Ever since he had returned, she’d been so focused on the day-to-day—surviving and keeping herself and the baby healthy—that she hadn’t truly thought about the future.
In fact, she actively resisted doing so, which she knew was unlike her.
She’d been hiding—from the unknowns of her future, and the path before her—but she couldn’t bring herself to look too closely at why.
“You think we need to travel back over to our side of the Chasm Mountains?” Turner asked him, his voice uncharacteristically serious.
“Yes, but not until after the baby is born,” he said, looking to Ena. “I don’t want to put you or the baby in danger by traveling in your condition, this close to the birth.”
Ena nodded, trying hard to not let fear subsume her at the prospect of traveling over the mountains again.
Part of her desperately wanted to go home, to her Coven.
She would get to see Greya again, and Perse, and take an actual, real-life bath again.
But…there was a reason they’d come here.
She didn’t know if she, Ty, and the baby would be welcome. Or if they would be safe there.
“Do you think it’s safe to return though?” Turner asked, speaking her thoughts aloud. “Cole is still king, and we know he’s looking for you, Ty. Avoiding him, and protecting the baby from whatever omen the Canus Elk portended, was our entire reason for coming here, wasn’t it?”
“Well, about that,” Ty said. “Max also told me what he thinks is causing the extreme weather and decline in animal populations. The stryx believe it was the binding ritual—that removing daemons’ access to Gaia—or the balanced side of Omnis—caused a disturbance that has only now begun to right itself.
They also think that it won’t get any better until a Draco is born, but that’s nothing to put stock into, in my opinion. ”
“A Draco?” Ena asked in confusion. Witches had beliefs about Dracos too.
They believed Gaia used the celestial bodies to communicate her will, and one of the most revered constellations was the Draco—a serpent-like creature of myth with wings.
She didn’t exactly know what to do with the information that the stryx held beliefs about Dracos too—aside from the fact that it was clearly another way in which their cultures overlapped.
“Yes, I had the same reaction as you,” Ty said. “I’m not sure I believe all that, but either way, I’m wondering if maybe the true omen the Canus Elk’s death portended was not about our baby, but about the stryx.”
“What do you mean?” Ena asked, not quite following.
“Well, we know that the disturbance in Omnis has been causing strange behavior in animals, including trouble reproducing. It’s possible that the Canus Elk’s stillbirth was just a consequence of the binding ritual, rather than an ill omen for your pregnancy.
Or it could have been an ill omen for the stryx themselves, pushing us to come here. To help them.”
Ena paused at that, her entire world shifting. “You’re right,” she responded, pushing out a breath. “We have no way of knowing for sure. Omens like that can be interpreted a hundred different ways.”
“So do you mean we didn’t even need to come here for your safety and the baby’s?” Turner asked, sounding as confused as she felt.
“I don’t know,” Ena responded truthfully. “But my gut says that, regardless, us coming here was necessary. Without learning about my stryx heritage, I may never have accepted that I needed to drink Ty’s blood.”
“Exactly,” Ty said. “And since we know that now, and you and the baby are healthy, assuming everything goes smoothly with the birth, it may be safe for us to return.”
“Hello?” Turner asked a little testily. “What about Cole, though? He is still a threat to us, and without overthrowing him—which you’ve made abundantly clear you don’t want to do—he always will be,” he said to Ty. “How can we just go back now?”
“I’ve given this a lot of thought,” Ty explained calmly.
“And I’ve found a solution that could work, if everyone is on board.
Because you’re right, Turner. I didn’t want to go back and try to overthrow Cole with just you, Steig, and Lara to back me up.
My first priority is keeping Ena and the baby safe, and that would not have been conducive to that.
But now,” he said, looking towards the entrance of their shelter, beyond which the rest of the stryx camp existed, “we have more allies than we did before.”
Turner’s eyebrows flew up. “You mean to enlist the stryx’s help in overthrowing Cole?”
“If they’re up for it. It could be a win-win solution—we give them support in transitioning over to our side of the Chasm Mountains—allies to make sure they are accepted and ensure they are granted areas to hunt freely—and we get help in restabilizing the Underworld.”
“And then what?” Turner asked, somewhat confrontationally, as if he knew that wasn’t the whole story. “You’ve been very adamant that you do not want to be king—that it’s not safe for Ena and the baby.”
“It’s not. That’s why, once we overthrow Cole, we’ll install you as the new king,” Ty said matter-of-factly. “After we convince your father to abdicate, of course—with force, if we have to.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Turner said, seeming uncharacteristically angry.
“I’m not,” Ty replied, crossing his arms. Ena recognized when he was digging in for a fight.
“Ty,” Turner began, a warning tone to his voice, “you are the king we need, and you know it. Not me.”
Ena got the sense that this wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation.
She knew that Turner was in the line of succession for the throne, after Cole, Ty, and Zak, respectively, but she’d never thought either of them had truly considered that a possibility.
It was obvious to her, and to everyone, that Ty was the rightful heir—the only one respected and capable enough to lead the daemons into a new era.
And suddenly, Ena felt guilt wash over her like a malaise.
Because it was her—her and her baby—who were causing this rift in Ty—his struggle between his duty to her and his duty to his people.
She had never wanted this for him—for them—but, just like everything else, things had gotten beyond her control.
“I cannot be king and bring Ena and my child into that world, Turner. I can’t do it,” Ty explained, his voice hard.
“I hope that with my uncles gone, things will start to change, but there will always be those who hate witches. There will always be those who will look down on my child because of his mixed heritage. They will never be accepted there as the queen and the heir.”
The three of them went silent as Ty’s words lingered like a shadow between them.
“Just because there will be those who will need…convincing does not mean you should not try, Ty,” Turner said. “Together, we can protect them, and change peoples’ minds. They accepted and embraced you, despite your mixed heritage.”
“But at what cost?” Ty said, his anger rising. “I won’t put my child in that position—having to hide half of themselves—and I won’t put Ena in harm’s way, hoping that small-minded people come around. I can’t do it, so don’t ask me to.”
Turner looked down, a hint of shame crossing his face. Ena’s heart ached to see them like this—it was so unlike them to fight—but she felt paralyzed. She didn’t know how to fix this any more than they did, and she knew, in the end, that the decision was up to Ty.
“I understand, Ty, I do,” Turner said, sighing in reluctant understanding. “Maybe we can, I don’t know, revisit the topic later.”
Ena didn’t miss the way Turner had not agreed to assume the throne, and she was sure Ty hadn’t either.
“Turner’s right,” Ena said, trying to play peacekeeper. “First, we need to remove Cole from the throne, and see what state the Underworld is in, before anything else can happen. Maybe we focus on that first, before anything else. Deal?”
“Deal,” Ty said, nodding at his cousin, though she could tell he still felt upset by the discussion.
It wasn’t an agreement, but it was a reluctant peace. There would be time to debate how the Underworld would operate after they did what needed to be done, and first things first, they needed to see if the stryx were on board.
“Okay,” Ena said, drawing both men’s attention towards her. “Then I guess we better go talk with the stryx and see their thoughts on all of this.”
Ty and Turner nodded in agreement, and the three of them readied to emerge from the tent.
Ena was glad to have a plan, and hope for returning to their side of the Chasm Mountains, but she couldn’t ignore the pit of fear that formed in her stomach at the thought that, even if they got everything that they wanted, and the stryx came to help them overthrow Cole, that their future was far from settled.
Deep down, she feared that there might never be a place for her, or for her family.