3. Chapter 3
Marry me, Allyra. And together, our families can stop the king before he eradicates all Mother Blessed.
I stood in shock at Malik's question, his shaking hand squeezing mine as he awaited my answer.
Of all the ways I thought our first interaction after so much time apart would go, this was not one of them.
And for a moment, it was just him and I, staring at one another, his hand trembling in my own as we took in each other in while our families looked on.
It was odd, looking at someone you hadn't seen in so long, simultaneously recognizing everything and nothing about them. I struggled to find my breath, to find something to latch onto to bring me back down to earth, yet I could not tear my eyes from his as he looked at me.
How many years had those eyes been my anchor to this world when it all felt like too much? How many times had I wished I had them here in Sorrel to comfort me after the Shroud, to look at me and really see me, to remind me that I wasn’t alone in the world?
The sound of the council room doors opening brought me back to the room we both stood in, the sound of wood slamming into stone filling the otherwise silent room.
Everyone turned to the doors to find Therian there, making his way through the room with the ease of someone who would rather be anywhere else.
Therian had a way of taking up too much space in any room he entered, suffocating the presence of anyone else in the room. It was one of the main reasons why he was sent from the mainland to be the new consort of Sorrel. We had needed a powerful presence to renew Sorrel, and he was it.
It would have been a perfect match had Therian been interested in anything other than his own reputation.
We were the same age, both from high ranking families, yet we couldn't be anymore different.
Where I was soft, he was hard edges. His angular face was harsh, one that demanded respect, peppered with facial hair that made him look beyond his years.
His ever permanent scowl made it impossible to ever know his true thoughts, which I had given up on doing years ago.
Despite his demeanor, I was grateful for his interruption, even if only for a moment, as it pulled the attention from me and the question Malik had just asked.
"Excuse my tardiness," Therian said as he sat at the head of the table, dwarfing the large chair. "I was held up just outside the village. Please sit."
The room was still for a moment as the Dures took Therian in, the shock of a stranger who now held importance in a place they once called home evident in their silence. I hesitated as I pulled myself away from Malik and Roswell, making my way towards the smaller chair next to Therian.
I took my seat next to him as everyone else settled in, the sound of chairs scraping across stone only heightening the tension as the Dures realized where I was sitting and what it implied.
Before they left Sorrel, it wasn't uncommon for women to rule on their own, to be the heads of the household, even when they took a consort.
But such traditions were no longer followed.
Malik looked down at my left hand and spotted the ring on my finger, his body going stiff at the sight.
The air in the room drew taut as the truth set in.
"Please continue," Therian said, pouring wine into his cup, oblivious to the unspoken announcement we had just made.
I could feel Malik's eyes on my face as one last beat of silence sounded around the room before Roswell cleared his throat, continuing.
"As I was saying, joining our armies is the best way to defend Wellea against the mainland men. We barely escaped on our own, and we saw more ships on the horizon as we docked on Wellea's eastern border."
"Our army is not what it used to be," my father replied. "I do not think joining our forces will do us much good."
"The Mother Blessed can be of assistance, of course," Roswell continued.
"Once the king's men arrive, we will drive them into the Alesi, let the forest drive them mad, and anyone who tries to leave, the Mother Blessed can coax the nimid trees to keep them in the forest, holding them there until the Alesi has done its job. "
Therian snorted, unable to hide his amusement at Roswell's proposal.
The gaze of the Dures landed on him, the shock of his reaction plain on their faces.
"Do you not think they could stand against the mainland men?" Malik asked, his voice stern and face hardened in a way that I knew meant he was ready to defend the Mother Blessed to his last breath.
Therian shrugged. "Maybe before the Shroud, but their power is not what it used to be. We would be better off asking children to wield a sword against them."
"How dare you—" Malik began, rising from his seat.
"He's right," I interrupted, my voice tight.
Malik dropped back into his chair, his eyes flying to mine with a look of bewilderment and confusion at my acquiescence to Therian's statement.
It had been years, and yet I still grappled with the reality of just how powerful the Mother Blessed used to be and what we were now.
We were no longer the powerful band of women who led all Yllsora.
Instead, the total rule of the Mother Blessed had waned, and we had become a shell of what we used to be.
Because when the Shroud disappeared, so did much of our connection with Yllsora.
This loss of power was something we had kept close, not telling those who are not Mother Blessed for fear of what would happen, but over the last few years, the men who had taken power had begun to notice, their treatment of the Mother Blessed shifting with it.
But, before the Shroud, the Mother Blessed had total control of all living things on Yllsora.
We worked in harmony with common men for a time, pulling and coaxing Yllsora to bend in our favor.
And with that came wisdom, and then the quiet rage of man, their discontent hidden until our connection with Yllsora was taken from us and we were easy to manipulate and overcome, as men will always take power as long as it is easy to do.
It was a lesson I hadn't learned until it was too late.
"We can't freely push and pull from the roots anymore," I said. "Not to mention working with the nimids in the Alesi. It would kill us. We can only work in short spurts, and even that is a risk."
The roots now bit back if we pulled from them for too long, pushing that chill that had spread along the underbelly of our world up into us, taking our power completely if we pushed too hard.
I had seen the consequences of how our connection with Yllsora had changed after the Shroud only once, and that was enough of a warning for all of us to be careful, to use our powers sparingly.
"Something is better than nothing," Roswell said. "The offer of using our men to aid Wellea still stands. They were just behind us as we fled, and I know they would fight for what is right."
"The king is on his way now?" my brother asked.
Malik nodded. "We only just escaped them before they were on our trail again."
"So, they likely could be here right now?"
A rumble shook the room before anyone could answer, the reverberations coming from deep within Yllsora. Even through the stone of the council room, I felt the roots, the pain of their limbs shooting through the stone and into my body.
The feeling was familiar, one and the same to the shock I had felt during the Shroud, the feeling of Yllsora ripping apart beneath my feet enough to make me gasp, my breath suddenly far away from me.
I gripped the table as I found my brother's eyes across from me.
He read the panic on my face that I knew only he and one other person in this room could recognize, as with Malik's departure, Calyn became my confidant in everything following the Shroud.
He was there the first time I felt the iciness beneath the surface and consoled me when we lost our first Mother Blessed who pulled from the roots too hard.
He knew the panic disruptions with Yllsora caused me, how I always felt just as out of control as I did the night of the Shroud when such a thing happened. Yet this was different, and he knew it.
"Allyra," my brother said, getting up and making his way around the table towards me.
The tremor happened again as he reached me, metalware clanking on tables and dust falling from the roof, and this time, I did not hesitate, immediately standing and making my way towards the council room doors, my brother close behind me.
I knew where I needed to go, the only place that would give me answers to what was happening.
"Are you sure?" my brother asked.
"I am."
"What's happening?" Roswell asked, his eyes jumping around the room at the sudden disruption, his shock evident as the trembles kept their cadence, increasing in intensity as they went on. Chunks of stone now fell from the ceiling, the ground cracking beneath my feet as they landed.
"Go," Calyn said, pressing his hand to my back, guiding me to the door of the council room.
I lifted my skirts and ran as fast as my feet would take me towards the one thing Sorrel could not bear to lose—the Astaros.