Chapter 7
With each step I took, the land pulsed beneath me as if it were a breathing being. The dagger slid easily back into its sheath.
My mother always returned from her visits to the meadow with bundles of lavender for me. She called me her princess of the flowers. I never knew why, but always wondered if it was because I enjoyed every bloom as much as she did.
I felt her in the wind. It brushed against my cheek. Salt-tinged tears slipped onto my lips.
I grabbed a lavender bunch by its stems and ripped it free.
When I looked down again, only a sea of lavender remained.
It was just as lush as before, as if I had never tampered with it at all.
It didn’t seem possible. I shouldn’t have been holding them at all, yet I watched the flowers drop from my hands back into the meadow.
Shimmering water rippled across the pond as I knelt beside it. Water trickled from my cupped hands as I splashed my face. My golden eyes were glowing back at me. I traced the edge of my ears. They were slightly pointed.
The fabric of my riding gown caught the water dripping from my hands, before I pulled the book free from my satchel.
“Did traveling through the divide change me?”
The words appeared quickly.
You see who you truly are now.
Grass crunched behind me—I froze beside the book. The horizon revealed no one. Weathered pages caught on my satchel as I tried to cram it back inside.
Her tales were all the knowledge I had of this strange world. Now I would have to navigate it alone.
A low but mighty growl reverberated through the land—the ground trembled in its quake. Thrashing wind struck my cheeks. The mighty branches of the trees tossed about.
Another feral growl sounded. It was louder than before. The metal sang as I slid the dagger from its sheath. Fragments of sunlight caught on the blade temporarily blinding me.
When it passed, a pair of jade, lucent eyes glared across a rock-laden path. Terror seized my body.
The creature was wolf-like, but it towered over any creature I ever saw.
Ragged pewter fur outlined its clenched stance and crimson stained the edge of its lips.
Fragmented sunlight slid through the canopy of leaves overhead, illuminating the beast. A mouth full of grotesque fangs gleamed as its jaw opened—a cascading growl released.
Dewy sweat coated my palms.
The dagger tilted in my grip.
It crept forward—stalking me.
I screamed as I ran further into the woods.
Pain seared through my leg as a thorny bush tore through my riding pants beneath my dress and straight into my flesh. I crumpled onto the forest floor, gripping my leg.
The fabric resisted as I tugged—it ripped free. I aimed my dagger at the beast. Its calculating stare measured me. Tears streaked my vision as my pulse quickened.
A man ran toward me.
“Enough!” His guttural voice boomed—the land rumbled with it. Unreadable chrome eyes studied me and the beast, both of us frozen at his command. His hand extended over the creature and golden light flowed from his fingertips, swirling in the space between them. “Stand down!”
The wind stilled.
His gaze fixated on mine despite the crouching beast before him. The golden light shifted and settled. His eyes widened.
“Please!” I cried.
His head turned, tilting slightly in its direction. Then I saw his pointed ears—more drastic than mine. This was their world, I was privy only to mercy if he granted it.
The fae and the creature paced—their dance steady. Each step he took was a calm beat. He raised his hand again, and beautiful, golden light flowed only for a heartbeat longer.
My unconditioned muscles betrayed me—useless and frozen. The world spun as I slumped back into a tree. The man slowed his dance, until he stood between us both.
He exhaled, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. Then stepped aside.
The creature pivoted closer to me, snarling.
“Please,” I cried again. “I need your help.”
His lips parted, but he said nothing.
Its dripping fangs were inches from my face. Clammy breath grazed my skin. I lunged to escape, and the creature’s claws reached me first, scraping through my flesh.
Cascading crimson painted my arm—pain seared through me, threatening to never release.
I pressed my palm into the gash, desperate to make the bleeding cease.
I closed my eyes—too exhausted to flee or defend.
My blood-drenched hand slid into the dirt, as I silently pleaded for anything, anyone, to help. Its breath thickened. The eerie sound crashed into me.
The creature bowed its head, its jade eyes peered into mine.
It stepped forward ready to conquer its prey. Then it stopped.
The creature quietly turned from me and fled back into the woods.
It retreated, but the fae remained. He crouched beside me. The metal hilt of the dagger fell from my grip, it clanged against the rocks.
I braced myself against the tree and rose with my feet planted firmly on the ground.
My eyes sharpened on the fae’s.
“Who are you?” He scanned me.
“Aelira,” I uttered my name without the title.
He braced my injured arm. I flinched, pulling away from him. The blood spiraled down my arm as I stumbled.
A strip of shredded fabric dangled from my dress. I tore it free. A groan escaped my lips as the fabric flopped about, resisting me as I tried to cover my wound.
“It has to be cleaned, or it’ll get infected,” he said.
He pulled the wrap off and rinsed my arm with water from his flask. I fought to stay silent as my teeth caught on my lip. He laid his hands on my shoulders, easing me back into the tree. “You should thank the stars. It could have chosen to kill you.”
I saw his golden light. Remembered how he stepped aside to give it a clearer path.
“You were going to let it?” I tucked the loose hair that fell from my braid behind my ears. His eyes fixated on them for a moment.
“I couldn’t stop it. If I had tried harder, it may have chosen differently.”
“You were letting it choose my fate?”
“The sylkren have an innate sense of good and evil. Fae stand on their own if they are worthy.” He tied the clean side of my dress bandage around my arm. He pressed firmly around the bandage. “It seems Lythira hadn’t decided on you yet.”
“Because I’m human?”
“You’re not just human. Only fae can cross the divide.” He sneered. “Tell me who you really are and why you are here.”
He knew I had crossed, but I hadn’t seen him anywhere once I had. My legs buckled and I collapsed. With a ragged inhale, I pulled myself up to sit.
“Tell me now,” he commanded.
I flinched. A decision had to be made. I could continue being only Aelira, or I could speak the truth. His glare cut through me as if he already knew.
“I am Princess Aelira of Bailoc.”
His head shook. “No…” He assessed the divide. It pulsed just as it had on the other side, swaying with the wind. “That’s impossible. You can’t be.” He ran his hands through his dark curls, causing them to fall from the leather strand that tied them back.
I took a sip from my water flask. “I assure you, that is exactly who I am.”
“Who sent you?” His nostrils flared and his brow furrowed.
“No one.” I stood, this time not faltering.
“The King of Bailoc doesn’t know you’re here?” His eyes widened.
It was a dangerous game.
I told him who I was and implied no one was coming for me.
“I’m sure he knows…by now.” Every muscle clenched as pain radiated through me.
A smirk crept across his face. It made my stomach churn.
“They weren’t expecting you to go missing today?”
“It was certainly a day that it would have been very noticeable I was missing.” I pressed the bandage against my arm, watching the blood pool against the fabric. “Who are you? I told you. It’s only fair you tell me.”
He shifted in his spot beside me on the ground. “Lioran.”
Tattoos adorned his sun-kissed skin. Three black bands. Each one held my gaze for a moment too long. If he noticed, he pretended not to.
He could have left me to bleed to death, or die of infection, but he stayed with me. Lioran scanned the land around us, as if he was waiting—or watching for something.
Dizziness crept back in faster than before.
“You need to rest,” he said.
He placed his hand out, his eyes closed.
The leaves on the trees rustled as the winds picked up.
Dust flew as a beautiful, black stallion glided over the hill, floating like a shadow.
His mane glittered in the sunlight, and his metallic eyes reminded me of Lioran’s.
The horse nuzzled its head into his hand.
“Veylar will take us to the village of Evyn. You can rest there,” he said.
How could I trust him? What if going with him was worse than staying?
“I will walk.”
“You can barely stand,” he grumbled as I stumbled past him. I fell back into him. He stumbled with me, his hands braced my waist for a moment, before he pulled back.
Veylar was massive. He would have towered over Briar. I couldn’t slide my foot into the stirrups. My arm burned with each movement. I winced, fighting back tears.
His arm hovered near me. “I can help you,” he said softer than he spoke before.
I nodded.
Lioran effortlessly lifted me onto Veylar. As he climbed up onto the powerful stallion, I felt his warmth behind me. I pulled myself upright.
The land bowed to Veylar. Branches swayed from the path.
My eyelids grew heavier. Veylar’s steady rhythm lulled me. As I slipped, Lioran held me tighter. My body slumped back into his—I leaned into the darkness.
“We’re here.” He spoke softly. Beams of sunlight collided with my blurry vision. As I rubbed my eyes, a magnificent village built into the trees came into focus. Nothing in Bailoc looked like this. Nothing I ever saw, at least.
Stairs ascended toward wooden homes that wrapped around colossal trees. Their dense trunks supporting the weight of an entire village. He jumped down from the stallion. A fae taller than Lioran approached, his skin glowed with a golden tan I had never seen before.
I slumped in the saddle, too weak to dismount Veylar. The fae lowered his head—his body lowered, too. Lioran flexed his hand in front of him, before he gestured toward me. The other fae rose, squinting in my direction.
I tried desperately to focus—to take my new surrounding in, but the burning pain made it impossible.
Lioran lifted me out of the saddle. “Neena, we need herbal tinctures for an open wound,” he told a woman as she sped toward us.
She nodded before disappearing into one of the low-lying buildings.
“Fyn, this is…” Lioran started.
“Aelira,” I said.
“She had a run in with a sylkren,” Lioran said.
The fae took a step toward me. His olive eyes widened as I leaned back into the stallion. Veylar was a gentle, swaying wall behind me. With each movement exhaustion claimed me more.
Fyn tugged Lioran away from me. Their words floated away on the breeze. Lioran wiped his brow, rolling his eyes at Fyn.
“You can’t just bring her here.” Fyn’s voice grew louder.
Lioran looked over his shoulder, and I glanced away.
With each unsteady breath, my strength drained further. My hands collided with dirt as I braced my fall. Lioran ran toward me, scooping me up into his arms.
“You just left her standing here?” The fae woman scolded him.
Her silver streaked, golden hair fell forward in her eyes.
Glass bottles clanked within a wooden crate.
She placed it at Lioran’s feet. “It’s good you came when you did.
Let’s get her inside. I’ll take a look at her.
” She nodded toward the stairs that braced the massive tree.
The spinning haze of brown and green wouldn’t stop. My eyelids snapped shut. He ascended each step, bracing me against his chest. An icy chill rolled through me. My only warmth from him.
Light caught through scattered leaves when my eyes opened again.
Fyn pressed his forearm against a curved wooden door. It moaned as it swung open. I quaked. Lioran brought me closer to his chest as he hurried through the little cabin.
“In here,” Neena urged.
He gently lowered me onto the bed. It cradled me.
Lioran leaned against the wall in the corner of the room. He sat there, staring at me.
Neena unwound the strip tied around my wound. “She’s feverish. All of this is from this wound?” Neena fumbled through her wooden crate. “There’s something else you’re not telling me.”
She brushed the hair from my face. A muffled gasp slipped from her lips as her eyes settled on my ears.
“Considering her state, we can discuss it later.” Lioran grunted.
“As you wish, your—” she began, but Lioran raised his brow.
“Please don’t start with that,” Lioran interjected.
“This will sting, but if I do not treat it, you will succumb to infection,” Neena said as she ran a wet rag along the wound. It burned fiercely.
I wailed. The fragments of sunshine blurred.
“You could have at least sent word of what you were doing.” Fyn grumbled from the other room.
Lioran didn’t respond.
I exhaled as exhaustion threatened to take me once more. When my eyes opened again, Lioran was watching me still. I longed for home. Wished I hadn’t crossed the divide, but I knew I was lucky. He saved me.
The dense aroma of herbs and spices trailed into my nostrils, followed by lingering stench of blood. Neena slathered paste onto my wound. I squeezed the bedding between my fingers. Lioran remained planted where he sat. Monitoring me from the distance.
“I’ve known these two a long time. You’re safe with them.” she said in an even voice. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name.”
“It’s Aelira,” I whispered.
She squeezed my hand in hers. “What a unique name. I am Neena. I will return to check on you later.” Neena placed her hand on my shoulder before she rose.
“Let her rest,” she said.
Lioran stood. He bowed his head to me without another word, before he gripped the handle and pulled it closed.
The crackling fire drowned out their hushed voices.
I made it through the divide. Somehow, I survived the sylkren. I would have to trust the fae to survive.
He protected me and didn’t ask for anything in return.
At least not yet.
My eyelids grew heavy, and I succumbed to the darkness.