Chapter 22
Fyn held the door to Lioran’s study. “Lioran will be here soon.”
“Fyn, I need a moment with Aelira…alone.” Cora’s words were sharp. Fyn turned toward me, his brow raised. “Fyn. Now.”
I nodded and he left. The crisp chill of the leather met my skin as I sank into the sofa.
Cora sat in the armchair across from me. “I was worried about you last night and maybe I had no right to be, but seeing you today…” She let out a heavy sigh.
I tightened my grip on the onyx, consumed by thoughts of them together. Neither its warmth nor chill greeted me. It felt exactly as a stone should.
It shouldn’t even matter, but it did. “You knew from experience…”
“We don’t need to go there. I don’t even know what I want to say. I’m just worried about you. As your friend.”
I studied her. “You’re worried he took things too far? That we both did?”
She hesitated. The firelight flickered across Lioran’s dim study.
“I stopped things from escalating,” I said.
Cora released a sigh that echoed through the study. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”
“I appreciate you looking out for me.” She eased at my words. The rest of my thoughts remained unsaid. She tried to shield me, but still I couldn’t help feeling upset about what they used to be. Even if it no longer existed.
I nestled my hands under my thighs. They quaked as Lioran and Fyn entered the room.
The fire crackled in the hearth. I stiffened, the memory of last night echoing with it.
Lioran trailed my gaze, and his breathing slowed. “Aelira?”
“I’m fine.” The words barely escaped my lips—I wanted to extinguish the fire, but for now I’d have to focus beyond the popping embers that tormented me.
“Perhaps you were right. Thalen had something to do with it all.” Fyn rubbed his temples. “The king promised you to Thalen, didn’t he? It’s why his men came after us in the woods…”
“I am still promised to him.” My words barely carried over the roaring fire.
Fyn shook his head. “Still? Lioran, you are awfully calm about this revelation.”
Lioran’s fingers trailed my back. “I knew.”
Fyn’s jaw tightened. “You knew…and you thought it would be no problem to be with his bride?” I had never seen Fyn truly snap.
“Fyn.” Lioran slammed his hand against the arm of the sofa.
Cora leaned back further in her chair. “You could have told us.”
“Please. This is my fault,” I cried.
“You didn’t choose him. Ardyn did. You didn’t even know who he was,” Lioran said.
Fyn’s hand slid over his lips as he glared at Lioran.
Cora pressed the wrinkled fabric of her gown. “Elric’s ties to Thalen are concerning. There’s something more underneath it all.” Her lips pursed as a short breath escaped her.
Lioran shifted. “You’ve seen something haven’t you?”
Cora shifted in her chair. “Nothing about Elric, but he knows things he shouldn’t—couldn’t possibly. Maybe Thalen’s magic is guiding him, but even still it doesn’t make sense.” She watched me carefully. “Aelira, does Thalen know about your magic?”
“I never told him. I didn’t even know,” I said.
“What are you implying, Cora?” Lioran asked.
I leaned into Lioran. “Does Elric have magic?”
“Odds are he does. He likes to point out that I don’t have any,” Fyn interjected. “He’s always showing up, especially around Aelira. Maybe he’s just watching her for Thalen.”
My fingers gripped Lioran’s. “He’s been using everything he can figure out about me against me—against us.”
Cora swallowed hard, her gulp echoing through the chambers.
“I know the High Court assigned him here, but he can do serious damage if he stays,” Fyn said.
“It may do more if he goes. I want him here where we can keep an eye on him.” Lioran shifted behind me on the sofa. “As if the blight spreading wasn’t enough to deal with…”
“Speaking of the blight. I had a vision—one that may hold the answer you’ve been looking for. It’s been in front of us for a while now, but you may not like it.” Cora fidgeted with her pale green gown.
“Why will I not like it?” Lioran’s fierce voice echoed in the quaint study.
“It’s Aelira.” Her emerald eyes widened.
“How?” I still struggled to control my magic at times, it still felt so new.
“I have only seen pieces, so there has to be more to it than I know. She restored the land by connecting her magic to the tree in the center of Myrwood Grove.” Her words trembled along with her fingers.
“Absolutely not.” Lioran shot to his feet. He paced the length of the study.
Guilt hovered over me. It lingered in the stillness that followed the council meeting. Threat of rebellion loomed over Bailoc. My choice only made things worse. If I had any way to fix the land, to ease the blight, I wanted to hear how.
“Connected how?” I asked.
Cora shifted, her nerves gripping her with each breath she took—even her eye twitched.
“That grove is full of dark magic that settled after the war. It has a way of undoing the most powerful of fae. It doesn’t matter what she saw. You can’t just go there and expect to return.” Fyn shook his head.
“Or so we’re told…we don’t know anyone who has faced it before,” Cora said.
No one they knew had faced it. None that remained to tell the tale, yet suddenly I found myself hanging on her every word.
“Tell me what I can do.” I glanced past Lioran.
“I’ve been waiting, hoping more would be revealed to me.” Cora’s eyes stilled, her expression shifted as if her mind was somewhere else entirely.
“What did I do?” I squinted at her.
“You gave your magic to the land. You gave all of it…until the blight reversed.”
“All of it?” I played with the loose fabric on my gown.
Cora blinked back tears that pooled in her eyes. “All of it.”
Lioran’s voice boomed. “Enough! I’m not letting her do that.” He bolted upwards, stopping inches from Cora. “I’ll do it instead.”
Cora flinched. “Lioran, you weren’t in my vision—it was Aelira.”
If she saw it, maybe I could do it.
I couldn’t blindly agree to it, but if it was an answer, I would hear whatever she had to say. “Tell me what I would need to do.”
“No.” He pointed at her. “You will not tell her anything else about it. Aelira, I will not let you do this.”
“Let me?” I lifted my chin.
Fyn gripped the arm of the chair.
“I’ve heard enough. It is not happening.” Lioran’s voice boomed. “You should have come to me with this sooner.”
“And then what? You would have made a choice for me?” I gripped the leather beneath me.
“Cora, maybe we should give them a moment,” Fyn said.
She was inches from the door when my words broke the silence. “This is what you saw? What our relationship started?”
“Yes. I only saw a glimpse of it originally, but it keeps replaying…and slowly building.” Her head hung low—she looked only at her feet.
“How did us being together have anything to do with this?” I asked.
“He’s connected you to your fae side. He awakened part of your magic. It was the start of it all.” She slipped out the door and didn’t look back.
Fyn left with her, without saying another word.
“You knew she had a vision about us, and you didn’t tell me,” Lioran scolded me.
“I didn’t know why. She said if she told me, it would influence things. Maybe she meant influence us being together...But that’s impossible. I chose you.” I leaned back into the couch, my heart racing. “I need to decide. You can’t choose for me.”
He sat back beside me, his hands bracing my arms. “It’s too dangerous.” His hand extended, settling beside mine.
“If I can do this—I need to consider it. I left an entire kingdom behind—they’re my responsibility. My sister is still there.” I had barely spoken of Ashlyn to Lioran. Thinking of her left me in tears.
He pulled me in closer as I spoke. If anyone understood the duty to protect others, it was him. His hands settled on my back. “They’re not your responsibility—you do not need to solve this on your own. Cora’s visions sometimes shift. There will be another way.” He kissed my forehead.
I closed my eyes, clinging to his with warmth, before Cora’s words settled again.
Cora’s palm trailed over the rose petals. I had searched everywhere for her.
“I want you to help me—so I can be prepared.” I hadn’t even decided if I would do it. “If I choose it.”
“Just because I saw it doesn’t mean you need to do it.” Her hand took mine. Cora’s eyes were red, as if she had been crying. “I believe visions are one version of the future, a fate we may choose. Nothing is binding you to that fate.”
“I didn’t have any magic left?”
“It took it all.” Cora’s voice softened.
A single dew drop hovered on the edge of a petal. I poked it and it trickled down the petal. “All the decisions I’ve made…everything I’ve dragged Lioran into. I doomed my people when I crossed the divide.” I folded my hands across my chest. My fingers stiffened as I felt the pain of it all settle.
“You care deeply. Not just for yourself, or for Lioran, but for our world. It’s why the stars chose you.” With her words, the weight lifted, a subtle shift that steadied me.
I reached out and hugged her. Her hands squeezed around my back.
“Thank you,” I whispered to her.
“For what?”
“Believing in me.” I smiled.
“Only you can decide what is right for you. Don’t let others define your choice.” A glimmer of hope reflected in her emerald eyes.