Chapter Six
“So shadow wielding doesn’t originate from within the South?”
“Correct. The South only obtained shadow wielding through integrating closely with the fae of the Ocrein Isles for centuries,” I answered Aurora, who was peering at me from the other side of my usual table in the library.
The library had quickly become a place of peace and comfort for me during my months here in the South.
Bright red granite with dark crystal inclusions made up the floor and pillars of the large space.
The walls and bookshelves were crafted of varying dark shades of brown, making the inclusions in the floor stand out even more.
The Haven’s library took my breath away each time I stepped inside, and I wished to the Stars that never changed.
The small enclave I had claimed as my own—which the public seemed to also acknowledge and avoid when I was present—currently housed Aurora and me, along with stacks of books.
They ranged from the existence of Titan Wolves, to the zirilium of the South, to the ties the South had with the Ocrein Isles in the past. If Aurora was to stay here in Cairnyl, I wanted her to at least have a clearer view of what was true and accurate about the South and its people.
“But… you’re able to wield shadows, right? How did that come to be?” Aurora questioned, and I could tell her curiosity was piqued. Even the tense demeanor she’d worn since the moment of her arrival had relaxed a fraction.
“Well, apparently, my mother was—”
“Your Majesty!” Laurence called out from the main sector of the library, cutting off my explanation.
“Laurence?” I stood from my chair as my friend and bodyguard slipped in through the closed curtain separating this enclave from the remainder of the library.
“There you are! We need—” He halted when he realized I wasn’t alone today, and I stole a glance at Aurora.
Her relaxed demeanor had vanished, replaced then with tense muscles and a scowl. She picked up the book we had been reading from together and proceeded to ignore Laurence and me completely.
My wings and shoulders caved in slightly, disappointed. I thought I had been making progress with her.
Sighing, I turned back to Laurence and refocused. After motioning for him to continue, he cleared his throat and carried on. “The Valwain needs you, my queen. I can accompany you to the meeting room.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly at the male before me. I could tell there was more he wasn’t willing to say, but with how hostile Aurora had acted toward him before, I couldn’t blame him for being hesitant around her.
Nodding, I faced Aurora again.
“It’s alright, Aviva. I get it. You have more important matters to attend to,” she said before I could even utter a word to her.
“No, Aurora, it isn’t—”
“I said it’s alright,” she said sternly, her wings curling around her instinctively—something I knew she only did when she was upset.
“Your Majesty…” Laurence urged, and I could hear from the tone of his voice that it was pressing.
Picking at my cuticles viciously, I said to Aurora, “We’ll catch up later, alright?”
Aurora didn’t bother to even spare me a glance as I hooked arms with Laurence and let the curtain fall behind us. The heaviness I felt in my heart didn’t dissipate even as we exited the library, arm in arm.
“What is it, Laurence? You have that look on your face,” I said softly, so only he could hear.
“It’s Teagan,” he said quietly. “She’s returned.”
“Already?” I questioned, the shock I felt reflected in the way my eyes grew wide. It had only been two days since she’d left.
Laurence cast me a look that confirmed, but that also caused my anxiety to spike.
The two of us sped through The Haven, crossing over into the private royal wing, where most of the Valwain stayed—upon Byn’s insistence. Laurence came to a stop in front of one of the first meeting rooms in the long hallway, and I could hear chatter beyond the door.
Nodding my thanks to Laurence, my hands met the door, pushing it open and stepping inside. My bodyguard was a step behind me, shutting it to the outside world.
My ears perked up at the sound of Byn’s voice, and I searched for him in the midst of our Valwain, along with the Ocrein royal siblings and, to my surprise, Matea—whose gaze found mine almost immediately.
“I understand, but did you—”
“Byn, I did everything I could! I can assure you of that,” Teagan responded, her voice raised louder than her usual soft attitude. “They weren’t letting anybody over that border.”
“Alright, alright. This simply isn’t the response I was expecting.” Byn sighed heavily, his shoulders sagging in defeat.
Stepping farther into the room, I asked, “What happened?”
All eyes landed on Laurence and me at the sound of my voice.
I rounded the table and lounge area to Byn’s side, gently brushing his form with the tips of my feathers as I passed.
I watched as his tense shoulders relaxed a fraction at the innocent contact.
I could feel his building anxiety ease as I came up next to him.
Once I’d found my place, Teagan leveled her gaze at me as she explained, “I got to the border, but was swiftly told to turn back around and return home, unless I wanted trouble to befall me. From what I could tell, for some reason, Dimitri didn’t make it public knowledge in the North who killed King Horace, but tensions are very high right now.
The soldiers there were outright hostile, threatening not just me and Lychen but the guards I had with me, too,” my sister by marriage said.
“They didn’t offer any clear explanation about the corvids we found, either.
I have a feeling they simply had their way with our birds.
I tried to stay and reason with them, but I feared if I had stayed any longer, they’d have attacked. ”
“So… what do we do now?” Chess asked, his tall form looking smaller than I’d seen it before as he sunk into the lounge chair he rested on. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he was just a couple of months younger than I was.
“We try again, right?” Quinn asked, sitting on the edge of her seat.
Teagan shook her head. “I don’t see how that would benefit us.”
The room broke out into multiple smaller conversations, each fae trying to find an alternative solution to our current predicament. Even Byn had decided to ask Teagan another series of questions.
I felt Matea’s presence behind me before I saw her. I shifted in my seat to look at her, eyes holding a level of determination that I admired. She nodded slightly, letting me know I had her support in whatever I decided to do.
And I had decided.
“I’ll go,” I said loudly, in order to be heard over all of the chatter in the room.
“Absolutely not,” Byn said almost immediately.
“Your Majesty, you can’t,” Laurence agreed.
“Aviva… is that such a good idea?” Chess asked.
All three spoke one after the other, each one meaning well, but not truly understanding.
So I’d help them understand.
“You misunderstand me. I won’t be going to the border and talking to the soldiers there. I’ll be crossing the border and finding my brother myself. With the help of the shadows, of course.”
At this, the room erupted into a chorus of different agreements and arguments.
Byn reached out a hand and gently took mine into his.
I could feel his anxiety returning, bubbling up like a geyser about to burst. Meeting his eyes, I could see the pleading there.
The silent begging for me not to go through with this.
Gently, I cupped the side of his face in my hand and murmured so only he could hear me, “I can do this.”
He pursed his lips together tightly, worry etching every feature, when he slid his kingly mask back into place and faced the rest of the room once again.
If I couldn’t feel his emotions in my own body, that move would have shut me out completely. He appeared calm, almost at ease.
But I knew him better than that, and I could feel the distress he was emitting.
“We’ll put it to a vote,” he announced. “There’s a reason the Valwain functions so efficiently, and I don’t plan on changing how it runs now.”
“All against Viva’s proposition?” Byn asked.
Chess and Laurence’s hands shot up, and a second later, Byn’s followed.
I wasn’t exactly surprised, but a small pang of disappointment rang out through my heart at the sight.
I knew it didn’t stem from a lack of trust in my abilities—I’d more than proved myself a few weeks ago.
He was simply scared of losing more people he loved; that fear had taken root in his chest, and as a result, in mine.
But he couldn’t protect me forever.
“And all those for it?” he asked, and I could already see him deflating at the outcome as my hand shot up, along with Rayven’s, Quinn’s, and Teagan’s.
As guests, and not true members of the Valwain, the Ocrein royals and Matea didn’t get a vote. But even if they did, I was still fairly certain I’d have overruled Byn.
I watched as Byn’s shoulders sagged as he looked around the room, his eyes snagging on his sister for a moment, then meeting my gaze.
“The floor is yours, my love,” he said after a moment of silence. I knew this was something we’d have to talk about, but right now, we needed a plan.
And I just so happened to have one.
***
We took hours hammering out the details of my plan. It was more complicated than simply storming Gatlyn Castle—we needed a route to get there, we had to pick the right people to join me, and we debated on how to handle Dimitri as a whole once we arrived.
It was difficult doing all this planning and plotting without Ezra and his seemingly endless well of knowledge. It took Laurence and me to map out the majority of Hollis, and Laurence and Matea to map out the best route to get there once we crossed the border.
Getting to the border wasn’t the problem. It was crossing it, then going beyond it without getting caught, that was the issue.
Next came the debate about who would accompany me.