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“There are many who believe as I do. That the isolationism which has come to characterize our people makes us weaker, not stronger. Those who do not mistrust humans but believe their gifts can complement Elydor, just as the other clans’ gifts do. There are many of us, in fact, but the queen is highly mistrustful of outsiders, even more so than her predecessor.”

I would not have expected to find an ally in my palace escort, but it seemed that was precisely what Nerys was to me. I just had to find a way to earn her trust. And quickly.

There was one way.

Though I disliked doing it after implying I would not, the stakes were too high. The secrets I kept, too valuable. Opening my mind, I allowed her energy to comingle with my own.

Hope.

She was feeling hopeful, which could mean many things. Hope that I would believe her? Hopeful for Thalassaria?

But there was another emotion too, not as obvious. Beneath that hope, a steady undercurrent of sincerity resonated. It wasn’t forced, but genuine. Nerys believed the words she spoke, even understanding the risk she took in sharing them.

I made my decision, and would not look back.

“I am here to speak with the queen on King Galfrid’s behalf,” I said, never intending to speak these words to anyone but the queen herself. “The lost princess has returned and wishes, as the king does, to reopen the Aetherian Gate and reunite her parents along with all other families who were separated when it was closed. I am here to gain your queen’s support, and aid, for such a purpose.”

I closed my mind to her emotion but could easily read Nerys’s surprise on her face.

“The queen’s support,” she murmured. “To open the Gate?”

I waited for the full import of my declaration to hit her, which it seemed to do just then.

Nerys sat back in her chair as if defeated. Shaking her head slightly, she took a deep breath and said, “Your quest is a futile one. She will never give it.”

6

NERYS

I’d said too much.

How often had speaking first and thinking second gotten me into difficult situations? After all of these years, I should have known better.

When I made to stand, a hand suddenly appeared atop mine on the table.

His touch was unlike any other.

Rowan’s hand was meant only to calm me. To reassure me, perhaps, that I had not spoken out of turn even though I most certainly had. Either way, my shortcomings suddenly mattered very little against the shock of his hand on mine. Rowan hadn’t moved it. Nor did I want him to. I’d been touched many times over the years, but this was different.

It wasn’t his hand, I realized, that made the difference. It was the way Rowan looked at me while he held it there, as if I were something more than ordinary. The temperature was as moderate here as all of Thalassaria, and yet a flush began to creep from my chest upward. I breathed deeply, in and out, willing it away.

He removed his hand.

“I do not easily trust others,” he said. “And can understand your hesitancy. But I assure you, Nerys, we are on the same side in this.”

I relaxed a bit. He was a human, after all, and not some Thalassarian politician who would run straight to the queen with whispers of my disloyalty. Not that it was disloyal to have a different opinion about how our clan would best thrive into the future. But I was fairly certain Queen Lirael would disagree.

“Why do you believe she will not give it?”

Instead of dropping the mist and ending our conversation, I reached for the glass of wine and, seeing it empty, refilled it.

“I do not know precisely. Since the Gate’s closing, her views have changed. She has become more guarded than ever. The queen has always valued Thalassarian independence, as we all have, but there was a shift that saw her policies become more inward-facing than ever. She is not King Balthor, openly despising humans and advocating for their downfall, but neither do her beliefs align with the Aetherian king either.”

His expression revealed nothing.

“Perhaps the return of Princess Mevlida will convince her. I’ve not found your queen’s policies to be openly hostile to Estmere, as you’ve said.”

Rowan refilled his wine as well. Sitting back, he appeared more relaxed than before. He was a knight, as the humans called it, but there was something more to him as well.