Page 28

Chapter 28

Saelyn

My attempt at goodbye to Boros went poorly. So poorly in fact, that he followed me back to the Fortress , disregarding any commands I gave him. He sat next to me, my traveling bag in one hand, my other occupied, stroking the top of his head at my chest. His silver eyes pleaded up at me, and he gave a slight whimper—the first I’d ever heard from him.

“ You can’t come,” I reminded him, planting a kiss on his long, black snout. “ The people out there won’t understand that you’re a good boy.” He nudged my arm to keep petting his ears.

We stood at the bottom steps of my home—all of us. The entire staff and guests from the party the night before were crowded around five portals glowing a bright emerald in the morning sun.

I was fascinated more than frightened to be leaving, especially by portal. My mother typically only made them to bring more channelers to our home to train or when she brought a few leaders to the forest for occasional meetings of which I was never allowed to attend.

Each summer, Thevin arrived with his parents at the edge of the forest where she would lift the shield just enough to let them in. But these portals I had watched her unfold were enticing. I studied her movements as she pulled her hands from the ball of green light she’d created, forcing open a few portals which would lead to a part of Arcaynen I’d never seen.

The Baron of Felgren finished her words to Pah - Pah and they embraced. He murmured something in her ear, and I recognized the break in her, noticed the grip she had on his arm as she nodded with a trembling chin.

She kissed his cheek and addressed the crowd. “ The shield over Felgren will be weak for as long as we are gone.” She nodded to Pah - Pah . “ Pompeii will work with each channeler here to produce what shield you can. Stay alert. Do not enter the deep forest alone. Report back to your Overseer of any oddity you may come across.” She gazed out at her people for a few moments, the sharp flicker of her portals glowing behind her. “ I do not know when we will return. The Dimming is coming. As you have likely heard by now, Baron Revich is alive.”

A hushed band of whispers filtered through the crowd, but my mother continued. “ If all goes well, we will return with Baron Revich and the Blightress will be defeated once and for all.”

I dug my fingers into Boros’s fur. It seemed as if every eye shifted to me, the one this war apparently needed and the daughter of the long-thought-dead Baron . My role was set, my future already predicted, and I had no say.

Thevin shifted on his feet next to me. The back of his hand brushed mine as I gripped my travel bag to the point of white knuckles. I relaxed at his touch, not even daring to look at him.

There was one other task I needed to complete. It was a choice I would make for myself—convincing Thevin , who claimed to possibly love me, that I was more than just a girl of the forest he came to see every summer to escape from the horrors of war. I could be strong, too. I could be powerful. I could prove to all these people that I was capable of doing great things, powerful things, and I could help save my father and help with whatever the Dimming was.

I rolled my shoulders, giving one final squeeze to Boros before taking a few steps to Pah - Pah to say goodbye. Two flashes of light and Thevin’s parents were gone, leaving through their portals to the Spire .

Thevin grinned my way, his one beautiful dimple appearing in the smile, and he turned his back to the portal saying, “ See you in a minute,” before falling back and disappearing completely.

I laughed and hoped he fell out of it on his backside.

I caught Pah - Pah’s chuckle as well as he pulled me in for one of my favorite hugs. He kissed the top of my head and sighed. “ I love you. You are powerful, you are beautiful, you are your father’s daughter. He would be so proud of you, Sae . I always will be.”

We swayed for a moment while the crowd dispersed, and my mother waited for me to join her. I lifted my head at his chest and squeezed, replying, “ You’ll be proud of me still, Pah - Pah . They don’t know how powerful I can be.” I winked and he laughed in a rich tenor.

“ I don’t doubt it.”

My smile faded as I pulled back, still clinging to my bag, still holding his arms. “ I’ll bring him home.” His face fell immediately, but I continued. “ I promise. I’ll bring all of them home.”

His golden, kohl-lined eyes darted to my mother behind me.

“ Come , Saelyn ,” she called, lifting her hand to take mine, watching Pah - Pah . “ I , too, have promises to keep.”

I kissed his cheek one last time and turned to her portals. “ Will you teach me how to make these?” I asked, my eyes flickering over the glow of light that matched my height and build.

“ I will, Little Love . Your father taught me, and I’ll teach you.” She squeezed my hand. “ Ready ?”

I nodded and took a last step out of my home and into the world beyond.

* * *

Light blinded me, and I covered my eyes with my arm, landing on solid white marble, catching myself on my knees. My bag skittered across the floor, the sound accompanied by a murmur of voices all around.

A calloused hand I knew well slid over mine as I braced myself. “ I fell, too. Though not nearly as gracefully.”

I blinked in the bright light to see Thevin grinning ear-to-ear in front of me, his golden, cropped curls flipped casually to one side, his other hand reaching out to help me up from the floor.

“ Are you alright?” I heard my mother ask, patting my back.

I stood, nodding, and dusting off my black skirts, pulling the hair from my face and taking Thevin’s hand for balance as I fixed my boot that had come loose in the fall.

I caught his stare, but he left quickly, moving to where my bag lay across the circular, open hall at the edge of an outlook upon a great city.

A gasp caught in my throat at the sight. High above the vast citadel, I could see each purple roof, each canal, water a clear blue, that wove through the white stone buildings like threads of a tapestry.

The structures rose high into the air, each domed roof a variation of purple, pink, and blue. Each building a cascade of white stone arches and ornate carvings dressed in long flowing vines of green, some blooming petals of every color I’d ever seen.

I held onto the edge of the stone column, careful in leaning over the side of the short railing along the curved arch which led back into the room. If there’d been clouds in the blue sky, we’d be inside them so high up in what I assumed was the famous Spire the city was named for.

Thevin stood within arm’s reach, his brows raised as he observed the city below.

“ I didn’t—” I started, attempting to reign in my awe and giddiness at the view. “ It’s beautiful,” I finished simply.

“ It is,” he agreed, his gaze turned to me, rather than the city.

My cheeks flushed, and though I’d deny it if he teased me, I knew it wasn’t from the sharp breeze at my face.

“ Thevin !” A yelp came from the wide, open room behind us, and we turned as a breathtaking young woman came running, her arms wide, matching Thevin’s as she jumped into them, laughing and kissing his cheek.

“ I thought you weren’t arriving until the end of Felgren Summer !” she chastised playfully, stepping away from him only to shove his shoulder.

Her golden curls were bound in a braid that had been woven over the top of her head, bundling into a knot at the back. Her eyes were a pale blue, her lips pink and thin, a becoming feature on her pointed face.

Thevin rubbed his shoulder, feigning offense. “ Plans changed. And you don’t need to push me off the Spire because of them.”

The beautiful girl laughed, her voice steady and confident, ringing through the domed hall. “ Like I wouldn’t catch you before you fell.” She moved a hand to the sheathed sword at her side.

He chuckled and turned to me. “ Sae , meet Lady Lanna of the Spire , daughter of Lady Lamoral .”

My stomach might as well have been dropped out of the archway. I struggled to settle the immense unease I’d felt at the reunion I’d just seen, for I’d never seen Thevin interact with someone my age, let alone this Lady of the Spire who seemed to know him very well.

I bit the inside of my lip and stepped forward, plastering a small smile on my face, bowing my head slightly with my hand out to greet hers.

She winked and pulled my hand toward herself, wrapping her arms around my waist and squeezing once. She didn’t let go, even though my body stilled in the shock and scent of her jasmine perfume. “ I have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting to meet you, Saelyn of Felgren .” She planted a kiss on top of my head and stood back, taking my hands in hers as she looked me over.

“ You’ve been waiting to meet me?” I asked, dumbfounded at who exactly this young woman was.

She gave a halting scoff, turning to Thevin who stood nearby, his arms crossed, doing his best to suppress the amusement on his face. “ Let me guess...” She jabbed a thumb at Thevin . “ This piece of work hasn’t said a single thing about me to you in all those months he’s spent in Felgren .” She glared at him. “ Tanning and lounging—getting into all kinds of mischief with you.” She leaned in close and murmured, “ Please tell me it’s true that your wild lumens don’t care for him at all.”

“ I wouldn’t go that far,” Thevin started.

“ Oh , hush, you,” Lanna scolded, pulling her arm around my shoulder and swinging us away from him.

She had a good four inches on me, almost as tall as Thevin , and I guessed she was older than both of us by a few years at least. She smiled down at me, weaving us through the crowd of people I didn’t know. I searched for my mother and found her just ahead of us. The Baron spoke to an older man, about the age of Pah - Pah , who wore thin robes of gossamer silver, completed with a white high collar.

“ Hello , Baron Karus ,” the Lady Lanna said, nodding to my mother.

My mother bowed her head back in greeting, her eyes darting between the both of us, landing on the hand that still gripped my shoulder.

Lanna addressed the man, “ Viceroy Mediyr , meet Saelyn , daughter of the Baron of Felgren .”

He bowed, sweeping his hand out in a gesture of honor. When he rose again a kind smile grew across his golden skin. A short, white beard curved around his chin and jaw in the exact style I knew well from Pah - Pah . His clay brown eyes were lined in that same black kohl and crinkled at the sides of his face.

By the Baron , I hadn’t been prepared for this. In mere minutes, I’d seen my first city, met who I assumed was royalty, and was being introduced to the most powerful people on Arcaynen Isle .

My mother took my hand, pulling me from Lanna’s grip.

“ It’s nice to meet you, Viceroy ,” I stated, mimicking a confidence I wanted to portray, though I felt foolish and irritated I’d been brought here with no warning as to what I’d face.

“ Lady , Viceroy ,” my mother said, “we’d like to take some time to settle in before the gathering begins tonight. Lanna , would you mind showing us to our rooms?”

Lanna gripped her hands behind her back and nodded once. “ Happy to, Baron .”

We slipped away, my hand still held in my mother’s as I gawked at the enormity of where I’d been led to. The top of the Spire was only the beginning of the massive structure’s beauty. Lanna led us across the circular room, gathering Thevin and his parents along the way, talking endlessly in front of us about the sights she’d show me while I visited her city.

I couldn’t look at everything fast enough as we descended the white stone stairs that wrapped around the Spire . My gaze flew across every surface, including the back of Lanna herself. It all happened so quickly, I hadn’t noticed that she wore a loose white shirt and form-fitting black pants. The fabric gripped tightly to every one of her curves and strong legs, tucking into tall black boots that laced up the front to her knees.

I’d never seen such a display of one’s body in public, and I understood then what Thevin had been waiting for me to see. I took my eyes from the hanging purple wisteria blooming in what must be late spring to frown back at Thevin behind me.

His twinkling eyes were already on me as he followed down the steps next to his parents, his hands tucked into his pockets. He raised a brow as if to say, See , I told you .

I gestured to my own corseted shirt and long black skirts with a grimace and he laughed, causing Lanna to pause her talk about the canals and look at us.

Her eyes darted between the two of us, and my mother squeezed my fingers once.

The Lady of the Spire grinned wickedly, her mouth open and her tongue brushing her teeth. “ Uh -huh,” she muttered and jerked her head to the side. “ Through here.” She addressed my mother. “ Your rooms have been prepared for your planned coming weeks from now, Baron Karus .”

“ I do apologize,” she responded. “ Thank you for having them ready for our early arrival. Your city and tower are breathtaking. I wished through all those times I projected myself from Felgren that I could see it in person.”

Lanna smiled wide and gestured to the doorway that led back into the great tower. Talon , Ilyenna , and Thevin stepped into the long hallway, heading to their rooms.

“ I’d like to speak to Lady Lanna privately, if you don’t mind finding our room yourself, Saelyn .”

Thevin turned instantly, calling, “ I’ll help her find it.”

His face held a delighted grin, and he cocked his head for me to follow him.

I let go of my mother’s hand and turned, catching some of their conversation as I continued down the dim hall.

“ How is your mother?” she asked.

Lanna sighed. “ Same as always. Nothing’s changed.”

Thevin led me to a tall, copper door, turning the knob and pushing it open.

There was hesitation in my mother’s voice with her next question. “ How are things here, really, Lanna ?”

I heard them walk away as I stepped into the room I’d share with my mother while we were in the Spire . More white stone, more high, domed ceilings—it was an incredible construction and an enormous suite with columns dotting the room, climbing to the ceiling in patterns of whorls.

We’d entered a sitting room with chairs and short tables set in conversational arrangements. I stepped onto the balcony which, instead of leading to another city view, led to what must have been the open center of the spire. More balconies just like it littered the stone alcoves, circled around the core of the Spire , all the way down to the bottom floor where I could barely make out people walking below.

“ I wasn’t expecting all this detail,” I said, leaving the balcony to take in the room.

“ I could have warned you, but I would have missed your face in seeing all of this,”—he gestured around, letting his hands flop down to his sides—“for the first time.”

“ Hush , you,” I teased.

He tilted his head back and laughed.

I sighed, tracing my hand across a porcelain tea set in the shape of seashells. “ Why didn’t you ever mention Lady Lanna ?” I asked quietly with an attempted casualness.

“ I wanted to.” He folded his arms at his chest and leaned against a pillar. “ I was under direct orders from your mother to say nothing about any of this, remember?”

“ I thought you weren’t good at following orders.”

He sighed, tilting his head back to lean against the carvings. “ This order, I understood. If you knew what was happening outside of Felgren — who was outside of Felgren —maybe you’d want to leave and that was just too dangerous, Sae .”

“ I see.”

He stepped toward me. “ There’s still so much you don’t know.”

“ Because I needed to be protected or because I wasn’t strong enough to handle it?”

“ It wasn’t my choice,” he spat.

“ It wasn’t mine, either,” I gritted back, reflecting his temper.

He had come close, and I found that I had stepped forward as well, our bodies just inches apart. Everything unsaid between us hung in the salty sea air that permeated everything I’d seen so far.

My face softened. I knew because he inhaled deeply and his eyes paused on my lips. I wanted to kiss him there, in the great spire, in this new place I could never even fathom existed in my wildest dreams.

For the hundredth time, I wished I had gone back just one minute in time to when we had danced in my rooms. I wished I had told him then that I’d felt the same, that I’d risk all of what we had if it meant I’d get to call him mine.

I wished I had confessed just what he meant to me as we met in the forest clearing dance floor on the day of my party. I should have told him then, but I had hesitated, just as I did right there in that Spire room, warring with myself if I should say what I felt or first try to show him that I was strong, too. I wasn’t some damsel in the forest, waiting for him to return each summer so we could frolic in the fields of yellow blossoms, regardless of how often we had done just that. Regardless of how much waiting I really had done for him to return to me.

“ Ask me, Sae ,” he said.

I blinked, chasing away my thoughts of shouting so the entire city could hear just how much I loved him. “ Ask you what, Thevin ?”

“ Ask me what I’m thinking.”

My grin crept in easily and my heart thudded. “ What are you thinking?”

“ I’m thinking it’s time for you to see the world.”