Page 7

5 AELIA

“Come child, lay down, and let me take a look at you.”

Elrida straightened a pair of thick glasses on her crooked nose as she ushered me toward a cot. Deep inside an oak tree, her workshop smelled of fresh-cut wood. Herbs hung from the rafters, lending their scents of sage, barley, and others I could not name. Low-burning candles cast a golden hue upon the workshop.

I laid down on the stiff cot next to a suspicious-looking jar of tentacles, still sucking on the glass.

Elrida cracked her ancient knuckles.

“Alright, lay still, this won’t hurt.”

I sucked a breath into my lungs, trying to still my racing heart. Tharan stood beside me; hand entwined with mine.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, placing a kiss on my forehead.

“I’m afraid of what she’ll find.”

His gaze softened. “Whatever she finds, we’ll face it together.”

Elrida chuckled.

“What?” Tharan asked.

“I knew you two would fall in love. I’ve never been wrong about a match.”

Tharan smirked, making a heat light in my chest.

“I shouldn’t have doubted you, Elrida.”

“I’m older than you. Almost older than your father. I think I know a thing or two about love.”

Just how old was Elrida? Could she also be an original? Or was she something else entirely? Her short stature and signs of aging marked her as something other than a sylph, exactly what, I did not know.

“Alright, I’m going to start. You may feel some heat coming from my hands, but that’s just the magic searching for a matching signal in your body.”

She spread her long, spindled fingers wide over my abdomen.

A subtle heat radiated through me. I gripped Tharan’s hand tighter.

Elrida’s cracked face twisted with concern.

“Something is stuck, here, in her chest.”

My eyes flicked to Tharan’s.

“What does that mean?” he asked, trying to keep his voice steady for my sake.

The heat between my breasts increased as she tried to unravel the knot. Tongue between her teeth, she radiated more magic upon me.

“This is ancient magic, my King. I have no doubt there is power within her.” Elrida strained her words as she focused her magic. “But it is more complex than I’ve ever seen before. This is no ordinary binding spell. This is something so intricate it could only have been done by one of the Zylrith.”

Tharan arched a brow.

“Who?”

“The Zylrith Weavers. Legendary Magus with the power to shape raw magic. I wouldn’t expect you to know who they are. Their name has long since disappeared from the continent, but there are some of us who came before the Trinity, who still remember.”

“What happened to them?” I asked.

Elrida shrugged. “What happened to anyone who did not bend to the Trinity’s will? They were wiped out.” Her mouth flattened into a straight line. “But this… this is spell-work I have not seen for an age.”

“Could one of them have survived?” Tharan asked.

“Perhaps. Stranger things have happened,” Elrida said.

“What can we do?” My chest tightened. What was inside of me? Had it been there my whole life and I never noticed? Was it something I was born with or had someone put it there?

My eyes flitted between Tharan and Elrida who exchanged worried looks.

She clicked her tongue.

“There is nothing to do. I cannot undo this spell, and part of me wonders if I want to. Whoever locked your magic away did so because it would be too great for you to handle, making me wonder if we should attempt to undo it.”

I swallowed the dread creeping up my throat. Just what I needed, another thing to worry about. I thought Gideon had turned me into a monster, but perhaps I was a monster all along.

“But her father was mortal,” Tharan said, rubbing his jaw while he searched for answers in his mind.

“The father she knew was mortal. It does not mean he was her real father.”

“What are you saying?” I asked, a heaviness expanding from my core. My eyes locked on Elrida’s.

“I’m saying whatever you are, it’s certainly not human. Perhaps both your parents were hiding something.”

“There’s no way—I…” I paused, and the world went dark.

“Aelia?” Tharan said. Panic filled his voice.

“It’s the knot containing her magic.” Elrida’s ancient voice echoed through the room. “It doesn’t want to be undone. It will protect itself at all costs.”

The world spun around me, and acid lapped at the back of my throat. I didn’t want to think about my father or whoever my real father was. I didn’t want to unravel the power within me. I wanted to marry Tharan and start a new life with him. I wanted my sister to get her memories back. I wanted to never break another mind again.

“Take me home,” I commanded Tharan. It was rude to leave so suddenly, but I didn’t care. The hut suffocated me. I needed to get out of there. I needed fresh air and time to process what I’d just been told.

Tharan swooped me up in his powerful arms and carried me back to the Alder Palace. Elrida followed close behind.

“Are you alright, my darling?” He laid me on the soft bed.

“I feel weak.” Something burned in my chest, like a trap had been triggered. A fire lit in my chest, burning my lungs. I gasped for air. “It burns.”

“Quickly, a cold compress,” Tharan ordered one of the servants. A satyr returned a moment later with a damp cloth. Tharan placed it gently on my sweat-beaten forehead. “Is there anything you can do, Elrida?”

She mixed milk of the poppy with some thistle and handed it to Tharan. “This is the best I can do right now. The pain should fade. We must not disturb it again.”

I drank the cool liquid, letting my body go slack. My brain remembered this feeling. Similar to dust, but less potent. I’d have to be careful.

Tharan patted the cold compress on my forehead. “Sleep now, my darling. I’ll be right here.”

With heavy eyes, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

I awoke to the sound of the wind rattling a shutter. Tharan was gone, but being the gentleman he was, he left a note.

Had to do kingly things. Be back soon. Meet me for dinner in the dining room.

I rubbed my chest where the knot had burned. No wound marked my skin. Sliding my feet into satin slippers, I padded down the hallway to Baylis’s room.

She greeted me with a smile. “Oh, hello.” Setting down the book she was reading on herbs and medical plants, “I was just honing up on my herbology. I was wondering… When we return, could I have a bit of earth in the greenhouses? I’d love to get back to cultivating my own species of plants.”

“Of course,” I said, my head still buzzing from the milk of the poppy. “Would you like to go to dinner with me?”

“Oh, yes, that would be lovely.”

We made our way down to the great dining hall. I grappled with whether or not to tell my sister about what Elrida had found. On one hand if our father wasn’t our real father, it could inhibit her healing. On the other hand, I had a duty to tell her. Weight settled itself over me. How much could I tell her? How much could Baylis take? I pushed it aside. I could tell her later.

Chandeliers made of elk antlers hung over a table laden with delicacies from far and wide—succulent fruits and berries, nuts and cheeses, along with roasted elk, and sauteed root vegetables.

My stomach grumbled at the aroma of herbs and roasted meats. Tharan stood at the end of the table, red hair shining in the flames. He wore a tunic of green and gold. My mouth went dry at the sight of him.

“Let me help you, my darling.” He rushed to my side, wrapping an arm around my waist, and pulling the chair out for me.

“I’m fine. I feel much better after my rest.”

I took my seat between Tharan and Sumac, who was running a cloth over her dagger. Her dark hair tied back in a neat knot, the way all military women wore their hair.

Tharan cleared his throat.

“I think we should leave before the next full moon. No doubt our enemies are already on the move. Plotting against us. We can’t waste time, and we all have long journeys ahead of us. I suspect it will take the better part of a month to get to the elven capitol.”

I sighed, shoveling a forkful of elk meat into my mouth.

“Who is going with you?” Hopper asked, not bothering to look up from the pile of papers stacked next to his plate.

Tharan thrummed his fingers on the oak table.

“You and Sumac, obviously, and I supposed at least eight of the Hunt. We don’t want to seem too threatening.”

Sumac and Hopper nodded.

“Very well, I shall see it done. And will the Hunt accompany Aelia and Baylis?”

“Yes, they are to escort them to Ruska, where they will stay in my townhome. But they are not to step foot on the Isle of Fate. Do you understand me?”

Sumac nodded. “Yes, my King.”

Tharan turned to Baylis.

“Before we leave, you will let your sister take a look inside your mind. I can’t have you putting anyone at risk.”

I barely held back a pained gasp. I knew I’d have to do it. I just hoped I’d have more time.

Baylis swallowed hard. Her eyes cast downward to where her hands fiddled with the emerald napkin in her lap.

“Do you think she can bring back my memories?”

“She can certainly try.” He laid a loving hand on mine and my cheeks flushed a rosy hue.

“Tharan is being too kind. I’ve never actually brought memories back; I’ve only erased or altered them.”

“Have you ever gotten into someone’s mind only to find their memories had already been altered?”

“As far as I know, there are only two remaining telepaths on this continent—myself and Gideon. I would be able to see his mark, and I have never seen another’s.”

Baylis nodded as if she understood, as if she could comprehend what it’s like to be inside someone’s mind.

“But I will look in yours if you want me to.”

She played with the food on her plate, her eyes sliding away from mine.

“That’s okay. I don’t think I want to know.”

I leaned in, taking her hand in mine.

“How about this, I will search through your mind, and if I find anything you can’t handle, I will keep it my little secret. Alright?”

She bit her lip and nodded. “When?”

“We could do it tonight if you wanted.”

“No, I’m not ready.” Again, her eyes darted away from mine.

Tharan cleared his throat. “You may never be ready, but we do not have the luxury of time on our side.”

“Fine. Tonight,” she said more to herself than to anyone at the table.

I breathed deeply. Neither of us was prepared for what we might find inside her mind. My fingers itched after drinking the milk of the poppy. The remains of my need for dust still lingered in the back of my mind like another voice—always there, always watching, whispering in my ear. I pushed it away. Pulling a cigarette from my pouch, I lit it on one of the candles at the table, letting the smoke burn away the need scratching at my brain.

Tharan shot me a disapproving look.

I gave him a coy smile.

“Sorry, I need this.”

“You need to eat.” Tharan slid a plate of powdered confections my way. The sylph’s love for sugar extended to dinner as well.

Reluctantly, I placed one on my plate, signaling to one of the servants to bring the coffee. There was nothing better than a sweet treat with a bitter cup of coffee.

“I’m nervous,” Baylis said, shifting her seat. Her hands wrapped white around the seat of her chair.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about. But we can have a healer bring some valerian root if you want,” I said.

She nodded.

Hopper cleared his throat, shuffling the papers in front of him, so they stacked neatly. “There’s something else we need to discuss.”

“Oh?” Tharan asked.

Hopper’s eyes flitted between Baylis and Tharan.

“In private.”

Tharan nodded knowingly.

“Ah, yes, we can do this before Aelia enters Baylis’s mind. Very well. Everyone meets in my study after dinner. Baylis, we’ll meet you after in the healer’s chambers.”

After dinner, we climbed the great staircase to Tharan’s study. Below us, the forest lights flickered like fireflies, and a fresh layer of powder covered the calm forest.

“Alright, Hopper, what is it?”

The green sylph ran a hand through his silken locks.

“The Highlands, sir. They have no leader.”

“And why is that our problem?”

“I think we should install a leader there who can stabilize the region,” Hopper said.

Tharan ran a hand over his jaw nervously. “But the optics of that. A sylph leader in a human realm.”

“From my intel, to most of the continent, it’s still a mystery how it all happened. Rumors are running wild of an army of the dead, but no one has seen that for an age so very few believe it. Some think it was a coup by Gideon’s advisors. Without intervention, I believe the captain of the guard, Brutus, will try to take control of the Highlands, and he will have an ally in the Midlands to help him build a blockade. And then I have no doubt they will move on to conquer the Southlands and expand from there.”

“So, we created a Hydra? Cutting off one head got us two more.”

“Essentially, yes. Let me send emissaries to the Southlands to offer aid. That will at least win us goodwill.”

“You’re right.”

I took a drink of whiskey.

“Is there a chance we could free the Midlands?”

Hopper and Tharan exchanged knowing glances.

“That will have to be sorted later. If we can clear your sister, do you think she would be able to run your old kingdom?”

“The Baylis I left in the Midlands five years ago could have… I have no idea if this one could.”

“We will find out shortly.”

I took a drag off my cigarette. The smoke crackled in my lungs.

“We will.”