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WHY DIDN'T ANYONE SEND THEM TO THERAPY?

Darina

E ach course seems to take hours, though I know it has more to do with my impatience than the actual elapsed time. At long last, after poached pears in cream and chocolate, Loch stands to announce that the queen is retiring.

Rachel and Rain didn't return, so I track them to the room Rachel has claimed, a few doors away from mine.

"They tried to kill you?" Rain shouts at me the moment I walk in.

"A number of times."

"And they think we're breeding stock?"

The volume of her voice shows no sign of returning to normal. "I don't know. Rachel, definitely. Me, maybe. But I think you freaked them out with the casual little turn-that-into-water trick."

She rolls her eyes. "It's always a showstopper. Not that hard, though. I have a water rune in my pocket." She retrieves a purple stone and shows it to me."This is literally insane . You're a bona fide queen. I mean, we always knew you were weird, but man."

"Tell me about it."

It's truly strange to have her here. She reminds me of who I was literally days ago, and seems to highlight all the differences in me now.

"I really dig the dresses, though."

"Never mind about dresses. Did Calreth tell you what I need? Can you do it?"

She chuckles. "Dude, I can't believe you thought I could literally contact someone from a demon dimension. I mean, I appreciate the flattery, but that's definitely out of my wheelhouse. We had to go get a high sorcerer's help. Now that was a hell of a lot of fun."

After she tells me about her trip to Highvale—a place I've literally never heard of—and everything she saw there, she gets to the meat: what Seevar had to say.

I find something in my heart constrict throughout the tale, like I knew…some of it. Not all. And at the mention that the gods were tricked, instead of a logical degree of pity for them, I feel rage. White-hot, burning rage that doesn't quite belong to me.

"Are you okay?" Rain checks, reaching for my hand.

I place it on my lap, out of reach. "I…don't think I'm safe right now. To touch."

The whirlwind of energy simmering inside me seems about to blow. I don't want it to blow at Rain.

"So, we have two all-powerful gods who spent literal millenia trying to kill each other, because someone caused mischief between them?" Rachel summarizes.

I nod. It adds up with everything I've heard so far. The issue is, how do I fix it? How do I make it stop affecting me?

"Do you think it'll make a difference?" Rachel asks. "Knowing why they're so pissed at each other."

I can't sense much past the self-righteous anger. "I don't know," I admit.

I'm not sure what I expected. Maybe to uncover a curse, or find a history of abuse on either side. Instead, it seems like there was mostly hurt, miscommunication, and sadness. I'm highly frustrated about the fact that these immortals have compounded all their issues on top of my own dose of hurt and miscommunication and sadness.

"You're the best for going to such lengths for me," I tell Rain.

She snorts. "Like I'd miss it. Still, I don't know about living here all the time. No TV? New books?"

I grin. "I think Loch can bring me back books—and maybe laptops filled with fully downloaded movies to stream."

"With a sun-powered charger?" Rachel offers.

I nod emphatically. "We can get a projector and show the movies in one of the halls."

The notion seems so silly, we're all chuckling—save for our austere guard—when an unobtrusive knock make Caenan check the door.

It's Loch. "Is this one of those slumbing parties?"

"Slumber parties," I correct. "But, for all intents and purpose, yes."

Back in the days I would have slept over at Rain's, Rachel certainly wouldn't have hung out with us.

"Marvellous. I recall these involved naked pillow fights as a ritual."

"Usually. The nakedness is optional."

"That's regrettable. I would have offered to referee." Then to me, he says, "Your mate, his brother, and a number of their friends are patrolling."

That gets Caenan's attention. "Anything the matter?"

It's the first words he’s said all evening, so I frown. If he has reason to be concerned, so do I.

"Cal's neglected his hunt for a couple of days. The Eldritch are trying the borders. Nothing out of the ordinary," he hurriedly assures me.

"The what now?"

"Eldritch. A general term that encompasses anything too powerful and horrific for the folk. They're immortal, and very fond of this land." They've already told me as much, but because the knowledge is so new to me, I listen as much as Rain. "In the old days, they used to visit, even trade with the early folk. They often mated with us, and their descendants are today's gentry. But in time, it became clear that they only came to this world in order to claim it, take its power, and either rule or dispose of we folk. That's when the first kings and queens gave power to Morrigan, so that she might have the strength to shield us against them."

I wonder why all the details about those eldritch haven't magically been given to my mind. The only things I know are what Ryther and Loch told me.

The All and Undoing were the eldritch imprisoned in the heart of Ilvaris, and we busted them out. They're troublesome enough locked inside us, but what about these other ones?

"And hunting down these super-powerful immortals is just routine?" Rain muses.

Loch shrugs. "For Calreth, yes. He's half-eldritch. Most attending his hunts are quite terrifying. They'll be just fine."