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T he meeting was tedious. Mareleau was willing to bet the tribunal spoke less about the alliance itself and more about placing restrictions on Cora. She could leave El’Ara via worldwalking, but only with express permission, and in the presence of at least two witnesses from the tribunal. She could not use her connection to Valorre to cross the Veil ever again. She could enter through the tear to report back about her side of the alliance, but there were layers of protocol she’d have to endure.

Mareleau would have felt more indignation on her friend’s behalf if her mind weren’t swarming with a thousand unanswered questions. They burned her tongue as she and Cora followed Ailan and Fanon out of the meeting room and into another one of Garot’s swirling tunnels. Now that the meeting was over, Cora was eager to return to Ridine Castle. Their party was on their way to reconvene with Valorre in preparation for Cora to worldwalk home.

Home. Such a lovely word.

So badly Mareleau wished she and Noah were going home too.

Mareleau hurried to Ailan’s side, unable to hold her questions back any longer. “What about my husband?”

Ailan met her gaze with a furrowed brow. Fanon’s expression flashed with annoyance before he marched on ahead. Ailan fell back to keep pace at Mareleau’s side. “Your husband?”

Mareleau did everything she could to keep her voice steady despite the suppressed rage that tightened her lungs. “You’ve already made plans for me and Noah under the assumption that we’ll be citizens here. That I’ll relinquish my kingdom and my role as queen in the human realm and live in El’Ara instead. Need I remind you I’ve agreed to nothing of the sort?”

Ailan gave her a tired smile. “I know, blood of my blood. I spoke as I did for the tribunal’s sake, for I needed to secure their binding vow. But I haven’t forgotten what I said to you before. I meant it when I told you we’d figure out the future together. Defeating Darius takes precedence before all else, as does protecting you and Noah.”

The swirling colors of the tunnel shifted from the pale hues of the palace to the greens and browns of the outdoors.

“What about my husband?” she said again, her tone edged with impatience. “I want the same protection for him. The same guarantee that he’ll be granted respect and citizenship should we decide…”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish. She wasn’t ready to imagine a future in El’Ara. Noah was a prince of Vera, and she was its queen. Yet Noah’s connection to El’Ara transcended bloodline politics and involved an entire world, not just a kingdom. It was a matter of magic and fate. Something she wasn’t sure she could fight.

“She’s right to ask,” Cora said.

Ailan stopped in place just as the blues and greens went still and spread outward to form a moonlit forest. Garot lowered his hands, his pathweaving complete. Fanon leaned lazily against a nearby tree trunk. Mareleau glanced overhead where dark trees stretched toward an inky starlit sky. Were Mareleau in a better mood, she may have found the quiet woods charming, but now they felt sinister.

Cora spoke again. “I want to know the answer too. Not just about Larylis, but all the citizens of Lela. You may not want to discuss the future with your tribunal just yet, but we deserve to know what’s in store for us. I’ve agreed to forge an alliance between our people so we can fight Darius together, but what exactly are my people fighting for? What future awaits when Darius is gone and all that remains is sealing the tear? What happens to the people of Lela when you reclaim El’Ara’s heart?”

“I already told you. I don’t know the answer yet.”

“Give us something,” Mareleau said, voice quavering. “Give us some idea of what our futures could look like. Give me a reason to believe your protection is worth a damn.”

Ailan’s posture tensed, and she heaved a sigh. “I…I have some ideas for how we could work together. I know you value your kingdom. Perhaps…perhaps we can wait to seal the tear and complete the Veil until you and your husband have lived full lives. Once we defeat Darius, we’ll need only worry about healing the Blight. Fifty years in the human world is just over seven in El’Ara. We can hold off the Blight that long, and it will give us time to prepare for what happens next.”

The edges of Mareleau’s anxiety began to smooth. That didn’t sound terrible. She and Larylis could continue to rule Vera and live full lives with their son. Noah could be a prince of two worlds until then.

“If we wait to complete the Veil,” Ailan said, “that will give your people time to prepare for Lela’s return to El’Ara. They will have time to find new homes, new kingdoms?—”

“Exile,” Cora said. “The future you see for my people is exile.”

Mareleau’s blood went cold at the word.

“Or citizenship of El’Ara,” Ailan rushed to say. “I know both options are unthinkable right now, but we can work together. That’s what our alliance is about. Defeating Darius and forging a future beyond that.”

Fanon snorted a laugh.

Mareleau furrowed her brow. Etrix wasn’t there to weave his translation magic, so Fanon shouldn’t have been able to understand Ailan’s words.

He pushed off the tree he’d been leaning on and strode closer to them. With a shake of his head, he said something in the Elvyn language.

“Fanon,” Ailan hissed through her teeth.

He spoke again, his tone barbed. Garot nodded in agreement, though his words were lost to lack of translation as well.

“What are they saying?” Mareleau asked.

Fanon sauntered up to her, extending a closed fist. She flinched back, arms going protectively around Noah’s sling. He said something with a nod at his fist, and when she made no move, he wrested one of her hands away from Noah and forced something into her palm.

She nearly dropped it before she noticed a delicate silver chain, just long enough to be a bracelet, strung with a small onyx orb.

“Gift from Etrix and one of our charmweavers,” Fanon said with no small amount of irritation. Her eyes widened as she realized she could understand him. “And what I said is that my lovely consort is too optimistic.”

Ailan glared daggers at him as he moved to Cora next, dropping a bracelet in her hand. Ailan hissed his name again, but he paid her no heed.

“The tribunal will never agree to let humans live in El’Ara,” he said. “Nor will they agree to wait a year, much less seven, to seal the tear and complete the Veil.”

“You don’t know that,” Ailan said, then turned her gaze to Mareleau and Cora. “He doesn’t know that. I’ll do everything in my power to get them to agree to a solution that benefits everyone. Don’t listen to him.”

“Why not?” Fanon said with a scoff. “I’m the only one telling them the truth. And here’s a truth for you, my love. The tear has increased the Blight’s growth tenfold.”

She paled, her jaw slack. Then she spoke under her breath. “Do you want this alliance or not?”

Fanon said nothing but Garot raised his hand. “I do, but Fanon is right. The tribunal will never agree to let humans live in El’Ara. Well, aside from the Edel Morkara’Elle, but we saw how well that discussion went.”

“So, exile,” Cora said, tone empty. Movement rustled the underbrush, and moonlight caught on white fur. Valorre emerged from between the trees and gently nudged Cora’s shoulder with his muzzle. “I’m forging an alliance for the eventual exile of my people.”

Ailan’s shoulders fell. “I’ll give you time. That I can promise you. As regent, I can hold off the Blight long enough to sort everything out.”

Mareleau’s heart sank to her feet. The promise of time was meaningless when she couldn’t guarantee exactly how much they’d be given. She met Cora’s gaze and they exchanged a defeated look.

“I need to get back,” Cora said, absently stroking Valorre’s neck.

Mareleau didn’t want Cora to leave. She was her only friend in this strange place. The only person here who was truly on her side. Once she left, it would just be her and Noah.

Alone.

The future uncertain.

She swallowed the tightness in her throat and reached into the pocket of her robe. She extracted a wrinkled piece of parchment and held it out for Cora. “See that this gets to Lare.” She hated that her only communication with her husband could be a one-way letter. For now. She wouldn’t give up on getting what she wanted. What she needed.

Cora clasped her fingers around the paper, but she didn’t pull away. She gave Mareleau a weighted look, one that spoke of last resorts. Mareleau glanced at Cora’s hands, one connected to the paper they both held, the other pressed to Valorre’s neck. Realization dawned. All Mareleau needed to do was give the slightest sign, the subtlest nod, and Cora could worldwalk them away. Mareleau would be free of this place where she might as well be a prisoner. She could see her husband again. She could go home.

Home.

Home.

It was a tantalizing offer that sparked every selfish instinct she harbored. But on the other side were the repercussions of that choice. Should she run away like that, they’d forfeit the alliance and make an enemy of the Elvyn people. The dragons would return to the human world to seek her out. Even if she learned to ward her magic, the dragons would likely still search for her and destroy crops, homes, and lives in the process. And she wouldn’t put it past the Elvyn to hunt her down themselves and take their Morkara back by force.

Mareleau may be determined to get her way, but her decisions carried weight. Consequences. Ones that could become burdens she might never fully shrug off.

She’d find a better way to fight for what she wanted.

For now…she could only let go.

With a slow sigh, she released her hold on the letter and took a step back.

Cora gave her a relieved nod, as if she was of the same mind. Then she turned her back on Mareleau and fully faced Valorre.

In the blink of an eye, her friend was gone.

Leaving Mareleau and Noah behind, an entire world away.