Page 21 of The Shadowed Throne (Midlife Fairy Tale #4)
R o woke earlier than she’d intended but her sleep had been filled with dreams. Not the prophetic kind, thankfully. Snippets of Nazyr in his cell, skies full of dragons, and dark, shadowy creatures darting amongst the trees in a dark, shadowy forest.
She hadn’t sleep as well as she would have liked. Benny walking over her in the middle of the night hadn’t helped, either.
She knew the dreams were a product of her concerns and anxiety about all that was happening around her. Nothing much she could do about that but deal with the issues until they were resolved.
After a quick breakfast, she said goodbye to King Ehlzar and Queen Varyana, as well as most of the Wyvern who’d come with them.
She thanked them for their friendship, their willingness to form an alliance, and for the crystals the king had sent to her quarters.
Three beautiful specimens, two clear as spring water, one with a delicate pink hue, and each as long or longer than the length of her hand.
She stood with JT, Violet, and a large group of professors, Uldamar and Gabriel included, to watch the Wyvern leave. It didn’t take long for the Wyvern to disappear into the blue sky, headed back to Hythe.
Violet slipped her arm through Ro’s. “They’re such lovely people. You did a very good thing with them.”
“Thank you, Aunt Vi.” She patted her aunt’s arm.
“You and Gabriel be safe today.”
“We will, I promise.”
JT nodded. “You’d better be. I need you to come back. We all do.”
“Don’t worry,” Gabriel said. “Coming home is my primary goal.”
As the other professors drifted away, Uldamar joined them. “I know you’re hoping to leave soon. I just need a few moments to gather some things, then I can meet you at the portal.”
Ro nodded. “Sounds good. Let’s try for half an hour.”
Gabriel glanced in the direction of the stables. “The horses should be ready. I went to the stables before coming here so everything would be in order. The guards and I will be at the portal early.”
“All right,” Ro said. “Let’s get moving.”
It took her very little time to change from the gown she’d worn to see the Wyvern off to an outfit more suitable for riding: leggings and one of the military-style jackets she favored, both of which allowed for the placement of a few more daggers.
She wore a thin circlet with three small trillianites, small dangling trillianite earrings, her portal ring and her crystal bracelet. Her hair was braided back and her makeup simple. She kissed JT and Violet, then headed for the portal.
JT insisted on accompanying her, which meant Raphaela came along, too. The three of them arrived at the outdoor portal, this one in a far corner of the royal gardens, to see Gabriel checking the guards and horses that were part of the group, including the one Wyvern.
Uldamar was already on his horse, Aura. He gave Ro a nod, indicating his readiness to travel. She nodded back before going to Gabriel.
Ro held out the crystals Ehlzar had given her. They were wrapped in scraps of leather and tucked into a suede pouch. “Can you find a safe place for these?”
Gabriel took them. “I’ll put them in one of my saddlebags. The cloth, trillianite, and brandy are packed, as you can see.” He pointed to the horse farthest away. “Half the brandy’s on Dapple. The other half’s on Prin.”
“Good.” She’d requested a bolt of the finest marula wool from the palace stores.
It was a beautiful royal purple and had been wrapped in bleached muslin to keep it clean.
That, along with eight bottles of blackberry brandy, the crystals, and several strands of trillianite beads were her gifts for the neph.
She hoped those were suitable gifts in the eyes of their king. If there was a queen, the fabric should be a hit. The marula wool was soft and supple with a beautiful drape. It would make a spectacular winter gown or cape.
Ro wasn’t worried about the crystals or trillianite, either. The brandy was the real unknown. If the neph didn’t consume alcohol, the brandy would be pointless.
Maybe she should have brought a strand of silver-gray pearls, harvested from oysters in the Whistling Sea. They were gorgeous, but she’d thought the crystals and trillianite might be gems enough. Now she was second-guessing herself.
“What is it?” Gabriel asked. “Your brow is furrowed in a way that usually means you’re trying to decide something.”
“Whether or not to bring a strand of pearls as a backup gift. What if they don’t drink brandy? What if alcohol is against their religion? Or something?”
“Are the pearls handy? Do you want me to send a guard in for them?”
She took a breath. Then shook her head. “No. I’m overthinking this. Let’s go. I can always send the pearls afterwards, can’t I?”
“You can.”
She threw her hands up. “Exactly. I’m getting on Indi and you’re getting on Storm and we’re going through.”
If he attempted to hide his smile, he failed. “Yes, my lady.” He turned to the guards. “Mount up.”
She went to her horse, stuck her foot in the stirrup and did just that. She gave JT a smile. “See you soon.”
“Be safe. And get us a new ally.”
“I’m going to do my best.”
Gabriel handed a cord to the first guard, then to Uldamar, then strung it along to her, and the guards behind her. “Everyone must hold on to this so that we go through together and the portal remains open for us all. If you let go of it before you go through, you won’t get through.”
Ro wrapped it around her hand then tightened her fingers over it.
As a group, they walked their horses into the portal, squeezing together in the clearing ringed by trees and outlined with tall chunks of white stone that glittered where the sun hit it.
Gabriel looked at them. “Any emergency, any danger you can’t handle, especially when it comes to the queen, you dial whatever portal you need to and get back to Summerton. The rest of us will fend for ourselves.”
They all nodded.
“Dialing now.” Gabriel kept a tight grip on the cord while he shifted the bands on his portal ring.
The air around them wavered. Ro glanced over her shoulder for one last look at JT, but he was already gone.
She shifted back around. The woods in front of them looked no different than any other woods, but she knew that would soon change.
Gabriel tugged on the cord, getting them all to drop it. He wound it around his hand before tucking it into his saddlebag. “I’ll be next to the queen, Uldamar behind us. Zander, you’re leading. You have the coordinates.”
Zander held up his compass. “Yes, sir.”
“Good,” Gabriel said. “Kyle and Grenda, you two are guarding the portal.”
Grenda was the Wyvern guard.
Gabriel settled into position beside Ro, glancing at her. She gave him a nod.
He flicked Storm’s reins. “Let’s move out.”
They were quiet as they rode, the sense of trepidation easy to read. Ro wasn’t worried about trouble so much as she was concerned something would happen to quash an alliance. This was just the first meeting. There was as much chance things would go wrong as they’d go right.
If things did go wrong, she’d do her best to keep things cordial. Whatever it took to make a second chance possible.
Half an hour or so into the ride, the forest abruptly changed. The ground cover of fallen leaves remained the same, but the trunks turned black and burned. About twenty feet up, the trees came alive again.
The forest below had ceased to exist, but life had found a way. It had just started over, higher up.
Ro looked at Gabriel. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Neither have I. I don’t think another forest exists like the Charred Forest.”
She couldn’t help but stare at the green canopy overhead. Birds tweeted. Squirrels jumped between branches. Insects flew and buzzed.
But not below the hard, black line where the fire had reached.
A few more minutes and the landscape changed again. The grade increased, and steep, jagged mountains came into view.
They passed the first small, sloped opening. Around it, stones jutted from the ground. Like teeth. Or shards of bone.
Gabriel gestured to it. “This is the beginning of neph country. They live in the cave system. It’s how they travel through the forest and how they survive the sun.”
“They can’t be in the sun at all?”
He shook his head. “Not for more than a few seconds.”
She didn’t know what to say. That existence seemed awful to her. But it also seemed like the neph had more in common with Malveaux than they did with Summerton.
She just hoped she could convince them otherwise.