“I’ll be with you in a moment!” a man bellowed.
Riven placed his hand on the small of her back and guided them to the counter, waiting patiently to be assisted.
“What are we doing here?” she asked quietly.
The king merely grinned. “Patience, princess.”
They stood there for a minute, Tanith shifting on her feet as she became more anxious. A tinker shop wasn’t exactly her idea of a good time, but when the man stepped out from the back, she had her answer.
Her breath ceased momentarily as she took in the sight of him, stunned by the perfect image she’d seen in books her whole life. Her hand drifted to her neck where the locket Meelah gifted her still rested, her thumbnail slipping between the crack of the golden oval.
She dared to rip her gaze away from the stranger, looking down at the picture across from her father to confirm that the man was actually no stranger at all. He was Javaid Estiellon. Her many-greats grandfather—her ancestor, and he was alive and well.
CHAPTER 21
“Javaid,” Tanith whispered in disbelief.
She’d never known him. Never met him, but he was unmistakable. Brown skin. Raven hair. As tall as Riven and far too youthful for his age. He was two hundred and twenty-eight years old, but he didn’t look a day over thirty.
He didn’t need any introduction, and apparently, neither did she. “Tanith. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve been waiting,” he confessed, reaching over the counter to shake her hand.
“Hi.” Hers was clammy when she touched him, his gesture strong and firm before he glanced at Riven and bowed.
“What can I do for you, Your Majesty?”
Riven’s hand met Tanith’s shoulder. “Ask what you can do for her. You know better than anyone about the choice she’s facing. I had hoped you might be able to discuss it together.”
Javaid nodded. “I’d be honored. There’s a private place in the back if you’re interested.”
Tanith nodded, but Riven took a step back. “I have a few errands to run. I’ll return at your beckon,” he said to Javaid, and Tanith assumed they’d be talking through the mind link.
The king let himself out as Javaid led Tanith around the counter. The back was filled with more sculptures and metal parts, but there was a space cleared, a table with a teapot in the center, and a small counter off to the side.
“Would you like some tea?”
Tanith nodded. “That would be nice.” She sat down as Javaid grabbed the pot and filled it with water, going through his routine while casting her small glances.
“I was uncertain I’d ever get to see you,” he admitted. “Ancestors don’t usually consult the new firstborns, so there was a chance you could have returned to Ellesmere before we got to know each other.”
“That would have been unfortunate,” she admitted. After a moment, she thought of something more intelligent to say. “Why did you choose to remain in Wickenvare?”
Javaid shrugged. “This is a beautiful island. Equally as beautiful as Ellesmere, but unlike our birthplace, Wickenvare will last forever. I thought it would be honorable of me to contribute another Ellesmerian lineage to the fae lands considering that out of all the kingdoms, our firstborns have always been the most likely to return home. I saw it as part of my duty, actually. Ensuring that descendants of Ellesmere would survive the Great Cleansing when it arrived.”
“Did you ever think it was wrong? The whole idea of letting people die off?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t remember everything about the human lands, but I do know that we had all come to terms with the fact that our lives were short. We can’t save everyone.”
Tanith was beginning to lose count of the times someone had said that to her. She couldn’t save everyone. When had she begun to think it was her responsibility to do so?
“And you’re happy here?”
Javaid nodded, placing a steaming teacup in front of her and dropping into the other seat. “I am. I have a husband of ninety-seven years. We’re looking to adopt a child, but fae children are few and far between. We haven’t had any luck in the last decade.”
“What’s his name?”
“Orion. I’m sure he’ll be begging me to invite you over for dinner after I tell him you stopped by today. He’d love to meet you. Especially before you go if you plan to do so.”
Tanith nodded in understanding. “I haven’t decided. I have three weeks, though. It’s all Riven could give me because my mother will be sending her troops to steal the immortality after that.”
Javaid seemed displeased as Tanith sipped her tea, letting the warm cinnamon calm her nerves. “I’m sorry to hear that. It took me two days to make my decision, but it wasn’t a hard one. I didn’t have younger siblings like you, and I feared I wouldn’t be accepted as king if I returned.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I’m me. I love men, and it’s the entire purpose of the royal lines to produce a biological firstborn to send to the island. After I didn’t return, my father was forced to sire another child. At least the second one lived up to his expectations.”
Tanith was grateful for Meelah, even if she would have felt guilty leaving her to rule alone. It didn’t seem like the honorable option, but then again, Meelah had more waiting for her in Ellesmere than Tanith ever did.
“I wish it was that easy for me,” she admitted with a sigh.
Javaid smiled empathetically. “You still have time.”
Tanith nodded before clearing her mind of troubled thoughts. “So, you opened a tinker shop. Was this your life’s passion?”
He tilted his head and squinted as though thinking hard on it. “Eh… In a sense. I enjoy putting things together. It’s gratifying, but it’s also my gift. It’s like a sixth sense. I just know where things go, like the pieces are calling me to put them together.”
“Does Orion have a gift?”
Javaid hesitated. “They say everyone has one. Most never discover it. He works in the shoemaker shop a few blocks down.”
“Then I suppose you can’t imagine life anywhere other than Wickenvare?”
“Not a good one,” he answered with a breathy laugh. “Certainly not in the human lands.” He paused for a moment. “Something else to consider is the effect these different places have on us. In the human lands, there’s poverty and despair. Crime is rampant, and there are small rebellions every day. Here, we thrive on peace. No one is without a roof or food. I didn’t realize how good it is to walk down the street without worrying about people sleeping on it.”
Tanith thought of the girl who stole the dress. It was only a few days ago, but it felt like a lifetime. She hadn’t even blinked an eye when one of her baked apple roses was stolen. Hadn’t thought twice about the fact that someone was so hungry they’d steal it.
Of course, it was Shaw who’d really gotten his grubby fingers on it, but still. It wasn’t like that on Wickenvare. It seemed like the only problem were the human hunters, and they were few and far between. In fact, she was pretty sure Uhri was the only survivor.
“On some level, that spurs me in the other direction,” she confessed. “Things are great here, and that’s wonderful, but it just makes me think that the human lands need me more.”
“To fix everything?”
“To try my best. Don’t you believe it’s worth saving?”
Javaid sighed slightly. “If it could be saved, then yes, but it can’t. No matter what we do, humanity will die out eventually, and any attempts to stall that on our end would only succeed in causing further destruction in the future. In the long run, it just makes more sense to let things be. Whether or not you want to be one of the ones to interfere and try to fix things despite that, is up to you.”
Tanith couldn’t help but feel it was a hopeless fight. She supposed it was—that immortality was only ever meant for the fae. It was how the Ghods intended it, but what if they were wrong?
“This certainly gives me a lot to think
about,” she told her ancestor. There was no way she’d admit it out loud, but she was even more torn than she was when she woke up that morning.
Javaid understood her silent desire to pull away from the pressing decision that hung over her, even just for a little while, so he served her lunch, fish, and greens, while they dove into more light-hearted conversation.
He told Tanith about how he met Orion two years into his stay. He told her about how charmed he was, and how quickly they came to care for one another.
Tanith told him about their family, the generations that came after him, and all the little details about her life in Ellesmere that she knew would resound with him, touching his soft spot for their shared birth home.
“I have every intention of returning to the coast one day,” he assured her. “When it’s time for the fae to expand, the other immortal descendants of Ellesmere and I will rebuild together. I hope you’ll be by my side to watch it happen. Maybe even to record history in the making.”
She smiled sadly at the thought. Maybe she would. Maybe she wouldn’t. “I’m sure that would be amazing.”
Javaid nodded in agreement and sipped his tea, eyes shifting to the old grandfather clock pushed against the wall. He nearly spit out his drink, his porcelain cup clinking against the saucer as he set it down again. “It’s past four already. We’ve been at this for hours,” he exclaimed in disbelief. “And I forgot all about the shop. And Orion. He’ll be wondering why I’m not home.”
“I’m sorry to have distracted you,” Tanith apologized, scooting out of her seat and brushing her hands down her skirt.
He shook his head quickly. “Nonsense. I wouldn’t have traded these hours with you for anything.” He reached for her hands, squeezing them tightly. “I’m so honored to have gotten to know you, Tanith. You’re family. I hope to see you again soon, but if I don’t, then I wish you the best of luck.”
A pang of longing ran through her. She wanted to know him more too. Wanted to meet Orion and be a part of their lives. There was so much history to learn from him. So much in the future that they could see together. It was nothing if not tempting, but she had family at home too, and they also needed to be considered.
“Thank you for having me. I hope to see you again as well, whether I stay or go.”
If she left, he’d be her most painful goodbye. Not Ardeen. Not Riven. Javaid. Her many-greats grandfather whom she wouldn’t even remember.
He led her out to the front of the shop where she could see the king lingering outside, his silver hair glinting like solid steel in the evening sunlight, warm skin glowing as all the fae seemed to do.
“Goodbye Tanith,” Javaid said as she rounded the glass counter. “Until next time.”
She nodded in agreement. “Until next time.”
It pained her to leave, but she promised herself that she’d see him again. On her way off the island if she chose to return to Ellesmere. After she got settled in if she chose to stay.
Riven greeted her with a short smile as she stepped out of the shop, the bell ringing behind her as she walked away from family yet again.
“Where are your bags? I thought you went shopping.”
“Hello to you too,” the king mused, falling into step with her as they trailed in the direction of their horses. They’d been walked further down the street, out of the way of the street. “I had some guards deliver my findings to the castle. There were too many to carry.”
She raised a brow. “What did you buy?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would,” she agreed. “That’s why I asked.”
Silently, he helped her onto her horse again, mounting his with no trouble at all before they set off. “You’ll find out soon enough. How was your time with Javaid? I trust you got some answers.”
Tanith nodded. “I did, though I might be more confused now than ever. This place is wonderful. No one can deny that, but Ellesmere is just as grand. Maybe not as… perfect, but it has sentimental value.”
Riven flashed her a look of understanding. “I suppose it comes down to whether or not you’re willing to make a new home for a future that could last. I don’t expect it to be easy, but I do expect you to give it a fair evaluation.”
She rolled her eyes. “As if this decision can be made through science. My bias matters. It very well could be the deciding factor.”
“I’m aware,” he told her. “Why do you think I’m telling you to toss it away?”
Tanith laughed slightly. “You want me to stay?”
The king looked ahead, nodding begrudgingly. “I hope you all stay. I hope enough firstborns cycling through decide Wickenvare is nothing if not pure potential. I hope it makes the human lands rethink manipulating their people and sending their children here to steal our blessing.”
She nodded in agreement. “If you let me keep my memory and go home, I could stop the fealty of firstborns when I take the throne. This nonsense could finally come to an end.”
“You could stop it on Ellesmere, but you couldn’t stop Ograboden, Menne, Shadow Hunt, Larune, or Xeres. Besides, who’s to say your successors wouldn’t go back to the old ways? Even if I could let you return with your memory intact, which I can’t, it would do no good. You’d spend your days wondering if you made the right decision and possibly sending search parties to find the hidden passage in the barrier when you inevitably decide you wish to return.”
“We only get one chance to stay, then?”
Riven nodded. “Yes, but most get none. One chance has to be good enough.”
Tanith couldn’t help but sigh. “It is. I just wish I didn’t have to make it so soon.”
The rest of the ride to the palace was silent, Tanith’s mood heavy with thoughts and considerations. She could feel Riven’s sharp gray eyes on her every so often, almost as though trying to read her mind. She hoped he didn’t have that gift, because the more the hairs on her body perked at the attention, the more she found herself enjoying it.
He was unfairly handsome, blessed with the beauty of immortality on the inside and the outside. Men weren’t built like him in the human lands. They weren’t sculpted of iron and metal, all sharp angles and unnaturally strong. He’d lifted her onto the horse’s back like she weighed no more than a pillow, and for a woman taller than the average person in the human lands, she’d never felt so light.
She liked it.
Riven excused himself upon arrival, insisting he had more work to do before dinner and disappearing down the first hall. Tanith took it upon herself to return to her room. She wanted some alone time. A chance to look out her window and ponder on her day with Javaid. To sort out her messy thoughts and finally start leaning towards a decision.
She sighed at the carving on her door, giving it a second look instead of swinging it open. The girl in the cloak carried her basket through the woods, woefully unaware of the sharp-toothed fae lingering behind a tree. The last time she looked at it, she was sure the immortal creature was waiting for a chance to attack, but now she wondered if he was just watching. Waiting that same way all the fae were—until the humans were gone so they could come out of hiding.
Shaking her head, she stepped into her room, instantly relieved at the privacy until she saw him on her bed.
Kent.
He sat on the end, picking his nails and waiting for her to enter. His strawberry blond hair was golden in the sun, but his blue eyes were solemn, uneasy when they met hers.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, stepping further into the room and opting to sit on a chair across from the bed.
Her best friend shrugged. “I just wanted to know where your head was at. I’ve been wondering how long it will be until I can return to Shadow Hunt.”
“You can go now if you’re so eager. Shaw will take you.”
Kent flashed her a look of exasperation. “I can’t leave without you. I promised, so just let me know what’s on your mind. Why aren’t you jumping at the idea of returning home?
We were lied to. Our people have been lied to for a thousand years and we need to go. We need to do something,” he insisted.
Tanith shook her head. “We won’t remember if we go back. We’ll be as ignorant as we were coming in.”
“But they’ll have to tell us eventually. When we take our thrones, they’ll have to admit the truth.”
“And who’s to say we won’t make the same mistake as everyone before us? What if they convince us that they’re in the right because they don’t know what we’ve learned here? Their perspectives are obviously clouded, and if we relearn from them without remembering what we learned here… It will be nothing more than a disaster. A horrible waste of an opportunity.”
“An opportunity for what? A front-row seat to the human world burning?”
She let out a breath of disbelief. “An opportunity to rebuild our lands when they inevitably fall. To see history play out, and to forego our birthright. We could do anything we want to here. Be anything we want.”
“I want to be king,” he insisted. “It’s been my life’s mission to clean up after my father and to be a better man than he ever was. I can’t do that if I’m cowering on Wickenvare!”
“Cowering?” She almost laughed at the word. “I don’t think starting a new life and ensuring the future of a new Shadow Hunt would be cowering.”
He shook his head. “Why are you so for this?”
“I’m still considering my options. Why won’t you?”
“Because I don’t need to.”
She raised her brows. “What about your brother? You’d just leave Shaw behind?”
“Why shouldn’t I? He never sought me out. Never thought to come back for me so I wouldn’t be alone with our father. It’s not like he wants me here anyway.”
“You don’t know that.”
“And you do?”
Tanith shook her head, biting the inside of her cheek. “I know enough. That he threw you overboard to make you swim home. To save you from making this choice.”
“Well, I’ve already made it. Now I’m waiting on you, but they say it could be another three weeks.”
Tanith & Shaw (The Fealty of Firstborns Series Book 1) Page 18
