“You are powerful,” Mae said. “I never said otherwise. But that power needs to be tempered—”
“You weren’t there to temper it!”
Mae looked away. The snowfall intensified.
“I know what Vorea did to you was not your fault. But every other decision you have made about me has been a failure. And all because it was done for me, not with me.”
“You were a baby, Niv. I couldn’t ask you if you wanted to be protected.”
“It was your job to protect me! Not Cherin’s.”
“It seems I will eternally pay for that mistake,” Mae said.
“You haven’t paid anything for it. I have. For nearly the first two decades of my life you denied me my magical heritage. My Druidic heritage. My father. And most of all…you. Cherin was an excellent mother, and Ren an excellent father. But they had to step in.”
“To protect you,” Mae insisted.
“I know, I know. I’ve heard the story a thousand times before. But you see, after all those years, you came not to see your long-lost daughter but to unseal her powers, to amplify them—to do your bidding against your tyrant niece.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Mae said.
“It was. And if you look at it a certain way, part of it makes sense. But somewhere along the way I stopped being your child and became your secret weapon. And it worked. Vorea is dead.”
“You saved the world.”
She gazed deep into her mother’s eyes. “Tell me… If you hadn’t been captured by Vorea, who would now be High Priestess. You. Or me?”
“I…”
“The truth.”
“You didn’t have the experience.”
She pointed to herself. “I didn’t ask for the job. Which is probably the best qualification for it. You came to the Jeweled Woods to unseat Vorea and claim the order for yourself!”
“Vorea was a tyrant who was hell-bent on taking over the world!”
“Of course. Vorea was evil. But your incessant need to make everything about your desires…your preferences… That’s almost as bad. That’s not leadership.”
“Everything I have done I did for you,” Mae said.
She shook her head. “You did it for yourself.”
Mae’s eyes glistened. “You still blame me. How can I find fault in that? I deserve it.”
“Tell me where the Amulet of Darkness is, Mother.”
Mae reached to her neck and unclasped a silver chain, then pulled a deep purple stone in a braided silver setting from beneath her dress and held it out to her.
She took the amulet. “I know that wasn’t easy.”
Mae eyed the stone. “Take care of it, please.”
She started to climb the steps to the inn.
“How did you know I had it?”
Her mother’s question stopped her. “I didn’t. Not for sure, anyway.”
“You tricked me,” Mae said. “As I did you.”
“We both did it for the greater good. Right, Mother?”
Chapter 37
Aiden heated a small cauldron of lead over a fire, then used a spoon to skim off impurities in the metal.
He pointed to the pile of candles beside Frasie. “Will you give me one of those?”
She handed one to him. He slowly eased it into the molten lead. The paraffin instantly melted, leaving a flame that almost singed his fingertips.
He pulled his hand from the fire.
“Are you alright?” she asked.
He flicked his fingers through the air. “I’m fine. It didn’t burn them.”
She walked to the workshop and fetched a pair of tongs. “Use these next time, silly.”
“Good idea.”
“What’s the candle for?” she asked.
“It helps purify the lead,” Aiden replied. “The bullets need to be perfectly round and balanced in weight.” He inserted another candle, this time with the tongs. “Much better.”
Marcus emerged from the workshop. “How’s it going, Aiden?”
Aiden put on leather gloves and carefully poured some of the lead into a mold. “Didn’t spill a drop.”
“Your son is a genius,” she said.
Marcus smiled and ruffled Aiden’s hair. “I know.”
Aiden flashed a sheepish grin. “Doesn’t take a lot of skill to pour lead. Just a steady hand.”
A rustling sound emerged from the forest behind her. She stood and turned just in time to see Farius’s majestic owl form swooping in from above them. A pulse of magical energy rippled through his body as his mighty talons reached for the ground. Feathers scattered into the air around him, and in a final puff of golden smoke, his transformation was complete.
“I never get tired of seeing that.”
Her smile faded as Farius came into the light. His somber expression scared her.
“I surveyed as much as I could with the little daylight we had left. Fortunately, I saw no sign of organized troop movements. I doubt there is an immediate threat to Ashmar.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s great news!”
Aiden stood. “Indeed. But…you didn’t come all the way out here just to tell us that, did you?”
Farius looked to the ground. “The forest…”
“What’s wrong with the forest?”
Farius took a deep breath. “A great fire has ravaged most of the woods. Over half the trees are gone. Ashmar is still surrounded by forest, but that may not hold.”
She staggered until Aiden braced her. “Everything?”
Farius put his hand on her shoulder. “I stopped by your house…or what was left of it.”
Her voice cracked. “My parents?”
Farius shook his head. “I saw no sign of them.”
* * *
Frasie sat on the edge of Aiden’s bed and stared at his beautiful quilt. The lamp on the nightstand sent faint shadows across its intricate design.
Aiden sat next to her. “My mother made it.”
“It’s lovely.”
“I always thought so.”
“If I had magic, I’d use it to find my parents.” She took a deep breath. “I’d use it to see if they were still alive.”
Aiden put his arm around her. “The Jeweled Woods is vast. They could be in hiding.”
She rested her head against his shoulder. “You were there, Aiden. You saw what we were fighting. There is no way they could escape them.”
“We don’t know,” he replied. “But we will find out.”
“We can’t go back, and you know it.” She steeled herself with a sliver of hope. “Ashmar will be the first town they’ll reach. They’ll be looking for me here. I won’t leave without them.”
“I understand.”
“I can’t imagine life without my mom and dad.”
He pulled her closer to him. “Don’t think like that. You are only guessing as to what happened to them.”
She wiped a tear with her sleeve. “I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this.”
He took her hand. “Whatever happens, you won’t face it alone.”
“I know things have been strained between us lately—”
“None of that matters now.”
“We have problems communicating,” she said. “I don’t know why. Most of them are probably my fault. I talk too much and don’t listen enough.”
“I’ve made plenty of mistakes,” Aiden said.
“Can we reset everything? We can pretend none of that nonsense with Kytis happened, and we didn’t have that terrible argument on the roof. And I didn’t tell you no—”
“I rushed into things.”
“I understand,” she said. “I got all swoony when I saw Nivvy get married. I wanted that to be me and you. And then I saw how they were afterward and understood I’m not prepared for married life.”
“I’m not sure anyone is.”
“Maybe…” She sighed. “I don’t know, Aiden.”
He stood. “All of this doesn’t have to be settle
d tonight.”
“I want…no…I need to spend the rest of the night doing nothing. I don’t want to do anything or see anyone—except you.” She took off her boots. “Will you lay with me and hold me. That’s what I need.”
Aiden removed his boots. “Of course.”
She slipped off her dress, leaving only her undergarments. “I don’t want to—”
“I know.” He kissed her forehead. “I understand.”
She laid in bed and he curled up behind her. His strong arms encircled her, and she felt, for the first time in days, safe.
Chapter 38
Sunrise used to be a miraculous sight in the Jeweled Woods. Rays of light, tinted by the multicolored canopy, painted the ground like stained glass. Birds sang, squirrels hustled about the branches, and rabbits, deer, and all sorts of wild animals scurried through the forest. Anyone lucky enough to have lived in the woods knew these daily blessings well.
Sadly, they were no more. Soot and dust-laden snowflakes filled the sky, and brooks and streams that quilted the landscape ran dark with ash, and, in places, blood. A few trees survived, mainly along the edges of the area decimated by the Steelcove forces.
Lilly and Shareis sat by the roots of one of those remaining trees, huddled together to stay warm in the chilly night. They awoke at dawn and surveyed the land around them.
Shareis stared out into the mass of blackened tree trunks. “Niv and Frasie adored these woods.”
“The human attachment to landscape is quite a peculiar thing, isn’t it?” Lilly asked.
She knelt beside a green twig adorned with baby leaves. “Maybe. Niv’s eyes sparkled a bit more when these woods surrounded her.”
Lilly looked down at the plant. “Don’t tell me that wife of yours is making you sentimental.”
She stood. “No less than Mauria did to you.”
Lilly smirked. “You always were a keen observer.”
“Even when I was a young girl, I knew what you were thinking when you stared out into nothing.”
“A mother’s pain isn’t supposed to be that obvious.”
“Maybe we Proctors don’t always hide things so well,” she noted.
Lilly nodded. “Maybe.”
They walked through the burned trees until they caught sight of the remains of Brenloh. They circled around the town and continued southwest. They passed several burnt homesteads until they saw a small group of soldiers. They quietly retreated up a hill and hid out of their line of sight.
“What are they doing?” she asked.
“Ransacking that home,” Lilly replied.
She watched as a chair and various clothing items flew out the door. One of the soldiers watched from outside and laughed. “They’re insane.”
Lilly pointed to a small patch of foliage. “If we follow that path, we might be able to sneak around them.”
Just as they prepared to leave, they heard a scream. One of the men dragged a woman outside by her hair and forced her to sit on the ground. They asked her for more valuables, but the lady appeared to have nothing left to give.
“If they try to hurt her…”
“There are at least two more men inside,” Lilly said.
She pointed to a man tending their horses. “Four in total.”
The soldiers searched the woman for jewelry and removed two rings.
“I hope they’re just thieves,” she said.
One of the men pointed a weapon at her and barked orders. She was ready to charge, but Lilly held her back.
“We can’t,” Lilly said.
“We most certainly can.”
“Our plan requires the element of surprise.” Lilly pointed to the house. “If we go down there, they’ll know we are here.”
“Not if we kill them all,” she said.
“Do you like those odds?”
“I won’t like myself if we don’t save her.”
“If our mission succeeds, we have a chance at saving this entire continent,” Lilly countered.
She knew her mother was right but remained appalled at the thought of leaving her.
“I can’t do this alone,” Lilly said. “And neither can you. If we save her, chances are one of us isn’t coming out of that alive.”
“I… I can’t.”
Lilly grabbed her hand. “You have to, and you know it.”
She drew her bow and nocked an arrow.
“You can kill one… maybe two. If you’re lucky. And then what? Do we throw our blades?”
“You have a bow,” she said.
“We don’t have time,” Lilly insisted.
Just as she prepared to fire, two more soldiers approached on horseback. She reduced the tension of the string as she came to the realization her rescue attempt would fail.
“We need to go. Now!”
She reluctantly followed her mother, ducking as they maneuvered through thick vines and charred brush until they were out of sight of the soldiers.
She attempted to soothe her conscience by rationalizing that the woman likely made a good prisoner. Ships full of soldiers in a strange land needed labor. It seemed perfectly reasonable.
After a few moments of walking, Lilly looked back at her. Gone was the stern, intense glare she previously wore. Her mother flashed a quick, reassuring smile. Such emotional gestures were rare from her, and her human side savored them.
They walked all afternoon, and shortly before nightfall they reached the shore. Five ships, one considerably larger than the others, sat off the coast. Several runabouts ferried supplies and men between the ships and the shore, and a large encampment staffed by several dozen soldiers guarded a hastily constructed pier.
A steam-powered machine droned in the distance, and electric lamps, as Olivia had described, blanketed the area in light.
“How kind of them to illuminate our way,” Lilly said.
They observed the boats for a while and noticed few paid any attention to their arrival or departure.
“Some of them are drunk,” she said.
“This will be easier than I thought.”
Several horses arrived from the woods. One escorted a woman walking behind them bound by a rope.
She pointed to her. “There she is.” She looked to Lilly. “Her clothes are ripped.”
Lilly frowned. “She’s alive.”
“Barely,” she said.
“She probably fought them when being removed from her home.”
Her mother’s logic was sound—and convenient.
As the night wore on, the rabble diminished from the soldiers. Eventually, most of the lights turned off and the ingrates went to sleep. A single lamp, at the pier, remained lit.
“I don’t see a guard,” she said.
“They’re overconfident,” Lilly said. “It will be their downfall.”
They crept to the pier and quietly boarded a runabout. She gently rowed the oars, taking great care to eliminate any sudden noises. They veered south preferring a circuitous route over the straight path the boats usually took. The deck crew of the flagship carelessly left two rope ladders in the water, so they took advantage of the oversight and climbed aboard.
They immediately drew their daggers and found cover behind some exposed machinery. To their surprise, only two guards patrolled the main deck, and neither seemed to take their job seriously.
She pointed to a door, and Lilly nodded. She gripped her blade and followed her mother’s lead as they snuck below deck.
Chapter 39
Frasie woke to bright sunlight streaming through Aiden’s bedroom window. The hard truths of their current situation, and the unknown whereabouts of her family, hit her immediately, dispelling any hopes it all was some awful nightmare.
As soon as she realized Aiden still held her, her thoughts drifted from her miserable situation to his warm, tender embrace. He provided the gentle comfort she needed to help her drift off to sleep, despite the horror that had visited all their lives. They both suffered, like everyone else that lived in
the Jeweled Woods, but his actions made it clear she was his priority.
Her fingertips danced across his hand. He stretched, then returned his arm across her stomach.
“Good morning, Aiden.”
He kissed the back of her head. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes… And I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I didn’t do anything,” he said.
“You did, and you don’t realize it. I would still be awake, pacing the floors, if you hadn’t been here.”
“If you insist.” He sat upright and stretched. “Do you want me to fetch you some breakfast?”
She reached back and tugged on his arm. “I want to lie here with you a while longer.”
He returned to their embrace. “That’s fine with me.”
“I don’t ever want to argue with you again,” she said.
He chuckled. “Sounds good, but I think it’s impossible to avoid.”
“Maybe, but… we need to take my mom’s advice. She told me never to go to bed angry with my husband.”
“Good advice.” He nested closer against her. “I’ll remember that if I ever find a husband.”
She rolled her eyes. “You are almost intolerable.”
He laughed. “Almost? Then I’m not doing my job right.”
“You are.” She sighed. “I’m lost without you.”
“I feel the same.”
She lifted her chemise top and exposed her stomach, then placed her hand on top of his. He slowly moved his hand across her stomach. She tensed her muscles and giggled.
“I didn’t know you were ticklish,” he said.
“Very.” She guided his hand toward her chest. “But not here.”
His hand rested on her breast. She wondered if he could feel her heartbeat. She surely could. He cupped it, then felt her hardening nipple. He repositioned behind her, then took a deep breath and pulled his hand away.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I can’t,” he replied.
She pulled his hand back up to her breast. “You’ve touched me here before. I enjoyed it.”
He pulled away. “No… It’s not that. I want more.”
She arched her back to be closer to him. “Maybe I do too.”
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