Ember

by Mindy Hayes

  “He didn’t say that,” I contended.

  She raised her eyebrows. “That you were pretty? He doesn’t have to. It’s written all over his face whenever he looks at you, Calliope. I know my brother. He fails miserably at keeping himself composed around you.”

  “Is Kai your older brother or younger?” It wasn’t exactly the thought floating around in my head, but I needed something to say before Allura saw everything written all over my face.

  “Why? Do I seem so much more mature?” She tossed her wet dreads over her shoulder.

  I chuckled. “I really just can’t tell.”

  “I’m younger. By less than a year.”

  “Big, over protective Kai.” I chuckled to myself. “Does he pull the overbearing brother card with all the boys you have liked?”

  She dramatically exhaled. “More times than I can count. Why do you think I’m here with you and not with some hot Sower? He’s scared them all off.”

  I didn’t doubt that. I let my body float to the surface and relaxed above the water on my back, watching the clouds pass above the interwoven branches.

  I was lost. The idea of someone new was exciting in theory, but I didn’t want someone new. I was beginning to realize my heart knew exactly who it wanted, but my mind was determined to shove him farther and farther back until the possibility of him was nonexistent. Because it was impossible for me to have him.

  A rustle in the bushes alerted Allura and me, our faces turned toward the sound. Everything went suddenly quiet. The only sound was the trickle of the waterfall.

  “Hello?” Allura prompted for a response. It took a moment, and then slowly two fae I only found vaguely familiar emerged from the foliage.

  “Jaryn, Tag,” Allura greeted, but I could sense some unease in her voice. “What are you guys doing here?”

  The taller of the two stepped forward with a smile that rubbed me the wrong way. “We just thought we would come take a dip. We hadn’t realized we’d run into you two.”

  Allura began wading toward me. “We were actually just leaving, Jaryn,” she said.

  “That’s too bad,” he replied, creeping closer to where we would be getting out. The other followed in his footsteps. “We would have enjoyed the company.” His eyes traveled over to me. “Your Highness, I almost didn’t recognize you with your wet hair.” He bowed his head, but it was as if he was mocking me.

  I didn’t say anything back. I merely nodded to acknowledge him and held my head a little higher. If I were to speak, my voice might shake. His wandering eyes unnerved me.

  “Is there any way we could convince you to stay?” Jaryn asked, removing his leather vest.

  Allura made it to my side and discreetly nudged me to get out. “I’m afraid not. Our Queen has some items of business she needs to attend to. I’m sure you understand.” Allura was lying, and that made me even more anxious. She had a reason to feel threatened, and I wasn’t sure why. If I needed to protect myself, I was defenseless. The dagger was in my clothes.

  As we attempted to get out they blocked us, towering over the lake side by side. “Not even just one swim?”

  Before I could answer, Jaryn grabbed me by the throat and dragged me into the water. “Sorry, Your Majesty, it’s nothing personal,” he said before holding me under. With thrashing limbs I tried to get him off of me, but the water made my movements too slow, powerless. His hold was unrelenting. I was beginning to run out of air. My fingers clawed at his hands, gripping my throat, but it was futile. After everything I had survived, this was how I was going to die.

  Chapter Fourteen

  My name was being called from a distance, but I couldn’t respond. I thought it was a familiar voice, but I couldn’t place it. My name echoed inside my head, churning and clouding my thoughts. Pressure repeatedly pressed against my chest.

  “Calliope,” the voice said a little bit louder. I coughed and water burned my throat as it spewed out of my mouth. Someone rubbed my back as I tried to catch my breath. Blinking back the light, I peered up to see Kai hovering over me. “Calliope, oh thank the Fallen Fae.” He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and helped me sit up.

  “What happened? Is Allura okay?” I rasped. “Where’s Jaryn and Tag?”

  He nodded to the side where two bodies were lying motionless on top of one another, as if thrown like garbage.

  I swallowed. “Are they dead?”

  He scoffed and grit his teeth. “They should be, but no. It took everything I had not to.”

  “Calliope!” Allura rushed toward us, and I felt a weight lift from my chest at the sight of her alive. “I’m so sorry. If I had even the slightest clue I never would have let them near you.” She had a partially healed gash above her left eye. Blood dripped down the side of her face.

  “Allura, are you okay?” I cringed just looking at her open wound.

  “Tag hit me upside the head with a rock, but other than that I’m fine.”

  “Allura, I wasn’t finished. Would you let me finish?” Declan strutted to her side and placed his hand on the cut. He turned his gaze on me, and it was not a happy one. “You and I will talk later.”

  “Me? What did I do?” I sat up straighter, but my head rebelled against my sudden movement. I winced and swayed. My hand immediately touched my temple to try and alleviate the throbbing pain.

  “Hey, take it easy,” Kai said, bringing me back into his arms to lean back. “No need to get all excited.”

  I looked back up to Declan. His face hadn’t changed. He was furious. “You really have to question what you did wrong after I’ve shared my concern with you about not keeping one of us with you at all times?”

  “Declan, leave her alone,” Allura implored. “I was the one to convince her to come with me. Blame me. We just wanted to have some fun. I knew the risks, and I took them anyway.”

  He grunted, shaking his head. “Let’s talk about this later. I want to get you two back to the castle.”

  • • •

  After Declan finished healing Allura, Kai left to take her home. I could only imagine how Lorelle was going to react when they got home. Declan stayed behind, and I prepped myself for the scolding that I knew was coming my way.

  “What happened to Tag and Jaryn?”

  I sat on the window seat while Declan paced the atrium. He hadn’t spoken for a few minutes, and I was biding my time, but he was going to wear a hole in my wood floors if this continued.

  He had to unclench his jaw to answer me. He tossed his hand in the air dismissively. “Dugal took care of them. They are being held in a secure chamber below the castle.”

  “How did you know to come?”

  “As soon as Kai came back and told me where you and Allura were, we came to find you. And obviously not a minute too soon.”

  I nodded meekly. “Thank you.”

  He set his stance firmly and faced me. “Calliope, why do you think I’ve set up your guard as I have? Especially after the Awakening, you should have known better than to go off alone with Allura. It’s not safe. We have no idea what we are dealing with yet.”

  “Kai seemed to think we would be fine. This could have happened at any time.”

  “Don’t even get me started on Kai. He knows better. We will have significant words later.”

  I stood and walked over to him. “Declan, you can’t blame Kai when I used to get an hour to myself every day. It could have happened on any other day. They just happened to stumble across us today.”

  “They didn’t stumble, Calliope. There was no stumbling. They watch you like a hawk. They wanted to catch you when you least suspected it. When they knew we wouldn’t be around. Even when you think you’re alone, you’re not. You think you can handle yourself, but today clearly shows that you can’t.” The skin between his eyes was pinched, his face more severe than I’d ever seen it. “And I know you are strong. I know. But, Calliope, you can’t be stupid. There is too much at stake.”

  “What do you mean I’m never alone?”<
br />
  He sighed and looked up to the open ceiling. “After all of that, that is what you picked out to argue about?”

  “Well, we had a deal. Are you telling me you breeched that?” My voice rose.

  “I’ve done what’s necessary to protect the Queen of Faylinn,” he said steadily, without apology. His aqua eyes fixed on me once more. “We give you your space, but we aren’t going to be reckless about it. We are trained Keepers. We know what is best, and we will do everything in our power to make sure you are safe.”

  “Unbelievable!” I threw my hands in the air.

  “My Queen,” Evan’s hesitant voice came from the doorway. We turned to him. Oh, the timing of that man.

  “What is it, Evan?” I asked shortly.

  “I don’t mean to interrupt, but…” Evan wavered. “My Queen.” I’d never seen him unsure of himself before. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. His normally rosy cheeks paled, and his eyes watered up.

  “Evan?” I took a step toward him.

  He swallowed. “They’re back.”

  “Who’s back?”

  The pause that stretched on between us was relentless. The thought began forming in my head, but I was too afraid to think it could be possible. I was about to press for more, when he finally spoke up.

  “All of them,” he breathed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Declan was a statue. My chest tightened as I watched realization hit him. A hesitant glimmer of hope flickered in his eyes. I could see he was afraid to hope, but he stood and, without a word, brushed passed me and through the doorway.

  “Evan so help me … if it’s not really all of the fae that have been missing …” I feared for Declan if his father wasn’t among them—feared for what it would do to his heart. This could shatter him.

  With nothing else holding me back but my trembling legs, I raced through the castle to the main entrance. I heard them before I saw them. There was laughter. There were tears. There were shouts of joy and gasps of disbelief. Everyone was in the open grass meadow, a part of some sort of embrace. I’d never seen anything like it. There had to have been at least five hundred more fae here than before.

  Amongst the chaos Adair moved forward with Skye and Sakari flanking his right and left side. Adair smiled kindly, and my brain couldn’t figure out what they were doing here. Why were they here? Did we have a meeting that I forgot about?

  “I figured it was best to finally return what was rightfully yours,” Adair declared.

  I paused as his admission set in. “You had them? You had them this whole time?” Something started to boil inside of me. Either I was going to burst with anger or relief, but there was too much to process for me to be able decipher which one yet.

  “I’d like to explain everything,” he said calmly. “Could we go inside where we will have more privacy?”

  I didn’t know where to start. I blinked, still floored by the fact that everyone was back. Looking beyond Adair, I saw elation and awe in the eyes of everyone. He brought this happiness into our kingdom. Though I felt betrayed for this secret kept, I wanted to know why, so I nodded before we headed into the castle.

  We assembled in the atrium when Adair spoke first. “I’m sorry we kept this from you, Calliope, but I didn’t want to bring back your fae without knowing for sure what I was bringing them back to. I needed to know I could trust you—that you were going to be a good leader.”

  “That wasn’t your decision to make,” I said. “You could have told me you had them. Their families have gone years without knowing what happened to them. I’ve been here for months. At least you could have given us the peace of mind of knowing where they were—that they were alive.”

  He nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry for causing you distress, but I used my best judgment to decide what was necessary. I needed to trust you. We obviously couldn’t trust Favner. Your kingdom has been put through enough as it is. I needed to be sure that you were going to be able to guide them. We’ve also never had a Royal who was half human. I didn’t know what kind of difference that could make.”

  “Because I have human blood you think I’m less competent?” He wasn’t making a very strong case here. And if he dared to use my human blood against me, crap was going to hit the fan.

  “Human blood could lessen your abilities as a Royal,” Skye said. “Humans aren’t nearly as capable as we are.”

  My eyes darted to Skye. I’d only ever heard him speak a handful of times, but the more that spilled out of his mouth the more I disliked him.

  “What I think my father and brother wanted you to understand,” Sakari interjected, “is that your existence as a Royal with human blood is new to every single faery from every kingdom. There are certain traits as Royals that no other fae possesses. I’m sure you’ve already noticed differences between you and a full faery. It was not a prejudice, merely caution. We most definitely do not find you to be incompetent.” His eyes pled with me to understand, to forgive him. “We’ve seen how you’ve already transformed Faylinn into a happier environment from what it was before.”

  Adair continued firmly, “When Favner cut us off us, we didn’t dare hope that we could see our fellow fae and unite families once again. I made the choice I felt was right.”

  I took a deep breath, thinking of Declan.

  Had he found his father? Was his father here? Did he survive? What if he had died?

  I hadn’t experienced the years of Favner firsthand so I guess I could see where his hesitation came from. He didn’t know what had come of Faylinn in the years of being cut off, nor did he know me until now. “Thank you, then,” I sighed. “Thank you for finally bringing them home.”

  “I didn’t bring them back to get recognition, Calliope. You’ve proven yourself as a Royal, and it was time. Families needed to be reunited. So here they are.”

  “How did you even end up with them?”

  He motioned for me to have a seat at my table. “There’s a space in between the kingdoms when traveling through the Oak where they were stuck. Have you traveled through the Oak yet?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet.”

  “Well, the space is a small blip, but Favner had made it so that they couldn’t travel on to another kingdom, merely kept them in a stall pattern, almost as if frozen in time. One of my fae stumbled across a few of them when traveling to Oraelia and brought them to me. We took off the enchantment, but we couldn’t send them back, obviously. So then as time went on, I instructed one of my Keepers to keep an eye out for more strays.” He leveled his stare seriously. “I want you to know that they have been well taken care of. I’ve done everything in my power to keep them safe.”

  “I believe you. Thank you.” I nodded, still distracted by the thought of Declan. “I do have a friend I would like to check on.”

  “Of course. We will let you take care of business.” Adair stood and bowed. He gestured to Sakari and Skye to leave the room. “I hope this will give your kingdom some peace of mind, and I apologize for any heartache we might have caused. It was never my intention.” He stepped out of the room.

  Sakari stayed back as his dad and brother headed out. “Calliope, I’d really like to see you again … under different circumstances. Could I return tomorrow?”

  I didn’t want to tell him no, even though tomorrow was probably going to be a busy day. With his warm eyes gazing at me, so full of hope, I found myself saying, “Okay.”

  He took my hand and kissed the top of it. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered.

  I couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “It won’t come fast enough.”

  When they were gone, Evan began, “I believe that went rather well. Our people are back. And I can see a bond is being formed between you and Sakari. He would be a perfect match for you, Calliope. Rymidon would be a wise kingdom to unite with. We can trust them. I think Adair took mindful care of our fae.”

  Sakari was handsome, and I could see kindness in his eyes,
but that didn’t mean I wanted to bond with him. Yet. I still wanted more time to decide, and I was running out of time.

  “I’m going outside.” I walked past Evan without looking at him.

  “My Queen?”

  “I need to be sure Declan is all right.”

  • • •

  I passed through the embraces in search of Declan. My eyes scanned their faces, but I didn’t see his. The only other place he could have gone was his home. I pushed on through the crowds acknowledging the fae who smiled brightly and thanked me. I didn’t have the heart to tell them I had nothing to do with the return of their family. I could tell them later.

  When I reached the tree his cottage was built in, Allura paced outside the base of the trunk with her arms hugging her body.

  “Allura,” I spoke hesitantly so I wouldn’t startle her, but she had already heard me coming, talking as soon as I said her name.

  “If he doesn’t make it, I really think it will kill Declan.”

  “His dad is here? He made it back?” I asked, hopeful.

  She shook her head, but it wasn’t the answer to my question. “He’s not doing good. Not good at all. He can’t die though, right? He’ll survive. He has to. It’s the only way Declan will survive. I couldn’t stand the thought of … without Declan …” Allura didn’t take a breath. Her words trailed off as if she couldn’t finish. She clenched her teeth, but wouldn’t stop pacing.

  I heard a door shut, and a figure dropped between Allura and me. Kai. Allura stopped and rushed toward him, eager for an update.

  “It’s not looking too good,” he said solemnly.

  “What happened to him?” I asked.

  “He’s growing old, but his life shouldn’t be ready to end just yet. I don’t think he was taking the best care of himself in Rymidon. But he fought hard to stay alive in hopes that he would see his family again.”

  Not a word was spoken. Our heads bowed.

  Maybe it was because of the news we had just heard, but when I turned around, suddenly the scene of rejoicing and happy tears drifted into the foreground, and a different scene pushed itself forward. There were those holding their arms around themselves or others with silent tears of sadness streaming down their faces. I heard cries of broken hearts and saw faces fallen in sorrow.