“It will be,” he agreed. “And it’ll get worse. You have a lot to do.”
She gazed at him desperately, her hands clasped together against her belly. The other women called out, shouting for her to come back and join the card game they were starting. Eapha eyed them, so Leon started to speak.
One last time, he told her what a leader needed to do—what to watch for, what to expect, how one couldn’t expect everything, and how to handle uncertainty. He told her about economics, about warfare, about politics and choosing advisors. He told her about the weaknesses of humans and of sylphs. He told her about their strengths as well. She stared at him throughout, listening, and the sun passed overhead. The room never grew too hot, kept cool by air sylphs who hadn’t given up their duties despite gaining their freedom.
It was a lot to throw at her, more than he’d given to Solie in a year when she first started to learn, but there was no other choice. Eapha had to become more than she’d ever dreamed. For the sake of her country, he hoped she succeeded.
The air ship that would take them home, a wind schooner named Racing Dawn, was ready to leave two days later. It had been a long wait, but the trip back would be faster than the journey here—and in most ways they were all quite ready to go. Even if they’d wanted to stay, the tension among Meridal’s battlers forbade it. To have a strange battler in the confines of their hive, no matter how trusted by their queen, was too much of a strain on battler instinct. Both Eapha’s hive and Ril himself felt the stress.
Leon regretted not having more time. He might have stayed for months, to help Eapha get her feet under her, to train her the way he had Solie, but he couldn’t let his family leave without him. Not after everything he’d done to get them back. Besides, he’d promised Betha they would all return together. What he hadn’t told Eapha, she would have to learn on her own. Still, with five thousand sylphs to do the work and over seven hundred battlers to protect her, he was pretty sure she’d survive any beginner’s mistakes.
“I never imagined any of this happening,” the exconcubine confided to Lizzy as they stood on top of one of the tallest buildings in the city. Their air ship was moored there, manned by one of the oldest and strongest of Meridal’s sylphs. Her newly chosen master traveled with her, the most sympathetic of the feeders she’d once fed from, his tongue restored by a healer.
Most of the sylphs had discovered that their feeders made much better masters than the men who’d first bound them. The majority of those masters had died, anyway, when the floating island plunged into the ocean. Where it was dropped, the waters had been deep enough that the entire thing sank, taking the majority of the miserable nobility with it and leaving a huge gap in power that Eapha now filled whether she wanted to or not.
“I don’t think Solie did either,” Lizzy admitted. She wore a silken dress, the material flowing softly around her body but thankfully not translucent. “She figured it out eventually.”
Eapha sighed and looked over her shoulder at Tooie. Like most battlers, he’d assumed a truly attractive form, though Lizzy still preferred Ril. Tooie smiled at them both, giving them room even as he stood guard. He still didn’t talk much, but that was normal for a sylph. Humans were much more chatty.
“Hopefully I’ll be so lucky,” the new queen said.
“You will,” Lizzy assured her.
Her father thought there was fighting yet to come, probably against the other kingdoms in this part of the world. But surely he’d told Eapha that. Certainly he would have told Tooie. Either way, he’d made sure they would all stay in touch. The few days they waited for Racing Dawn, while Eapha was taking lessons and arranging the ship for their return, he’d spent a large amount of time drafting an alliance between Meridal and Sylph Valley. Lizzy hadn’t seen the details, and she doubted Eapha fully understood what she’d signed, but Lizzy was sure the new queen hadn’t been cheated. Even if Leon Petrule were the type, the fifty-three battlers of Sylph Valley would have no chance against Eapha’s seven hundred, and he was smart enough to know they’d figure out any double-dealings.
But her father wasn’t the type. In the time when he wasn’t working on treaties or training Eapha, Leon had reacquainted himself with both Lizzy and Ril, learning to just enjoy their company with them as a couple. She had the best father in the whole world.
She smiled at her friend, the woman who’d taken her in and saved her life without any reason except kindness. She couldn’t think of anyone who more deserved to be queen. “You’ll be fine,” she assured Eapha again. “Father says we’ll send someone from the Valley to show you how we do things. It’ll all work out.”
“I hope so,” Eapha said. Leaning forward, she hugged Lizzy and smiled. “Take care of yourself.”
“And you.” Lizzy let her go and eyed Tooie. “Take care of her, you.” He nodded.
Turning, Lizzy walked toward the air ship. Ril was standing by the gangplank, and he joined her as she ascended onto Racing Dawn’s smooth deck, headed toward where her father was talking with the captain. Justin stood only a few feet away. He hadn’t spoken to her since his tongue was restored, but Lizzy knew he was always watching.
She stepped closer to Ril, who set a hand on her shoulder, his gaze never leaving the boy. Justin turned away, heading belowdecks. Lizzy felt bad for him in some ways, but she couldn’t help remembering him leaving her on the dock. No matter what Justin had done or how he’d tried to make up for it, she’d made her choice and she had no regrets.
“My hero,” she said, smiling up at her battler.
He raised an eyebrow. “If you say so.” His lips twitched in a smile, though.
Her father finished his conversation and faced them. “We’re ready to go. Have you said your good-byes?” When Lizzy nodded, he went down to cover a few last points with Eapha. She was certain he would never be entirely satisfied.
Within twenty minutes, though, the air ship was lifting off and racing north toward home. Lizzy stood with her father and her battler in the bow, leaning against her father’s side while she watched the ocean pass beneath her. The sylph pushed the ship very fast, and her long, golden hair blew behind her as they went.
“Thank you for coming after me,” she said. She didn’t think she could ever say it enough.
Her father put an arm around her. “Anytime, sweetheart. Your mother will be glad to see you back.”
“I miss her, too,” Lizzy said. Her mother likely wasn’t going to approve of her being with Ril, but she’d have to deal with it. Lizzy had some apologies to make, though. Her mother had been right in not wanting her to go to Para Dubh. Lizzy didn’t regret going, not now, but she did regret the pain her mother must have felt. She owed her for that.
After a moment she glanced at Ril, who was staring at the horizon ahead, his face as inscrutable as always, but his emotions more joyous than ever. Her father could feel that as well, and Lizzy looked up to see him smiling.
Behind them, Meridal vanished in the distance, swallowed by the sea. There were endless waves ahead, but home would appear out of them eventually. And Lizzy could wait. She’d left unsure of who she was and what she wanted. Now she was with the two men she loved most in the world, both of whom loved her more than life itself. She didn’t have any questions anymore. She knew exactly where she belonged.
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HIGH PRAISE FOR L. J. McDONALD
THE BATTLE SYLPH
“Lovers of Stardust and The Princess Bride rejoice! A must for every Fantasy library.”
—Barbara Vey, blogger, Publishers Weekly
“Refreshingly different, with an almost classic fantasy flavor…an exceptional literary debut.”
—John Charles, reviewer, Chicago Tribune and Booklist
“A fresh new voice in fantasy romance…I loved the characters and mythology!”
—Alexis Morgan, bestselling author of The Paladins of Darkness
“An exciting new fantasy world!”
—Ellen Higuchi, Borders Romance expert and bookseller
“A fabulous read, cover to cover.”
—C. L. Wilson, New York Times bestselling author
“Unlike anything I’ve ever read. A brilliant adventure with tremendous heart. You’ll love this book.”
—Marjorie Liu, New York Times bestselling author
“A remarkable new voice and a stunningly original world…An amazing start to what promises to be a truly engaging series!”
—Jill M. Smith, reviewer, RT Book Reviews
Other Leisure Books by L. J. McDonald:
THE BATTLE SYLPH
Copyright
A LEISURE BOOK®
April 2010
Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
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Copyright © 2010 by L. J. McDonald
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Cover art by Anne Cain.
E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0837-8
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