by May Sage
“I'll catch you today!” she'd say, running after it as fast as her bare feet could carry her and laughing at their games.
She knew the shadow played with her. Sometimes it almost let her get close enough, and then, when she was but a few yards away, it took to the trees, moving at an impossible speed. She'd never catch it, but little Devi didn't intend to stop trying.
Her mother had been right when she'd told her no one would harm her on their land; no living creature had every tried. This was perhaps why it took ten years for her power to come to her.
It happened because of a stupid little root she hadn't seen. Her feet hooked inside it, and the next instant, she fell face-first with a cry. Devi felt it then. Something came out of her along with her voice, something that resonated deep inside her.
Her head hit the ground, hard. Harder than it should have; it wasn't the first time she fell on a bed of grass, but it was the first time that it felt like a solid wall. Opening her eyes, she blinked in confusion, for it was summer and yet the ground was ice.
She looked around, fearful and confused, only to find nothing but white as far as her eyes could see.
“Shadow?”
She felt it—it had come back, and it was close.
“I'm scared.”
That day, the shadow had a voice—a voice deeper than her sword master’s and softer than the wind. “There's nothing to be afraid of,” it had said, and she'd believed it.
“Go home, little princess.” He'd called her that, just like her mother did. “We'll play again someday.”
And then it disappeared, leaving her alone in her midsummer winter.
Devi turned and retraced her steps, heading back to the manor. In her path, she found all sort of creatures: rabbits and foxes, those forest dwellers who ran from her heavy steps, knowing to fear her bow. They didn't run that day. They stood there like ice sculptures, entirely frozen and—she could tell—dead.
She'd killed everything.
“There's nothing to be afraid of,” the shadow had said. That day, she learned that the shadow lied. There was something to be very afraid of, and it was a girl called Devi Star Rivers.
She told everything to her mother, and found that Loxy was also a liar, because she echoed the shadow's words. “Don't be afraid of your own power. It's quite normal, and I'll show you how to control it.” Loxy Rivers held her arms high up toward the ceiling, and before Devi's wide eyes, her mother created the most beautiful thing out of nothing: a delicate sculpture of ice. She'd made a fae with large, extended wings.
“Someday, you'll be able to mold water and ice as you please, just like me. And you know, a hundred years ago, when I was just your age, it burst out of me too. Now I'm a danger to no one.” Then Loxy tapped the tip of Devi’s nose with her index finger. “Unless they want to hurt my little girl, that is.”
Devi sighed in relief, glad to know that she'd be okay, someday. Loxy kissed the side of her head and moved to her desk, pulling out some writing paper, ink, wax, and her seal. “Go get some rest now. You must be very tired. And we have a lot to do tomorrow.”
The very next day, Loxy started her training.
“How did you learn to walk, sweet?” she asked, and Devi frowned.
“I don't remember, I was too little.”
Loxy chuckled. “Very true, that. Well, your little wiggly bottom started to crawl first, and then you had to learn to stand up on your own. Only after that did you take your first step. And you fell on your face.”
Devi had pouted. "Doesn't sound like fun."
“Indeed. It was a long, tiresome process, because you had to learn to use new muscles without quite understanding how it worked. But by mimicking, and then strengthening them, you got there in good time. I'm not going to tell you that this is the same. It's worse. It will take years. Decades, perhaps. And when you've lived a hundred years, you'll find that you're learning a little more about it. But you walk just fine now.” Loxy winked. “You'll figure it out.”
Step one—wiggling her butt, as Loxy had eloquently put it—was finding the damn muscle in the first place. It had come to her out of nowhere, but consciously managing to make it come back wasn't as easy as it seemed. Loxy got her to jog around the house, or dance, or even read a book. Then without warning, she'd poke at her, surprising her. It took weeks, but they were out in the gardens and Devi tumbled, kicking a bucket of water, and magic finally came to her. She'd stopped the bucket in midair, still full, and instinctively she'd managed to hold it in place.
“Look, Mama!”
And Loxy had looked, but contrarily to what Devi had expected, she didn't seem happy at all. She seemed frightened.
Loxy did a lot more writing after that, sending plenty of letters.
“Who are you writing to, Mama?”
"Friends. It's nothing to worry about, little princess."
She definitely knew by then: those words really were a lie.
Masters came to observe her, and within months they'd all come to the same conclusion.
“I don't know what to say. It shouldn't be possible, and yet here we are. Your child displays an aptitude for controlling every element. She's learning at an unprecedented rate. I wouldn't be surprised if she surpassed you by the time she's of age, my lady.”
Loxy sighed. “Well, she will be pleased. You may report to the queen. Let her know that her little experiment has paid off.”
“I'm sorry,” said the master, and Loxy laughed.
“What for? I knew what I signed up for. And I'm glad that my daughter may have a purpose.”
When the master left, Loxy said, “You know, eavesdropping is quite unladylike.” Devi opened the door her ear had been plastered against, unapologetic. “Although, I can't blame you. I'd be curious too if people talked of me behind closed doors. Come, Devira.”
She'd walked to her mother, asking, “What did you mean? What purpose am I supposed to have?”
“Sit. Let me explain.”
So, she'd sat and listened.
“If we were to put a fae, an elf, a mage, and a dragon in a cage, who would win?”
“The dragon,” she'd replied immediately.
“Probably. But what if the elf, mage, and the fae worked together against the dragon?”
She'd had to ponder it. “Then they'd probably win, I think.”
“Indeed. They'd at least have a fair chance.” Devi was very young then, but Loxy didn't hesitate to tell her, “We're in a cage. This island of ours is circled by walls, and what lies beyond is too formidable to face. We've nowhere to go, and there are creatures living among us who are much, much more powerful than dragons. Some among them believe that because we're weaker, we ought to be nothing but slaves to do with as they please. Our peace will last another thousand years perhaps, but my friend, the unseelie queen, has spent a long time working on a way to make us stronger, to give us a fighting chance when the time comes.”
“How would we fight something worse than dragons?” At ten, she couldn't imagine a creature more formidable than a great fire-breathing beast.
Loxy's reply remained branded in her mind, even now. “We'd make dragons of our own, little princess. I come from a very old family, and my great-great-great-grandma, your ancestor, was one of those creatures.”
“The things who want us to be slaves?”
“That's right. You may call them scions. In my veins, there's an old power that I gave you. And in the veins of your father, there's another power, something just as strong. But before you were born, the queen had a strange idea. What if she was to also bless you with her strength? And with another strength too. We had hope that it might make you a lot stronger than any of us. And we were right. You will be.”
Devi took everything in and decided that she quite liked the idea of being stronger than even a queen someday.
“So, my purpose is fighting bad guys?”
Loxy laughed. “Not quite. I doubt there will be anyone to fight at all for hundreds, if not thousa
nds of years. Your purpose is to have strong children, who'll have children of their own. Now that we know it works, the queen will arrange for other children to be blessed just like you, and when the dark times come, our kind will have thousands of warriors strong enough to defend us against the scions.”
Devi pouted, for the thought of having children wasn't as appealing as that of defending her mother with her sword, her bow, and her magic.
Eighteen years had passed, and the dark days Loxy had believed would come to another generation were upon them now. It looked like she was getting her wish after all.
She'd been bred to be a weapon of the unseelie queen, in defense of their entire kind, and that was exactly what she intended to do.
Sixteen
Two Deadly Roads
Their little company advanced in silence and at a declining pace. The two dozen fae had been fast at first, eager to put the burning city behind them, but as time passed, cold, tiredness, and thirst prevailed. No one had left entirely prepared, not even Vale, although he'd had a little more time than the rest of them. The dried meat he'd offered Devi was the last of the provisions he'd packed before leaving Carvenstone. What he had, he shared, not taking a single sip from his own water bottle.
This part of the realm was known for its beauty; the eastern road was seldom used, as it led nowhere of note. There were a few villages here and there, planted every other hundred miles to ensure those traveling that way may find food, water, and shelter.
The road led south to the seas, and east to the forest of Graywoods, which marked the borders of the elven realm.
Neither destination was safe at the best of times. Tonight, they had plenty of reasons to be tense.
Valerius could feel Devi struggle to remain upright, forcing herself to stay conscious.
“You should sleep,” he told her.
She snorted. “Yes, I ought to take a nap. Never mind the fact that our city has fallen, our realm is at war, and there are probably soldiers after us right now.”
He smiled because she'd retained her sharp tongue, despite everything. He wondered how long it would last.
“We are indeed at war, Devira. And wars are won by well-rested, well-fed soldiers. Sleep when you can.”
She attempted to relax, he could tell. Then she gave up.
“Will it help if I order you to get some rest, as your direct superior?”
“I can't. Not on horseback.”
Vale chuckled. After a month of this, she'd be able to. As long as she was still alive. The thought was sobering and forced him to look to the future.
They could already see the borders of Elham on the horizon. It was but a small irrelevant town that may not get completely razed by the enemies, with luck. It wasn't strategically placed, and the hundred or so peasants, merchants, and clerks who inhabited it posed no threat. But there were so many reasons why it might fall nonetheless: because it was the first village out of Asra, because the army just happened to pass it by, because they were bored, because they wanted to stretch their muscles.
Elham might fall. He was going to leave the flock of commoners who now traveled with him there regardless. They considerably slowed him down; he had no other choice.
Valerius’s mother had told him to head to Wyhmur, and to Wyhmur he intended to go. But not alone with Kal.
Devi had wanted to remain behind with the commoners. She might express the same wish again, but Vale was bringing her with him if he had to knock her out and drag her unconscious. Who knew what she'd do when left to her own devices? Attempt to take on an entire army, no doubt. No, she was to go with him. He just had to convince her that it was a good idea.
“After Elham, what was your plan, little elf? Do you intend to follow your orders?”
“Little elf,” she repeated, “is going to the elven realm as she was told. They need warning, and I need resources if I am to join the queen.”
Vale wasn't surprised that she wished to join his mother. Not surprised, but still somehow annoyed.
“How convenient. It also happens to be where I'm headed.”
Devi turned sharply to watch him, her expression confused. “You? To Wyhmur? Elves and fae don't mix.”
“And yet here you are,” he said, quite amused. “Surely they must mix occasionally.”
She rolled her eyes and faced forward again.
“Tell me of your parents. How they met. It must be quite the story. A seelie princess and her woodland elf.”
“Oh, I think not. You demand I tell you everything about me, and yet you give me nothing in exchange.”
Bartering. He wholeheartedly approved.
“And what would you ask of me, little elf?”
“That you stop calling me that, for one.”
He could, but getting under her skin was a pleasure he wasn't inclined to deny himself. “Request denied. Find something else.”
She sighed. “Well, I suppose you want me to sleep. You could tell me about you. It ought to be sufficiently boring.”
He gave it some thought. “I'm the sole heir to the crumbling unseelie throne. Pretty certain most of my life has been bared to the entire world.”
The parts he talked of, in any case. Something told him he could trust Devi with the secrets of Carvenstone, but now, more than ever, they had company. He would not speak of it with so many ears around.
“Everyone has secrets. Tell me something that's not common knowledge.”
He gave it some thought.
“All right. This is no secret, but I wouldn't call it common knowledge either. I was born in battle, during a time of war. It was two decades before we were at peace again. Both of my parents were invested in my safety, I’m sure, but my father already had an heir. My mother took the matter more seriously. She kept me hidden in plain sight as a servant boy. Pretended that my ‘master’ was her son. She doted on him openly. Many a time, that child was attacked. When peace came, and I was presented as Valerius Blackthorn, her son and heir, all were surprised. None as much as me.”
“You didn’t know? Not at all?”
Vale smiled. “The child, Kallan, was told, of course. I wasn’t. And I could never have guessed. My mother didn’t spare me a glance in nineteen years. Yet I recall once, after an attack on Kallan, when I’d gotten hurt attempting to defend him, she came to me and bound the wound herself. I didn’t question why. Later, I knew. My mother might just care a little.” He shrugged. “In her own way.”
There was silence for a few minutes. She finally broke it to say, “How fucking messed up is that? No wonder you're a head case.”
He laughed. She certainly never disappointed.
“I mean, now you totally should be over it, but I get why it would have fucked with you as a child. And yet I understand Shea. I might have done the same in her place, to ensure my boy was safe.”
Vale found himself thinking of a boy standing next to Devi. A boy with violet eyes.
He smiled. When had he seriously thought of having a child? The spells of the queen were fucking with his mind again, no doubt.
He recalled that his mother had clearly professed to having nothing to do with his infatuation, but trusting anything the queen said was foolishness.
“Yes, Shea does use everyone around her as pawns on a chessboard, but she does so with the best of intentions.”
“Indeed.” Devi laughed. “You know, I once told her I was willing to be used, so long as I got to be a knight rather than a pawn. She told me I could even be the queen if I wished.” Before he managed a reply, she said, “Ah, look. We're almost there.”
They'd reached the border of the town, and a few alarmed folks met them, walking right up to Kallan with water, food, and plenty of questions about the smoke coming from the city in the horizon.
"Prodire," Vale said, charming the word as it escaped his lips. The horse picked up his pace until they reached Kallan. “We don't have time for this,” Vale told his second. “And no answer to give them in any case. We need to change
the horses, or at least make these ones drink if the horse masters are out, and we're out of here. Agreed?"
“No argument here.” Then, looking at Devi, Kal made use of his best charming smile. “I don't think we've met. Kallan. Second to His Highness.”
“My, I've heard of you. Just now, in fact.”
“Have you? Funny that. I might have brought you up a time or twenty over the last few days, and yet I haven't heard a word about you. Not even a name.”
“It's Devi.” She was smiling freely, charmingly, and she hadn't given Kallan so much as an insult.
Vale dismounted and held his hand up to help Devi get down.
The wind blew a little harder, making him notice that the temperature had gone down considerably. He thought of undoing his coat and giving it to Devi, but dismissed the temporary fix. She'd need something warmer if she was to reach Wyhmur without freezing to death first.
“Come. Let us see if we can get you a warm coat.”
“I'm fine.”
He lifted a brow. “You're wearing a cotton shirt. It'll snow before morning, and we may not find a roof to sleep under.”
She shrugged, repeating, “I'm fine.”
And now that he paid attention, he saw she truly was. She wasn't shivering, and her skin hadn't reddened at all. The temperature bordered on freezing; she should be entirely blue and begging for warmth.
“Devi?”
“Hmm?”
“Pardon my asking, and you may find it rather odd… but what the heck are you?”
It might seem rather rude, but the question was valid nonetheless.
She chuckled humorlessly. “Let me know if you figure it out. All I know is that I'm not normal. I'm just pretending to be. Or I was, I guess. But we're not in the city now. We're out here by ourselves, in danger and in a hurry, so I'm not going to make us waste precious time pretending I need a bloody coat. Let's get horses.”
“You don't feel the cold at all.”
