An Heir Comes to Rise

by C. C. Peñaranda

“I don’t plan to do any Nightwalking ever again.”

  He gave her a knowing look. “You should still know how. You never know when you might need to use your ability. We may be deadly weapons, but we can also be useful tools to help others.” There was a hint of encouragement in his voice.

  Faythe hadn’t thought of her ability as anything but invasive, cruel, and deadly…but if there was a way it could be used for good, she supposed it couldn’t hurt to learn.

  “It’s been weeks. Why are you only now claiming it’s important I learn this?”

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “Not too busy to invite yourself here whenever you feel like it.”

  “Someone has to check you’re not wreaking havoc with your untrained mind. Perhaps you’d prefer I hand the job over to Captain Varis?”

  With a glare, she muttered, “Stupid fae prick.” He only chuckled in response. “Tonight?” she asked, not even knowing what the time was or if Jakon was home yet.

  Nik nodded. “Meet me there in twenty minutes.” Then, with her reluctant agreement, he left, dissipating into swirls of gold mist and leaving a faint outline where he’d stood.

  Faythe swore to herself for conceding to his plan and forced her mind into full consciousness.

  Her eyes opened onto darkness. Moonlight poured in through the box window. Turning her head, she spotted Jakon sprawled out in his too-small cot, snoring softly. Faythe pulled herself into a sitting position, swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and silently reached for her pocket watch on the side table between them.

  Half past midnight. She mentally cursed at the late hour. She knew she wouldn’t be returning to her warm bed in time to get much proper rest tonight.

  Barely daring to breathe, she maneuvered through the small space with feline stealth. Changing swiftly, she didn’t bother to equip her sword as she swung on her cloak and left the hut. She muttered a silent prayer Jakon wouldn’t wake to discover her absence.

  With her hood up, Faythe made herself a living shadow as she floated through the dark streets, keeping her ears on high alert for fae patrol. She stopped at a corner leading onto Main Street, hearing a quiet clamor of voices and shuffling boots. When she peered around, her heart froze at the sight of the patrol—at the sight of Captain Varis in particular. They stopped outside the inn, and Faythe had a horrible sense of déjà vu. This was where she’d seen them dragging the innkeeper’s son out onto the street weeks ago. But they didn’t appear to be there on any urgent business tonight, and instead of making a brute show of forced entry, the four guards casually strolled inside as if it were a normal night to grab a drink.

  Faythe tried not to think too much about it.

  Once they were fully out of sight, she darted through the intersection into the next dark pocket and continued her inconspicuous trek to the hills. When she approached the woods and didn’t spot Nik, she decided to go in alone rather than risk anyone else spying her waiting on the outskirts. Darkness opened up into light, and as always, she took a moment to breathe in the clarity of the air and appreciate the ethereal brightness of her surroundings.

  At the waterfall, Faythe was imagining what it would be like to swim in the crystal-clear waters surrounded by the tiny dancing glow of the yucolites when her thoughts were disturbed by a rustling nearby. She opened her mouth to say something witty to Nik about being late, but the words died in her throat as she turned to find a magnificent giant stag. It was staring directly at her.

  She immediately froze at the sight of the creature that could kill her with one jerk of its hoof. She didn’t know if she should gawk or run from the huge white beast with antlers of shimmering silver. Faythe had seen stags in the forest before when she’d hunted with Jakon, but she’d never seen one of such grace and beauty. The animal in front of her was not of any mortal nature. No—it must exist by some form of magick, or at least be enhanced by it.

  Faythe knew the smart choice would be to run and hope she could reach the edge of the woods quicker than it could catch her. A risk considering the length and might of its legs; she could easily be impaled on its antlers if it got close enough.

  “Follow.”

  Faythe jerked at the sound but held the beast’s stare. It was impossible, foolish even, to imagine she’d heard the animal talk to her. But it dragged its hoof on the ground with a huff, flaring its large nostrils, and flicked its head in time with the word.

  Then she realized it was not spoken out loud.

  Perhaps the woods took all logic and reason out of a person, or perhaps she was just more reckless than she realized, but she found herself walking toward the beast that could end her in a single blow. Stupidity or bravery, she wasn’t sure. She stayed a cautious distance behind it as it turned, and then she followed it through the trees in a direction she hadn’t ventured before. She had yet to explore any of the woods besides the waterfall clearing and could only imagine what else was lurking around, good or evil. It made her shudder. She wasn’t in any hurry to go investigating on her own.

  The yucolites weren’t the only life form that glowed here. She looked up to notice the aerial equivalent weaving around the branches of the tree canopy, creating a peaceful hum. Fireflies, she deduced, though it was strange to see them in the daylight.

  After a short walk, the trees opened up into another large clearing, this one brighter than the waterfall, which she didn’t think was possible. It was as if the invisible sun that blanketed the woods in the daytime, through some ancient form of magick, was shooting a beam directly to this glade alone. A solitary feature stood in the middle: a grand stone temple that glittered a soft gray. Faythe followed the stag a little closer to the structure and then halted. It turned its massive head to look back at her once and, with another huff and a nod, gestured her over to the closed doors inside the portico. The beast stalked up the steps in a couple of powerful strides and disappeared right through the solid stone entrance in front of her eyes.

  Faythe blinked once, twice, and stood gaping where the creature had vanished. She suddenly went cold. Maybe she was still in her mind, and her own thoughts were mocking her, or perhaps she was Nightwalking…

  She quickly shook her head to dismiss that conclusion. While her subconscious was vivid and very convincing, she’d learned to distinguish the difference; feel what was truly real. Her instincts knew this was definitely no illusion of her own making.

  She approached the temple slowly and with caution and then ascended the few steps past the colonnades to stand in front of the massive stone doors. Raising a wary hand, she reached out to touch the rock. Solid. She pressed her whole palm to the door, then her other one, and gave a push. Nothing moved. She pushed harder, using all her strength, before giving up and stepping back with a grunt.

  Her eyes trailed the faded gold lines that made up a pattern across both doors. Faythe had to step back down the steps to get a view of the whole picture. She squinted and tilted her head a few times. It was a circle with three lines struck through it, overlapping its circumference. Simple and familiar, she wracked her brain for a few seconds, until…

  She gasped, and her hand darted into her pocket. She’d seen that symbol—it was the same as the engraving on the back of her mother’s watch. Pulling it out, she flipped it over in her hand and stood with her mouth gaping. Her eyes darted from the stone door to the brass watch, back and forth, until she was certain they were exactly the same, not a line different. But her discovery raised far more questions than it answered. She was sure her gentle, innocent mother wouldn’t have been in these woods. She would have no reason to be…

  So what did it mean?

  Faythe stormed up to the doors again and held out the watch. She tried pressing the engraved side to the stone and waving it in any possible way she could think of, achieving nothing but looking like she’d lost her mind. She groaned in frustration. Why did the stag bother to guide her here if she couldn’t get inside?

  “There you are!” Nik’s voice bellowed from
across the glade.

  Faythe jumped at the sudden noise and whirled to see him stalking over to her. He didn’t look pleased.

  “I had to follow your scent,” he grumbled. Then he paused, taking in the structure around them from below the steps. “How did you find this place?”

  “You’ve never been here before?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve been to these woods many times over the centuries, but I’ve never seen this.”

  “I don’t know how you could have missed it,” she mumbled sarcastically. When he didn’t respond, she asked, “Do you know what this means?” She gestured to the large symbol adorning the entrance.

  “You don’t know the mark of Aurialis?” At her clueless look, he rolled his eyes. “Goddess of the Sun? The Spirit of Life, you might call her?”

  A spark of remembrance came to mind. She’d read about the Spirit as well as her two sisters in The Forgotten Goddess earlier that day. The revelation only raised more questions.

  Faythe thought for a moment. “Do you think it’s just some old place of worship?”

  He cocked his head, ascending the steps. “Maybe, but these woods don’t open to everyone. Perhaps it was meant only for those chosen by Aurialis.” He smirked.

  She gave him a flat look.

  Nik braced his palms against the door and strained as he tried and failed to push them open. If his fae strength couldn’t open them, she felt foolish for even trying.

  “Strange,” he muttered.

  She wasn’t about to explain she had been led here by some giant, mythical stag at the risk of sounding completely insane. She was hardly confident she wasn’t slowly losing her mind. Perhaps it was a side effect of having an ability that was never intended for a human body.

  She supposed there was nothing more to do. “Let’s just go,” she huffed, stomping down the stairs and stalking away. If there was no way in, it was a waste of time following the stupid stag. She made a mental note to act on her first instinct and run next time. However, she seriously hoped there would be no repeat sightings of large, ethereal animals to worry about.

  Chapter 17

  Nik paced a few steps in front of Faythe, much to her irritation, as he went over various techniques of guarding the mind against unwelcome visitors.

  “So when you feel that pressure on your mind, you have to be able to pull your walls up so they can’t enter,” he lectured.

  Faythe poked aimlessly at the grass with a stick. She’d picked it up on the way back to the waterfall clearing, bored stiff from listening to him ramble on about control, focus, and everything else so painstakingly dull it made her eyelids grow heavy. He stomped over to her, moving to grab her shoulders and steal her attention, but as soon as he gripped her, his arms immediately dropped as if she were made of fire.

  Nik’s eyes flashed to her chest. “What is that?”

  She looked down, innocent, and weighed the small teardrop pendant in her palm. “This? Marlowe made it for me. Pretty, isn’t it?”

  “I didn’t know magestone still existed, especially not on this continent.”

  She cocked an eyebrow in growing interest. “It’s true then, what it can do to a fae?”

  He assessed her, debating whether he should share the information he knew about a material that could be used as a weapon against his kind. At last, he said, “I wasn’t sure. No one’s seen it in a very long time. Most believe it’s gone completely, but—” His lips thinned. “Touching you just now, it felt like a magnet sucking out a small piece of strength. Almost undetectable and not nearly enough to incapacitate me. At least, not in such a small quantity.”

  She dropped the stone to her chest with a curious hum. Faythe wanted to tell Marlowe the myths were facts, knowing the blacksmith would relish in the information, but she quickly realized that would mean giving away her meetings with Nik. Her face fell. She hated having to keep secrets from either of her friends, but she couldn’t tell them about Nik—it would put her at risk of them finding out about her impossible ability.

  “Be careful,” Nik spoke, still frowning at the pendant. “It could lead to unwanted questions if anyone else happens to sense it.” He meant the fae guards. The king.

  She nodded in understanding, tucking it under her shirt. To test her theory, she had deliberately made sure to wear the necklace when he invited her here, and she was glad for the answers to her question. In a larger quantity, if magestone still existed, it could be a mighty weapon to nullify the fae’s strength and abilities and even the playing field for humans in battle. It was no wonder they wanted it gone.

  Thinking back to her conversation with Marlowe, Faythe recalled a burning question she wanted to ask Nik. She hesitated before blurting, “Has such an ability ever existed that was more than just Nightwalking…like in a conscious mind, for example?” Her stomach twisted as he looked at her curiously.

  “There are legends, but I’ve never known anyone who’s met someone with such a talent. Why?”

  She wasn’t sure if it was relief or disappointment she felt. In his three centuries of existence, Nik could neither prove nor disprove the fact. She knew it was outlandish, completely irrational, and he would laugh at the thought that had swirled in her head since the blacksmith unknowingly enlightened her to the possibility.

  She was about to pass it off as mild curiosity, but instead, she said, “Sometimes…I think I feel things that are not my own…or hear things that were never spoken.” She laughed as she heard her thoughts out loud. He’d think her insane and abandon all hope of training her. She should never have said anything about it. Yet when her friend had mentioned the uncharted ability, Faythe couldn’t help but think of all the times she’d heard and felt things she had no explanation for. And since she’d already defied the impossible, she didn’t see the harm in asking Nik about it. If there was even a slight chance, she wanted to rule it out completely for the sake of her own sanity.

  She waited for the laugher, the mocking, the teasing, but none of it came.

  “Like what?”

  Surprised he hadn’t immediately shut down the idea, she shifted, suddenly self-conscious. It was her turn to start pacing with her eyes on the ground, more out of nerves than anything.

  “Mostly, it’s just like a burst of emotion. Or I hear words, phrases, when they’ve never moved their lips… I’ve always assumed I’m good at reading people, but what if it’s more than that?” She dared a look at him. “I know—it’s impossible and probably just my own heightened emotions running away with my thoughts, but—”

  “No—I believe you,” he cut in, folding his arms and maintaining the intensity of his stare. At her raised brow, he continued, “I mean, I shouldn’t… I should think you’re absolutely losing it and convince you to take a vacation as soon as possible.” He smirked. “But I think you did it to me one time—answered a question I never even asked. I thought nothing of it, of course, but if you’re saying it’s happened a lot before…by the Gods, Faythe, your existence becomes more inconceivable by the day.” He shook his head in disbelief.

  “It might not be what I think it is,” she said quickly.

  He ran a hand through his hair. “There’s one way to find out.” He grinned in mock challenge. “What am I thinking?”

  She gave him a dead look. “It doesn’t work like that. I only hear and feel projections.”

  “Yes, when you haven’t been trying.” He cocked his head. “Who knows what you could truly be capable of? A force like no one’s known before.”

  “I don’t want to be a force to be used against anyone.”

  His face turned serious. “You can’t run from yourself. Stop being so afraid of your own abilities and face them, Faythe, or the things you’re trying so hard to hide from may very well be your undoing.”

  “Why do you care, Nik?” she said nastily. “What are you even doing here?” She was deflecting her anger at herself again, and he knew it too.

  His face softened. “Don’t make your gifts a c
urse. They are what you make them, not the other way around. There’s a reason you have them, so embrace it. Don’t fight it.”

  She knew he was right. She’d spent so long trying to convince herself she was still that same ordinary human girl; that she could lock up all this and try to forget she even had an ability. But the more she discovered about herself, the more she realized she would never be that girl again. The idea scared her to no end, but she would learn to embrace herself—every part of herself—and know that despite it all and no matter what came of it, her heart would not be tarnished.

  “It could just be very weak clairvoyance,” she offered nervously.

  “We can’t be sure until you actually try to tap into it instead of waiting to hear things you never intended to.”

  “Another time,” she said. “I think I might implode if I try anything tonight.”

  He kept his gazed fixed on her, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

  “What?” she said, feeling her face flush.

  Nik shook his head and huffed a laugh. “You’re a gods-damned miracle, Faythe.”

  Chapter 18

  After the rocky discovery of her possible extended ability, Faythe and Nik stayed a while a longer in the woods. The fae guard spent most of his time trying to explain how mental barriers worked and how to Nightwalk without risk of discovery.

  It unnerved Faythe to think others could be aware—that Jakon could have been aware she was in his mind if she’d made a wrong move. Luckily, it wasn’t common for the unwitting host to detect Nightwalkers, and this only tended to happen with unrested or less experienced walkers. Again, Nik expressed great disbelief she hadn’t been found out by accident. Faythe was relieved more than anything.

  He had brought more sleep tonic, so they spent some time in her mind practicing the barriers. She learned how to show him edited versions of her memories without appearing too suspicious. Then, when Nik announced it would soon be daybreak, she raced home and thanked the Spirits not a soul was around to stop her as she darted through the streets. Mercifully, Jakon was still sleeping when she arrived, so she changed into her clothes for the day and pretended she’d woken up earlier than usual.