Page 186 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
Chapter
Thirty-Four
ELIAS
Eight days had passedsince Leanora had come to ruin our worlds. Eight days of hard labor. Eight days of tending to the injured. Eight days of mass graves so the humans could bury their dead.
Eight days of mourning and hurting and hating. But also eight days of love, of compassion, of togetherness.
Many fae from other regions had come to help rebuild both in the human realm and in ours. Even more humans had come to do the same.
The rip in the veil seemed bigger now with fae and humans going through it as if it were nothing more than a doorway.
While I hadn’t forgotten what the people of my region had done to Teddy, my friends, and me, it wasn’t something I pursued. Not when these people had lost so much because of what my family and I had brought into their world. I kept a careful eye on them and had Donnie and some of our fae police randomly check their weapons to ensure none of them had bullets made of iron. But with the male we’d imprisonedbefore I’d gone back to Niev, dead after the jail collapsing and burning to ash with him inside it, I wasn’t sure where else to look or who else to question.
Maybe I was foolish in not investigating it further, but without Nalari here to push me on the matter, I let it hide in the back of my mind.
Plenty of arguments still broke out, but there was a sense of camaraderie I hadn’t seen in my region before. My fae and human friends were never too far away with Everly and George coming into the human realm each night to report on their progress—more so that we could talk and be there for each other.
I was grateful to them for finding more fae than what I’d found in the dungeon. While Leanora had been able to entrap far too many, even more had gotten away and found refuge outside the borders of Niev, where, for some inexplicable reason, the lirio who’d remained there hadn’t tried to hurt them.
It was something I needed to question Alastor about.
When I’d torn through the veil, my only thoughts had been of Teddy. Things had changed, though. My sense of duty wasn’t simply to her but to everyone. It wasn’t my place to lead the human realm, but with my uncle gone, the order he’d established was quickly dissolving everywhere.
I tried to right it, using the same channels Uncle Hudson had to broadcast myself on electronic devices worldwide. I spoke to the world, not as their leader or conqueror, but as a male who simply wanted to help. Throughout the day, I spoke with region leaders and the police forces that had once been in place before our arrival. We worked through never-ending problems, some of which I wasn’t sure had solutions.
We tried, though, and the more humans we put in place ofauthority, the more compliant the people became. More and more murmurs rose of fae wanting to return to Niev and although I agreed they should have a choice, I wasn’t sure how humans would survive without us melting the endless snowfall and harvesting with our magic.
Even worse, I wasn’t sure where Nalari and the other dragons and thunderbirds had gone either. There hadn’t been a glimpse of them in either realm. I missed my Guardian, and I tried to reach her every day, but she’d blocked me out, and all I found in its place was dark nothing.
But that was a problem for another day.
Today was for my father, for my uncle, and the thousands of fae who’d lost their lives because of Leanora. Although Teddy worried about Alastor going to Niev after what his sister had done, I insisted he come and stand by my side. I needed to show my people that he had a place in Niev, just as they did. As did the humans who’d become like family. I made sure every fae we saw or stopped to talk to understood these humans and the single mage were under my protection and were to be treated with respect. But Javier’s sisters and Victoria captured each fae’s heart. Within the span of a few minutes, the girls found themselves surrounded by new friends, with Hee-haw at the center of everyone’s attention.
It was a new world, not just for humans but for us fae. In this new world, I’d eventually have to tell my people about what my family had done, but not today.
Regardless of how far they had to travel, fae from every city, including those on the southernmost island of Elumnar came to pay their respects for our dead. Although not customary, I chose to honor my father and uncle’s lives beside the civilians and warriors who’d died.
My people gathered in the castle grounds, where I stoodwith my mother, Teddy, and our friends. Even more fae spilled past the grounds into the demolished city of Reignom, where tents had been set up as temporary shelters for those who didn’t fit inside the castle.
Just as my mother and I held lanterns that symbolized the crossing for my father and uncle, many other fae held their own lanterns for their loved ones. Although they were unlit for now, soon they would illuminate the sky.
It was our way of helping our loved ones travel into the afterlife. While I’d seen this ceremony from the comfort of my home, it wasn’t one I’d ever had to be a part of.
But here I was, saying the goodbye I’d been cheated out of.
Earlier that day, our head healer, Leah had gone over my father’s and uncle’s bodies and sewn and fixed them so that they were presentable. While my mother had dressed my father, we’d asked a servant to dress my uncle, both wearing their fighting leathers and my father with a crown on his head. Afterward, they’d wrapped them in white sheets before I’d placed them atop their wooden burial mounds that now sat beside us on the snowy ground. Around us, others had done the same for their dead.
As the sun set and kissed the sky goodnight, the vibrant hues reminded me of the potential beauty that came with an end.
I hated that my father had been taken from me. Hated that I resented and blamed him for it. Hated that I blamed myself. Behind all that hating was the endless chasm of love because even his betrayal couldn’t take that away from me. I loved him for being exactly who he’d been and who I’d needed to become the male I was. I just hoped he’d left knowing how much I loved him.
With those thoughts, I watched my mother lift my father’slantern to the darkening sky, and with trembling fingers, she let him go. I followed suit and released my uncle’s lantern. Around us, fae did the same.
I watched as my father’s lantern floated higher and higher into the sky, and when my mother let out a soft cry, I put my arm around her shoulders. She let me hug her to me as she continued to watch my father’s final voyage.
Although thousands of lanterns surrounded my father’s, it was easy to keep track of his. I wasn’t surprised when magic touched his lantern first with a flicker of light and when, at our feet, that same magic made his body glow. As a king, it was his duty to lead our people, this time into the afterlife.
