Page 56 of The Lost Fae
"Let me see your back," I say so quietly, I can't be sure that he's really heard, but I add on "Please," just as quietly.
Lincoln pulls away without a response. Offering me the planes of his back. The marks from the whips have finally disappeared from his skin. It's a silent relief as I let out a long exhale. Still, between his shoulder blades two ragged pale scars remain, thick and calloused over.
I press my palms against them. I open my mind.
And I get to work.
Fourteen
Forever Lost
I never thoughtthat in a million years I would ever choose to return to The Lost Court. We'd only been home for a single night and already we'd made a plan to take another trip. Only this time our journey home likely wouldn't have as pleasant of an ending. The Lost Court will chew us up and spit us out. No more sparking to make me forget what it feels like to be drowning.
Lack of sleep makes my eyes heavy, achy in the sense that keeping them open is so much harder than closing them. There is a busy day ahead of us, one just as long and terrifying as every other day has become lately. The difference is that today carries hope.
Our steps are as quiet as the unmoving forest around us. The most unusual silence lingers in the air. I wish the quiet was peaceful, but it’s not. This isn't the hush that falls over nature whenever things settle for a breath, this isn't the calm that relaxes your soul. Everything about the lack of noise is... wrong.
Lincoln had said just as much when we left Queen Avaleen's castle. He'd guessed we could find a portal into The Lost Court in the most avoided part of the forest of the Iron Court. Fae that wandered there didn't often come back. Sounds like a portal to that awful place to me, alright.
"I hope Violet does okay," I start feeling the need to break the silence. "with gathering Fae in Calhutta, I mean."
Of course he knows what I mean. We just talked about it twenty minutes ago when we'd separated from the Princess. Still, I need to say it, if only to have anything to say at all. All I can picture when I think of Violet making her way through the streets full of Shadow Fae is the sneer on her face when she's thoroughly disgusted. She'd likely point a finger at their chests and command that they come with her or she'd wring their necks. Not exactly the message we are trying to get across, but it's likely something she'd say. Or maybe she'd have a more cunning threat. One a bit more motivating.
Hopefully she doesn’t threaten anybody at all. The chances of that are... low.
Still, I had to give her some credit. Despite the way society had taught her to think less of Shadow Fae, she still cares enough to help. She still loves Lincoln as she does her other brothers. Perhaps even more than she loves Kai at the moment.
"I'm sure that she'll do fine. She wants Cordelia off that throne just as badly as we do." Lincoln answers.
"Why? What does she have to gain?" I ask the question as soon as it pops into my brain, without half a thought to think on it first. Lincoln can hear any of my thoughts anyway, so I suppose it doesn't matter much.
"She doesn't have much to gain herself... but she's kinder than she appears."
I scoff at that. "That's hard to believe. I'm not sure Violet truly has a kind bone in that body of hers."
"Out of all my siblings, I think Violet loves me the most. She hates that I'm subject to Cordelia's every whim, forced to serve under her. When my mother made the arrangement for me to be gifted to Cordelia, Violet had been the first to hope it would give me a chance at being King. She told me how she thought out of the four of us, somehow, I was the worthiest." He shrugs, as if he didn't believe it much himself. "Plus, one time at a party, Cordelia told Violet that her dress looked like moths had eaten holes in what was supposed to be a pretty gown. She's never forgiven her since."
Now that sounds like Violet. She'd be spiteful enough to make this plan to remove Cordelia from her throne with motivation from that alone. I'd like to think it has something to do with the kind words she had for Ziko once upon a time, I just didn't trust it.
"You know," I say to change the subject, aware of how Lincoln's chest had gone tight with emotion at his thoughts tinged with sadness and nostalgia. "I've never walked this much in the woods ever in my life. Then I met you Fae and here I amhikingevery other freaking day."
"Being outdoors is good for you. Something the common human lifestyle has forgotten, I gleaned from that little trip of ours." He smiles and it lights up his face. "Do you think back on how we met fondly?"
"Which version of how we met?" I stifle a laugh.
"Both."
I grab a nearby tree to steady myself as I push aside a large fallen limb with one foot. Lincoln keeps moving ahead. I stare at the back of his shoulders covered by a jacket meant to keep him warm once we return to The Lost Court.
"Some of my dreams, I've forgotten over the years. I have the very vague memory of always returning to the Shadow Court, but never exactly what happened while I was there." That was partly in thanks to Reminints, I believe. "But somehow... you were always familiar. I knew you even when I didn't. It was always so funny like that... maybe not funny." I bite my lip trying to find the words.
"I always remembered you. Mostly because you left such a great impression. I can't even count how many times you hit, kicked, head butted, and even bit me on my hands without running out of fingers. You always have had so much fight in you."
"Did you know I was the Mortal Queen, even then?"
Through the trees we can just begin to see the slightly greenish glow of a portal that we were nearing. Neither of us mention it, but we both point ourselves in that very direction. We could dig into each other’s minds to find the answers to these questions
"Not at first, no. You were just another prospect coming and going. More than normal, that's for sure. I had the thought cross my mind,but it wasn't until you got older that I touched you and suddenly I knew exactly who you were." He reaches out to me, taking my hand when the portal is only a few feet away. "In one single touch... you became so very important. Not just to me, but to the entire kingdom."
