Page 138 of Realm of Wind and Vines
The Dryad Queen glides out of the lush green vegetation to my left. Her hair and dress, still made up entirely of vines and leaves and twigs, ripple behind her when she moves. We all watch her, but her brown eyes are entirely focused on Lavendera.
“You said that the only way we would get it back was if theygiveit to us,” the Dryad Queen says, ancient power dripping from her voice. “So we did as you said. We backed off. We left you alone so that they would not grow angry and keep it from you out of spite.” Fury flashes across her face. “But then I hear from this fae,” she nods towards me, “who fell into our lands last year, that the Icehearts are making you fight and kill each other for sport.”
“I was—” Lavendera begins.
“You know what would happen if you were to be killed!”
“Of course I do!”
“We made an agreement.”
“I know. And I’m trying.” A sob full of pain and desperation escapes her lips. “I’mtrying.”
“Your way is not working. It has been six thousand years. If they were going to keep their word and give you the Soul ofTrees in exchange for loyal service, they would have done it already.”
“Stop,” Draven demands before Lavendera can reply. His voice pulses with authority as he looks between Lavendera and the Dryad Queen. “Explain what the hell is going on here. How can you be over six thousand years old? What agreement did you make? And what is the Soul of Trees?”
The Dryad Queen slides sharp eyes to Draven but doesn’t answer. However, she doesn’t shut down his questions either, so Lavendera heaves a long sigh.
“It was towards the end of the war,” she begins. “I was leading a group of my friends on a mission to take out the Icehearts’ information center, but we were ambushed. The Icehearts had been hunting me across the world because of my very rare tree magic, and my friends knew that. So they… traded me to the Icehearts in exchange for their own lives.” A harsh laugh rips from her throat. “They survived that day but were then executed along with everyone else when we lost the war.”
My heart twists. By Mabona. Her own friends sold her out to the Icehearts?
“After that, I was… tortured.” The flat way she says that word makes me think that it was brutal and extensive. “Earlier that year, Bane had stolen the Soul of Trees from the dryads.”
The Dryad Queen lets out a low growl while age-old fury burns in her eyes.
“And they used that to fuse me with the Mother Dryad,” Lavendera finishes.
We all just stare at her. My head is pounding.
“What does that even mean?” I ask.
“It means that I’ve had an immortal dryad living inside my head for six thousand years!” she snaps.
I jerk back in shock. “That’s why you don’t age? Because you have been fused with the… Mother Dryad?” I say the title hesitantly since I don’t even understand what it means.
“Yes.”
“And that is why we hate the Icehearts,” the Dryad Queen adds, her voice cold. “Only the Mother Dryad can create new dryads. But she is trapped inside Lavendera Dawnwalker. And if she is killed, the Mother Dryad dies as well, and then there will be no more dryads. Ever.”
“Azaroth’s flame,” Lyra curses under her breath.
“The Soul of Trees is an artifact,” Lavendera begins.
“It is not anartifact,” the Dryad Queen hisses. “It is the Soul of?—”
“It is an artifact,” Lavendera interrupts, frustration flashing across her face. “It is a precious and meaningful and invaluable thing for the dryads, but it is a physical item, which means that it is also an artifact.”
The Dryad Queen narrows her eyes but doesn’t dispute the point.
“It is the only thing that can split me and the Mother Dryad back into two people,” Lavendera continues, that desperation bleeding into her voice again. “Bane and Jessina promised that they would give it to me if I served them loyally.”
“And youbelievedthem?” Isera retorts, her eyes cool.
“I didn’t have a choice!” Her chest heaves, and her gaze slides in and out of focus several times. “I have no idea where it is.Wehave no idea where it is. And it’s not like I can just search for it freely. I am kept on a very short leash. Always guarded. Always observed. They always know where I am and what I’m doing. So the only way I can get it is if they give it to me. And it’s the only thing I want! It’s the only thing that will give me freedom.”
“But why did they even do that in the first place?” Galen asks, shaking his head at her in confusion. “Why did they want to fuse you with the Mother Dryad?”
