Page 139 of Realm of Wind and Vines
“To raise the thorn forest, of course.”
Isera, Alistair, and I all jerk back slightly in shock.
“Youraised the thorn forest?” I ask. I feel like the entire world is tilting around me.
“Yes. When they fused us, it created a massive power surge as our magic combined. That is how the thorn forest around the Seelie Court was created.” Agony floods her features. “And that is ultimately why we lost the war.”
My heart hammers in my chest. “So if we find this Soul of Trees and use it to split you and the Mother Dryad…?”
“The thorn forest will disappear. It’s kept in place by our combined magic, so if we split, there is nothing left to hold it together.”
I drag in an unsteady breath as my head spins. I knew that Lavendera would be important. But this… This is beyond anything I could have guessed.
“But don’t you see?” Galen begins carefully while still shaking his head at her in disbelief. “Thatis why they will never give you the artefact. If they do, the thorn forest will disappear. They never had any intention of giving it to you.”
“What else was I supposed to do?” she yells back at him, her voice almost breaking with desperation. “We have no idea where it is, and I have no chance of finding it on my own since I haven’t been able to set one foot outside the Ice Palace without them knowing about it. So it was either do what they want and there is a slim chance that they might actually give it to me. Or actively work against them, which they would hear about within five minutes, and ensure that they never give it to me. And I want it. I want to be free from this!”
My heart twists painfully again at the pure anguish in her voice.
“You think you’ve had it bad, being forced to do their bidding for two hundred years?” she demands as she locks eyes with Draven. “I’ve been forced to do it for sixthousandyears! I’ve lived for six thousand years with another person inside my head.”Insanity flashes in her eyes like bolts of lightning. “Do you have any idea how fucking crowded that is?”
All of her strangeness suddenly makes perfect sense. All of the odd things she says, the way she just completely disassociates from the world, the way she stares unseeing at walls while her mind retreats, the random panic attacks when she screams about how crowded it is.
It’s because there is another person inside her head. And not just a person. An immortal dryad who is an entirely different species from her.
Another broken sob rips from Lavendera’s chest, and her knees suddenly buckle. Hitting the grass hard, she gasps in panicked breaths. “I just want it to stop. Please, make it stop.”
The Dryad Queen’s features soften in a way that I have never seen before. Crouching down, she wraps her arms around Lavendera and pulls her close to her chest. “You have been so strong, Daughter of the Dawn.”
Tears stream down Lavendera’s face while broken sobs continue racking her chest. “I’m so tired.”
“I know, child. But I need you to be strong for a little while longer.”
I glance around at my friends. They all seem to be thinking the same thing, because they nod. All except Orion, who is staring at Isera with intense eyes. My heart jerks at the reminder of that. Orion now knows that Isera lied, which means that his promise to help us is no longer valid. And that means that we have lost the Unseelie Court.
But we have also gained a lot.
After seeing all my friends nod, I shift my gaze back to Lavendera and the Dryad Queen. “We will help you find the Soul of Trees.”
Lavendera just continues crying, her eyes sliding in and out of focus as the Mother Dryad no doubt continues taking over hermind for periods of time. But the Dryad Queen lifts her head and looks up at me.
Her eyes are serious as she gives me a slow nod. “And you have brought Lavendera back to us, and in so doing moved the Mother Dryad out of harm’s way, which means that we will honor our agreement. The dryads will go to war.”
My heart stutters as both dread and anticipation swirl through my chest.
The dryads are with us. And with Lavendera no longer helping the Icehearts, they have lost their ability to use dragon steel. Which means that Rin Tanaka is now on our side, which in turn means that half of the other dragon clans are as well. We also know how to remove the thorn forest. And what’s more, we have someone who was alive six thousand years ago. Lavendera knows everything that happened back then. She knows everything about our culture. She must know how the partnership between fae and dragon shifters worked.
For the first time in weeks, hope washes through my soul like warm summer waves.
This mission was a roaring success. At long last, we might finally have everything we need to take the fight to the Icehearts. We might actually win this war now.
With a smile on my face, I look up to meet my friends’ eyes again.
Alarm crackles up my spine.
I scream as an arrow shoots straight towards Draven’s neck.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
