Page 16 of Realm of Wind and Vines
Her gaze sharpens as she locks it on me. I just glare back at her.
Logically, I understand the reason why they won’t get involved. But I still can’t help the anger burning inside me. Every day, my patience and my goodwill dwindle further. Every day that I have to spend in this cruel new reality where Draven is looking at me with undiluted hatred, I die a little more inside. And part of me wonders if I will ever recover those broken pieces. The other part of me is rapidly losing the ability to give a fuck.
Tension crackles through the air as the Dryad Queen and I stare each other down in silence for another few seconds.
Then a predator’s smile curves her lips. “I look forward to it.”
And with that, she turns around and disappears back down the hole in the ground that we entered through yesterday.
After blindfolding us, they brought us all the way back to the thorn forest instead of leaving us where they found us inside the underground forest. As if they wanted to make sure that we truly left.
I watch as her flowing dress, made of vines and leaves, ripples across the ground before she disappears from sight. Blowing out a sigh, I shake my head. I don’t think I will ever truly understand what goes on inside that dangerous being’s head.
“When is your portal guy coming back?” Galen asks from a few strides away.
Tearing my gaze from the hole in the ground and the river that flows up through it, I turn around and look between him and Orion. The Unseelie King brushes his hands down the silver embroidery on his fancy dark blue tunic as if dusting himself off.
“Grey,” he states, reminding Galen of the man’s name. “I instructed him to open a portal here every hour after sunrise. So it shouldn’t be too long.”
I turn towards the tree line and the city visible there across the fields, as if I can see the clock tower from all the way out here. The others do the same.
Only the softly rustling leaves and the creaking branches disrupt the silence as we all just stand there, waiting for Grey to open a portal so that we can leave the Seelie Court unseen.
My gaze drifts over the tall stone walls that box in the city while my mind drifts.
Speaking of messenger birds made me think of Fenriel and his magical hawk Talon. I wonder how they are doing. Did our resistance leaders take my advice and recruit him to the rebellion?
I drum my fingers against my thigh as I narrow my eyes at the city in consideration. Should I get the resistance involved? Itwould be good to have more allies. But is there really anything that they can do from in here, cut off from the rest of the world by a forest of thorns? I shake my head. No. First, we need to deal with the Red Dragon Clan. While they patrol the city like prison guards, there is nothing substantial that the fae resistance can do to help us in this fight.
My gaze once more drifts towards the north side of town where my parents live. I want to go there. I want to know. But at the same time, a terrified part of me doesn’t want to know. Because what if my magic isn’t there. What if they really do just hate me because of who I am. Right now, I don’t think I could handle it if I found out that that’s the case. So I’ll do it later. I’ll do it after I’ve figured out how to get Draven back. Then maybe, just maybe, I can do the same thing to my parents too.
That tiny light of hope inside me sparkles at the thought. Maybe I can fix it all.
“He’s here,” Orion announces.
Giving myself a determined nod, I tear my gaze from the city and instead focus on the glittering blue rectangle that has appeared on the forest floor.
Grey bows to his king and then steps aside to let us pass through the portal.
As always, a slight tingling sensation ripples through me when I step through the portal. But it disappears once I’m fully out on the other side.
Bright sunlight streams down from a wide blue sky as I appear in a massive field of yellowing grass. After the gloomy darkness of the thorn forest, I have to blink hard and squint before my eyes can adjust. Warm summer winds wash across the endless plains, tugging at the dry grass and making it rustle. I stare at the open horizon, wondering where we are.
“Your Majesty,” Grey says from behind me. “Should I continue to our border?”
“No,” Orion replies. “We’re not going back home yet.”
Now that my eyes have adjusted, I turn around to look at my companions. We have gathered in a loose circle on the now flattened grass. Grey has let the portal disappear, and he is looking at Orion, waiting for instructions.
“Are we really doing the right thing splitting up?” Galen asks, his pale brows creased in worry.
“Yes,” Draven replies. “If we’re going to meet with all the clans before the Icehearts figure out what we’re doing, we need to split up to cover more ground, and you and Lyra need to go together. You have enough authority as my second-in-command to make formal deals, and Lyra is really good at making people do what she wants.”
At that, Lyra chuckles and gives him a playful salute. “True that.”
Galen, however, still looks worried. “But what if I… mess up?”
“You hated me, truly despised me, for two hundred years,” Draven says, though not unkindly. His eyes are serious as he holds Galen’s gaze. “But I still chose you as my second-in-command. Even when you hated me, I trusted you with my life. So you need to start trusting your own instincts again.”
