Page 8 of Echoes of the Raven
Once more, his cold expression shows a tiny crack. It’s no more than a slight flinch, but I recognize it for what it is. There is more.
“Why are you being so stubborn?” he demands. “Wouldn’t you be glad to be rid of me? Of all of us?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation. “It would give me much pleasure never to see your scarred face again.”
“Then give me The Eldrystone!”
“No,” I say. “Because it gives me infinitely more satisfaction to see you squirm, bastardo.”
“And you don’t care that in the process you’re hurting so many others?”
“You said Castella could burn to the ground and you wouldn’t care, so why should I?”
“Because you are good, Valeria. I know you.”
I nod slowly. “Yes, Iwasgood. I wanted everyone to get along. I always argued with Father about giving the fae a voice in the council. He tried to tell me over and over not to be so naïve, not to trust so openly. I thought he was embittered because he lost the love of his life, but I was wrong. What he offered me was wisdom. I didn’t learn it in time, and I paid for it.”
Legs shaking, I push to my feet, so I can tell him what he needs to hear while standing, holding my head high with what little dignity I have left. He also stretches from his crouching position.
“I’m not good anymore, Rífíor. I’m just as broken as you are, and it was you who did this to me, you who stomped all over what little innocence I had left and crushed it to dust.”
He swallows, holding my gaze and looking at the verge of yelling at me to shut up.
“I told you this before,” I go on before he can stop me, “but you don’t seem to want to listen, so hear me out one more time… I will never give you The Eldrystone. Never. I don’t care if it has the power to reopen the veil. I only care that you are forever kept from what you want most.”
4
RÍFÍOR
“The Eldrystone corrupts everyone. She is not the exception.”
Rífíor - Veilfallen - 21 AV
“Itold you this before, but you don’t seem to want to listen, so hear me out one more time… I will never give you The Eldrystone. Never. I don’t care if it has the power to reopen the veil. I only care that you are forever kept from what you want most.”
Valeria’s unwavering words ring in my ears.
I believe her.
I believe that she would rather die and suffer than give me The Eldrystone.
Calierin could torture her in any manner she wishes, and it wouldn’t make a damn difference.
Afraid I would lose my temper beyond repair, I left Valeria after our frustrating conversation, and now I pace the length of my sleeping area. It is a small space with only a cot and a barrel in one corner, which serves as both a table and clothes repository.
I heave a heavy sigh, exhausted. I should rest, but there is too much on my mind.
Ever since the attack on Nido, things have grown increasingly harder for me and my people. Amira is searching for her sister, has vowed to leave no rock unturned until she finds her. To that purpose, Castellina’s Guardia as well as the Guardia Real are moving across the capital, searching for the veilfallen who took the young princess. It is only a matter of time before they find us, before someone gives away our location.
I knew this would happen when I decided to abduct Valeria. I anticipated it, but I also thought she would give me The Eldrystone once confronted. At first, I tried talking to her, both rationally and threateningly. When that didn’t work, I resorted to lower methods, and as Valeria pointed out, I was too cowardly to administer them myself. Instead, I enlisted Calierin, who is more than happy to take out her pent-up anger on anyhuman dregs, as she often refers to our unwilling Castellan hosts.
And now, after all of that, I am down to begging, which also has turned out to be a waste of time.
Damn it all to the lowest hell!
One slip in my resolve, and I ruined everything.
If I hadn’t allowed my attraction to Valeria to get through my defenses, none of this would have happened, and my kin and I would already be in Tirnanog. The magic of our ancestral land would be coursing through our bodies, healing our wounds and rebuilding our spirits. Instead, we continue to suffer. We’ve been here too long and have had enough. Being severed from our realm chips at our will every second of the day, and I fear that, in time, this separation will break us all. I fear the fae in Castella will die out, our magic-bound souls too weak to keep going.
