AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Me?’ She gave a small chuckle. ‘Dear, I know about as much about fae magic as you know about astrology. I can point and name things, but don’t ask me to understandhow any of it works. You’ll need others for that.’
The rush of victory paled.Others– which meant that I had to leave.
As obviously I would have to do sooner or later. Hell, as Iwantedto do while I wasn’t even sure whether my friends were safe and not worrying their hearts out. But leaving meant I had to leave Zera here, too, in this little cottage for the rest of eternity, miles and miles away from every other living heart in the world – that I had to leave the comfortable safety of this island, this little patch of the world where I didn’t have to worry about allies and opinions and the Mother’s ugly propaganda.
‘Right,’ I said blankly.
She sighed and stepped between the rows of carrots, bending over to pull a few of them from the soil. ‘Let’s make lunch.’
There was no elaboration, but we both knew what the weight of her words meant: that it would be the last one.
We ate toasted bread and grilled carrots drenched in parsley oil, hardly speaking in between bites. My mind spun. The world dazzled me with its flecks of light and textures, all that new information to keep track of, all these new gifts to figure out. It would be alright, I told myself; Creon would be able to help me. So would Agenor. Lyn would be delighted from an academic point of view and doubtlessly find me a handful of books on Etele’s powers, and Tared would look amused and tell me I still wasn’t allowed to use magic during training sessions, and …
A smile had crept up on my lips without me noticing. I ate the rest of my lunch faster.
After four days of talking, I had no questions left to ask. There wasn’t even anything to pack; I had arrived carrying nothing but my boots in my hands. Once I’d recovered the mug I’d launched through the window and rinsed our plates, nothing was left except the comfortable silence of a finished conversation, of a door about to be closed again.
‘I’ll walk you to the water,’ Zera said, the bag of grief already back in her hands.
I tried to imprint every single glimpse on my mind’s eye as we made our way over the small island, the swaying willows and the lingering fragrance of sweet blossoms. There might not be a second chance to remember. I could try to come back, of course, could make pretty promises about visiting again after the war had ended … but if the forest may not even let me, what was the sense of it?
Zera had to know, and yet that calm smile didn’t waver when we reached the crystal lake. She merely hugged me, warned me a last time not to get myself into trouble, and turned to the forest without waiting for a reply.
‘Would you mind sending Emelin back to the temple, dear?’
The towering white trees groaned and croaked a little, but on the other side of the lake, a gnarled oak split open like the tree in the temple had done. As the crack gaped wider and wider, I distinguished marble walls in the space beyond, and the blossom-covered floor tiles of the room from which I’d left four nights ago.
Four nights – when the others had been preparing to leave in mere minutes.
Anxiety gripped me by the throat, colder than even the water when I lowered myself into the lake and began wading to the other side. The temple room behind the portal looked unchanged. No one had left a message, as far as I could see. There was no sign anyone had even entered it to look for me.
My pulse sped to a dizzying rhythm. How much time had passed, exactly?
‘Good luck, Emelin,’ Zera said behind me, her voice eerily quiet, like fading wisps of mist. ‘Make good choices.’
Easier said than done. But when I turned to respond, standing thigh-deep in the frigid water, the island and its goddess were gone, and only a burbling creek was left where the wide expanse of the lake had been.
Chapter 21
Ididnotburnto death the moment I clambered through the portal and landed in an inelegant sprawl of limbs on the marble floor.
Which meant someone was still protecting the temple complex against the plague.
Breath hitching, I scrambled to my feet and made for the low doorway of the room. The gallery beyond looked as it had done four days ago; the heavy curtains still hung before their niches, the doors to the prayer rooms were still closed. Dust whirled in the light falling through the roof slits – light that came pouring in from the east, I realised with a start. I may have left Zera’s island at midday, but this part of the world still lived in the early morning.
Early morning … of what day?
I slipped my boots back onto my wet feet and started running.
The temple around me was the same temple we’d searched for days, the place where Edored had nearly died, where Creon had scooped me up and flown off with me to fuck me on a sacred altar. A temple Iknew, and yet nothing looked the same anymore as I sprinted through the maze of corridors, breath ragged in my throat. Just four nights. But in four nights I’d learned of gods and blessings and carried the grief of the world in my arms, and this deserted place had changed from a mystery into the most comprehensible part of our journey.
As if I’d stepped into a strange fever dream and awoken as a different person – godsworn, barely alive, and years older.
Finally, I reached the wide outer gate of the complex and stormed into the courtyard behind, my heart so high in my throat I could have gagged on it. This was the moment where I would discover they’d all left without me, gone to fight their war on Tolya when I didn’t return. Or I’d find them in a state of utter frenzy after four sleepless nights, and they’d be furious with me for ruining their alliance with the nymphs. Or they’d have blamed each other for my disappearance, and I’d find them with bloodied knives and swords. Or …
‘Oh, Em!’ Lyn’s voice exclaimed. ‘There you are!’
I slipped to a standstill on the overgrown tile path, blinking the blinding morning sunlight from my eyes.
