“How is Ornella? What about Carrick?”
“Ornella is still in her tent. Darragh has been watching over her from afar, just as you asked. Carrick is… He was here with you mostly, but he has not been able to settle or sleep and decided this morning to go for a walk.”
Guilt cut through me at the thought of my poor uncle. The only thing he had asked of me when Sage joined the Wild Hunt was that I would protect his son at all costs. And I had failed him too…
“Ciaran?” I prompted my Seer before I could succumb to the rising sense of failure and shame.
“He took it upon himself to organize the fey that came from the Spring Court and met with your war council this morning to update them on the situation,” Nuala told me.
You met with the war council?I asked Ciaran instantly through our rider bond. The effort to reach him gave me a headache, but I grit my teeth through it.
Good morning to you too,he replied sarcastically.
Normally, I would find his lightheartedness irritating during such a dire situation, but this time I found it was oddly reassuring. Familiar and reliable when all else was slipping out of my control.
Ciaran, I chided him impatiently.
Yes, I met with them. I did not give them all the details about the Sylvan or… about Sage. I was unsure how much of that you would want them to know. But I did explain about Balor and the Spring Court,he advised me.I also arranged to feed and house all of the Spring fey for now, but their magic has already begun to diminish in the cold. We need to get them to the Spring Quadrant in the Vale,he finished with a disgusted bite in his tone.
I shared his sentiments. The thought of sending Spring fey to the Vale after what Riordan and Balor had done to their home made me feel ill, but it was the only way for them to thrive. There was nowhere else to take them now that their court was destroyed.
I breathed in deep and slow and pressed the heel of my hand against the centre of my bare chest. But there was no alleviating the ache that flared at the thought of all the fey who had perished thanks to the fear and greed of the one male who was supposed to protect them.
Balor would atone. I would make sure of it.
Prepare them to go. Then have Declan disperse them in small groups across the Spring Quadrant, I directed, feeling Ciaran agree. He understood my intention to try and ensure that they would not all be captured at once should the worst happen.
During the utter panic of the Spring Court collapsing, we had acted quickly to get as many people to safety as possible. I had not had the presence of mind to reconsider delivering them to our enemies, and now I had no doubt Riordan would have already begun hunting them down. He would know that I was coming for him, and he would not want my agents hiding among his own people.
Nuala stood as I closed the link with my brother rider, and she went to the fire where I could hear water starting to boil. I watched as she began using the dried remains of Ichor of Airmid to make tea.
“This should help,” she said once she returned with the ceramic cup, placing it in my hands before she settled on the floor next to the couch again.
“You did not seem familiar with fey herbs,” I recalled a little warily as I scented the potency of the drink.
“I am not. Carrick measured it before he left.”
I hummed and sipped the medicinal tea, relishing the warmth it put in my stomach.
“What can I do?” she asked after a moment of silence, and I closed my eyes as I considered.
“We have too many enemies. You cannot see the ones in the Vale, so I need you to focus on the ones you can see here in Autumn and in Summer Court.”
Nuala began to nod, but then her eyes widened with a sudden realization.
“Do you remember how my vision of the Fuath was also being blocked somehow?” she reminded me, and my breath caught. It felt almost as if my stomach had been hollowed out as I turned to look down at her.
“It was… blinding white,” I recalled.
“Just like the Sylvan,” she confirmed with a nod.
The tea she’d given me had not begun to dull the pain and stiffness in my body, but I ignored my discomfort and shoved the blanket off my legs to stand. I almost tripped over Éadrom who had curled up right next to the couch with one wing stretched out across the room. He merely raised his wolven head to look at me with that expression of tentative concern that had been in his eyes for weeks now, as I began pacing behind the couch.
“So… the Sylvan have been interfering with the Fuath here in the Autumn Court? That seems unlikely.”
Nuala tilted her head thoughtfully.
“It is possible that someone from the Vale is extending their influence between realms. Depending on the magic, it could be acting like an unintentional conduit that carries the shield of the Sylvan into Autumn. Or perhaps it was intentional to redirect the shield and block their meddling here from me as well,” she mused slowly.
