I glare at him. My chest heaves as I suck in air through clenched teeth.
“Ye just needed to work it out of your system, Key. Try it again, but this time not with anger.”
I stand up, dusting myself off. Today is not my day. Lachlan stands slowly next to me, his green eyes missing nothing as he watches the multitude of emotions flit across my face.
“Maybe a break would be better,” he offers. “Go take a walk.”
I walk away. Away from my friends and the people that matter most to me. They continue training, continue trying to better themselves in the small amount of time we have left, because we’re all that stand in the way of evil.
But right now, I’m standing in my own way. And I don’t know how to get out of it.
Iwalk along the shore alone. The waves rush up the black sand, kissing my bare feet as I trail along the edge. My boots sway back and forth, gripped loosely in my hand with each step I take.
I need to think, to breathe, and it’s best to do it here.
Had I been back in the human realm, I would have sought solitude at the fairy tree already.
I sit on the sand, out of reach of the tendrils of water that race towards me, and look out across the sea.
Six days.
We have six days, and I can’t keep it together for one.
I miss my parents and Gran. I miss Elowen.
And once again, I feel lost.
How am I supposed to lead them all into a battle we might not come out of?
My thoughts circle around and around. Growing darker, and more hopeless with each passing second.
“I thought I might find ye here.” Torin’s voice cuts through my death spiral.
I turn back to see him slipping his boots off and walking barefoot my way.
“Needed to think,” I murmur, grasping a handful of sand and letting it slip through my fingers.
“Don’t we all,” he replies, sitting beside me.
His cropped chestnut hair looks slightly longer than the last time I saw him in the human realm, his eyes more weary. Torin knew the whole time about this place, yet I don’t feel a fraction of the anger towards him I had felt towards Lachlan.
We sit beside each other in silence, the waves against the sand fill the silence.
“Your Gran was lucid before I brought her here.”
I don’t reply, but I slide my eyes from the sea to the side of his face. He keeps staring straight ahead.
“She knew her time was ending, but that ye had somehow saved this place. She was adamant I bring her to the cairn—to home.” His throat bobs with a swallow. “She was so proud of ye. Kept saying how ye had done it and that ye were the best queen this realm had ever had.”
My eyes burn, and I squint, swinging my gaze back at the ocean. Toying with the medallion around my neck, I feel as if I’m holding both my mom and Gran close.
“Ye are a wonderful queen, Lena. Ye will lead us all into a better world. Ye just have to believe in yourself.”
A tear trickles its way down my cheek. “I’m so afraid,” I whisper.
Torin leans over, wiping the tear from my cheek and looking into my eyes. “What are ye afraid of?”
My nose wrinkles at his question. What is there not to be afraid of?
