“She loves you,” she said, with fierce urgency, looking from one to the other. “Your mother loves you all so much; her beautiful girls. She wants you to know that.”
Adeline stared at her friend until her vision blurred. Not loved, butloves. She met Marry’s eye and saw the same boundless swell of emotion. Her sister’s lip trembled.
A mother’s love is infinite.
Imogen blinked again, the pearly haze clearing entirely this time and her brow sagging. She gave a breathy half-laugh and rubbed at the faint crease between her brows.
“I’m so tired.”
Mareda sniffed and swiped at her eyes.
“You can let it go,” she said.
“We’ve got you,” Adeline agreed.
Together, they knelt at the lake and watched as Imogen sank her fingers into fresh slush and ancient silt. And with a sigh that resounded through the very banks beneath them, Imogen returned the Mother’s gift to its rightful place.
And finally set the rivers free.
Chapter Forty-Four
Kai
For the first time in centuries, the world took a yawning breath and spring arrived on the exhale. Overnight, there was birdsong in the silent forest, flowers erupting in a riot of colour that Eisalaan had all but forgotten. It was a balm; not just the return of life and warmth and magic, but to see an entire civilisation overcome with childlike wonder for a world he had once taken for granted.
To see Adeline uncovering this new Eisalaan, too.
He’d invite her on long walks when she needed a break from the intensity within the shifting palace walls, and she would drag him around by the hand as she overturned every new treasure they passed. She still teased him over the fairy ringof mushrooms he’d had to physically carry her away from, and she’d nearly stopped his heart one morning by climbing a spindly little tree just to peer into a bird nest. Antics aside, experiencing the dawn of this long awaited spring through her eyes was a gift he hadn’t known to ask for. It was all he wanted.
Shewas all he wanted.
And there was no better time to tell her as much.
Or so he’d thought; the day’s celebration by the Laune had turned out to be long and loud. Scores of people had come to watch the merrow’s official return to the sun-warmed waters of their home, and as the Cumhaill representative, Ceriwyn had been in her element. She’d spun about in the cattails, preening and waving to an unending roar of cheers from the banks as the other Merrow waited in the shallows, exchanging giddy glances and playful sighs. Fionnuala, for her part, simply waded out to shoulder depth with her band of Sealgair in tow, threw Kai a cursory nod, and disappeared.
“You’re on nodding terms now,” Adeline beamed. “That’s promising.”
“I’m almost certain she no longer wants to kill me,” Kai agreed.
Adeline gave his cheek a reassuring pat. “Me too.”
They’d had to be, for the agreement to work. Long-lived and armed with their hardwon pendants, the Sealgair were uniquely placed to guard the Mother’s cavern, but their return to the Laune was contingent on Kai setting down his crown. They couldn’t safely be around him; could not guarantee his safety. The Elder Council would be re-instated in his place, and Kai would act as their ambassador on land. Ceri and Al had been all too happy to represent him; they could return home, care for Alun’s parents in a familiar setting, and slowly build a lifetogether—an idea he would forever maintain had come out ofnowhere, no matter how much grief Adeline gave him for being oblivious. He was glad for it, strange as it was. Glad that they had each other. Glad that the transition could be an easy one for them all, even now that it was very much out of his hands.
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t relieved, but that relief came with a tangible weight to it—a guilt he’d forever wear in place of his crown.
Watching his people turn and sink into the waters, that weight settled upon him once more. Perhaps it showed in the set of his shoulders too, because something in him drew Adeline’s eye. She tore her gaze from where Ceriwyn was twirling in the shallows and her smile slid away when she caught sight of him.
She shifted closer, peering up at his face.
“We could find another way, you know,” she said, quiet and notably pained. “You could go with them. You could go home.”
Kai’s heart gave an almighty thump of protest. He turned at once to gather her close, and in full view of both the banks and the waters, he took her face in his hands and kissed her, slow and sure. They broke apart to wolf whistles and Ceriwyn’s audible groan, broken by a splutter when Kai sent a small wave crashing in her direction.
Adeline blinked up at him, eyes bright, a pretty flush on her lips and cheeks.
“Iamhome,” he said.
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