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“After we’re settled we should go and find them, so our newQueen can try and connect to Faerie," Andras says quietly. The words hang in the air, the unspoken side of them making me worry. If Faerie has to accept me… what happens if it rejects me?
“River, what did you do in Faerie?” Jacob interrupts, not taking his eyes away from the details he’s adding to the map.
“I was a tailor for the Court of Summer,” she replies. Jacob and I both raise our eyebrows at that. Not that I know a ton about our friend, but she never struck me as a dressmaker. And if it was for the court, she was making dresses for royalty. Apparently we have some important friends.
“So is it just us going? What about Gwen and the others?” I ask, directing my questions to Allwyn this time.
“Yes, I was meaning to bring this up but so much is happening. That’s actually the purpose of the communication stone. Royalty can use this to communicate with their subjects. You’re of mixed royalty, the last of all fae royalty altogether, and that means you should be able to communicate with all of your subjects. We’ll know for sure if River and Andras are able to hear it.”
“Wait… you found a communication stone?!” Andras is practically salivating at the thought. “The Gatekeeper had one?”
“Yes. He kept it for the day Queen Arabella returned," Allwyn answers. Andras looks like he has more questions, but I cut in.
“What am I supposed to say to them? Hey, you don’t know me, but I’m apparently your new queen and I’m heading to a land you watched fall to war and rejected you. Come with me?” I half joke, but my voice has a hysterical edge that has them all looking back at me with wide eyes.
Andras stumbles over his response. “Um, I don’t think that particular explanation will work.”
“She’s joking, mostly. She’s freaking out,” Jacob reassures him. Thankfully River walks in before he can keep pointing out my panic. Andras fills her in on what she missed while I grab a drink. Allwyn jumps right back in as soon as I’m back.
“Well, I think it’s only fair to explain and give everyone the option of going home and being part of the rebuilding of our lands. We can write down what you’ll say and I can help you use the stone to communicate the message,” he promises.
“It’ll get easier. You aren’t doing this alone, Bella,” Andras promises, giving me a quick hug. “You’ll have your committee and advisors.”
“True,” Allwyn agrees, like that magically solves everything. “Once we’re settled you’ll need to set up your royal advisors and committee," Allwyn explains. The new information is overwhelming; their customs and world are so different from Earth’s.
“Explain.” My voice is tired and my self-doubt is creeping in like a familiar friend. Maybe I can’t do this. How can I rebuild an entire realm?
Oblivious to my struggle, Andras continues. “Each Court had a group of advisors, kind of like a local
government here. The committee met in the neutral lands and helped decide on laws and punishments together, though the royalty had the final word on both. They were formed from the top two advisors per court, plus each court's king and queen. They voted on laws of the land and used popular vote for decisions. This helped ensure we had rights and the royals didn’t force sinister or selfish laws on their people. Keeping them in check.”
“I’m willing to work with people I don’t know, but it’ll be on equal footing. I don’t care who has money or used to have status. We don’t need to repeat history.” My tone leaves no room for argument.
A knock on the door stops us from jumping into anything else heavy. River’s still close so she answers it, but the moment I see Sam, anger fills me. I’m in front of him before anyone else can speak.
“What do you think you are doing here, Sam?” I bite out and he flinches at my tone.
“Bella?” he asks in shock. He apparently didn’t stick around long enough to see the changes in me.
“I want to talk to Jacob,” he pleads in a weak voice and I notice a bit of regret in his eyes, but I don’t care. He’d shown his true colors. But in the end it wasn’t my choice to make.
“Jacob, do you want to talk to Sam?” I ask over my shoulder.
“Is it about getting back together?” he questions bluntly in true Jacob fashion. He’s not one for beating around the bush. I look pointedly at Sam and he nods.
“Yes," I reply and Jacob laughs humorlessly.
“No thanks, I’m busy. I’ll text you tomorrow or something," Jacob announces and I give a falsely apologetic shrug and close the door in his face.
“I thought that was Gwen, sorry Jacob," River winces. Jacob waves off her concern as if Sam coming was no big deal. And as I study his face, I realize he really feels that way.
“Girl, it’s nice to be missed, but I don’t do second chances. He chose to leave during an awful situation and that says something about his character. Something that I don’t need in my life,” he says firmly, focusing back on adding color to his map.
“Damn straight,” I agree, glancing down at his map now that he’s gotten further. It’s actually really impressive. Then I realize the colors are completely off. I’d missed part of the discussion while I was freaking out… but this much?
“Why are the mountains light purple? And the water here is teal?” I ask the fae in the room.
“The stone in the mountains is stronger than Earth rocks. The material is purple instead of gray. This lake in particular has a rare seaweed that grows under the surface. The water is all clear, but the plants give it a teal tint," Allwyn explains.
