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Beinga sovereign meant ignoring her own pain for the sake of her people. Naia had heard that many times in her childhood and had always imagined that it meant going to a meeting even after bumping her pinky toe. Those had been simple times, when she hadn’t yet understood all the different types of pain.
Now she realized what her father had meant, as she grappled with the fear of losing River, her own regret for her failure, her worry about Aluria, and so many more troubles clouding her mind, numbing her senses. And yet she had been named Queen of the Ancients, and wasn’t going to shirk her responsibilities.
Naia stood with Anelise on the banks of the Blue River. Coming here had been so simple, just a matter of watching the fae walk through the hollow and step into existing circles, and yet somehow Naia had unsealed their city by doing that. At this moment, she wanted to forget everything that was happening to River, all her anxieties, and focus on making sure the Ancients would have some kind of access to food and water from outside their isolated city.
Anelise had brought two of her friends, Gaelle and Barton. They both had the typical fae looks, but now Naia was getting better at differentiating them. River’s sister had a slightly darker complexion than her friends and a rounder face. Her friend Gaelle was a cute girl with pale horns and light nails, her face a lot more angular than Anelise. Barton was a young man with white-blond hair cropped below the ear, his skin even paler than his companions and his eyes a much brighter red, rather than the usual dark burgundy of most of the Ancients.
River’s sister looked around. “So only I and whoever I allow can come here.”
“Yes. I mean, I wouldn’t know who to bring. You can fish and hunt, and take some water to the city.”
Anelise paused, then said, “Had you been a stranger granting us a deal, I would appreciate this small gesture, but as our queen—”
“It’s good for now,” Gaelle interrupted her.
“It’s not,” Naia agreed with Anelise. This was far from enough. The Ancient City had very little land, and even if they could bring water, it wouldn’t heal soon enough to feed anyone. Animals had been gone. “You need to bring people back to Aluria, to live off the land, I guess, but this is unfortunately not the time for that.”
Gaelle sighed. “We’re actually not farmers. We used to do a lot of trade. Before.”
Before the war.
Anelise turned to her companion. “This is not the time for trading, though.”
“No, but if we could go to other kingdoms, other places…”
“You can,” Naia said. “I mean, I don’t know if I need to do anything to allow you to do that. As long as you don’t attack or steal from humans, and as long as you do your best to stay hidden, you can.”
“A verbal agreement is enough,” Anelise said. “But if we eventually want to trade, we can’t stay hidden.”
“So don’t.” Naia didn’t want to impose too many conditions, knowing their dire situation. “But don’t harm humans.”
Gaelle said, “We weren’t the ones who started the war. And Aluria is our land as well. The Ancient city was just a safe haven and a place to seal some of our magic.”
Mindmeldinghad been restricted to the Ancient city. Still, Naia knew so little about the Ancients. Perhaps she should let them decide their own destiny. “You know what? Do whatever you want. Come and go as you please, just don’t attack humans for no reason.”
Naia realized that this was a very ambiguous sentence. What didno reasonmean? When could the fae attack? And yet, perhaps the right thing would be to give them back their freedom, which had been unjustly taken away because of a suspicion that they had destroyed Formosa. True that King Spring also would have killed all the humans in Aluria without remorse, but then, she knew that some humans would do the same if given the chance. And right now, the enemy was another one. If anything, if Cynon turned his eyes to the Ancients, perhaps they would need a place to hide.
Anelise stared at her, eyes wide. “You could have bargained for that agreement.”
“I would, in different circumstances.” Naia shrugged. “As your queen, it’s my duty to make sure you’re safe, to think about your well-being first.”
Gaelle sighed. “So you do see yourself as our queen.” The girl didn’t know yet about River being corrupted and possessed by Cynon, and perhaps thought of Naia as a power-hungry human, which was fair, considering everything.
Naia scoffed. “It doesn’t matter what I see or don’t see. What matters is what it is.”
Anelise put a hand on Naia’s shoulder. “We’re lucky to have you.”
Of course. Lucky that it wasn’t only Cynon’s vessel in charge.
Perhaps hiding River’s true condition was a mistake, but Naia feared that they would kill him, and she still believed that there was a part of River fighting Cynon. As long as she thought that he was still there, she wasn’t going to give up hope.
A twig cracked behind Naia and she froze, then turned and saw River, standing by the trees, wearing some fae finery.
He was staring at her and said, “I’m the one who’s lucky to have you.”
Naia wanted to run to him and embrace him, wanted to feel relieved that he was himself again, but she knew it wasn’t true.
Still, she smiled. “Why is that?”
