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After the final checkpoint, they entered through a small door in a magical barrier. It covered a lot less of the Fae lands than Claire’s mother’s did, and Holly recognized the feeling of Desmond’s magic as they passed through.
Speaking of her cousin, Holly was sure they would stop there first and see Claire and Desmond, but the twins kept walking past the meeting hall and into the back of the village, where the Elders’ houses stood. She thought they were going to a healer? The twins stopped outside one of the houses, and Kallan stepped up to the door and knocked three times, the sharp echoes cracking through the silence.
The door slid open with a whisper, and Elder Vali stood in the entrance. Surprise flitted across her face at seeing them in front of her. Holly was surprised as well. Was Elder Vali a healer? She had never seen her heal anyone when they were with the Fae, but she had helped Greta in the healing tents and had been with Claire’s father, so maybe. They usually didn’t let healers become Elders; those roles were reserved for more powerful people.
Holly glanced at Synora, who looked like she shared her confusion. Synora met her eyes and shrugged, moving closer to Holly. She wrapped an arm around Holly’s waist. Holly settled into her side tentatively, letting herself enjoy the comfort and the support.
“Good morning, Elder.” Kallan bowed his head in greeting. “May I speak with you briefly?” Was Kallan talking to the Elder alone? Maybe they were going to the healer afterward? This wasn’t making a lot of sense, and Holly’s brain hurt thinking about it.
Kallan disappeared inside the small house after Vali nodded. Holly stood awkwardly with Synora and Kieran. Kieran’s expression was stoic, and Holly wasn’t used to seeing her usually playful mate so serious. Something about the Fae made them value these serious expressions. When Holly was here before the battle, though, she knew from her Empath magic that the Fae felt each emotion very deeply. It was enough to give her a headache on a good day, and she was thankful now they hadn’t stopped to see anyone else on the way in.
They weren’t standing around long before Kallan came back out. “She’s ready for you,” he said to Holly, who arched an eyebrow at him in return. So Vali was the healer?
Ignoring the question clearly laid out on Holly’s face, he turned to Synora. “Could you stay with her? Kieran and I are going to check on our men and the lockdown.”
Synora nodded. Holly wondered how Synora felt about Kallan ordering all of them around all the time. She never seemed to protest, but it had to be strange. Kallan stepped in front of Holly. He stared down at her for a few moments before pressing a quick kiss to her forehead and striding away. Holly frowned as she watched him walk away. He was the most confusing man she had ever met. He could bark out orders all day long, but there were moments where it felt like she got a glimpse of the man behind the warrior mask.
She was so distracted by Kallan leaving that Kieran surprised her when he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. He gave her a quick grin. “Go easy on him,” he whispered, as if reading her mind.
Holly didn’t know what to say to that, so she nodded, and Kieran left after his brother. Synora’s hand on her hip gently guided her toward the cottage where Vali stood at the door. Hopefully, she was about to find out why Kallan had wanted her to see Vali so badly.
CHAPTER9
“Welcome,” Vali greeted them. “Come, sit. I put the tea kettle on just a bit ago.”
Holly sat with Synora at a small wooden table in the center of the room while Vali went to the small fire pit in the corner. Holly studied the Elder while she prepared the tea. Although her blond hair had almost been completely taken over by the silver of age, her body seemed lean and strong despite her skin being weathered. Elder Vali had seemed to be on Claire’s side from the moment they stepped foot in the Fae lands just a few weeks ago. All the Fae Elders had known Claire was the daughter of Prince Erick, but only Vali outwardly showed any support. It made Holly wonder what Vali had seen in Claire the moment she’d laid eyes on her. It couldn’t hurt to ask.
“Why did you believe in Claire from the beginning when the other Elders were hesitant?” Holly asked.
Vali scooped up the mugs in her weathered hands and brought them to the table before answering. “The same way you did, young Empath.”
Holly raised her eyebrows. “Kallan told you?” She didn’t know how she felt about that. She knew Kallan and Kieran trusted Vali, and that she had helped Claire, but her Empath magic was something she kept incredibly close to her chest, after spending the last few years hiding it.
“They didn’t have to,” Vali said. “I recognized you as a fellow Empath that day you stood with Claire. That was part of the reason I sided with Claire so quickly. I knew you had discerned she told the truth and wouldn’t have sided with her if you hadn’t felt the good in her soul. We Empaths are able to read people like that.”
“You’re an Empath?” Holly said in shock. She had thought Vali was only a healer.
This time, Vali raised her eyebrows. “The young commanders didn’t tell you?”
“No, they didn’t say anything. There was an… incident at the shifters’”—Vali’s quick nod told Holly Kallan had already filled her in—“and Kallan insisted we come here, but he just made it sound like you were a healer.”
“I am also a healer,” Vali said, “but that’s my secondary magic. My primary magic is Empath magic.”
Holly sat back in her chair, biting her lip. She had never met another Empath before. She thought she might have been one of the last ones. Why hadn’t Kallan and Kieran told her?
Vali laid a hand on Holly’s arm, reading her thoughts. Or maybe her emotions? “Don’t be too hard on them. They had to grow up quickly during the Great War and really only relied on each other. The finer arts of relationships escape them sometimes. They are too used to our warrior life.”
Holly chewed on her lip a second longer. She hadn’t thought about that, but it made sense. She would still have to talk to them about it. She let out a breath and nodded to show she heard Vali. Relationships were hard.
Vali patted her arm once before leaning back. “Now, tell me what you know about your Empath magic. The young commander said taking emotions causes you pain?”
Something about her question made Holly think it wasn’t supposed to cause her pain, but that didn’t make sense.Magic has a balance, and that’s the cost, is what her papa always said. The limited research she could find on it at the Academy supported that.
“Is it not supposed to?” she asked. “I thought magic needs balance, and the pain is the cost of it.”
Vali shook her head. “It’s not supposed to. Did you receive any training for it?”
“No. There wasn’t anyone around that had Empath magic, and the books on it are limited.”
