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Maybe his potion could fix my haywire powers. Desperately, I grasped the bottle and took a deep sip. It wasn’t the elixir he’d gotten for me, but something else. The liquid was thick, but fragrant, imbued with a floral quality that settled my stomach. When I drew another breath, the air smelled pleasant again.
“Thank you,” I said. “Where did you get that one from?”
“From the same apothecary. I thought something like this might happen.” Bleddyn squatted next to me, his arms resting on the top of his knees. “You are attuned to plants, it seems. Are you ready to pierce the veil now? Do you want to see the truth about Faerie?”
Chapter twelve
Myshoulderscurledforwardat his words. Bleddyn was going to make me see the truth behind the veil. I didn’t know what the veil was, but it sounded ominous, as if his revelations were going to pull the rug from underneath my feet. Instinctively, my body tightened until it felt like tethered to the ground for my own safety.
Bleddyn got up and reached out his hand. “You are afraid. But you must see eventually. I apologize for blindsiding you when you least expected it. Let us conquer your new reality in a more appropriate place. Come.”
He was right. Nothing would ever be gained from avoiding the truth. My father’s death had taught me that, at least. I took his hand, and without any effort, he tugged me to my feet.
Instead of letting go, he held on, enveloping my fingers with his warm grip. I was aware of every callous, of every point of pressure where his fingers touched mine.
“Come,” he repeated. “I will show you at the edge of town, where there are fields and meadows.”
Cutting into a lane that lead perpendicular to Mistress Olwen’s house, he walked so quickly I could barely keep up. After a few minutes, the path ended at a stone wall. Further along, there was a small wicker gate. Bleddyn opened it, and we stepped through it.
A green meadow stretched before us, with swaying grass gently ruffled by the wind. Along the edges of a path grew red, white, and yellow flowers.
Poppies, daisies, and dandelion, my mind supplied helpfully. They looked just the same as at home, and a pang of homesickness closed up my throat. I coughed to clear it.
Bleddyn stepped in front of me, holding me still with two hands on my shoulders. His eyes darted to my mouth, and I shivered. His breath brushed along my skin, and I lifted my face and closed my eyes.
Instead of kissing me, he said, “Forgive me.”
My eyes flew open, and he spat into them.
I recoiled in absolute fury. “That’s disgusting. What the hell did you do that for?”
Rubbing my eyes, I was so angry, I would have slapped him if I could see. He took both my hands, and even though I struggled to get them back, he held on tightly.
“Beth. Stop. Open your eyes and see,” he commanded.
I took a deep breath, and as the fury drained from me, I did as he said and gasped at the change in front of me. There was no lush landscape. Yellow, sickly grass grew in tufts on arid soil.
The beautiful flowers had collapsed into blackened heaps. The air was no longer scented with hints of wild thyme and lilac. It stank worse than New York City on a hot summer’s day, of rotten bio mass and sulfurous fumes.
“Oh my god, what is this?” I groaned, covering my mouth and nose with my sleeve.
“This is the true nature of Faerie. This is why my people are dying, barely kept alive by human magic.”
Bleddyn’s head hung low, and the pain etched on his face was breaking my heart. Nobody could fake these emotions. He was tortured by the knowledge of how his world stumbled into the future, one wrong step away from falling.
I was at a loss for words. What could I possibly say to make him feel better? My natural urge was to work on a solution. That’s how I’d always operated, even when I was a kid.
But how could I fix a whole world? Move the sun back to Faerie? Because that would be the only way to stop the slaughter of humans to sustain this dying world. It was hopeless.
My eyes brimmed with tears, and I didn’t have the strength to suppress them. They rolled down my cheeks, wetting the rough fabric under my chin. I covered my face, no longer able to bear the ruined sight of what had been so beautiful. The smell of rot burned the back of my throat, and I wished with all my heart I’d never come here.
Bleddyn’s arms pulled me in, and he allowed me to sob against his chest. I focused on his clean, male scent, pushing against his body, seeking comfort like a wounded animal.
He held me tighter and rested his chin on my head. “I am so sorry, milady. Beth. If I could have spared you, I would. But you need to understand what you are dealing with in this land. There are creatures living in the destruction that would tear you limb from limb.”
He stepped back, avoiding my gaze. Then he turned his head and said something, but I missed his words. Because as I stared across the wasteland, someone rose from between the dried grass. It looked like an old woman, wrapped in tattered gray rags.
My hand flew to my mouth, and I felt the blood drain from my face. The creature lifted her hand and beckoned me with a finger. I wanted to call out to Bleddyn, but even though my jaw opened and closed, no words came out.
