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“This doesn’t make sense,” I said. “He never said anything about living in the Southern Isles.”
“You do not know everything yet, Ari.” Wraith stepped beside me, his hands clasped behind his back. “But you will. There are reasons this moment was never told from your father’s tongue.”
Only portions of what he said hit my ears. No doubt the questions would come, and no doubt Wraith would give half-answers. For now, I was too aghast to think beyond what was before my eyes.
I blinked, struggling to breathe, and strode to my father’s side. I studied his face. Almost the face I remembered, only missing the rough beard he’d decorated in silver beads. Fae folk kept their youthful features after maturing. Saga and I were over a century apart, but appeared the same age. It took over a thousand turns to whither, but in my memories, my father had a distinct shadow over his face.
Sleepless nights spent worried for his daughters in a land of brutal Raven guards. Cruelty and pain and poverty had hunched his shoulders.
But when he’d smiled, the light in his eyes I saw now, had been in the man I knew.
“You have my thanks for meeting me,” Riot said, holding his arm out toward my father.
I chuckled watching the boyish version of the man who’d taught me to be a man fumble with the parchment in his hands, all so he could clasp Riot’s forearm. “It is an honor, My King.”
“Come.” Riot opened an arm toward the tables near the back. “You’ve brought the maps, I presume.”
“All of them, yes, My King.”
With a nod, Riot instructed my father to show him. I still gawked at my father’s face, but when their attention turned to the spread of thin rice paper with sketches of the old kingdom and realms, I studied the lines and borders. Like in the vision of the fate king’s study, markers on these maps no longer existed.
“This is the modern kingdom,” my father explained. “Of course, you know all this. Foolish of me—”
“Petter,” Riot said. “I do not possess the talent you have for reading the land. A gift of the Night Folk, you suppose?”
My father flushed under the praise. “I’m not skilled in blooming roses like many of my folk, but I know the land. I know where it gives, where it bends. I know where rivers flood and where ravines add treachery to roads.”
“He was remarkable at routes,” I told Wraith. “At knowing landscapes, down to which bleeding peaks had dangerous frosts spilling over the edges. Or which valleys tended to flood, so folk could protect their homes and fields. I never considered his earth fury might’ve had something to do with it.”
“You have the other part I asked for?” Riot went on after they’d reviewed the maps of the different realms, the different borders of the isles, of the Night Folk territory, even where ancient Alver folk once roamed.
“Yes.” My father cleared his throat and unfurled a diaphanous sheet. “I did as you asked and, well, I did my best to create a potential split. There are variables of course. Things like land density, the hot earth near the springs, rivers and how they might flow to a wider sea.”
“But should the kingdom divide into realms, it could create unique lands that could sustain folk, yes?”
For the first time, my young father shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “I suppose. Let me show you a working theory.”
He pointed to a broken piece of land in the northern part of the Fate’s Ocean. “This realm, or land, would be unique since if it came to rest in this portion of the sea, there could be two climates. There would need to be mountainous ridges to protect the valleys from harsher frost seasons and cooler air. I’m confident the land would produce crops, with Night Folk influence, of course.”
Riot touched the upper bit of land. “Silas.” The king waved a finger at his ward. “Look at this. Interesting, don’t you think?”
Like young boys did, the ward shrugged as if he’d rather be outdoors climbing the trees than inside looking at maps. “S’ppose.”
Riot scoffed and nudged the boy’s head until he moved aside. “So, Night Folk could tame a more unruly sort of land here?”
“It has the most dramatic climates in these waters, so earth fae would make a bit of sense,” my father said. He cleared his throat and went on, pointing to a few sketches on the eastern seas. He described the benefits of having a body of water between lands to counter vicious storms in the area.
The king rubbed his chin. “A realm with multiple regions and an inner body of water?”
“Yes.” My father tapped the sketch with land masses surrounding a sea that did not exist at the time. “It’s one idea.”
“What would become of our kingdom if these portions were to shift away?”
“My King, is there—”
“Petter, what did I tell you about this?” Riot gripped Daj’s shoulder. “It’s foolish and nonsensical of me, but a dream of my people falling into the sea does not sit well in these uncertain times. You’re putting my mind at ease knowing they would not be devastated should some colossal storm tear the kingdom apart.” He laughed. “It’s a ridiculous thought, but curiosity has me by the throat.”
My father’s shoulders slumped, he even laughed along with the king. “I’ll admit, it has been thrilling to think of the different scenarios and possibilities.”
