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“I did. I do.”
“Listen, Taryn…” Raven stopped as Taryn’s eyes shot to hers, a worried look on her face. Of course, Taryn had already heard the tone of Raven’s voice, and as someone attuned to changes in her environment, she already knew what was coming.
“You’re leaving.” Taryn pushed the guitar into Raven’s lap, and stood, ready to run.
“Not by my choice,” Raven said, grabbing Taryn’s arm before she could run away. “Look at me.Lookat me, Taryn.” Raven stopped short of using her voice power. Finally, the girl looked up at her.
“I don’twantto leave you. But I think I’m in trouble. And if I bring this trouble here, you might get hurt. This isn’t about me wanting to leave you. What did I promise you?”
“Fringe friends forever,” Taryn whispered.
“Exactly. Is there any way that I can reach you so that I can tell you I’m safe? Or that once things have settled down, that we can see each other again?”
“Right. You’ll be contacting me then? Like that’ll happen.”
Raven wasn’t surprised by Taryn’s tone or doubt.
“It will happen, Taryn. I’ve never lied to you, and I’m not starting now.”
“Mmm, I guess. I do have an email address. Sometimes I can check it on the computer here when they let us on. I’m really bad at typing though.” Taryn shrugged, her eyes sad.
“Give it to me. I’ll email when I can. I promise you, Taryn. Fringe friends forever.”
“Okay.” Taryn shrugged and rattled off her email. She smiled wistfully, more adult than child, used to life handing her disappointment after disappointment. “Sure, and I’ll see you down the road sometime.”
“It’s not goodbye,” Raven promised, but Taryn had already abandoned her, moving to the other side of the room, needing to put her walls up. Raven understood that, as much as it hurt her to see the protective behavior.
This was for the best. Until she knew what was going on, Raven couldn’t put these kids in danger. With her heart heavy, she slipped out the back door and took to the streets. Once again, she was alone, the only certainty she’d ever had in her life.
5
Kellen
Kellen wentwhere he always did when he needed to find peace—the stables. He’d never minded getting dirty and would often throw in next to the guards as they mucked out stalls or groomed the Alicorns. While many of the tasks could be done by magick, Kellen found he enjoyed the physicality of working with the Alicorns and being hands-on with their care.
“A handsome prince you are,” Kellen said, stopping when Riker, his favorite Alicorn, nudged him for attention. Kellen wrapped his arm around the Alicorn’s neck, bringing his forehead to the side of Riker’s head, and the two stood like that for a moment. One of the unique things about Alicorns was that they could communicate in imagery, and now Kellen smiled as Riker projected a pretty waterfall scene into Kellen’s mind. Riker clearly sensed that Kellen needed soothing.
“We’ll have ourselves a ride out there soon, Riker. I can’t get away at the moment. Listen…” Kellen eased back to meet the Alicorn’s friendly gaze. “There’s danger just now. The Domnua. I’m sure you well know, after losing Alistair yesterday, but it’s important you warn the others. I don’t want to lose any of you. It would, just,killme if you were hurt.” Kellen’s voice cracked, and Riker bumped him with his nose.
Now, an image of Alicorns shooting fire from their horns presented itself in Kellen’s mind, and Kellen smiled softly.
“I know you can protect yourselves. But I’d prefer it not to come to that. Next time we fly, though, I want you in protective gear. Tell the others. No Alicorn flies without their shield. Understood?”
Riker stomped his foot once, as though to say he agreed, and Kellen felt marginally better. The Alicorn was a unique and majestic beast, a blend of Pegasus and the unicorn, and their magicks were almost as strong as the Fae’s. Stronger, in some areas, Kellen thought.
“Sir? The king has arrived.” The guard who stopped at the stall could barely contain his excitement. Kellen couldn’t blame him. While Callum’s mother had periodically visited each of the Elemental Fae to ensure peace and balance among her people, many hadn’t met the new king yet. It had been told that his partner, Lily, had been meant to ascend the throne but had bowed out, instead giving the ruling power over to Callum, as, being human, she still had more to learn about the Fae world. It was a wise decision, and Kellen looked forward to speaking with both Callum and Lily. He hoped the other Elemental leaders would be able to attend as well, but from his understanding, they were staunchly staying by their people’s side in this time of turmoil. He could hardly blame them. Kellen could only imagine the guilt he’d feel if the Air Fae were attacked,again, while he was gone. Luckily, it seemed it was only his father and Alistair that had been injured in the most recent attack, while the rest of his people remained unharmed.
Grief tugged low in his gut as he thought about Alistair. He truly hated to believe that his friend had been a traitor. It didn’t sit well with him, but that was the nature of bad news, wasn’t it?
An image of Alistair, smiling and playing with the Alicorns flashed into his mind, along with the word:friend.
“Yes, Riker. Friend. He’s gone now,” Kellen said, and turned, nodding for the guard to escort him from the stables. Riker’s image stuck with him, as though the Alicorn was trying to tell him something more, but he was distracted by his father waiting at the entrance.
“You’ll tell them about the amulet?” Devlin demanded, brushing an imperceptible wrinkle from his blue tunic piped with metallic gold threading. Devlin liked to dress the part of a royal, and Kellen supposed he couldn’t really fault him. The Fae did love a certain level of extravagance.
“I can hardly keep it a secret, can I?” Kellen asked, handing his gloves off and brushing the dust from his shirt before striding from the stables to meet the arrivals.
“You can’t meet the king like that,” Devlin protested.
