AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And you think Amara is the right one for that role?”
She nodded, looking somehow both sad and hopeful. “After he gave his heart to her, no other woman has been able to measure up. It has to be her.”
“They’ve known each other for so long, though,” I said softly. “If either of them wanted to change the decisions they made back then, they’ve had plenty of opportunity. Maybe the barriers between them really are too large to ever be overcome.”
“No!” Luna sat up straight. “I refuse to believe that! There’s always hope for a better future.”
I lay on my pillow, staring at the ceiling for a long time after we finished talking. Nik didn’t want to go back to normal life, and I should have realized why immediately. He was both a royal prince and a reneger, forcefully outcast from society. What was there for him to go back to?
But at the same time, it was also true that we couldn’t stay here. So where did that leave us?
With nothing but hope that our situation might change.
ChapterEleven
The weeks passed all too quickly. Knowing an uncertain future loomed in front of us, I tried to spend as much time with Nik as I could, but several things stood in our way.
Completely healing everyone in the town, even the carriers, was a massive undertaking since it sometimes involved circling back to the same people two or even more times due to our rationed resources and the chance of reinfection.
Isolde had also asked for our help with an education program designed to prevent such a widespread calamity from happening again. The healers in the town might not have significant strength, but they could be trained to look for and recognize sources of contamination.
And, on top of all that, I was solely responsible for visiting every person in the town and purging them of the Constantines’ mesmerizations. Nik insisted I couldn’t be alone even for a moment. If he wasn’t free to accompany me, then Costas, Amara, or Ida were always at my side. And his fears were far from groundless.
The boy who had attacked me in the street wasn’t the only one who blamed me for what had happened, and while everyone had been willing to accept healing, no matter who brought it, they were less willing to accept a checkup from the person they suspected and resented. I had thought the job would become routine, and the physical effort of activating their walls certainly became so. But the social problem of my task only grew as more and more of the town were freed from their mesmerizations. Removing the lies left an increasing number of people unsettled and dissatisfied, and their change in attitude provoked those who were still enthralled.
“The problem,” Amara said one evening, “is how young they were when the mesmerizations started.” It was a rare occasion where we were all eating the evening meal together, and the conversation had turned to the islanders’ state of mind. “The effect of such early tampering went further than the specific lies implanted in their minds and impacted their whole patterns of thinking. The problem is a complex one, and it will take a long time for them to relearn and retrain their minds.”
She looked across the table at Isolde. “I’m sorry we’re leaving you to deal with the ramifications. But we have to head home as soon as winter ends, and Delphine can’t stop freeing people just to make your job easier.”
“And I would never ask her to,” she said forcefully.
“Given the perpetrators are already dead,” Amara said, “we’ll leave it to you to decide when and how much to tell the general populace about mesmerizations. I know you won’t be able to hide the truth forever—there are too many foresters who already know what was happening for that—but it might be strategic to wait until everyone is freed before explaining everything. There’s no telling how those who are still under the mesmerization effect might react to what they would see as lies.”
Isolde sighed. “That is a question that has been weighing heavily on my mind. But I appreciate your forbearance. The issue will need to be handled delicately.”
“The people may end up turning against everything related to the Constantines,” Hayes warned.
Isolde nodded. “If that is the case, I’ll accept it. I didn’t take on leadership because I thought it would be easy. And if the people end up deciding they want someone else to lead them, I’ll gladly step aside. I would prefer to be a straight healer than deal with administration anyway.” She glanced sideways at Costas. “But whatever happens, I have hope the people will recognize that the two remaining Constantines were never part of the plot against them.”
I guessed from her expression that her hope went beyond that. I suspected she would happily hand over leadership to her son the moment he was ready to accept it.
“I’m relieved to hear you say that,” Amara said. “But I still feel sorry. If we weren’t so concerned about the state of affairs in Tartora, then I’d offer for us to stay and back you up for longer.”
“You’ve already done so much,” Isolde said. “We couldn’t ask more of you.”
“I hope you’ll still feel the same way when it comes to negotiating an alliance and trade treaty with Tartora,” Hayes said with a twinkle in his eyes. “Or, if you prefer, I suspect King Marius would be willing to accept you all as subjects of the Tartoran crown—with the benefits and responsibilities that conveys.”
Isolde raised her eyebrows. “That is definitely not a decision I could make on my own.”
“Nor am I delegated to make any official offers,” Hayes said. “But consider it food for thought.”
“I certainly will.” She glanced again at Costas who looked thoughtful.
Clay cleared his throat, gaining everyone’s attention. “Actually,” he said, “while we’re on the topic, I’ve been considering the matter of our departure, and I’m unconvinced we all need to return.”
Amara’s brows lowered. “You want to stay?”
“I think I should—if the islanders would like me to, that is. I’m satisfied the epidemic will be eradicated by the end of the season, but the island’s healers are mostly young, and none of them have undergone proper training. Isolde has done the best she can for them, but even she did not receive proper training in her youth. While the islanders are not currently bound by Tartora’s strict laws around apprenticeships, I believe an apprenticeship of sorts would be of value to the stronger healers.”
