AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I walked over to Feron and he pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek. “Good work, Keera,” he whispered. He turned to the group as they crowded around the giant tree and stared at its swirling arms. “Hello, cousins, I am so glad you have finally made it to our city. You may call me Feron and this”—he waved his arm in the direction of the groves—“is Myrelinth.”
The whispers rippled through the crowd of black, some excited and some cautious. Feron cleared his throat. “You are welcome to stay together in whatever groups you choose. We have more than enough accommodations.” Feron’s gaze landed on Myrrah, who was looking up at the burls with obvious doubt. “We have rooms in the trees and in the lower city, enough that everyone should be comfortable.”
Fyrel pointed at the long drape of linen painted to depict a warrior hanging over a trunk. “What are these?”
Feron smiled. “Each of these groves belong to a line ofikwenira. Their descendants are painted to keep their stories alive and hung on occasions as special as this. And once you are settled, we have a way to decipher what, if any, bloodlines you belong to. If you wish to know.”
Fyrel stuttered as she spoke. “You mean we could havefamilyhere?” My chest ached at the hope that blossomed in her face. Itwas the one worn by all the orphans that stood behind her, children and grown.
Feron nodded. “There is no rush, young one. And if we cannot find your bloodline, know that to us you are already family. Fae, Elf, or Halfling.” Feron waited as the Shades took a closer look among the city dwellers and realized most of them were Halflings just like they were.
I stepped forward and smiled so wide it stung my eyes. “Here, we are all Elverin. One kin. One family. One home.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
RIVEN WAITED FOR MEin his burl until the Shades had chosen their rooms and explored the city as best they could by faelight. The moon was already beginning to set by the time I climbed up the Myram to our grove. Riven’s shadows spiraled out of his burl, reaching for me as I crossed the bridge. He leaned in the doorway wearing nothing but a pair of trousers.
I collapsed into his chest and took a deep breath of his birchwood scent. “You’re okay,” I whispered in relief.
Riven wrapped his arms around my shoulders and nodded against my head. “Thanks to you. Feron doesn’t think I would have survived another night at sea.”
I lurched back. “What happened?”
“Exhaustion.” Riven shrugged as if he wasn’t talking about his own death. “Feron thinks that the increase in pain is related to theincrease in magic. The Fae powers are growing; my powers are not exempt from that.”
My blood ran cold. “And your pain isn’t either.”
Riven shook his head.
“And it will only get worse with every seal?” I grabbed his hand. “We have three more, if this happened after just the second …”
“Diizra, all will be well.” Riven pressed a kiss to my forehead. “The magic has to return.” His voice was so calm, almost peaceful. Like he had already accepted his fate.
I shook my head and stepped out of his grasp. “You expect me to just move onward. What if the next seal kills you?”
Riven stepped to the side and pushed my back against his burl. My heart raced and I was thankful the others preferred to spend their nights elsewhere. “I cannot change the future,diizra. But whatever happens, it will not be your fault.”
I opened my mouth to protest but Riven held a finger against it.
“And I will doeverythingin my power to stay.” Riven’s gaze turned hard, knowing there was only one word that would quell my protests. “I promise.”
I relaxed into the bark behind my back and Riven pressed a gentle kiss to my neck. Tears pricked my eyes as I remembered the way Riven had lain on that ship, spasming in pain. I had been useless, unable to protect him. Just like I had been unable to protect Brenna.
“I can’t lose you too.” My lips barely moved, as if saying them too forcefully would set a curse upon us.
Riven grabbed my hand and kissed my palm and then my wrist and then he kissed the sleeve of my tunic directly over the scars where her name was carved. “I will fight until my last breath to make sure you never go through that again.”
His gaze was heavy, it thickened the air until I was aware of my own breaths. Suddenly, we were not having this conversation on asolid branch, but a vine strung precariously over the plummet below. Both of us stepping to each other’s dance, both of us knowing that there was more to the story of Brenna’s death than Riven knew, both of us waiting to see if this was the moment I would finally tell him.
I opened my mouth, but the truth abandoned me.
“Let’s go inside.” Riven intertwined his fingers in mine and tugged us toward his burl. “I have something for you and there’s something we need to discuss.”
“A present?”
Riven smiled down at me without a shadow of pain in his face. “Of sorts.”
“You’re starting to sound like Nikolai if you’re callingthata present.” I smirked and tugged at the waistline of his pants. “But I’ll happily unwrap it.”
