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Adara bit her lip, clearly torn between Kiryan’s logic and her desire to spare me the pain of separation. “Is there no way around this?” she asked Kiryan, turning to him.
Kiryan shook his head. “No, but it won’t be as bad as Einar fears.” He flicked a glance at me. “Because the two of you have exchanged blood, you’ve already partially completed the bond, so the pain of separation won’t be as bad. However, because Adara has acknowledged the bond, unlike the last time you two separated, she will feel the pain this time as well. That’s a burden you both must accept.”
Adara blew out a breath, causing the strand of hair curling around her moon-pale cheek to flutter. I wished she was sitting next to me, so I could brush it from her face, then pull her into my arms and hold her close.
We’d come so far in our relationship, confessing our feelings, exchanging blood, power, and even pleasure. Why was it that just when we were on the verge of completing the bond, the Radiants had to send her away from me?
“Well,” she said, meeting my eyes with a watery smile. “Guess that’s just one more reason for me to complete this journey as fast as possible.”
3
Mavlyn
Mavlyn rose before the dawn the next morning, her heart as heavy as the blanket of darkness still cloaking the sky outside. The group had already decided they would leave today—Einar, Adara, and Quye for Mount Furian, Leap and Mavlyn for Domhain to start a grass-roots campaign against Nox and Lady Mossi.
Already dressed for the journey, Mavlyn laced up her boots, then slipped out of the tent on silent feet so as not to wake Adara and Quye. They all had long journeys ahead, and if her mind wasn’t so plagued by anxious thoughts, she would be trying to catch another hour of sleep.
But Mavlyn couldn’t help worrying about the mission Quye had tasked Leap and her with. How could they start an anti-war campaign under Lady Mossi’s nose, in her own realm, without being captured and killed? Adara had said Mavlyn’s status as a lesser fae was an asset, that it would make the others more likely to listen to her, but Mavlyn wasn’t sure that was true. After all, it wasn’t as if she was anyone special amongst her people. She was barely an adult by fae standards, with hardly any life experience. Not to mention her family’s distant connection to House Ithir was actually a liability, since she was about to ask the people of Domhain to stand against them.
The snow crunched beneath Mavlyn’s boots as she walked away from camp, heading for the nearby woods. She always felt better when she was surrounded by plants, and the evergreen trees were no exception as she stepped beneath their verdant boughs. The scents of pine and fir enveloped her in a comforting hug, and she mentally wrapped the fragrance around her like a blanket as she walked, pondering the situation.
Leap and Mavlyn had both agreed that the best place to start was Fenwood, the village she’d grown up in. Unlike Adara, Mavlyn had many friends, and her family was respected there. She had little hope of convincing the headman, but her mother had backed her up in her decision to support Adara. Maybe she and her father would have some good ideas.
The snapping of a branch jerked Mavlyn out of her thoughts, and she whirled around, hand straying to one of the seed pouches around her belt. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of a white stag staring at her from between two trees. It was nearly twice Mavlyn’s height, with magnificent fur that gleamed like starlight, and a majestic crown of antlers that looked as though they’d been wrought from pure silver.
The intelligence gleaming in its dark eyes was so fierce that for a heartbeat, Mavlyn wondered if the stag was a Greater Fae. They stood suspended in that moment for a long while, before a flutter of wingbeats broke the spell. Turning, they both spotted a snowy owl winging its way toward them, its silvery eyes gleaming in the waning moonlight.
The owl landed in the tree adjacent to the stag. It hooted, and the two locked eyes, some kind of silent communication passing between them. Mavlyn watched with rapt fascination as the stag inclined its noble head, then retreated into the night, leaving the two of them alone in the woods. Satisfied, the owl hopped down from its perch, then transformed with a flash of light. Mavlyn’s mouth dropped open as Quye stood before her, a playful grin on her face.
“Giant’s teeth!” Mavlyn exclaimed, loud enough to startle a group of birds sleeping in one of the trees. They squawked reproachfully at her, but she was too flabbergasted to feel remorseful for disturbing them. “I… what… were youfollowingme? And did you just have a conversation with astag?”
Quye laughed, the sound like wind chimes tinkling through the trees. “Of course I followed you,” she said, closing the distance between them. She took one of Mavlyn’s hands, and Mavlyn’s heart skipped a beat as she clasped it between both of hers. “I woke up and saw that you’d left the tent, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. And yes, I was talking to the stag. He’s the guardian of this forest, and he didn’t know what to make of an earth fae wandering around this far north. I assured him you meant no harm, and sent him on his way.”
“I… well… thanks, I guess.” Still flustered, Mavlyn dropped her gaze to their joined hands, not sure what to think. Her heart beat faster as she realized this was the first time she and Quye had ever been alone together in the physical world. Her mind cast around for some subject to latch onto, not wanting to read too much into the situation. “Does your beast form allow you to talk to other animals?”
“Yes, that’s one of the perks of having an animal form,” Quye admitted. “Though I don’t actually need to shift to my owl form to understand animals. Because of my connection to the spirit and dream realms, I’m able to understand most creatures regardless of any language barrier. Which I think is going to come in handy when Adara and I travel to this new world. I doubt the natives there speak Edirian, and we’re probably going to run into them before we find the dragons.”
“Natives.” Mavlyn scrubbed her free hand over her face, overwhelmed by the thought. “Right.” The heaviness in her heart returned, and she struggled to keep the sadness from her voice.“I wish you didn’t have to go,”she wanted to say.“I wish we didn’t have to be separated, just when I’d found you again.”
“I know,” Quye murmured.
Mavlyn yanked her hand out of Quye’s and clapped it over her mouth. “Radiants,” she gasped, a furious blush heating her cheeks. “Did I say that out loud?”
“No,” Quye said, gently removing Mavlyn’s hand from her face and taking it again. Mavlyn sucked in a breath as Quye brought it to her lips, pressing her rose petal mouth against Mavlyn’s knuckles. Her breath stuttered in her chest, and the flush on her cheeks spread lower, suffusing her entire body with heat. “You didn’t have to, Mavlyn. I feel the same way. I have since the moment I met you.”
Mavlyn opened her mouth to respond, but the only thing that came out was a puff of frosted air. Quye pressed Mavlyn’s hand over her heart, right between her breasts, and held it there as she closed the scant distance between them.
“Did you know,” she said as their frosted breaths mingled, her face so close to Mavlyn’s she could nearly taste her words, “that even though I’m the Oracle, I can’t see my own future, or the futures of those who are closely connected to me?”
“I… I didn’t know that.” Why was Quye telling her this?
Quye’s lips curved into a soft smile, none of the usual mischief on her face. “Well, now you do,” she said, releasing Mavlyn’s hand. Mavlyn knew she should remove her hand from Quye’s chest, but she couldn’t, entranced by the sensation of her heart pumping beneath her palm. Though Quye appeared far more composed, as radiant and ethereal as the spirits themselves beneath the moonlight, her heartbeat was just as erratic as Mavlyn’s own.
Was it at all possible that Quye felt the same way she did?
“I usually get flashes of a person’s timeline when I first meet them—a few snippets of both their past and their future,” she continued, reaching up to toy with a strand of hair near Mavlyn’s face. Mavlyn tried not to let herself get distracted as Quye’s knuckles casually caressed her cheek, trying her best to focus on what the Oracle was saying. “But I didn’t see a shadows-damned thing when I laid eyes on you that night at the festival.”
“You didn’t?” Mavlyn asked, bewildered. “But… but you mentioned something to me about my future.” She wracked her brains, trying to remember what it was. “Something about loyalties tested, and the Traveler’s Grove.”
