I would’ve waved back, but I wasn’t certain my Guardian was done toying with me.
“I’m no longer your Guardian,”Nalari reminded me.
“Habit.”I forced some cheer and tease into the word.
“But I would like to continue being your friend.”
A mixture of emotions stirred inside me. I was happy she considered me her friend, but I couldn’t quite get past the bite of bitterness that stewed. No doubt she sensed that. It was weird not being fully in sync with Nalari.
When we flew over the busiest street of Reignom, she swooped down low. The street was empty because I’d declared a state of emergency. I’d done it early in the morning, waking up the same council who’d refused to meet with George. I could understand their hesitation in not wanting to cause a kingdom-wide panic, but we needed each citizen accounted for so we could question them. By the time the citizens of Niev awoke this morning, guards were at their door ordering them to stay indoors until the order was lifted. I couldn’t imagine the panic my fae had felt, but not a single one of them protested. The humans were the ones who gave my guards trouble, which was another thing I’d have to contend with.
Only my warriors and guards marched the streets, several positioned in key areas. Soon, fae with truth-teller magic would join them, going house to house and questioning every person, human or fae. Then, we’d know who, if any, had hidden the men who’dcrossed into our realm.
“Why have you not told your people the truth about the dragons?”Nalari asked.
I sighed.“With everything going on . . .”No, that wasn’t it.“I’m a coward, Nalari. Telling them the truth exposes my parents as the villains.”
“It exposes the dragons as the villains too.”
“Is that why you left?”I needed to know if I was the cause of her leaving . . . if my failures drove her away.
With the strong beat of her wings, she flew us higher, over the forest my friends and I had explored countless times in our youth. Teddy had only been there once on the night we honored my father. I wanted to take her back and show her the cave Brenton and I had carved our names on, and the lake whose color reminded me of her pretty blue eyes.
“I left for you, not because of you.”Her voice held a gentle tone. “Adela,”she said, referring to the Elder Guardian Everly had been gifted,“believed the Elders would try to kill you when you reentered our realm. They didn’t want to give up the control and power they’d garnered through the years. While you were busy after the battle, Adela spoke to all but the Elders. Together, along with the thunderbirds, we were able to subdue the Elders and kill those who wouldn’t submit. It should have shamed me to kill them, Elias, but once I looked into their minds and saw what Adela feared was true, killing them became far too easy. We were able to drive them out of our realm. They’ve been living in the mountains in the human realm, in parks the humans named Grand Teton and Yellowstone. We have scouts that monitor them, but they haven’t once tried to leave the mountains. Maybe one day they will, and we’ll have a new war with the Elders, but for now, the human realm is as safe as it can be, and you’ve brought your people peace with the allies you’ve made. Real peace, Elias. Not the peace the Elders fooled us into believing you had because of us.”
But had I really brought us any closer to real peace? I doubted the missing fae, and their loved ones for that matter, would agree with that sentiment.
“The allies we’ve made are because of Alastor and Teddy,”I said.“I’ve done nothing but make a mess of everything. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be surprised if the lirio and nyxx stormed through our cities just to spite me.”
“Foolish as you are, I doubt even you have that kind of power.”She paused when I barked out a begrudging laugh.“At the compound, your refusal to help the injured lirio was due to your loyalty to your people. Even Alastor knows that.”
“How did you know about that?”Had Teddy told her, or had she seen it in my mind?
“You are the prince of Niev, soon to be her king. You yield to no one.”Her voice took on that haughty tone she used when she lectured me on my role as a royal.“Apologize to Alastor again, if you must, but as one leader to another.”
“How do you know all this?”I asked again.
“I haven’t been around. I haven’t spoken to you. But know, I never left you,”she answered.“Not truly. I heard you every time you called for me. I heard Teddy and little Victoria too. I couldn’t go to you, not until now.”
She circled the lake where most of the fae spent our three winter-less months every year. While my parents had rarely gone to the lake, my friends and I had purchased a spot right on the shore, where we built a cottage almost as big as the one Teddy and I lived in.
Blowing fire from her gaping mouth, she melted the snow in the open field. After circling the spot a few times, she landed with far more grace than a creatureas large as her should.
I jumped off her back and rolled my eyes when she snarled at me.
“I didn’t injure myself,” I told her, patting my body down to show her. “Not even a twisted ankle.”
Smoke blew from her nostrils in response. I walked toward the shore with Nalari keeping pace beside me, and when I sat a few inches from the frozen lake, she settled down as well.
“What changed?” I asked. “Why were you able to come now?”
“It’s a long story,”she said.“If you want me to tell it to you, your prisoner will have to wait.”
“He can wait.”
I’d already paid him a visit before the younglings stirred this morning. I’d let him stew a little longer while he awaited my next arrival.
The heat from Nalari’s breath melted a small spot of ice along the shoreline.
