“We cannot,” Garrin said, his brow furrowed. “Do you not see that she is dying?”
Isle’s face winced in pain. She scanned Lex’s body, then glared at Garrin. “What have you done to my child?”
Garrin could fault no one but himself. “I will do everything in my power to get her help. But our only hope is to move forward, beyond the ravine.” His men were somewhere above, but Garrin was so far down that he couldn’t see them. “I don’t suppose you know of a way out?”
“When your father banished me, he froze my powers in addition to my body.” She gently eased Lex onto the floor and stood. Cautiously, she approached the edge of the alcove. “As soon as I sensed Lex, I was able to draw on her powers to regain mine.”
Garrin shook his head. What was she saying? “Lex has no discernible powers. Our hope is that she strengthens as soon as we get her beyond the ravine, where most lose abilities due to the magic here.”
“Most do,” Isle said distractedly as she moved from the edge. “But not my daughter. Her powers are different. They were locked away, waiting until the time we were reunited and the spell was broken.”
“Spell?” Garrin glanced at Lex, noting her coloring had not improved. “We must go. I fear Lex will not survive long.”
Isle moved to her daughter. “Do you not know Lex’s ability? She’s been in hiding, but I assumed you had discovered it if you found her.”
“She is the prophesied one,” he said.
“A prophecy, is it?” Isle sank to her knees and cradled Lex’s face. “The elders have been busy while I was away if they sent you on a treasure hunt. Your father murdered or isolated the only Fae who knew about Lex. It’s why I went to such lengths to hide her. But she is old enough now. And I am here to protect her.”
Isle’s narrow throat bobbed and her eyes glistened. “The others have been trapped for so long…well before you and I were born.”
“Who has been trapped?”
She looked up. “Dark Fae. Your father has kept us imprisoned for centuries.”
Garrin attempted to slow his pounding heart. Isle’s words made no sense, but she wouldn’t say something she didn’t believe. “You’re mistaken. My father has been as much a prisoner of this land as the rest of us. Few have managed to escape. Most who have escaped lost their lives to the hatred of Old and New Kingdom soldiers. And no one has managed to release our people en masse.”
She huffed out a sigh. “We don’t have time to argue this. You are the king’s son. I assume you have power over water?”
Among other things,Garrin thought. “When I am hale. Which I am not.”
She looked him up and down, taking in his eyes, which he knew were sunken. His beard had grown at least an inch longer too. “Your mind is sound; thus, you are healthy enough. The ravine is too deep for me to lift us to the top. Use your abilities and stair us.”
When strong, Garrin could create stairs of ice to climb the ravine. But not now. Now he couldn’t put together a flurry. “I assure you, I’ve tried. I would do anything to save your daughter.”
Isle seemed taken aback at that. She moved closer, her gaze intent. “Anything to save mydaughter?” She laughed humorlessly. “Oh, what twisted irony.” She peered at him skeptically. “Have you any notion why your father entombed me?”
No, he hadn’t, and when he didn’t say anything, she answered for him. “I possessed knowledge your father wished to hide. What he didn’t know is that I’d hidden something from him.Lex.I’ve spent two hundred years waiting to be reunited with her. I will not see harm come to her—not by you, should you change your mind about saving her, and not by your father.”
Two hundred years?Lex had been hidden that long? It was beyond belief.
He shook his head. “What you said about my father can’t possibly be true, but we haven’t the time to debate it. What do you propose we do to get out of here?”
“We use Lex’s power the way her gift was intended.”
Garrin pressed his fingers to his temple, the pounding of his head blocking out the rush of the wind. He’d gone too long without a coat, and Lex’s mother spoke nonsense. “What power?”
Isle’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t trust you, Dark Prince. I will tell you, because we are in a most unfortunate situation, but do not cross me or you will regret it.”
He let out a measured breath. “As I said, I only wish for your daughter’s safety.”
“Which you’ve put in peril!”
The moment required patience, and he had little left. He closed his eyes and said something he never did. “Please.”
She stared for a long moment, then looked worriedly at Lex as though weighing her daughter’s safety against her mistrust for Garrin. “My daughter has the ability to manipulate and magnify powers.Allpowers.” She looked at him intently. “Do you understand what I am saying, Dark Prince?”
Lex wasthe one. He’d always believed it, and Isle’s words proved it. “I’ve never heard of such magic.”
