Lightning strikes flashed through the area in rapid succession, making everyone step away from the plants that were long gone.
She wasamazing. She was everything she hoped for. She was devoted to everything that she was.
When her cries subsided and the clouds cleared, Elco slowly untwisted from Seda, releasing her glowing body that lay on the ground in a tightly curled ball.
Roya dropped down onto one knee, with a hand over her heart, and bowed. Ferona and Feich followed. “My master, myqueen,” Roya whispered.
Cahir ran to Seda and held out a hand for her to take. She looked up to him and placed her palm into his. Purple ascended Cahir’s arm, and he gazed down at it, stunned by his glowing arm.
Seda collapsed into his arms. He gently picked her up and cradled her against his chest as he sat on the ground, with purple glowing through both of them.
“You have some explaining to do,” Benny whispered as he stood next to Roya. “You know more than you’re letting on.” He nodded toward Seda, his eyebrows raised.
“It is for her to figure out, and for us to learn. We’re just here to help her along the way,” Roya responded as she stood back up.
“What does that mean?”
Roya looked at him, truly looked at him. It had been a really long time since she had been with a man. His hair was a disheveled mess. He was slightly attractive for a human. He was not the tallest, but she wouldn’t want a tall man. She also wouldn’t want a man stronger than she was.
Ha. That would never happen.
He raised his eyebrows at her again, and she sighed. “Let’s say your father was onto something when he wrote that note. Would you like to find Ojore with me? I want to be sure he wasn’t just fried to dust after what he said to her.”
“You are referring to the Darkened?” Benny asked, obviously not too concerned with Ojore after what he had said, either.
She nodded at him in response.
They both looked up as the last of the clouds dispersed, allowing the filtered sun to return. They walked past the smoking remains of the electrocuted plants and back into the trees. From a distance, Ojore stood with wide eyes, watching Seda cradled in Cahir’s arms.
“I cannot believe what I just saw. What kind of magic is this?” he asked as they approached.
“I don’t know, Ojore,” Benny replied. “She’s also figuring this outas she goes. She didn’t deserve what you said to her. She’s learning. You need to give her the chance to grow and become stronger. She is likely tied to the Darkened somehow.”
Roya looked at Benny. His eyebrows pinched in concern as he watched his sister.
He isn’t so pathetic after all.
She stepped closer to him and brushed her fingertips across his. He glanced down at her hand, then back up at her, a faint smile spreading across his lips. He then looked over at his sister.
“I will apologize. I shouldn’t have said those things to her. This really isn’t her fault,” Ojore said to them.
“Do any of you know what caused the plant to writhe in pain before Elco killed it?” Benny asked.
They looked at each other and shook their heads in unison. Roya had no idea why it would react that way. Nothing had touched it. Surely Elco was about to kill it; maybe it knew its death was imminent?
Benny sighed. “What did you mean about Cahir, and what exactly is the Fae?” he asked Ojore.
The purple lightfrom Seda faded, and Cahir sat with his nose pressed against the top of her head, closing his eyes and rocking her gently back and forth as he cradled her to his chest.
As Roya, Benny, and Ojore headed toward Cahir, his body gradually faded away, and a burst of cerulean-colored light sparkled through the air.
Seda fell onto the soft ground with a thud and opened her eyes. They quickly rushed the rest of the way over to her.
“W-What happened?” she rasped to them as she rubbed her eyes to clear her vision.
The three looked at each other in shock.
“Shit,” Roya said. “I thought he had more time.”
