“You’re right. I was young during the Cold King’s final turns. You and Father shielded me well from that talk. Talk that younglings need not worry about. However, I agree with Sayyida. Neve is not her father. And Saga wouldn’t be going south if she thought otherwise.”
“You can’t say exactly why Saga left the capital.”
“No, but she wouldn’t be going to Myrr in the hopes of finding Vale and Neve if she didn’t believe in them. On that matter, Mother, I believe in them too. I trust them. And if I were the head of House Virtoris, and war erupted between Neve and Vale and King Magnus, I’d send my ships to fight for my friends.”
“I made a poor decision once, Vidar.” She crossed her arms over her chest as if trying to sink in on herself. “Two decades ago, backing King Magnus seemed the right thing to do. However, since then, he has not proven worthy of the throne, and I must admit, I cannot bear to make another wrong choice. Not one this important.”
It wouldn’t be only their families affected. The choice of House Virtoris would affect every lesser lord and lady still sworn to them. Every fisherfae. Every sailor and fighter. And every fae left on their island while their loved ones went to fight.
Considering all of that, they could never bend the knee to King Magnus again, and he did not believe Neve was anything like the stories he’d heard of the Cold King.
The heir to House Virtoris lifted his chin and went to his mother. He took her hand, weathered, like his, and squeezed.
“You may hold on to the fear of the past, but I fear a future under King Magnus’s continued rule. So I ask you to trust Sayyida and me. Allow us to go south and see what they plan. We need not take the entire fleet, just a small one, just in case.”
“I understand you sticking behind Vale, and Sayyida siding with Saga, but how can you be sure about Isolde?”
In truth, he didn’t know, but Vidar had a feeling that this wasn’t all happening by chance. That Isolde had arrived back in Winter’s Realm right when she was needed most. When things needed changing the most. He would follow that nudge.
“I just am, Mother. Vale is another brother, and his wife is a friend, one I’ve come to care for in a short period of time. And you have always taught us to stick with those we really love, and to fight for them. For the life we all deserve.”
Chapter 5
NEVE
The healing sanctuary of Valrun smelled like all others. A pleasant blend of herbs and potions mixed with the odors of blood and sweat. My nose wrinkled as I passed a bed occupied by a sleeping male with a festering wound. He hadn’t been with us when we’d found the Shadow King. What had he tangled with to be in such a state?
I heard Rynni speaking with patients down a hallway connected to the large, rectangle-shaped sanctuary. I tried to make enough noise that she’d hear me coming, but not so much that I woke the sleeping patients.
When I was halfway across the main room, Rynni poked her head out of a private room.
“Princess? What brings you here?” She entered the hallway and came to meet me.
I hadn’t set foot in this sanctuary since we’d first arrived, preferring instead to have Rynni heal my injuries brought on by combat practice inside the annex.
“I was hoping to speak with you about a couple of things and get a tonic. The one that lasts a full moon cycle.” My hand passed over my belly, telling her what I meant. There were manyhealing tonics with a long active cycle, and more than one way to prevent a pregnancy, should one wish to do so.
She nodded.
“I’d also like to check on Thantrel first, if possible.”
“He’s asleep and should remain so if he’s to heal enough to fly tonight.” She gestured to a room across from the one she was in. “But if you absolutely must see him, he’s there.”
“If he’s asleep, I’ll leave him be.” I was not about to wake someone who had just gone through so much. “I’d still like to talk with you though.”
“Right.” The dragon-fae shifted, allowing me a glimpse beyond, into one of the six private rooms this sanctuary boasted. A female faerie stood there, heavily pregnant, one limp hand resting on her belly and the other pressed to her back. Her eyes were closed, and her breaths looked labored. “I’m finishing up a massage to ease her into labor. Can you give me ten minutes?”
“Of course.”
Rynni shut the door, and I perched on the end of an empty bed. Only three fae in the sanctuary were unrecognizable to me, one being the male with the festering wound. How strange and wonderful that I hadn’t been at Valrun for very long, but I knew most of the rebels. By face, if not name and personality. In a short amount of time, I’d gone from an outsider to someone who felt like she belonged.
“Here’s that potion.” Rynni appeared, a vial in her hand.
I accepted the tube, popped the cork top and drank it down. It tasted similar to one I’d had in the Vampire Kingdom.
“So, have you already found the information you’re looking for?” Rynni asked.
She’d saved our arses beneath the mountain, and knew Thyra and I would devote what time we had left at Valrun to researching shadow magic.
