“I agree with my sister,” Thyra said. “We were on our way to find Luccan. Can you gather the lords in Tadgh Balik’s den, and we’ll meet you there?”
“Luccan? He’s in the library with the Scholars,” Vidar said.
Surprise rippled through me. “Then we should go find him. See you soon.”
Locating the Scholars in the vast library was easy. The trio always sat at the same table.
“Hi.” I clasped a hand on Anna’s shoulder. She covered it with her own palm, always knowing when I needed comfort. “Do you know where Luccan is?”
“I do,” Anna replied. “I’ll show you.”
Her familiar uneven footsteps echoed in the silent library within Ramshold.
“Is Arie in the yard?” I asked, trying to sound normal and not like my insides were shredded.
“He is. We’re meeting for lunch though.” Anna gave me a sad smile. “We don’t have to talk about him. Or any men—sorry, males. Not when you’re hurting, Isolde.”
“No matter my situation, I’m happy for you.” I saw how Arie looked at her. Had seen them kiss. My oldest friend had more than she ever dreamed of, and she deserved it all. “Arie is a good male.”
Warmth glowed in her brown angular eyes. “Thank you.”
When we came across Luccan, he was so deep into his reading that he didn’t notice us until we stood right in front of him.
“Sorry.” He placed a marker in the book before shutting it. “Is there something or someone who needs me?”
I could not help but notice the bags under his eyes. Luccan, like Aleksander, like so many of my friends, had been running himself ragged to prepare for the march. That only made what I had to ask him more difficult.
“We’re the ones who need you,” I said softly. “Do you mind?”
“That my princesses require me? Not at all.” His face split into a smile that went a long way in making him appear less tired. Anna excused herself and once we were alone, Luccan nodded to my sister and me. “What’s going on?”
I told Luccan my thoughts about using a gateway to Bitra, adding that I’d understand if he didn’t want to do so. Gatemaking was a highly regulated magic in Winter’s Realm,and only a few close friends and family knew about Luccan. Most of them out of necessity.
Once done, I added, “This could help us get to Avaldenn faster. But again, it’s up to you. We won’t force you.”
Luccan swallowed. “I was researching gateways when you arrived because I had the same idea. About going to Bitra and then marching to Avaldenn.”
“Exactly what do you mean by researching? A gateway already exists in the brothel down the road.”
“How to keep it open for that long without . . .” He trailed off.
“You dying.” My stomach pitted. “Yes, you expending so much energy was one of our concerns. I can’t put you through what I did back at Riis Tower.”
“Gateways only like to stay open for a short period.” He let out a long breath. “Minutes. Not long enough to get an army through unless the gatemaker practices manipulating the portal. And once the gateway closes after being open against its will, well, it won’t open again for some time.”
He spoke about gateways as if they were living, breathing, sentient things. The idea reinforced how little I understood about Luccan’s magic. How little he had experience with too.
“And yet, beating Magnus to Avaldenn would be the easiest way to win this war before it gets underway,” Luccan said. “It could save many lives.”
“I don’t want you to try so hard that the effort costsyourlife.”
“This is a good time to admit that getting to Bitra with an army in tow wasn’t all I was researching. I’ve been thinking about the Shadow Fae.” He tapped another book off to the side, and I recognized it as the one we’d borrowed from the Great Library. “How someone—a Lisika, and another unnamed fae, if what I’ve read is right—sent them elsewhere. Making a gateway within a realm like Isila is difficult. Making one between worlds, like the ones we have to the human world, isthe most a gatemaker can hope to achieve. And to make two between worlds that are large enough for an entire race of fae to disappear through? Before last moon I would have said it was impossible.”
He leaned back and when he spoke again, he did so with deliberation. “No one except Arie and Clemencia knows this, but I’ve been practicing the more advanced facets of my magical specialty. I felt like I had to because there’s a powerful gatemaker in Avaldenn. One favored by King Magnus. If she’s forced to try and locate the Shadow Fae, and she succeeds, we’ll have more enemies. I figured that if I could banish them right back to where they came, that would be a help.”
My skin felt icy.
“You’re saying that you’ve been trying to make portals to other worlds?” Thyra spoke slowly.
