“The great lake isn’t a place where a spirit could—” Aurora tries to interject.
“We will go there now, I said,” Conri stops her abruptly and changes into his wolf shape, leaving no room for debate.
I mount him as he clearly wants and brace myself. Not for the pace he sets. But for the hope that Volst will come again so soon, despite my recently having asked him for power. For if he doesn’t, Evander’s and my careful planning could all unravel.
CHAPTER 37
There isn’tan opportunity to speak with Aurora. She rides on Evander, casting wary glances my way. I try and catch her eyes as inconspicuously as possible. But there’s little hope in attempting to convey anything other than confidence and reassurance. A confidence that wanes slightly when her own expression is twisted with worry.
Her being on Evander’s back also gives me an excuse to look in his direction without risking any suspicion from others who might see. My attention toward Aurora can be explained. But Evander is harder to have excuses for.
He looks tense. Though perhaps I’m projecting my own worries upon him—my own fears for him. I finally found him. He’s returned to me despite all odds. I won’t let anything happen to him now.
The silvery trees of Den go right up to the water’s edge. There’s no thinning or shrinking of the magical flora. Their mighty roots stretch right into the water, shimmering beneath the perfectly clear surface. The lake itself is miraculously still for its size. Despite what must be considerable winds whipping across its vast surface, there isn’t so much as a ripple.
As my feet touch the ground, a jolt of power shoots through me, even greater than the magic of the living trees. I suck in a breath and exhale a faint cloud. Even though we have not gone far, the air is colder here.
“What is this place?” I whisper.
“The stories say that long ago there was a kingdom here,” Conri answers, stepping to my side. I appreciate that he understood what I was asking and did not simply repeat that it is the great lake of Midscape. “This is well before the wars of magic that resulted in the Fade being erected. Back when the world was very young and the first peoples were inhabiting it alongside the old gods and spirits.”
“What do the stories say happened to the kingdom?” I ask as the others arrive, slowing to a stop in an arc around Conri and me.
“That depends on whose stories you are listening to. The siren sing that the city sank far below the earth—that its people became the first spirits their old gods shepherded to the Beyond, and, perhaps, monsters of the deep. The fae’s stories say that their kind destroyed the ancient city, for its kings couldn’t be trusted as they dabbled in forbidden rituals.” Conri stares out over the vast expanse of water. It’s so wide that it touches each end of the horizon. Wide enough that, if not for what I am told, and its unnatural stillness and deep magic, I would think it was a sea.
“And what do the lykin’s stories say?”
“Quite the opposite of the siren’s claims.” It’s Evander who answers, and I work to keep my face passive as I look to him. It helps that he’s not looking at me, either. He stares out over the lake, his expression a bit dull—as though he’s a bit exasperated that he is explaining this at all to me. “The lykin’s stories say that we lived in harmony with this kingdom. That we taught them about how to commune with the spirits and the sirens totheir west taught them how to revere the old gods. The tales say forgotten kingdoms were the greatest among us and, for their splendor, they were rewarded. They were carried with the old gods as they left this world, ascending beyond this mortal coil to eternal glory.”
Conri begins to chuckle as Evander finishes his story. He shakes his head. “Such foolish tales.”
“You don’t think there’s any truth to them?” I ask the wolf king.
“The fae’s account I suspect to be the most true. A kingdom—or kingdoms—that refused to follow the rules of the King’s Council as it assembled. I find the fact that the lake extends from Evalon to be supporting evidence of this theory. I could see the other kings combining their power to eradicate a group that wouldn’t stand with them and their rules…like cutting off an unruly limb,” he adds with a sour note.
It makes me wonder what Conri’s goals actually are for his rule. To keep control of the lykin, obviously. But does he truly want to venture into the Natural World and claim the realm of the humans, as he suggested? Or does he simply want the power to keep himself independent of the other peoples of Midscape?
“But enough of histories and tall tales.” Conri motions between me and the lake. “Show me this spirit that you’ve found.”
All eyes are on me as I step forward. There is no getting around this. To object now would raise suspicions that I cannot invite.
Removing my shoes and setting them on the narrow, pebbled beach, I step into the water with a slow and bracing inhale. It is as cold as ice. My flesh immediately prickles, though I wonder if the sensation is from the deep magics that swirl in the lake, or from the chill. I square my shoulders and ball my handsinto fists, trying to keep the instantaneous shivers from taking control.
Let’s get this over with.I reach deep into my magic—into the well of power that is from Aurora. In a tongue reserved only for spirits, I intone without hesitation, “Volst, come to me.”
The words send a ripple across the water that extends out from me. It speeds away with purpose as a visual representation of my summons seeking out the spirit. I watch as it fades beyond the realm of my vision.
But there is no reply.
My heartbeat quickens. “Volst, please,” I whisper. The spirit seemed nice enough. But it is as mighty as Brundil and I suspect equally uninclined to be put on display. Or perhaps what I asked of him was too much. He can’t return so quickly.
“Is there a problem?” Conri asks.
I glance over my shoulder. “No, no, it can take a moment.”
The wolf king’s expression is hard to read. The trembles begin to take over my shoulders. No doubt making me look even more guilty.
“Then why has this mighty spirit not yet come?” Conri demands to know.
