“Not everyone fell through the rip, but for those of us who did...those first few days still haunt me.”
My heart aches at the stark rawness of his voice, at the way his tone drags like grit against an open wound.
“Every single Orean was ill when we first fell here. No one could do much more than roll over and vomit. It was up to me to take care of everyone, to make sure no one else died, including going off to find food.” My heart twists painfully in my chest. “We stayed in this cave, close to the rip, but the adjustment was agonizing for them. Their bodies weren’t used to Orea anymore or to losing the fae-blessed connection to Annwyn. For a while, I wasn’t sure if they would survive.”
“Great Divine,” I say, swallowing thickly. “What did you do?”
“Luckily, the illness wore off for most, and then I discovered the timberwing nest here, right where the Perch is now. The flock was completely wild, and I nearly lost a hand a time or two, but I finally won one of them over. I think it might’ve been the last wild timberwings in Orea.”
My brows lift in surprise. “Argo?”
Slade shakes his head. “Argo’s mother. Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to hunt large game for us to eat. Wouldn’t have been able to get to the coast where I was able to steal supplies. We survived off bare bones for the first couple of months, but slowly, we made a life here. A few of the villagers had magic too, which helped. One of them could form rock, and he helped build the houses and hide Drollard’s existence.”
“I can’t believe you were able to do all of that,” I say with awe. “Especially in a completely new world you’d never even been to before, all while you were essentially ripped in two.”
“I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning. I wish I would’ve figured things out sooner. We might not have lost some of the others. But in the end, traveling through the rip was too taxing on them, and the conditions here were terrible. A lot of them blamed me for it.”
“You werefifteen,” I point out.
“And very fae,” he counters. “With a mother who could no longer talk or interact and a brother who was ten years old and scared out of his mind. The Oreans didn’t resent me right away, but it came. With time. Especially when they realized I could leave and they could not.”
I pause. “What do you mean?”
He stops to turn toward me. “Lu told me what you said at the pavilion, that you could sense something was...off about them.”
“Yes...” I say.
“You were picking up on their life force being connected to Annwyn.”
My eyes go wide. “What?”
“Everyone here in Drollard—they’d been taken from Orea by my father hundreds of years ago, when the Bridge of Lemuria still stood. Living in Annwyn fae-blessed them with long life. But when we came here... The rip is their last connection to Annwyn. If they stray too far from it, they will die instantly.”
My hand flies to my mouth. “So none of them caneverleave here.”
“Only Ryatt and myself and the very few children who have been born.”
“Like Twig.”
He nods. “Like Twig. We worry that leaving a child here too long will make them dependent on the rip as well, so I bring them to Fourth Kingdom with me when they’re old enough to be away from their family.”
“But what about Ryatt?” I ask. “He’s technically not fae like you, so why is he able to leave?”
“The only theory I’ve come up with is our mother must have a very strong fae bloodline—far stronger than Orean—which would make sense with how powerful her magic used to be. So I suppose that’s what made it so his life force isn’t dependent on the rip, either.”
I drag a hand through my hair, eyes straying off to the crevices of the cave, though I’m not really seeing them.
“I know this is a lot to take in.”
Blowing out a breath, I nod. “Yes, but I’m glad you’re telling me.”
This time, it’s Slade who squeezes my hand. “As I said before, I will tell you everything. I just don’t want to overwhelm you.”
I give him a soft smile. “For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you. For saving everyone. For protecting them. For figuring out everything when you were only fifteen years old, when you could’ve easily given up.”
Slade reaches up and trails a light finger over my cheek. “Giving up isn’t in my nature.”
“You are very stubborn when you set your sights on something.”
