Irritation passes through me, because of course I have. “That is the entire point of us being here.”
“But so far, no fae have come.”
My frustration puffs up. “But theywill, Dommik.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” he says with a shrug. “Don’t worry.”
Scoffing, I turn away from him. “Why is it that some men seem to shake their heads and saydon’t worry? As if it is a woman’s affliction?”
“Because you’re borrowing trouble.”
My eyes flare. “I’m notborrowinganything. Trouble is coming, and we have to try to prepare for any outcome.”
“And one of the outcomes could be that Ravinger killed the threat on the other side,” Dommik offers.
“You are being foolish,” I say as I stare through the ice. Even now, with everything quiet and clear, I can sense an impending bleakness. Like the shocked inhale of someone waking from a nightmare only to realize it wasn’t a dream.
“Why?” he counters roughly. “We obviously know what he’s capable of. It’s not out of the realm of possibility.”
“The fae realm being attached to ours is what should be out of the realm of possibility,” I retort. “It’s unnatural.”
Dommik steps up beside me, and his shadows twist in thin strips at his feet. “I heard that this bridge was always here. Even before Orea was formed.”
“Perhaps,” I say, feeling the vitriol leave my tone. “That’s what the lore says. Yet it wasn’t attached to any other world. The bridge to nowhere led tonowhere.For centuries. Until a girlfrom Seventh Kingdom crossed it, and then the fae used their magic to bind us. Or so they say.”
He’s quiet for a moment and his eyes meet mine, dark irises with flecks of light. “Unless…”
I note the snow and ash caught on his cape. “Unless what?”
He looks toward the layers of ice as if he can see the bridge beyond. “Unless itwasattached to something. To somewhere. Just…a different realm than Annwyn.”
“Impossible,” I say with a shake of my head.
He glances at me, dark brow cocked. “Why is it impossible?”
I wave my hand around. “Because Seventh Kingdom was obsessed with this bridge. They sent countless people down it. No one ever came back.”
“Maybe they didn’t want to. Or maybe it was a one-way trip.”
“Guesses and conjecture,” I tell him impatiently. “What is the point?”
He shrugs. “Maybe there is no point. I’m just saying that maybe our bridge to nowhere was lying. Maybe it led somewhere all along—a different realm where all those Oreans went and never came back.”
“Well, we’re dealing withthisrealm,” I say peevishly as I rub at my temples and close my eyes, trying to ease the headache coming on. “Who knows when it’s going to try to infect us with another onslaught?”
Dommik clasps my hand, making my eyes snap back open as he tugs it down and runs his thumb over mine. “You’re using too much magic,” he mutters. “You need to take a break. Have you eaten anything today?”
“Yes.”
“Liar.”
“Well, it’s positively putrid. Who has an appetite breathing this in all day?” I gesture behind us to the land with streams of smoke rising from several dozen bodies.
Dommik curses. “You should have said something.”
“Said what exactly? The stench must be bothering you too.”
“I’ve been around a lot of corpses. Burned a lot of them.”
