For a moment, nothing. But then, as if the slumbering giant needed time to wake, one by one, the runes began to glow. My heart raced, the outcome already ordained. I’d spent many years on the Gate’s Council and knew how it appeared when opened.
Its runes, glowing shades of blue and deep green and turquoise. Within the archway, a swirling veil unfurled, its surface alive with stars that belonged not to the Elydorian sky, or the human one, but a combination of both.
This was how it appeared for many years, while the Gate remained open. But with one difference. As we watched, a new rune etched itself into the marble Gate. A key, distinctly of human origin.
Mev had dropped to her knees, surrounded by her father and partner. The king stared, as if not believing what he was seeing. Nerys embraced Rowan, whose eyes glistened with unshed tears that were unlikely to remain so. Issa and Marek, neither of whom had ever seen the Aetherian Gate this way, inspected it, fascinated.
“It worked,” Terran said beside me, as if he too could not believe it.
“Will it remain this way? We still don’t know,” I reminded him, “how Mev was able to slip through.”
“No,” he said, “but perhaps we never will. Perhaps she was simply… meant to do so.”
My next words were cut short as Kael walked toward us. Mev was in her father’s arms, crying openly, unknowing if this would be a temporary parting, or a permanent one.
“Brother,” was all he said as the two embraced.
I stepped aside, or attempted to, in order to give them a moment. But as Terran let Kael go, he pulled me toward his side.
“Thank you for showing me the path from hate,” he said. “Be well, Kael.”
“And you, Terran. I’m proud of the king you’ve become. When you meet resistance, remember how difficult it was for me. For you. Perhaps she can help you.”
“Me?” I asked.
“You will do well in Gyoria, Lyra.”
I looked between the brothers just before I was nearly knocked to the ground by Mev. She hugged me as only a human could, without reserve or restraint. “Thank you. A thousand times, thank you. I have no idea what I would have done here without you, Lyra.”
Smiling, I hugged her back and pulled away, looking into the eyes of a princess.
“You’ve exceeded all of my expectations. With luck, this is a temporary goodbye.”
She nodded. “I’m going to bring her back.”
There was no need to ask who she meant. Mev’s plans had always been to reunite her parents.
“I look forward to that day.”
With more goodbyes, and a forlorn king standing witness, Mev and Kael finally stepped up to the Gate. Another step, and they were gone.
Silence.
Everyone looked to Galfrid, who watched the Gate.
“A celebration for some, but this will not bode well in Gyoria,” he said, turning to Terran.
“I’ve begun to prepare my clan for this possibility. My hope is that with more transparency, I can begin the slow march back to an Elydor before my mother’s death.”
“A good start,” Rowan said. “We have been accepted by some, but let those outside this Temple know Estmere has been welcomed by Elydor itself.” He motioned to the rune. “I will do my part as well. A meeting with my fellow Keepers, and leaders of Estmere, is in order. Perhaps it’s time for all secrets, including those of the Harrows, to be revealed.”
“There is a reason for them,” Nerys reminded him.
“Aye, and there will always be those who seek to exploit others. Seek to increase their own power or worse, abuse it. But we cannot let fear be our only guide. Secrets may protect for a time, yet they also fester in the dark. If Elydor is to heal, if our people are to truly unite, then light must be shed on what was hidden. Even the truths that wound.”
“Much is about to change in Elydor,” Marek said. He’d been mostly quiet—unusual for him, according to Kael. Grinning, the Navarch added, “I look forward to letting you all sort it out.”
“You are impossible,” Issa said beside him.
