Ailan released a weighted sigh. “I remember those feelings. That need to protect the fragile being you brought into this world. It’s been so long since I’ve felt that.”
“Then you understand why I need to protect him. You claim he’s safe behind the Veil, but if your brother finds his way here…”
“I know.” Ailan set a comforting hand on her shoulder. Mareleau was surprised that she felt no instinct to flinch away. When had she begun to grow used to this woman? Ailan spoke again. “Why don’t you try holding Noah and casting magic around the two of you? See if you can evade the notice of the servants who bring you dinner. Or perhaps convince them you have pointed ears, some feature you can get outside confirmation on. Start with a glamour before you try warding. Start with yourself before you try shifting your magic to others.”
Her shoulders fell. That sounded like a tediously slow process, but if it gave her something to work on, she supposed she should be grateful. “All right.”
Ailan must have heard the dejected note in her voice, for she rose to her feet with a warm smile. “Come, there’s someone I want you to formally meet.”
49
Mareleau couldn’t imagine who Ailan was referring to, but curiosity got the better of her. Ailan headed for the door while Mareleau rose to her feet and gathered Noah from his playmat. She retrieved her carrying sling from the end of her bed and tucked Noah into it as she strode out of her room. Ailan was waiting in the hall.
“Who am I meeting?”
Ailan gave her a sly grin. “You’ll see. I’m not sure you’d come if I told you.”
That wasn’t at all comforting.
Yet her interest was thoroughly piqued as Ailan led her through the palace halls. She was so distracted with trying to puzzle out their destination that she forgot to marvel at her surroundings until they were three floors down. Mareleau hadn’t left her room much since arriving at the palace, save for the tribunal meeting. Now that she’d earned the tribunal’s binding vow of respect and protection, she was allowed to explore the palace, but it was an unfamiliar place filled with strange people. She’d felt safest in her room.
They reached the bottom floor of the palace, where the ceilings rose four times as high as the ones in the upper halls. Elegant chandeliers sparkled with pale blue and white crystals that caught rays of sunlight and sent shards of glittering illumination upon the walls. Guards dressed in silver armor over white silk robes lined the hall ahead. They bowed as the trio passed. A pair of Elvyn footmen in blue-and-ivory robes opened the ornate double doors ahead.
Sunlight streamed through the doorway as Ailan led the way. A white marble staircase stretched out before them, leading to a large courtyard. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Mareleau glanced behind her, taking in the exterior of the palace for the first time. Her jaw hung on its hinge as she assessed the towering ivory turrets, the gilded balconies, and the pale blue crystalline walls that comprised the lower portions of the structure. She hadn’t been able to see much of the castle from her bedroom or any of the halls she’d walked through, but this…
This made her realize just how massive Alles’Taria Palace truly was. It was twice as large as Verlot.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Ailan’s voice startled her from her awe. She stood beside Mareleau, a wistful expression in her eyes as she admired the structure. There was something almost sad about the look. “Alles’Taria was named and modeled after the original seat of the Morkara, the palace that had been built over El’Ara’s heart.”
“What happened?” Mareleau asked. “I know five hundred years is a long time, but all that’s left of the palace is a rock. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”
“Centerpointe Rock,” Ailan said with a nod. “I’ve seen it once, during the battle last spring. With my memories compromised, I didn’t recognize it for what it was. I knew it marked an invisible well of fae magic, but I didn’t understand how or why. Now I remember.”
Ailan’s expression darkened. She turned her gaze away from the spires and started off toward one of the many gardens that surrounded the courtyard. This garden contained tiny trees in myriad shapes and varieties, stone gardens marked with impossibly high cairns, as well as several ponds. Mareleau could only half focus on the beauty. The rest of her attention lingered on the subject they’d left behind.
She knew roughly how Ailan’s battle with Darius had ended—he’d killed his mother before Satsara had managed to finish her ward. Then he and Ailan were trapped in the human world. But what had their plan been, and how had Darius thwarted it?
“I was supposed to lure Darius far from the palace,” Ailan said as they wove through a grove of waist-high trees with vibrant needle-like leaves and twisting, twining trunks. “My army was meant to keep his attention off what my mother was doing. Her dragon was with my forces too, to convince him Satsara was among us. It was imperative that we keep him fighting until my mother’s wardweaving was finished. That meant we couldn’t overwhelm his army, for that would only make him worldwalk back to the human world for reinforcements. Upon his return, if he tried to worldwalk to any location already covered by the Veil, he’d find himself blocked and know what my mother was up to.
“So we held back, sacrificing our soldiers so he’d keep fighting us, keep thinking he was seconds away from victory. Only once the Veil was complete would we give it our all and either kill him or obliterate his army enough that he’d worldwalk away. If the Veil was finished, he’d never be able to reenter El’Ara again.
“But he was smarter than that. Or, at the very least, he suspected we were holding back. He and I were fighting one-on-one when the truth dawned on him. He hissed our mother’s name, and I knew it was over. I reached for him, latched onto his arm right as he worldwalked away, forcing him to take me with him. Next thing I knew, we were in the forest north of the palace. In another heartbeat, he was gone. He’d left me behind on purpose. Either he’d anticipated I’d try to grab him or he realized it as soon as I touched him and altered his destination.
“I ran to the palace as fast as I could, but Mother was already dead and the palace was destroyed. It may have been the force of Satsara tying off the edges of her Veil so suddenly, or the pressure of forcing El’Ara into the human world, but Alles’Taria Palace was obliterated when I got there. The guards were dead, crushed in the rubble or murdered by my brother. He was killing those who remained as I arrived, popping in and out of thin air to behead the survivors before they even had a chance to defend themselves.
“He came for me next, taunting me about how he’d ended our mother’s life while hugging her. While telling her he loved her. He’d slit her throat right after she’d smiled up at him and said she loved him too. He didn’t yet know that she’d also tied off her wardweaving, blocking him from El’Ara thereafter, but once he did, he tried to kill me in earnest. No more taunting. No more games. So I did what I thought I should in that split second before he tried to behead me; I relinquished my title as Morkara to my unnamed heir.”
Mareleau’s stomach sank with guilt. She’d condemned Ailan for having made such a reckless choice back then, but could she blame her? She hadn’t had much time for rational thought when her enemy could appear from thin air to surprise her with a blade through her neck at any moment.
They reached the far end of the garden where an arch in a tall hedge wall opened to a sloping hillside behind the palace. Rocky steps led down to where the crystalline palace walls gave way to natural stone. There daylight melted to shadow, the sunlight obscured by the turrets.
“Where are we going?” Mareleau asked, her curiosity now tinged with apprehension.
“To the dragon caves beneath the palace,” Ailan said. “Ferrah, Uziel, and the hatchlings live there.”
“Wait…don’t tell me…”
“I want you to meet the dragons.”
