Garot bent in a formal bow and said something in Elvyn. Ailan acknowledged the gesture with a hand to his shoulder. He beamed as he straightened. She approached Etrix next. His dark eyes were turned down at the corners and glazed with tears, yet his posture was stiff. He seemed uncertain how to greet her. Then Ailan folded against his chest, arms around his waist. He in turn wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek against the top of her head.
Cora leaned in and whispered, “Etrix is Ailan’s father.”
That caught Fanon’s attention. He’d risen to his feet and now shot cold blue eyes their way. While the snarl he’d first worn was gone, there was no warmth in his expression.
Mareleau’s first instinct was to shrink beneath that open hostility, but she wasn’t made for shrinking. Instead, she lifted her chin and held his gaze right back with an equally cold stare, eyes narrowing until he finally looked away. She resisted the urge to laugh. That had been too easy. She hadn’t even employed her magic trick. Or her Art, as Cora and Salinda called it. Either way, the Elvyn were mistaken if they thought they could beat her at a glaring contest. If anyone could destroy a man with a look alone, it was Mareleau.
Ailan released Etrix from her embrace and asked him something in that same incomprehensible language. With a nod, Etrix took a step back and lifted a hand. Then, crossing two of his fingers, he slid them through the air in a horizontal line.
“Translation enchantment,” Cora explained, but she hadn’t needed to, for when Fanon spoke next, Mareleau understood him.
“Will you tell us whythey’rehere?”
With a smile, Ailan gestured toward Cora. “This is my dear friend and ally, Cora. Formally, she is Aveline Caelan, Queen of Khero.”
“So we meet again,” Garot said, his face splitting with an easy grin. His gaze shifted to Valorre. “Your friend as well. What a dashing little vest he’s wearing. A bit clunky, but—”
“Do you know what she is?” Fanon jutted his chin toward Cora, a motion that carried as much violence as a raised blade. “Do you know she’s a witch? A worldwalker? And what in themora’sname is that unicorn wearing?”
Mareleau had forgotten how strange it might be to see a unicorn in a saddle, but she was used to the sight by now.
Valorre snorted in response, a derisive sound even to her ears.
“I know exactly what and who she is,” Ailan said, ignoring the jibe at Valorre. “I have known her for many years. And based on what she’s told me, I am not pleased by how you’ve treated her in the past.”
Fanon paled but said nothing in his defense.
“If you’re done making my ally feel unwelcome,” Ailan said, “I have someone else I’d like you to meet. Pray you get your salutations right this time around.”
She left the three Elvyn to stand at Mareleau’s side, then placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “This is the blood of my blood, Mareleau Alante, Queen of Vera.”
“KheroandVeramean nothing to us,” Etrix said. There was no reproach in his tone, only truth.
“Khero and Vera are the two kingdoms that comprise the land on the other side of the Veil,” Ailan said. “The land we once called Le’Lana.”
“The land the humans stole,” Fanon said with a scoff.
Ailan ignored him. “There’s one more I want to introduce you to.”
Keeping one hand on Mareleau’s shoulder, Ailan rested the other on the outside of the carrying sling. Mareleau resisted the urge to flinch away. She wasn’t fond of unwarranted touch, but there was something comforting about Ailan’s gesture. She was claiming Mareleau and Noah as her own. In this situation, it was a welcome protection.
“Please meet Noah, blood of my blood and Morkara of El’Ara.”
Etrix bent a knee first, folding into a formal display of obeisance. Garot followed.
Only Fanon hesitated. “Our…Morkara. NotfutureMorkara, not merely your heir.”
“Yes.”
“You relinquished your title to a…a baby.”
“I had my reasons.” She held his gaze with unwavering authority, much like Mareleau had done, until Fanon bent his knee like the others. For the first time, Mareleau felt a kinship with the woman. Perhaps breaking men with fierce looks had been passed down through bloodline.
“Rise,” Ailan said after a few long moments.
The three rose to their feet. Garot spoke with palpable excitement. “We have a Morkara again. This is a moment for future stories! A heroic return to tell for ages, and I’m here to witness it. I can hardly believe my luck.”
Etrix spoke with far more sobriety. “Can we stop the Blight? As regent, you can move themoraon the Morkara’s behalf. You can finish Satsara’s Veil—”
