“This is where you propose an alliance between us, isn’t it?”
He turned away from the balustrade and faced her fully. “I’m not coming to you empty-handed. I will offer you the very thing the Elvyn want to take away.”
“What’s that?”
A confident grin stretched his lips. “Lela.”
She blinked a few times. “What are you saying?”
“You, Aveline Corasande Caelan, will be Queen of Lela.”
46
Her mind emptied.
Queen of Lela.
She…she didn’t want that.
Did she?
“El’Ara needs its heart before it can be whole again,” Darius said. “Themoraseeping into this world must hold terrible consequences for the fae realm. Before the Veil, themoratraveled through the veins of magic that wove through the land and met at the heart of the world, at the Morkara’s palace in the Elvyn city of Le’Lana. The Morkara would direct the flow ofmorafrom there to wherever they sought to send it. But the Veil must have compromised that.
“First, there was no Morkara in either world to direct the magic, thanks to Ailan’s idiotic plan to pass on her legacy to an unnamed heir.” His tone took on a sardonic quality. “Yes, I remember all of that now that I have my memories again. But now the Veil has torn, which, according to Desmond’s report, means we have a Morkara again. Goody. Yet still, themoracannot flow like it could before, for the Veil blocks its return. Not even the tear can allow enough magic to bring themoraback into balance. No, there are only two solutions: either the Veil must come down completely, or it must be completed to incorporate Lela. The Elvyn will obviously choose the latter, for who knows what repercussions could arise should the Veil be fully erased while the fae and human realms are connected through Lela. Our worlds could collide. Yet as a result of completing the Veil, Lela will return to El’Ara and every human on this land will cease to have a home.”
She hated that he was voicing her greatest fear—that everything she was preparing to fight for would result in her people’s exile. Ailan had all but confirmed it.
He continued. “The Elvyn will never agree to let humans live in El’Ara. Even if they did, the humans would be considered low-value members of society due to their blood. Because—as I’ve already stated—the Elvyn cling to principles that only benefit themselves. Yet there is another option that will require neither exile nor subjugation. The answer is written in the prophecy. And that is where you come in.”
Impatience tightened her chest. Or was it curiosity? Excitement, even? Whatever the case, she needed to know what the hell he was getting at. It took no small effort to maintain an air of nonchalance. “You mean as Queen of Lela?”
“Exactly. My son abandoned his mission to find El’Ara for me and sought to become Morkaius of the human world instead. I never would have approved, for his success would have meant the end of the fae realm. Drawing on that much magic—claiming it, using it in the human world—would have drained El’Ara. As much as I resent the Elvyn for their closed-minded ways, I treasure the fae realm. So believe me when I say I don’t condone anything my son did in his efforts to control fae magic for his own selfish aims.”
“And that matters to me why?”
He smirked. “It matters because it will allow you to give me the benefit of the doubt when I say this next part. You will take on a role similar to the Morkaius of Lela. No, hear me out. Your husband remains in the line of succession for Vera, and should he inherit the kingdom, the two of you could reforge Lela and rule the land as a whole.”
Cora’s pulse kicked up, but she hoped he was too busy talking to notice. It was true that Teryn remained in the line of succession for Vera. As Larylis’ brother, Teryn had a claim to the throne. A weaker one compared to Noah, but a claim nonetheless. But Darius hadn’t mentioned Noah. Or Mareleau, for that matter. Had he not learned their significance? He knew the Morkara had been born, but had he not figured out who that was?
Hope sparked inside her. They’d kept Noah’s birth a secret and had spread the rumor that Mareleau had returned home before Cora’s wedding. In truth, Darius, Mareleau, and Noah had all been under the same roof for a handful of days. Did he not know?
Of course he didn’t.
If he’d known, her friend would be dead, and her newborn son too.
Unless…
Unless Darius wasn’t the monster he’d been painted as.
A heavy weight settled over her chest—a clairsentient warning not to give in to that line of reasoning just yet.
Darius spoke again. “You will fulfill every condition to become the Morkaius, the very conditions my son had tried to fulfill. You’ll rule over Lela, a crown given not taken. As monarch of El’Ara’s heart, themorawill flow to you. Should you want, you could harness it.”
She barked a cold laugh. “Are you trying to get me killed? I know what the prophecy said about becoming Morkaius of this world.He who harnesses the magic will be destroyed by it.”
His face split with a wide smile, too maniacal to be comforting. “Yes, but you won’t harness themora. You are going to push it back into El’Ara. And I, as Morkaius of El’Ara, will tear down the Veil, but only after you’ve returned themorato El’Ara. Without the forced connection between our worlds caused by themoraand the Veil, our worlds will separate once more. Do you see? It isn’t the land itself that is El’Ara’s heart; it’s themora. The convergence of those magic veins. Once inside the Veil, they will collide once more and forge a new heart.”
She tried to imagine it, tried to picture what he was explaining. If the true Heart of El’Ara was the magic and not simply the land, the fae realm would have a new heart should the lines ofmorabe forced to recede behind the Veil.
