Claustrophobic. Isera is still intensely claustrophobic.
“Do you want me to…?” I offer.
She swallows, as if she has to force the word out. “Please.”
Reaching out with my magic, I latch on to the bone white flame of fear in her chest and then decrease it until it’s barely more than a small flicker. She lets out a long, shuddering breath. I draw my hand down her arm and give her a small smile. Then we start into the tunnel.
Stone keeps grinding against stone, the sound echoing between the tunnel walls, as Trevor continues using his magic to force the mountain to open for us. As soon as we leave the outside world behind, oppressive darkness tries to suffocate us because the tunnel closes after us when we walk. But Kevlin, who has light magic, illuminates it for us. It’s the main reason I asked him to join us, even though I’m still a little uncomfortable around him.
“I’m sorry,” Isera says in a low voice. “I know you should be saving your strength to let your magic build up. Not waste it on… this.”
“I’m not wasting it.” While still continuing to decrease her fear, I glance at her from the corner of my eye. “I am curious, though. You knew that the plan was to walk through a narrowtunnel in the mountain, but you still volunteered to come. Why?”
She swallows, looking uncharacteristically awkward. Her gaze flits to me for a second before she fixes it on the path ahead instead. “Orion and Alistair had to stay behind, and I… Well, I couldn’t let you go alone, could I?”
Warmth fills my soul.
However, before I can reply, Kevlin, who is walking ahead of us, suddenly turns around to face us.
“Your mother really loved you, you know that, right?” he says.
The words are like a strike right to the heart, and I almost miss my next step. Hope floods my chest, because for a split second, I think he’s talking to me.
Then I notice that his brown and lavender eyes are locked on Isera.
“She was so proud of you,” he continues, a wistful smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “You were all she ever talked about when we competed together in the previous Atonement Trials.”
Isera’s lips part slightly, and she draws in a shuddering breath.
“So yeah,” he says. “Now that we all know… what really happened to her, I just figured you might want to know that.” He shrugs. “In case you didn’t already.”
My heart aches from that burst of hope and the crushing reminder thatIwill never know. Pulling at the collar of my fighting leathers, I try to breathe through the sudden desperate need for that warm pleasure I get from my magic. Thankfully, because Draven is still taking half of that emotion, I manage to suppress the urge.
Next to me, Isera clears her throat and quickly blinks tears from her eyes. “Thank you for telling me.”
“Yeah.” Kevlin shifts his gaze to me, and then winces apologetically. “And you, I’m not sure if I should say I’m sorry or thank you. I was so angry at you after that final trial. I had togrovel and bargain for a doctor to work on my hamstrings, and it took over a month for them to fully heal after you sliced them and then ran away and took the final place as winner of the Atonement Trials.” He scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. “But then the other day when I learned the truth, what really happens to the winners, I was shocked at first. But then I kind of just felt relieved.” He grimaces. “I wouldn’t have survived what you guys did. So thank you for winning, and I’m sorry for being so cruel there at the end.”
Surprise pulses through me, and I raise my eyebrows slightly. I had not been expecting that. Dipping my chin, I give him a nod in acknowledgement.
“Also, I’m sorry about your parents.”
My heart skips a beat. “My parents?”
“Yeah, we all saw that battle above the Golden Palace a while ago,” he explains. “So afterwards, we snuck inside to check. That’s when we found your parents’ bodies there on the floor.” Sympathy fills his eyes as he holds my gaze. “I know you probably would’ve wanted to send their souls off yourself, but we didn’t think you would be coming back to the Seelie Court since you’d won the trials, and we couldn’t just leave them there. So a few of your parents’ friends from their respective guilds gave them both a proper send-off and then poured their ashes into the River Andunir.”
Pain and grief mix with a sudden burst of gratitude and relief. I might never know if my parents loved me, but at least I now know that their souls were sent off to Mabona’s evergreen garden properly.
“Thank you, Kevlin,” I press out, my voice slightly choked as I try to compose myself again. “That means a lot to hear.”
He gives me a small smile, but before he can reply, Fenriel calls from the front, “Guys! We really need to hurry up. Trevor is running very low on magic.”
Alarm crackles through my spine, and we all snap our gazestowards him. There are about ten other fae from the Seelie Court between us and the front of the group, but Trevor is quite tall so I can still see part of his head through the crowd. I swallow down a sense of dread when I notice him swaying with every step.
The fear inside Isera tries to spike up, but I force it down again with my magic.
After exchanging a quick glance, we all hurry forward.
Stone continues rumbling as Trevor forces the mountain to part for us. The tunnel was a little wider when we started, but now it’s getting smaller and smaller with every step until only one person can fit. Falling into single file instead, we squeeze our way between the narrow stone walls that quickly close behind us. The fear in Isera’s chest is so intense that I have to remember to keep my mental shields up so that I’m not affected by it too, but I simply continue decreasing it.
