She placed a fingertip on my lips. “Don’t speak his name.”
“It doesn’t work like that,” I snarled, my eyes stinging with tears I refused to spill. “I need to go with him, to support him. Ican help him.” Stand close to him even if he wouldn’t let me touch him.
“He needs to do this alone, if not for himself, but for his mother.” Her grip tightened on my arms. “He’ll be able to hold off the king long enough to do what he must. You, my niece, have your own court’s core to swallow, and I believe you must claim it soon.”
“When?” I’d do it now while he went after his own.
Her gaze shot to the windows, peering out where darkness ruled. “Once the sun has risen. This may take longer than you think.”
“A day?”
“Time is different there.”
“I can’t be gone for long.”
If Vexxion didn’t return quickly, I’d flit to him. I’d follow that man no matter where he went, even into the ether. I’d brought him back to me, and even if he never loved me again, I’d do everything within my power to ensure he was happy.
Even if he could only be happy without me.
33
TEMPEST
“As I said, his trial will be with stone.” Aunt Vera left the parlor and walked down the hall to the kitchen with me beside her. “And yours will be with water, the element of Lydel Court.”
“As Reyla pointed out, I can’t swim very well.”
“Then you’d better be good at holding your breath.”
I frowned. “The core would let me drown if I couldn’t claim it?”
“You’ll swallow it. To claim it you must prove yourself worthy.”
Of course. This would be no simpler than anything else I’d already faced.
“That’s why Vexxion took the pabrilleen pendant,” she said. “It belonged to Weldsbane. He’ll need it.”
“He can haveanything.”
“All that man is and everything he will one daybe belongs to you. Always trust that.” She opened the back door, and we stepped outside onto the broad landing overlooking the courtyard. Holding the rail, she sucked in a deep breath of night air perfumed with flowers. “I missed this place. There’s something incredibly peaceful about puttering in the garden and walking along the simple trails within this perfect part of our world.”
“Vexxion showed me my mother’s special rose garden. I wish I could remember her.”
She turned and leaned against the railing, sending me a sad smile. “Can you feel her among them? I do. After I told her you and your sister were safe, she gave every bit of herself to protect Lydel. I believe a touch of her remains in that part of the gardens.” Stepping closer to me, she fretted with a strand of my hair that had freed itself from my braid. “She loved you and Layla so much. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t have done to protect you.”
“You both arranged for my betrothal to Vexxion.”
“It was meant to unite our two courts and show a strong face to the monster sitting on Bledmire throne.”
“He didn’t know when you made the arrangement?”
“We didn’t confirm it. You were children. He would’ve killed Vexxion if he found out.”
“He used it against us. He killed Vexxion’s mother trying to find out where I was. He tortured Vexxion for most of his life. Why didn’t you help him? You left him in that horrible place among fae who happily scarred him inside and out.”
“I couldn’t help him, not without the fiend discovering what I knew. As it was, I had to cast a forget spell on myself to keep him from prying the words from my mouth. Spells like that arerarely used since they don’t last long. I’m not sure he even knows it exists. He did all he could to discover what I did, but I was able to resist him.” Determination stiffened her frame. “Or maybe he did know. He didn’t kill me. He placed me in that portrait. I initially assumed he’d drag me out periodically to prod me some more, but he didn’t. Of course, as he trapped me,” her sly smile rose, “I placed a forget spell onhim.” Her smile fell, cratering her features. “Sometimes, it’s better not to know what an evil person is seeking. Then they can’t hurt you to obtain it.”
“Vexxion kept many secrets.” And I could see why, though at the time it hurt, because I thought it meant he didn’t trust me.
