“That’s impossible,” I said, standing up and looking at the lot of them like they’d gone mad.
“It’s true,” Tarrin’s voice rumbled from his doorway, our attention snapping to him in surprise.
“My boy,” Fiora said. “You shouldn’t be up and about just yet.” As she stood, she sent a look to her lord, a silent conversation passing between them before Myron rose and joined her to check on Tarrin, whose color was starting to come back.
On our way to the suite, Sidrick had explained that now Tarrin was awake, his body was healed enough for both Fiora and Myron to mend him and that it would be hours—a day tops—until Tarrin was back to himself. There was nothing they could do about the muscle mass he’d lost which meant he’d have to take up a sword and train again to regain what he lost. His stamina would also take time. Fortunately, the process of getting back to his full strength was less like recovering from a near-death experience and more like a man who’d stopped training for a prolonged period of time—or as Kaelun had chimed in,it’s not about healing, it’s about building strength.
I noted his true size difference as the spring pair helped Tarrininto the seat across the knee-height table where Kaelun had displayed his blades.
Once everyone resettled, Caius turned his focus to me, and my heart constricted. I knew whatever he had to say was not something I wanted to hear. “Nyleeria,” he said, the soft word pressing on my chest like a vise. “Artton valenned to the human realm to confirm it. Tarrin is telling the truth.”
The room began to spin.No. I shook my head.No, this couldn’t be right.It wasn’t even possible.
Sight unfocused, I forced myself to continue to breathe. “Tell me again,” I said.
“The human realm?—”
“No,” I cut Caius off. “I want to hear it from you.” I lifted my gaze and pinned Tarrin with it.
Tarrin took me in, then glanced to the others as if they could save him from having to tell me—they didn’t. Squaring himself, his eyes darkened as he began. “Ny,” he said, the caution in his tone putting me on edge, “we searched for you day and night. Between Thaddeus, Nevander, our army, and myself, there wasn’t a stone we didn’t leave unturned. Thaddeus tried every spell he could think of. Hells, eventually he even threatened Wymond to give us access to search the Autumn Court, accusing him of taking you. It’s all he focused on every hour of every day… for six months.”
For six months. The words repeated in my head again and again. I gripped the armrests, the wood groaning beneath my grasp. This couldn’t be happening. It had been weeks—a month—at most since I’d mounted Luca, the human palace at our backs as we fled to Leighmullan. I’d held Mrs. E in my arms and wept with herweeksago. Not half a year.
I looked to Caius, the pity in his eyes had me forcing back bile before I could speak. “I don’t understand,” I whispered.
His look turned grave. “I’m sorry, Nyleeria. We hadn’t realized it was this bad.”
I breathed in through my nose and out my mouth slowly, tryingto calm myself to no avail. The walls of the large living room began to close in on me. I stood on wobbly legs and excused myself to the veranda for some fresh air. The second the hot sun hit my face, I stepped toward one of the flowerpots and emptied the meager bites of food I’d had earlier.
“You okay, Spark?”
Wiping my mouth with the back of my arm, I slowly righted myself.
“You look like shit,” Artton said, taking me in. “Here, take a seat.”
My body obeyed his orders, taking one of the seats in the shade, while Artton swung the twinned chair so he could face me when he sat.
“How is this even possible?” I asked.
Artton held my gaze. “We discussed it at length while you were with Kaelun and Sidrick. There are many theories, but only two seem plausible. Caius explained the weather instability to you, yes?”
“You mean how it snowed in the Summer Court when I was born?” I asked.
He nodded. “Our first theory is that your physical presence in a realm is more important than we ever considered.”
“You think that because I’m physically in the fae realm instead of back home that, what, time shifted instead of the seasons?”
“We do. Alternatively, now that you’re fae, you’ve been able to wield arcane magic, which could be throwing off the balance of things.”
“Or a combination of the two,” I added.
“Or that.”
“Do we know if time in the human realm is faster, or if it’s slower here?” I asked.
“Does it really matter?” Artton countered.
I thought about it for the moment, then shook my head. “No, I suppose not.”
