“You hurt him?”
“Just a deep scratch, enough to capture his blood like you needed.”
I took the phylactery out of my pocket and held it over to Tallis.
“Are you sure you want to make him immortal?”
“There is still one witch alive,” I said softly, my heart conflicted, but my mind forcing me to make this decision. “I’m not there to protect him, but with this . . . no one will hurt one of my children again.”
Tallis took the blade, slick with the blood of my son and his father, and flattened it against the stone, dragging it across on both sides until the green shiny surface turned deep red. I took that stone and lifted it to my mouth and recited the words the Lich King had given me. With each spoken word, the stone hummed, warming in my hands. The blood seeped inside the stone, swirling inside the center, changing the plain green stone into a glittering jewel. It glowed, the red swirling inside like a hurricane.
“Is he immortal now?” Tallis asked.
Other than blind faith in the promise of the Lich King, we had no way of knowing. “I hope so.”
“What do we do with the stone? We can't walk around with it. We should bury it somewhere safe. Any ideas?”
I looked around at the area, searching for anything familiar, but we were outside of the fairy village, far from anything that I knew. “I don’t know. This stone is bound to Kane’s soul. It must be protected.”
Tallis reached over, took my hand, and lifted me to my feet. “There's a stream over there. Let's wash you up.”
Slipping the stone into my pocket, I held his hand and walked over to the grass,finding a soft patch to sit on.
Sunlight beamed in through the branches that created a canopy around us. Whistling birds sang in the afternoon. I sat, feeling empty and lost. Tallis made a cup of water with his hands, brought it over to mine and rinsed the blood off my hands then my arms. Then he gently tugged me closer to the water dipping my fingernails in until none of the red was left.
“We're going to be okay,” he said, wiping my face.
Though, I wasn't sure we were. My daughters were gone. The king was dead. My son alone, immortal, afraid, angry and I wasn't there to ease any of those pains. I had failed all my children and now I was to roam the lands in exile while my son hunted me down to slaughter me like cattle.
I was so tired. So exhausted.
With a gentle touch, Tallis used his fingers to remove the remnants of today off my cheeks. “Let me see your shoulder.”
Ella had done her best to dress the wound quickly, but blood had already seeped through. Slipping the strap down, I examined the cloth tied around my shoulder.
“We should re-dress that now.” Tallis removed his armor and then his tunic, ripping a long piece off.
The air had a sweet floral scent, dewy like afternoon rain. The stream moved lazily and across the water, I spotted two big bullfrogs sunning themselves on rocks.
Something pressed on my shoulder, and I cried out.
“I’m sorry.” Tallis leaned over and kissed my cheek. “I should have never left your side.”
Closing my eyes, I breathed in his airy scent, unable to respond. Words seemed useless. Every choice I’d made led me to this moment and though I was separated from my son, I didn’t regret any of it.
They all deserved death for attacking my family.
Every.
Single.
One of them.
“There.” Tallis wrapped the cloth around my shoulder. “Your wrist isn’t bleeding as much, but we’ll need to make sure the cut doesn’t get infected. Who bit you?”
“Stephani,” I croaked. “Ella applied one of her tonics incase the witch had tried infecting me with something.”
Though I could feel Tallis holding me, everything went numb, the questions and worry disappearing until all thoughts left my mind.
