“This is what Blacksmiths have done,” she says, her brow furrowed and jaw tight. “Are you pleased with yourselves, Blacksmiths? Are you happy with the suffering you’ve inflicted on our children?”
One of the other guards—a woman with golden eyes—quickly takes hold of the blue-haired woman’s arm and pulls her away, shushing her.
My heart sinks even further.
A glance at Gallium’s pale face tells me he feels their pain as intensely as I do.
“Our people have a lot to answer for,” he growls beneath his breath, a hint of anger in his voice. It’s so unlike him to feel rage, but it’s justified.
“Not us, Gallium,” I whisper. “We didn’t do this. We weren’t even born when Malak and his followers turned the earth into a wasteland. We were children. Powerless children.”
Despite my assertion, my legs feel heavy, as if my heart has descended so far to the ground that it’s nearly impossible to keep moving.
“Could your power help them?” Gallium’s focus falls to my arm, where I have concealed my medallions. There’s a spark of hope in his eyes. “Could you try healing them? Do some good?—”
“Do not try.” Thaden’s voice is shockingly cold, his presence at my side, sudden.
My focus snaps up to him and my eyes widen. I struggle with my own anger now. My disbelief at his command. “How could you tell me not to try?”
His shoulders slump and his voice softens. “Because your power will only make their illness worse.”
“How?” I ask, struggling to understand.
His broad shoulders sink even further and his expression is now bleak. “It is because of magic that the blight spreads. You will understand once we get closer to it.”
He turns away from me, his back stiff, his gaze turned toward the mountains that sit in the distance. “You will see soon enough.”
I don’t want to believe him.
I want to help the fae. To prove to them that Gallium and I are nothing like Malak and his followers. But there’s something about Thaden’s posture…
Just as I have learned how to recognize the smallest changes in his behavior, the tension around his eyes and mouth, the quickly hidden clenches of his jaw, and the tightness in his voice that tells me when he’s lying, I can also discern when he’s telling the truth.
“There must be something we can do,” I say. “If not now, then we need to find a way.”
Thaden gives me a nod. “For all supernaturals. Not only the fae.”
Without another word, he continues ahead.
Once more, Gallium and I follow, as we will continue to do for now.
We walk to the sounds of misery. Tents filled with illness and sorrow. Softly crying fae. Coughing children.
By the time we reach the other side of the encampment, my eyes are downcast.
I glance back once more at the tents.
Queen Karasi spoke proudly of an army and I saw for myself the warriors training within the castle walls. I saw the women flying their thunderbirds and spent the last few days surrounded by the Queen’s favored fae—all of them healthy and physically strong.
But now I wonder at the true extent of her army and if it’s mostly a bluff?
Thunderbirds positioned strategically in the sky in a way that makes it look like there are many of them…
Fires are kept burning in the encampment to appear as if a thousand warriors are ready and waiting to strike…
Even the mountaintop castle that makes Karasi’s position appear lofty and dominant…
All of it is designed to give the appearance of strength when the reality is that her people are suffering.
