Gallium tells me everything that happened to him after he and Tamra were separated, how he survived Karasi’s machinations, and how he and Elowynn kept each other alive.
Tamra speaks more carefully, never mentioning Thaden by name, but she slips into the conversation that the leader of hervillage is doing well and that she is helping him construct new homes now that the darkness is gone and the village can expand.
I’m not sure how much Gallium knows about Thaden’s real history, but it seems he understands enough that he gives Tamra a smile and doesn’t prompt her for more information than she’s willing to give.
Finally, though, Tamra’s eyes widen when she tells me about the moment she felt the keepers’ creation.
A force had traveled through the ground.
Apparently, even the humans felt it.
Gallium confirms her account, describing to me how the air filled with power and all of the thunderbirds were forced to the ground. The influx of energy seemed to sap the fae’s power for long enough that they had no choice but to stop fighting.
My siblings tell me that already, the stories are growing about the keepers’ creation and the women who made it possible, but when Tamra prompts me about the dark magic keeper’s identity, I can only shake my head.
I can’t remember. No matter how hard I try.
Around him, there is only silence.
A terrible silence.
It leaves a hole in my heart that I don’t fully understand and I pray will one day heal.
Before my siblings leave, Gallium pulls me aside. He gives me a hug, a quiet one, but I sense he has something more he needs to say.
“Gallium?”
“I would like your blessing,” he says, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
I’m surprised. “What for?”
He gives me a crooked smile. “Would it alarm you if there were a fae in the family?”
I can’t help my answering smile. “Please, if you want to be with Elowynn, don’t wait, Gallium. Life is too…” My smile fades and I blink away the burn behind my eyes.
Life is too fleeting.
“Yeah,” he murmurs, hugging me again. “Thank you, Asha.”
My heart feels lighter then, even when they leave.
My next visitor is far less relaxed.
Graviter Rex comes to me about Thaden Kane. He doesn’t know the true story of how his son died, and I will never tell him, but understandably, his anger and pain about his son’s death have not abated.
I meet him in the clearing at the base of the tower, grateful that he came to me before flying out to seek justice, but I also need to be clear about my position.
Turning my left hand palm out, I make my medallion clearly visible as I tell him, “Before I banished the darkness, I visited Thaden Kane Ironmeld and took retribution for your son’s death. I have stripped Thaden of his Blacksmith power and made him human. He will remain powerless for the rest of his life. I consider this a far more severe outcome than the death I could have given him.”
Graviter considers me quietly, his golden scales rippling and his eyes narrowed, but the heat from his mouth is subdued.
When he gave me his eternal flame, he revealed that it can never burn me. What he didn’t say, but I now strongly suspect, is that none of his dragon fire can burn me. He could pour flames down on me from his mouth, and I would not be harmed.
“Justice is part of my medallion,” I continue. “So are fury and wisdom. The dragons gave me these gifts.” I peer up at Graviter. “Do you agree that justice has been done and no further retribution will be sought?”
He takes a long moment to consider my question, and I don’t hurry him. He counts his years in millennia. His son was hisworld. The events that led to Lysander’s death were tragic, and I can’t disrespect the deep pain that Graviter will continue to feel for the rest of his life.
“Thaden Kane Ironmeld is human,” Graviter says, seeming to chew his words as he speaks.
