“You know,” Nyxian encouraged. “Your vanishing trick. Can you go into the shadow realm and see if the prophecy has changed? Maybe it will tell us who is truly to blame.”
Drake squeezed his eyes shut. “That’s not how this works.”
“Fucking stars,” Solarius groaned, scrubbing his hands over his face. “Can wepleasestay on the topic at hand?”
“Fine!” Nyxian slumped back into his chair at the same time Tovian muttered an incoherent apology.
“For now,” Kjeld proposed, jumping in before another battle of wits broke out, “we will say Prince Aspen is on our side. That being said, one of the Druids will be arriving soon as she askedto leave Wenfyre and wanted to join us in Aeramere. She travels with the whelps. So they will be on our side as well.”
“All three?” Drake asked, sitting up, his interest piqued immediately. “They survived.”
“Aye. Two boys and a girl.” Kjeld nodded in confirmation, knowing Drake would want to relay the information to Creslyn as soon as possible. After all, her dragon was the mother of the three. “We named them Brohm, Pyran, and Lunaris.”
A barely there smile tugged at the corner of Drake’s mouth, and he eased back on the settee. “Good names. Strong names.”
“But can they fight?” Asher asked, removing his spectacles and cleaning the lenses. He spared Drake a single look, then turned his attention to Kjeld. “Though I suppose the proper question is, will they even be old enough to do so when and if the time comes?”
“I’ve been training them since they hatched.” It was an honest answer. Kjeld had been working with them tirelessly, but the atmosphere in Wenfyre was different. There was no threat of war there, no foreboding sense of doom and gloom. Not that Aeramere reeked of the stench of battle, but the unknowns were still great. Whereas Wenfyre could offer the dragons peace. “If the time comes, I will make sure they are ready.”
Speaking as much out loud did something to Kjeld’s heart. It burned and ached, like a blade of cold iron piercing his chest.
“I suppose that’s something,” Ariesian muttered in agreement. In the dancing lights and flicker of shadows, his guard slowly fell away. And it was then the years of exhaustion clawed their way to the surface. The constant worry harbored in the planes of his face, and the weight of being brother, protector, lord, and perhaps even father made itself known.
Solarius blew out a breath, then took a long drink of water. “Well then, other than ourselves, a Druid, and a handful of dragons…who else will fight for us?”
“Half of Aeramere can barely hold a dagger. And those with magic can’t wield it to save their lives.” Ariesian laughed but it was empty and dull. His head fell back and Ariesian loosed a heavy, withdrawn sigh. “What do we do?”
“There’s only one thing you can do.” Kjeld raised his chin, and the Lord of House Celestine met his gaze with equal measure. “You must take back your crown.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Caelian sat alone in the gardens, perched on the edge of one of the fountains outside House Celestine. She’d sat there before many times, usually in the evening and always alone. Most often she’d been crying, and she preferred this spot because it was shrouded from view. No one could see or hear her. The moonstone fountain was surrounded by a curving wall of climbing powder blue roses and tiny white flowers. There were green shrubberies shaped like spires, bursting lilacs, and an overhang of wisteria. She inhaled, breathing in the familiar scents, though now it reminded her heavily of perfume. Floral. Heady. Suffocating. The warm, late midsummer breeze ruffled her hair, and tiny droplets of fountain water landed upon her shoulder, but it was nothing compared to the balmy air of Wenfyre and the tangy spray of the sea.
She toed off her leather slippers and swung her feet, trying to distract herself from the fact that she was the reason Queen Elowyn had such a deep connection to Aeramere’s land. That she could so easily poison it, that she could use it against them. There had to be a way to reverse it, to take it back. For two days she’d been scouring texts and books, Asher had even given her full use of his library, and still she’d found nothing onthe subject. But she had to be missing something, there must be an element she’d not yet realized. A loophole she’d not yet discovered.
Whatever it was, she would find it.
Just like she found out the truth about her mother.
Caelian tipped her head back, and rays of morning sunlight slanted across her, warming her skin. Thinking about Trysta dredged up a well of tumultuous emotions she wasn’t ready to face. She imagined it would take quite some time to sort through her feelings on the matter, to cope with the truth she never expected. It was a fragile thing, one’s heart. Full of tiny, delicate pieces. Some sharp. Some dull. Some bright and bursting. Some fractured and broken. But it continued to beat. No matter the shape, or size, or if it had been broken and fused back together a thousand times over, it still continued to beat.
She heard the footsteps first, but she wasn’t expecting the voice that accompanied them.
“There you are.” Ariesian stepped out from around the wall of roses, his hands tucked into the pockets of his pants. Everything about him was polished and crisp, from the stiff collar of his shirt to the smooth coiffure of his hair. “I was looking for you.”
Caelian gripped the ledge of the fountain with both hands, swinging her feet slightly. “You found me.”
“I had some help,” he admitted, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck. “I may have asked your husband to track you for me.”
All the air pushed from her lungs in one long exhale. “Of course you did.”
Two days, and she was too afraid to breathe the same air as her siblings for fear they blamed her for the queen’s corrupt hold on the realm as much as she blamed herself. Two days, and she’snot been able to look any of them in the eyes. Two days, and the remorse was enough to ravage her soul.
Ariesian strolled toward her, his manner casual and easy, despite his refined outward appearance. “Your friend arrives today. Lira Nightbloom, I believe.”
“I’m aware.” She focused on the ground at her feet, on the inlay of indigo, silver, and violet swirls of crystal that formed a mosaic of stars around the fountain. “I’m looking forward to seeing her again.”
She couldn’t wait to see Lira again, but it was difficult to feel excitement, or joy, or anything at all, when she couldn’t dislodge the boulder of guilt pinned between her shoulders.
