“He’ll make himself the king of Innis Lear, if you marry him. Even if he swears not to lay siege, your sisters will take it as an act of war—Regan at least, who I’ve spent these past weeks with. And everyone knows Gaela looks for reasons to fight.”
“So what should I do, Ban? Will my sisters hear me? They are poisoned with hate. I’ve tried telling myself they will listen, they have to, but with you here, now, like this… Ban. I am so very afraid that they will refuse me, drive me away again. Or worse!” Tears washed her eyes. “And what of Innis Lear? It is crumbling!”
“Regan will listen to me. I can protect you,” he whispered, desperately.
Elia drew away, even as he held her naked in his arms. “Like you protected Rory?” she asked, carefully.
Ban flung himself out of the bed. He paced away, unsure where to put his hands, scuffing his bare feet on the dusty earthen floor.
Behind him, silence.
Hugging himself, he faced Elia again. She’d sat against the wall, legs drawn up under the quilt. Ban said, suddenly, hopelessly, “I think my father is dead.”
“No,” she whispered.
“Father was allying himself with you—with an invading force. With Morimaros. I told Connley and Regan. And I left him there, between them; they were in a killing mood.”
“Oh, Ban.”
“I’m not sorry. He never once put me first. My father did not defend me, and if he ever loved me it was less than he loved Lear, or himself, or those fucking stars.”
“But you—”
“Errigal betrayed your sister, his queen, no matter why, or how, Elia,” Ban said ferociously. “He pretended to be loyal to Regan and Connley, then went behind their backs to treat with Aremoria. He is a traitor.”
“Done in by the same.”
“I’m no traitor toyou,” he lied.
Elia scoffed, and wiped a tear off her cheek with a sharp flick of her hand.
“I never forgot you.” Ban returned to the bed and knelt near enough to touch her if she wished. “And what I said before—I didn’t do all of this for Mars. I did it for me, and for you, and because of the roots. I had to come home, Elia. You’re right: we cannot leave. We’re both part of this island. It’s my blood and the air I breathe: even in Aremoria, it was always Innis Lear. I wished it could be anything else. I swear I did. I wanted it to be Mars, so much I believed it myself. But—I can’t change who I am.”
“Neither can I. I’m the daughter of the king, and I love him, I love Innis Lear. I have to help my sisters, and fix everything. Somehow.”
“It needs to burn, Elia. This island is broken, and you can’t piece it back together; you need to remake it.”
“That can’t be the only way. The roots have to be capable of regrowing. It’s only been twelve years of breaking.”
“No.” Ban shook his head. “It’s been longer than that, and the roots are not strong. They’re weak and begging; the trees want to glory in themselves again, and in the hungry wind. They need heat and passion and sun, not just coldness and hesitation and stars.”
“I came home and listened to the trees and wind for days, Ban Errigal. The trees have asked me for help, the way they want, and I will see it through.I must convince my sisters to listen, too. Together we three must be able to find the right balance, the right weave to pull Innis Lear together again. We need a—a fulcrum, not a poison root. But first I need to find my father.”
“Youforgivehim.”
“Yes.”
“I do not, Elia.”
“I know.” She was slipping away from him. Back to Lear, as always.
“Your father did this! And those like him, unwilling to cleave away from their rigid, starry ways, the ways they have no evidence serve the world best. What does it matter for my mother and father not to have been wed? Nothing except what men pretend it matters! What does it mean that I was born under a dragon’s tail moon?Nothing but what priests have decided it means.”
“You hate him so much,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“Then you will do nothing to help me.” Her voice was dull. The passion, the eagerness from before had all drained away, and Ban did not know what to do.
