Page 56 of Calling of the Crown

I couldn’t finish the sentence. To even say the words while looking her in the eyes made fresh tears spring to life.

Anguish suddenly swept over her features, and she cupped my cheeks and wiped the tears away. “Oh Dewdrop, forgive me. There’s so much … so much to tell you and explain, but I’m afraid there isn’t time. You need to go back before you get stuck here, Bria.”

My brow furrowed as I tried to recall a before. Where had I been? I was sure I’d always been here as the water where life was calm. Easy. Nice. Everything else, faint memories of places and people, seemed like a dream. It was all too far away for me to grasp or see clearly. But I could see my mom now, and looking into her eyes, I was able to remember my ache for her. I’d been denied my mother for so long, and having her right here in front of me reminded me of that part of myself—I was Water Fae, orphaned and a Princess trying to lead her Kingdom. Everything else … Was there anything else?

Something in my face seemed to startle Alesta. Her face fell as she whispered, “It may be too late.”

Shaking my head, I asked, “What’s too late? This is where I belong. As water with you.”

Tears filled her eyes. “As much as I love this, my sweet girl, you don’t belong here. Can you try to … I don’t know … re-form and go back to the surface?”

Her suggestion muddled my mind. It sounded like foreign words and illogical suggestions leaving her lips. “Re-form? Surface?”

She sighed deeply and closed her eyes. She wiggled her fingers, and the water touching her outline seemed to bubble and vibrate. “I may be able to send you back, but I need to build up to that. It’s been too long since I’ve done something of that magnitude.” She opened her eyes and searched my gaze. Smiling softly, she relented, “I guess that means we have some time to talk and explain.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

“I HAD NEVER TRULY BEEN able to turn into or become water. Not fully,” Alesta said.

She and I sank onto chairs she made out of the water around us, and I sat on the edge of my seat as she started her tale.

“I could turn parts of myself into water, like my hands or my hair, but never my whole body,” she continued. “I certainly couldn’t disappear into the water and become a part of it. There was no one to teach me those things, and while I was sure there were old texts that could explain, those books were written in our lost language. The same books I lead you to.”

Hearing her mention the texts, I suddenly remembered with vivid clarity swimming in the ocean and finding the underwater library and books.

Eyes going wide, I held up a hand to stop her there. “Wait. You showed me those books?”

Smiling, she nodded. “Where there is water, there is me. As long as you were around water, I could see you when I wanted to, so that day, I was swimming alongside you. It wasn’t until you looked in my direction that I realized you could see me. Or rather, see something.”

I slowly bobbed my head, mumbling, “I saw a flicker, like a light or something darting around in the corner of my eye. That—That was you?”

“It was. I wanted to show you the books in hopes that you could find someone to decode the old language. Maybe then you could learn how our lost powers work.”

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and fiddled with the blue end of it. “I’m working on it, but we haven’t figured anything out yet.”

She reached across the space and squeezed my hand. “Give it time. I’m hopeful that you’ll be able to figure it out. You’re so strong, Bria. Stronger than I ever could’ve dreamed, and I’m so, so proud of you.”

Fresh tears crept into my eyes, and she seemed to be getting just as emotional. Smiling, she wiped at my tears, then her own. “Anyway, I wasn’t good at becoming water. When your father …” she paused, looking down at her lap. She swallowed hard and seemed to fight the heartache trying to rise up. She cleared her throat and continued, “When your father was killed, I snapped. I was so overcome with grief, the surge of emotion tapped into my powers. Only this time, instead of freezing an ocean or creating a tsunami, I finally did the one thing that had always seemed impossible. I became water.”

I leaned in closer, completely swept up in the story.

“When it happened, I forgot everything. It was like I was lost to the tranquility that the water evokes, which I quickly discovered is the danger of this power when untrained. The water calls to us, asking us to stay, and it’s so calm that you just listen. But doing that can get you stuck here.”

She fell quiet and swallowed hard. “That’s what happened to me. I was so eager to not feel the pain and loss of Khal that I gave into the water’s pull. I didn’t have the drive to fight against it. By the time I realized where and what I was, I was too far gone. I couldn’t get back to myself. I couldn’t resurface. I couldn’t get back to you.”

The knowledge that my mother had been alive all this time but stuck as water had my emotions scattering. On one hand, I was absolutely ecstatic, because she was here. I had her right in front of me—speaking, touching, smiling. But at the same time, it broke me, because she was stuck with no real way back to me or others. She was a prisoner to her own powers, and I didn’t know how to free her.

“Is there anything we can do to get you back?” I asked, my voice coming out thick. “I-I need you.”

“Dewdrop,” she whispered, grabbing me and pulling me into her arms. She held me tightly as though she feared I’d suddenly disappear. “I’ve tried endlessly to return ever since I became aware of what happened to me. I’m just not strong enough anymore. I’ve weakened after all this time here.”

Refusing to give up, I said, “Maybe we can find answers on how to get you back in those books. Or maybe we can find a way to make you stronger.”

She gave me a soft smile and shook her head. “It took a great emotional explosion to bring me here. It would probably take another to pull me back.”

“But—”

“I’ll keep trying, don’t worry.” She ran a loving hand through my blue-tinted hair. “I’ll never stop fighting to return to you, Dewdrop.”

---