Page 95 of The Realm That Falls to Her

“Cold iron?” Prince Gawain asks. “You mean that armor they’ve been making?”

He sits down on his bed, looking hopeless. “I don’t know. My father doesn’t share much with me. He says I’m no heir of his, unfit to rule.”

“And yet you were able to distinguish friend from foe,” says Lord Sunshard kindly. “Something your father is unable to do. And it just might cost him his kingdom, as well as his life.”

The young prince seems stricken. “He said there’s a battle coming, but this isn’t Styrland’s fight, is it? And yet he’ll send our soldiers to die. How can I stop it? My father won’t listen to me, no matter what I say.”

“You’ve helped us a great deal,” Ruskin says. “If we can stop my mother, then your kingdom should be safe.”

The prince looks unconvinced, and my heart goes out to him. He’s right to worry for his people, but it’s the woman pulling the strings who we have to focus on right now.

“We should hurry,” I murmur to Ruskin. “We might not have much time before they uncover the stone.”

We leave Prince Gawain, but as we exit the castle I find myself wondering about the boy, asking how even the glimmer of honor I saw in him today has survived Albrecht all these years. I hope he can hold on to it through the trials ahead.

General Sunshard suggests we try the common gate, and Ruskin portals us to the Kilda. This time I prepare my father before he experiences Ruskin’s magic, but it worries me how he seems so numb to it all, even when Ruskin touches his filthy clothes and cleans them in the blink of an eye. He’s been distant ever since Mom died, but this is a new level.

“He probably just needs time, Ella,” Ruskin murmurs to me as we walk between the golden-leafed trees. “He has seen a lot that separates him from the man he was. The journey back may take a while.”

I hope he’s right, glancing over my shoulder to where my father is trailing behind. I’d think it strange that I have space in my mind to worry about him and the founding stone at the same time, but to me, they both feel as important. Losing the battle for either is something I’m not willing to consider.

There’s a cracking of twigs somewhere between the trees, and quicker than I can turn, the Sunshards have their weapons raised.

“Could it just be some humans?” Destan asks.

“No humans come into the Kilda,” I say, my skin prickling.

There’s movement among the trees, and then a head pops out between two trunks.

“They mustn’t hurt Tesha. Tesha is her friend.”

The owner of the high, reedy voice steps swiftly out into the open. Wispy white hair crowns her pale, blueish face, and her large, dark pupils stare out at us.

“Whose friend?” asks Destan, bewildered.

“Mine,” I say, indicating the Sunshards to lower their weapons as I step towards the changeling who helped me before, revealing my true name. “How are you, Tesha?” I ask, wondering what’s drawn the reclusive creature away from her home.

“Tesha is fine.” The changeling scratches her long fingers across her bare arms. “But Tesha has seen trouble for her up ahead.”

Ruskin steps up behind me.

“Does she mean you?” he asks. He’s picked up her eccentric speech patterns quicker than I did, and I nod.

“What kind of trouble? Are you here to warn us?”

Tesha seems distracted, her head tilting to one side as her eyes land on the Sunshards. She strides right up to them, looking them up and down intently. General Sunshard goes stiff, immediately on the defensive, but Tesha continues to circle them, looking at them with disconcerting intensity.

“What are they?” Tesha asks Lord Sunshard.

“I beg your pardon?” he asks, sounding affronted.

“She’s…er…asking what you are,” I explain, embarrassed.

“High Fae,” says General Sunshard, then turns to her husband, lowering her voice. “Look at her eyes—she’s a changeling.”

Lord Sunshard’s face shifts to one of understanding. “I see,” he says more kindly. “Yes, we are High Fae, Seelie, to be exact.”

Tesha nods, seeming satisfied with that answer.

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