Page 103 of Vale of Dreams

The door opens, and Ysolde steps inside. She warily scans the room before turning her silver eyes to me.

“Sorry I took so long.” I stand and walk over to her. “Did you have any trouble getting here?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” she says. Here, far from where she felt at home, she’s clearly more nervous, and her tone is sharp. She’s not glamoured like I am, and she looks obviously like a demi-Fey.

“Your brother will be here soon.” I gesture at a wooden table and chairs in the center of the room. “Please, sit down.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll remain standing,” she says, leaning against the wall. She’s casual, but I note how she eyes the door, her body alert. She doesn’t trust me. She thinks this might be a trap. Of course she does. I couldn’t expect her to fully trust me.

“Whatever you prefer.” I shrug, sitting back down.

The door swings open, and Raphael steps in, dressed in a gray cloak, his dark hair wet with rain. It’s grown back a little from the rough job they did on it in the dungeons.

My throat tightens when I see him, and sadness sings in my chest. There’s the man who chose Avalon Tower over me.

But he’s not looking at me, of course. He’s looking at the sister he’s missed and longed to see since he was a little boy.

Ysolde stares at him, frozen, then darts forward and grabs him in a desperate hug, her body racked with sobs.

I wait patiently. Time is short, but I have to give them at least a few minutes after all those years. How would it feel to be reunited with a sibling that you grew up with, that you spent so many years missing? I imagine for a moment having a brother or sister.

Raphael’s eyes are closed as he hugs Ysolde. She’s stopped sobbing and leans her head against his chest, tears running down her cheek. Finally, they break apart.

“What happened to you all these years?” Ysolde asks him.

“I will tell you everything,” Raphael says, his voice cracking slightly. “Later, when we’re alone. Nia probably doesn’t have much time.” He glances at me, his eyebrows knit together.

Ysolde sits in a chair next to me. “So, her name is Nia? She told me that you’re a wanted man here. I mean, more than a regular demi-Fey.”

Raphael sits, too, and scrubs a hand over his jaw. “Nia broke me out of their dungeons. The king is looking for me. If it weren’t for Nia, I’d still be there. Or dead.” He raises his eyebrows at me as if apologizing.

I inhale sharply. “I don’t know about that, but you’re right. I don’t have much time.”

I consider asking Ysolde to leave the room. I don’t know her enough to trust her with my cover. Still, I need Raphael’s help, and I need it quickly. And for what we’re about to do, I might need hers as well. “I’ve recently learned that the Fey army is planning a crippling assault on the human military in Scotland.”

Raphael frowns. “Did you alert them?”

“Alert who?” Ysolde asks.

“Avalon Tower,” Raphael says. “Nia and I are agents of Avalon. Did she not mention that?”

Her eyes widen in shock. “You work with the humans? The Pendragons of Camelot?”

“Yes, of course,” Raphael says. “Auberon is destroying both the demi-Fey and the humans. He is our enemy.”

“I don’t need you to lecture me about Auberon, little brother,” Ysolde says sharply. “It’s one thing to oppose the king, and it’s quite another to work with people like the Pendragons.”

“They’re on our side?—”

“This is a long discussion, and you can continue it later,” I interject. “Right now, we don’t have time for a political argument. Ysolde, like it or not, Raphael and I have to stop the Fey army from annihilating the human allies. If we don’t, humanity is lost. You took care of human children, orphans of war. Imagine how many children will die if Auberon gets his way.”

Ysolde rubs her forehead. “How did you find this out, anyway?”

“I’m working undercover.”

“She’s Prince Talan’s mistress,” Raphael says darkly.

I sigh. “Do you want to spill all of our secrets in one day? Leave something for later.”

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