Page 92 of An Honored Vow

So did I.

Vrail met me at Sil’abar. She had found a vacant room secluded enough so we wouldn’t be interrupted.

“How certain are you that this will work?” I asked, biting my cheek. My palms were tacky with sweat as I undid my weapons belt and sat on the cushion Vrail had put on the floor.

Her face fell to a deadpan stare. “You know I only deal in probabilities.”

“How probable is it then?” I gave her the most dashing smile I could manage, but it felt uneven and misshapen on my lips.

Vrail shook her head. “Probable enough for me to try. It will either work or it won’t.”

I swallowed thickly. “No chance that I will see anyone else then?” Nikolai had gotten so much healing from speaking with his mother through Vrail’s gift, but I knew that some of the ghosts who could bewaiting for me would be enough to send me into a spiral of wine-sodden grief.

Vrail’s gaze fell to Brenna’s name on my arm and then herdiizraaround my neck. “No,” she said, more softly than before. “But you don’t need to be the one to do this. I could—”

“I do.” My jaw snapped shut. Vrail was right; anyone could ask Faelin about her past but Ineededto. The weight of everyone’s fate tore at my shoulders, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I would be able to stand. If I fell, how long would it take for the Elverin to tumble with me?

I hoped she could help. Give me answers, yes, but also reinvigorate the part of me that clung to every doubt when our people needed decisive action.

Vrail’s lip twitched but she didn’t argue. Instead, she patted the pillow and gestured for me to lie back. I did, the soft linen caressing my cheek as my head sunk to the floor.

Vrail looked down at me. “Are you ready then?” She held out her hand for me to grasp.

“Yes,” I breathed, clasping my fingers around hers.

Vrail’s magic was not the slow, warm creep of Feron’s mindwalking ability. It was a jolt. I flinched like I’d been hit by lightning, but there was no pain. When I opened my eyes, I was no longer inside Sil’abar.

There were no dwellings encircling the giant tree, only a wide meadow lush with flowers edged by a thick forest in all directions. The wind blew through my short hair, the jagged ends blowing across my cheek as I stood from the soft ground.

Vrail stood beside me. She squeezed my hand and pointed in the direction of the Dark Wood. “I’ll let you speak on your own.”

“Thank you, young one,” a gentle rumble of a voice sounded beside me.

I turned and saw her. Faelin, the first of the Fae, mother to all our kind. Her coiled hair was long and voluminous, tight spirals encircling her striking face. Eyes of liquid gold complemented the rich brown of her skin. Her high cheekbones were only made sharper by the soft, flat bridge of her nose and round, full lips.

I dropped to my knees. “Niinokwenar.”

“One Faemother should not kneel for another. Stand, Keera Waateyith’thir.” She gave me a dazzling smile.

I blinked. “You can speak the King’s Tongue?”

Faelin’s lips twitched. “I can speak whatever tongue my descendants do, for I live in you,” she answered in Elvish.

I stood, the top of my head barely reaching Faelin’s chin. Her shoulder was marked with the same Elder birch branch that was carved into Syrra’s shoulder. The branch of the tree that gave her life.

“Ask what you must.” Faelin turned toward the Dark Wood. “It drains your friends’ gift greatly to keep me here.”

“Thewaateyshirak.” I faltered, trying to catch my thoughts. “You banished them by creating the second sun.”

Faelin’s thick brows furrowed. “I created the shadow sun to lengthen the day and shorten the shadows. But you already know this, Keera.”

I tilted my head. “The story we found in Vrail’s book. You led hunts to destroy their nests. To kill them one by one. But if you had so many gifts, why not kill them all yourself and keep your magic?”

“All magic has its limits.” Faelin took a deep breath. “I had a choice. My powers were great but only great enough to choose between destroying manywaateyshirakat once or weakening them all. Perhaps if there had been more Fae in those early years, I would have chosen differently, but lessening their strength gave every clan a chance to fight them, even when I could not be there.”

“A choice you made with the future Elverin in mind.” I ran a hand through my hair. I was trying to make the same choice, but I didn’t know what gave the Elverin the best chance. “Could it be done again? Would another shadow sun keep thewaateyshirakat bay long enough to end Damien’s reign?”

Faelin lifted her chin. “Perhaps, but that would come with great sacrifice and no guarantee that the Elverin could vanquish thewaateyshirakfor a second time.”

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