Page 133 of Fae Reckoning

A dragon rumbled loudly, and when I found Einar’s big, dark, knowing stare on mine, he said,

The massive black dragon pretended to be more interested in a nearby dragon licking its tail and uttered a mysterious, as answer enough.

“See?” Xeno said with an observant glance at Einar. “We’ve got your back. Even if your mom goes, we’ll be here for you.”

My smile was tremulous. “Thanks, X, I mean that.” I exhaled. “I just really want a chance with her. After all we’ve been through—okay, after all I’ve been through—I wanna have a mom.”

His hand was back around my arm, tugging me close. “We don’t always get what we want,” he said, suddenly stoic, and I had to tamp down the instinct to apologize for finding love in Rush when Xeno had wanted me to find it with him. But I’d never apologize for loving Rush. And Xeno wouldn’t want me to anyway, not really.

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t make the best of things,” Xeno said, squeezing my arm. “There’s always good with the bad, isn’t there?”

“With Talisa gone, much more so now.”

“No shit. She was … beyond words awful.”

“I thought she’d never die for a bit there.”

“Me too.”

“But now she’s gone.”

“Yep, she is. It’s time for new beginnings. Time to make up for all that pain.”

“That’s why I want my mom to stay,” I whispered.

“But maybe that’s why she needs to go.”

An unfamiliar goblin with the pointy ears of a male tugged on my dress, which loosely resembled a tunic that I wore over tight breeches as a compromise between the tradition of my station and practical comfort. I glanced away from the numenit I’d been speaking with and down with a smile at the goblin. After many generations of abuse at the hands of royals, most of the goblins were still learning to trust their newfound safety. Like everything else in Embermere, it was a work in progress.

“My queen?” the goblin said in a scratchy voice.

“Yes? What is it?”

“The goblin Edsel Vernine Rockear of the Ashburn clan is requesting Her Majesty’s immediate presence in the healing ward.”

My heartbeat raced.

“Will Her Majesty like me to lead the way?”

“No, that won’t be necessary, thank you. I know the way well enough.”

Although the days had been busy as Rush and I, with the assistance of our trusted friends, labored to course correct, I’d made a point of visiting my mother every day. She was waking regularly now, but she’d had only the one occasion of lucidity, and then she’d requested the mercy of death.

My flat-soled boots flew across the floor as I ran. When I pushed open the door to the ward, several fae bowed to me, but I had eyes only for my mother and Edsel at her bedside.

The scar across the bridge of his nose was deeper than usual with the furrow of his brow. “She asked for ye.”

I rushed past rows of beds and their convalescing occupants. My mother was in her bed as usual, unable to rise on her own. Her form was still—ever so still—when her head finally turned my way—too slow.

Her eyes were glassy and dazed, but there was an alertness there that I latched on to.

I sat on the bed and took her hand in mine; it was cold and clammy.

My eyes stung but I forcibly blinked back the tears that threatened to roll. “Hi … Mother.” By the Ethers, I hoped there’d be a chance to learn to call hermom.

She smiled, and though it was brittle and weak, my heart soared.

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