Page 96 of Galadon
Her golden gaze filled with tears of relief. “I never thought I’d hear those words—any of them. I love you, too, Galadon.”
Peace filled me that we were finally as we should have been long ago.
Kade cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “I know food and drinks were planned after this, but first, we need to visit the ring and artifact site.”
I stiffened. “How do you know about them?”
He lifted his brows. “Do you really have to ask? If it’s relevant to the future and affects my toriq in any way, it’s in mybook. I translated the pages for this particular situation months ago, but I had to wait until you officially bonded to Rayna before I could tell you what I know.”
“It specifically said we had to officially bond first?” I asked, surprised that these words had been written somewhere in a book before I was born. It was harder to take than a seer telling Rayna more recently that we were soulmates.
“Yes,” Kade nodded. “Though I think it was one of the last things I wrote since it was at the end. In fact, I think the prophecy came to me right after they brought the artifact here.”
“Wait.” Rayna came forward. “Who brought it here? What is it?”
“I’ll explain what I can soon enough.”
Aidan, Bailey, Lorcan, and Titan looked confused since they knew nothing about my secret site. I didn’t like that he was speaking so openly about it. “Does everyone here need to know about this?”
“Of course, or I wouldn’t be saying it in front of them. Now, I need the shifters in dragon form so we can go there,” he said, lighting up in flames.
I resigned myself to this latest turn of events and followed his lead. A few minutes later, I held Rayna as I flew west. Aidan had Bailey cradled to his chest, and the rest flew independently. Dread and excitement filled me as we came closer.
For centuries, I’d wanted to know more about the strange objects on my land. My mother had given me some answers, but not enough. Kade was willing to give those, but he’d involved outsiders in the secret. I didn’t understand why he’d do that. If not for all his predictions being vital to those involved, Imight have killed him for revealing the site. Though oddly, the protective urge that usually overcame me when the place was threatened was absent. Maybe it was fated that we meet there now to discuss it.
Everyone followed me until the fairy ring appeared, and we landed next to it. Once again, we shifted to our human forms to facilitate communication. Kade paced the fairy circle with unbridled excitement, muttering observations under his breath that made no sense. The rest of the visitors stared at it in open-mouthed shock.
“What is that thing?” Bailey asked, pointing at it.
I sighed. “We believe it’s a fairy circle. Something that can transport people between worlds, though I’ve never seen it work, and the magic is different from what we have on Earth.”
If she had to know the truth, I’d at least tell her what I knew to waylay answering more questions. We’d have to wait until Kade stopped poking and prying at the embedded stones before we could learn more.
Lorcan’s brows drew together. “Was this here in Texas, or did it cross with you from Kederrawien?”
“My entire territory crossed with me, including the ring and the artifact. They were on this soil six hundred years ago when my mother brought me.” I gestured toward the ground. “I suspect the ring is very old and originated on Earth long before moving with us, but the artifact was brought to Kederrawien a few years before I arrived.”
Kade shook his head as he traced the strange symbols carved on the algodonite. “I believe it was almost twenty years before you came, but you are right about the ring. It’s likely been here for fifty thousand years or more.”
“That long?” Aidan asked his uncle, now studying the zaphiriam metal circle and inlaid stones. “How can you be sure?”
“The oldest books in the castle library were transcribed numerous times, but they recorded the dates of all the previous editions. I found one that mentions a ring on the planet as far back as fifty thousand years, though I believe it was inEur-ope, as the humans call it. I’ve been trying to work that out for months since the war ended, and I could shift my focus to the matter. I cannot confirm if this is the same one or not, though.”
Titan had been staring toward the area where the unusual grass grew. “The artifact is over there, correct?”
“Yes,” I said.
“It feels strange—almost alive.” The shifter began walking toward it.
I didn’t bother to stop him since the deadly flowers died off the week before, and it was safe to navigate again. We followed him as he seemed almost entranced by the site. Just before he reached the grass, he took his boots off and then walked over it barefoot. The rest of us exchanged bewildered looks.
Except Kade, whose gaze lit up. “My tome said a friend of Rayna’s would be sensitive to fae magic. I couldn’t narrow it down since she hardly socializes, and I rarely see her, but I suppose Titan makes sense. Aside from Galadon, he cares for her the most.”
His remark didn’t make me jealous. There was simply no attraction between them like that, and I appreciated that he looked out for her. I would never begrudge her that friendship.
Still, I didn’t understand how it mattered that Titan was sensitive to fae magic. I looked at Kade. “Why would he be mentioned in your tome?”
“He’ll need to be here when the otherworldly visitors come, along with you and Rayna, of course,” Kade said.
