Page 108 of Midwinter Wiles & Valerian Dreams
“He does,” Lumi agrees.
“I love him.”
“You do.”
“Why isn’t that enough, Lumi? Why doesn’t he believe it’s enough? Why doesn’t he believehe’senough?”
I hate this.
I hate that the world has made him doubt, and that I never gave him reason not to. I hate that I never told him how I feel, or who I really am, or that I love all of him, no matter what society thinks about it.
“Valkie already knows why. We have seen much these past few fortnights living among the Wilder folk, and Valkie knows now.”
I sigh.
Of course, Lark would never believe I could love him. His own people made him an outcast, forcing him to hide his nature and keep his ears under thatdrowninghat all the time. Even if the Wilder Fae did accept him, the divide between our kinds feels insurmountable. He has no reason to think a Point Fae royal could ever be with a Wild One.
I don’t care about that, though. I’ll fight anyone who tries to tell me I can’t be with him, and that includes my own stepmother.
He’s worth it.
He’s worth whatever it takes. I’m ready to show him the world he deserves to live in, even if it means I have to build it myself, one brick at a time.
“Lumi, can I ask you something?”
“Anything, little snowdrop.”
“Why do the Wilder Fae live the way they do outside the capital? Ylvara has proper homes with walls and hearths. Why do others live in such squalor?”
“There is a law against Wilder structures so close to the capital. Those desperate enough to choose life near the Point Fae can ill afford homes anyway, so they migrate to the capital to survive off scraps and hope. Living in a shanty is only one more abasement on top of many.”
At the beginning of this journey, I would have gasped in outrage. Now, that’s sadly what I expected to hear. The Hinterlands doesn’t treat folk as equal, nor with the respect all fae deserve. No wonder Lark doesn’t expect a Point Fae to stand up for him.
“I need to wake up. I need him to understand, and then I need to change this, Lumi. This land has to wake up too.”
“Valkie will be the spark.”
Maybe, but am I too late?
There’s been nothing but occasional footsteps crossing the floor, the scrape of a chair, and a low hum of movement or voices for too long.
“What’s going on out there?”
“She watches over you,” Lumi says. “Though she pretends not to.”
“Who? Aili? I can feel a little hand on my leg.”
“Her too.” Lumi brightens in my mind. “Though she is not who I meant.”
Taynia.
“She is not so cold as she was, but neither is she accepting yet of the heat inside her. She keeps glancing your way. Taynia regrets, but grief waits close behind it, and she fears to feel it.”
I want to rub at the ache in my sternum, but I can’t move. I hate this.
A small voice draws me back. “Why did you hurt her?” Aili grumbles.
“Oh.” Taynia takes a shaky breath. “I—I thought I had to.”
