Page 107 of Midwinter Wiles & Valerian Dreams
“But…Val was supposed to be there.”
“I know.” Lark drops his voice. “But I promise you I’ll fight like the kraken to keep you kids, even if I have to do it alone. You know I will. Now hurry before the dew’s gone…”
I jolt at the rush of wings. The hearing! If I don’t wake in time, I’ll be letting Lark down. Missing the play was bad enough, but this would be a thousand times worse. It feels like the dark is squeezing the air from my lungs as I push against it. Why can’t I wake?
“Are you back, Valkie?” Lumi’s voice threads through my barren nightmare.
“Lumi? Where did I go?”
“Only to a deeper sleep as they carried you to the cottage. Lumi did not leave you.”
“I’m still not awake?” The tender spot in my chest aches.
“Not yet. Soon, snowdrop. They are dividing tasks for the counterspell,” Lumi tells me. “The twins and Mikael are gathering sunbeams in a shimmer flask. Katja fetches the dawn dew, and Lark is preparing to take Helkki and Beron to the spring for moonflowers and a gremlin.”
A gremlin? I focus hard. A small, warm hand shifts on my ankle.
Lark’s voice tugs at me, and I reach for it like a tether through the black fog.
“Helkki, bring gloves. We only want the gremlin biting our intended victim.”
Beron’s answering rumble is gruff. “Fantastic. Can’t wait.”
“Aw, just one little gremlin bite and one little teardrop. Our big, tough Head Huntsman can handle it.”
“Try me and find out, Illusionist.” Beron growls back, but with no real venom. Interesting.
Then I hear an old softness in a once familiar voice. “Be sure they’re true moonflowers. Glory moon vine looks nearly identical but would turn the spell into poison,” Taynia says.
Memories press in of nights spent sprawled in front of a fire, talking and sipping faerie wine together. She almost sounds…concerned.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I know the difference.” It’s good to hear Lark trust himself, at least in matters of botany.
More memories come in a wave. The pond, the curse, Lark finding me, thawing me free, Beron and Taynia arriving… Wait, was there a mule?
And the things they said.
They broke through to Taynia. She may still be thawing, but she’s here, helping break this curse. The mother I once knew is in there somewhere, if only she can uncover that forgotten piece.
And Beron… “Wait, Lumi! Did Beron hire Lark and the troupe to stage the distraction on the road? He knew it was fake?”
“Apparently so,” the moon confirms.
“He arranged my escape. He didn’t betray me.”
My eyes burn with unshed tears. Beron might have betrayed his loyalty to the queen, but he upheld his loyalty to me. And maybe he knew Taynia better than she knows herself, sensing she’d regret it. He looked out for me then, and again when he tampered with the potion.
Why was I so ready to accept betrayal and abandonment as my fate? Why couldn’t I believe others would care for me?
Like Lark.
How often has he shown me he cares? From the first day he saved me, lifted me up, taught me skills without ever making me feel bad. Instead, he made me feel valued. Precious…hiskulta.
Lark, who is so selfless and warm-spirited, who laughs and teases, who fixes a sink as easily as he spins the most elaborate illusions.
Lark, who has known who I was this entire time. He showed me more trust and loyalty in keeping my secret than I ever couldhave earned in a century of trying. I’m the one who doesn’t deserve him.
“He loves me.”
