Faelara’s face was inches from hers. Lines of concern creased the woman’s creamy skin. “What was real, darling?” She handed Taryn some tea. “You were screaming. What happened?”
Taryn took a long drink, trying to recall what she’d seen. “A man. Rykoto. He—” She stopped, eyes wide. “Oh my God. He broke the seal!” She grabbed Rhoane’s hand. “He broke the seal, Rhoane.”
He was shaking his head. “That is impossible, Taryn. It was only a vision. None of it was real. What did he say?”
“I… He…” She put her hand to her head. The flurry of visions continued unabated. “I saw the war. The one you told me about, with the gods. My sword sealed him away, and now he wants out. What they did to Julieta…” Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. “It was horrific. Rhoane, he showed me the rape. Said he would consume me, that I was his.” Her body trembled hard enough to clatter her teacup on the saucer.
Faelara removed the china from her hand and stroked her hair, making comforting sounds. Her Mari embraced Taryn, but it wasn’t enough to keep out the chill in her heart.
“He’s using Valterys to do his bidding. And he called me the Eirielle. He showed me things. Terrible things. He wants me to kill people.” Taryn rose and paced around the room. She looked at Rhoane, eyes brimming with tears. “He said I’ll destroy the Eleri.” She fell to her knees. “Oh God. I don’t want this. I don’t want the power to kill people.” She hugged herself, rocking back and forth.
Rhoane knelt beside her. “Darennsai, you will not destroy anyone. I promise. Not my people, not anyone. You were born for peace and balance. That is your destiny. Rykoto is trying to manipulate you.” He held her close, his heart beating as fiercely as her own. “You know who you are now, but you must believe in what you can do. You are much stronger than you realize.” He leaned back to look in her eyes. “I have always believed in you. So have Fae, Baehlon, Brandt, and many, many others. Our belief is nothing, though. You must believe it.”
“What if I fail?”
“You’re not alone in this, Taryn. We are all here to help.” Faelara sat beside her on the floor. “Drink this.” She handed Taryn a glass of wine. “My darling girl, we’d never let anything happen to you.”
As much as she wanted to believe her friend, it wasn’t true. In the end, it would be Taryn’s responsibility to protect them, not the other way around. She drank the wine in one long swig, handing the glass back to her friend. “I hope I don’t let you down.”
The older woman pulled her into a protective hug. “You could never do that.” She held Taryn until she relaxed into her embrace.
“I hope you’re right.” Taryn swooned a bit. “What was in that wine? I feel strange.” She tried to focus on Fae’s amber eyes, but they slid across her skin in a most unbecoming way. “You’re all wobbly.”
Faelara motioned for Rhoane to help her stand Taryn up. “I put a sleeping draught in your wine, darling. I thought you might need a good night’s sleep after this evening.”
“Oh, thass a good idea. No more bad guys.”
With Rhoane’s support, they made their way to the door, where Faelara whispered to Rhoane, “I think you should stay with her tonight.”
Taryn’s head rolled back and she said, “I heard that. I don’t need a babyssssitter.” She started to tell Faelara she could take care of herself, but her thoughts were mired in muck inside her brain. Instead, she opened the door and staggered into the hallway.
Once they got her to her rooms, with no small effort on Rhoane’s part, Taryn, fully dressed, collapsed on the bed.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Taryn and Nadra sat on a star, far above Aelinae. Made of the same crystals found in the cavern on Mount Nadrene, fragile spikes branched out from the center of the star in a glittering display of radiating color. Taryn’s heart was light and full of joy as she laughed with the innocence of a child. They gazed down at the oddly shaped planet of Aelinae. Not round as she’d expected, but like a diamond with a flat surface and coming to a jagged point beneath. Where oceans met the planet’s edge, vast waterfalls fell into nothingness. Aelinae had mountains and forests, islands and the sea, deserts and grasslands, but nothing beneath the world. Nothing except dirt and molten lava, as if the underside of Aelinae was one huge volcano.
“Doesn’t it need spherical adhesion? Won’t it disintegrate?” Taryn worried for the inhabitants of the planet, worried for the world she’d only just come to know. Worried for her home.
“Aelinae is a young planet, only about fifteen thousand seasons or so. She is a prototype of sorts,” Nadra explained. “She is as sound as any other planet, I assure you.”
The feeling of lightness made her giggle. She spied Aelinae’s moons, the smaller of the two shadowing the larger, always visible moon. “It doesn’t disappear at all, just hides for a bit. Brilliant.”
To the south, a small island drifted high above a larger island in the Southern Seas. A waterfall cascaded into a pool beneath it. “That must break over a hundred laws of physics.”
“When you are a god, physics is a matter of semantics. I don’t expect you to understand it now, dear one, but someday you’ll have need of this knowledge.” Nadra rested her head on Taryn’s, and wrapped her arms around her waist.
“Why did you send me to Earth with Brandt? Why not let him raise me on Aelinae?”
“There are elements to Earth that are important for Aelinae’s survival. Earth is a dead planet, without much ShantiMari to sustain her. She lives on machinery now. In a few centuries, she’ll be unrecognizable from the world you know.” Nadra smoothed Taryn’s hair and kissed her temples. “Don’t worry about these things, my beloved. When the time comes, you will know what Aelinae needs.”
The happiness that embraced her was all-consuming. Nothing could darken her mood, and she laughed with unbridled gaiety when Nadra sprinkled stardust over her head. Then the goddess whispered through the early morning air. “Awaken, Eirielle, Child of Light and Dark.”
Taryn sat upright in her bed, the feeling of tranquility still cloaking her. The sound of ocean waves crashing against the rocks drifted through her open window. The sky was dark and birds had yet to begin their morning song. Half expecting to find Nadra beside her, she was disappointed with the empty bed.
The last vestiges of the sleeping draught Faelara had given her lingered in her sluggish thoughts. She stretched and nestled deep beneath her covers, recalling by turns her dream and the events of the previous evening. If Rykoto was trying to frighten her, he might have succeeded once, but she would be damned if he ever did it again.
A low growl came from her stomach. She’d had little to eat or drink since lunch the previous day. She stretched again and flicked her wrist, lighting several candles with a thought. When she rose from the bed, she stopped mid-stride, staring at the figure sprawled across the divan.
Still clothed in the silk tunic and leather breeches he had worn the previous night, Rhoane lay with his long legs hanging over the edge, nearly touching the floor. All throughout the room, she could see his ShantiMari woven into powerful wards to protect her.
Her life would never be simple. The path set before her would test her limits in ways she had yet to even conceive. She only hoped Rhoane could withstand the trials, because without him, she would fail. But it had to be his choice. Without an oath or royal command. He had to want to be with her.
She crept from the bed to kneel beside him. His breath came and went in an even flow. His eyelashes fluttered with his dreaming. She brushed a few errant curls off his face, tracing a finger over his slightly pointed ear. He moaned softly in his sleep. She ran her fingers through his hair, liking the way the candlelight caught his golden highlights. When she kissed the corner of his mouth, his lips parted with another moan.
He and Faelara said they believed in her, but what if she failed him? They were linked, bonded by powers beyond her understanding. If she failed, would he die?
She placed a featherlight kiss on
his lips before padding to the sitting room, where she called for a page to send up breakfast. While she waited, she checked the sealed cupboard. Not satisfied with her previous wards, she added several more, with a nastier surprise for anyone who so much as touched the wall surrounding it. A plan was forming in her mind. She would not fail; it simply was not an option.
As she passed a mirror, she caught her reflection and gasped.
Thin strands of silver shone among her dull blonde hair. Stardust from her dream. Her hair was longer, too, reaching to her lower back, and silkier than she remembered. She ran her hands through her hair, uncomfortable with the ease with which Nadra had altered her looks. That the gods could manipulate her features, or enter her mind without her consent troubled her. She was accustomed to living with free will and wasn’t about to give it up for the whims of a few capricious deities.
Just as she finished lacing her breeches, there was a soft knock on the door, and the page entered with their meal. Taryn took the tray from him and placed it on the balcony table. She was pouring their grhom when Rhoane appeared in the doorway.
“It is not even light yet. Are you always this motivated in the morning?”
The sight of him made every nerve in her body dance. “Yes. Especially when I have things to do. Now, sit down and have some breakfast. I’ve been thinking, and I need your help.”
Rhoane took a seat beside her, stretching his legs. “What is so important it could not wait a few bells until at least the birds are awake?” He motioned to the still dark sky. “And why are we out here when you cannot see anything?”
Several songbirds began their morning greetings, filling the air with their trills and whistles.
“You were saying?” she teased and lit several candles she’d placed around the ivy-covered alcoves. “It’s my favorite time of day. Everything is fresh. Anything is possible.”
Rhoane yawned loud enough to wake the sea king, shaking his head. “Then by all means, share whatever it is that has you so motivated.”
Even on the road, Taryn had not seen him so disheveled. He’d never complained of the early hour before, or spoke in grumpy tones. She took her seat and sipped some grhom, easing into her planned conversation, allowing him to wake up before showing him the looking glass.
“I was thinking maybe I’d visit the library and see if I can find more information about the prophecies. They might help direct me in my path.” Rhoane nodded absently and she took that as a good sign. “Then I was thinking I might want to sit in on a few Privy Council meetings.” At his look of alarm, she added, “Not right away, but sooner rather than later. I can’t possibly understand everything that’s going on, but I have to start somewhere.”
Rhoane swallowed a bite of his eggs. “Just remember, there are those in power who will try to use you. They are clever, these courtiers. Do not be deceived by their false grace.”
“Trust me, I know. Now that I have a crown, they’re all going to want to be my best friend. That’s why I want to observe at first. Get a feel for how they work. I’d also like to tour as much of Aelinae as I can to learn about the various races and cultures.”
“Lliandra will never allow it. A tour like that will cost too much and right now she cannot spare the coin.”
“Who said she was invited?” Taryn said around a sip of grhom. “I was thinking maybe an extended trip with just you and me. Baehlon and Faelara, too, if you think we need the protection.”
Rhoane shook his head with a devious smile. “Your mother will not like the idea, I can guarantee it.”
The sun was breaking over the horizon when Taryn took a deep breath and pulled the looking glass from her pocket. “Okay, fine. We’ll table the trip for the moment. But there’s something you need to see. You aren’t going to like this.” She eyed him skeptically. “Show me the intruders.” The glass glowed to life, showing Marissa moving through Taryn’s rooms.
Rhoane’s gaze was tempered, but his jaw tightened, his nostrils flared.
“There’s more.” The ball flicked to Zakael entering her room through the secret doorway. When he stood over the sleeping Taryn, Rhoane’s fists clenched. When Zakael brushed his lips over hers, Rhoane pushed away from the table.
“Enough.” He paced along the balustrade. “What madness is this? To enter your rooms? To accost you so?” He spun around, looking at her, his glare accusatory. He kicked his chair closer to the table and sat back down. “Show me the rest.” The ball sparked again, showing Zakael trying to break into the warded cupboard. Rhoane exhaled slowly. “Why wait until now to tell me?”
“I was going to tell you yesterday right after it happened, but then we were training and later, in the orchard, it slipped my mind.”
“Slipped your mind? Something this important? So that is why he left in such a hurry.”
“He’s gone? Where?”
“Back to Caer Idris, for all I know. He and Valterys departed while you were at the beach.” Rhoane gave her a sidelong glance. “I found out last night before we met at Fae’s.”
A pang of rejection sucked at her heart. Valterys, her father, had left without saying goodbye. She tamped down the feeling and said brightly, “I wonder how Zakael explained his hands.”
“I am sure he will be wearing gloves for a while. That was very clever of you.”
“Thank you.” Her tone became serious again. “Rhoane, Marissa knew exactly where to look for the seal. That means she’s been spying on me the whole time. What should we do?”
He poured the last of the grhom into their cups and said, “We need to secure your rooms, and then I am afraid we must tell the empress. She will not like what she sees.”
“Will you find out when Lliandra has time to see us?”
He stood and nodded, pulling her to him. His lips were on hers before she could stop him. She stiffened in his arms. “Is something wrong?”
“There’s one more thing about Marissa I need to tell you. She’s bedding Zakael.”
Anger flashed in his eyes. “How do you know this?”
“Hayden and I found them.” A shudder of disgust went through her at the memory. “The first night we arrived in Talaith, but Hayden didn’t know it was Zakael.”
He stepped away from her, and a chill invaded the space between them. “She would not dare.”
Taryn didn’t like the tone of his voice or the feeling of jealousy that pinged in her gut. “He was at Paderau, remember? With Marissa. Rhoane, is there something going on with you two that I should know about?”
“Of course not. My concern for Marissa is that of a brotherly sort. I do not have romantic feelings for her, if that is what you are asking. I just find it hard to believe she would be involved with Zakael in that way. You must be mistaken.”
Taryn glared at him. “You know what, Rhoane? Fuck. You. You’re just like everyone else around here. You think you know what’s going on, and so everything I say must be a lie.”
“I do not understand what you are saying.”
“Of course you don’t.” She moved closer to him, lowering her voice. “You have no idea what I’m going through or how hard this is for me.”
The emotions she’d fought hard to bury deep within her came bubbling out before she could stop them. “Do you have any idea what I left behind? It was amazing and terrible and uneventful in ways you’ll never understand. I had a life. Sure, it was an average, insignificant life, but it was mine. No one told me how to dress, where to go, or who I was going to marry. Then I step into the cavern, and suddenly life as I know it is gone. Done. Over. There are all these expectations now.” She thudded him on the chest. “You, for one.”
She paced the balcony, the words tumbling out. “You’ve had your whole life to get used to the idea that you’ll be stuck with the ‘Eirielle.’” She made quotation marks in the air. “I’ve had one day. For what it’s worth, I don’t take much stock in prophecies and I prefer to make my own destiny, thank you very much.” Forcing herself to take a deep breath an
d stop talking, she climbed onto the ledge and dangled her legs over the side.
Rhoane stood where she’d left him, and she hated him for his inaction. She wanted him to hold her, but at the same time, to leave her alone. Her anger wasn’t for him but for the brutal way she’d been forced into her position.
In a quiet voice, she said, “I’m supposed to protect all these people, but I saw their faces the other day. In the throne room and again on the street during the parade. Some of them fear me, which I can handle, but others hate me.” She looked at him through unshed tears. “I felt it in waves as powerful as your ShantiMari. I’ve never known such hatred—have you?”
She stared at the ocean, longing for the simplicity of her former life. “I don’t know what they want from me, and I’m scared. Of my power, of my feelings for you, of the responsibility that’s been thrust upon me.
“You tell me I’ve got friends who love me and won’t let anything happen to me, but no one protected me the other night. Marissa or Zakael could’ve killed me, and no one would’ve known it was them. How many others out there want me dead? How soon will it be before one of them is successful?”
Saying it out loud did nothing to diminish its potency. Instead, it made her more vulnerable than she’d been before.
“Darennsai.” He climbed onto the balcony ledge and faced her. “Sometimes I forget. In my mind, you have always been here, in some small way. We have spent so many seasons protecting the secret of your existence and now to have you returned—it is what we waited for, for so long.” He touched her face with his fingertips, and warmth bloomed under her skin. “It is easy to forget that you knew nothing of this world. You are so strong and confident.” He shook his head. “I suppose I did not want to admit that you might be frightened. That was ignorant of me.”
He looked to the sea, his face a mystery to her. “We are all afraid, Taryn. The empress, Faelara, Myrddin, myself. Underneath the everyday life on Aelinae, there are cracks forming that, if left unchecked, will tear this world apart. Someday you will see for yourself and understand what I am talking about. Until then, it is our job to prepare you for what is to come.” His shoulders sagged as he sighed. “I wish I could tell you what that will be, but I do not have the gift of foresight. I have accepted my path and never once have I thought that being by your side was akin to being ‘stuck with you,’ as you say.”
The Stones of Resurrection Page 27