A man with golden brown hair to match his skin spoke up, “Peter, Alina, take all the time you need. I’m sure you can understand our excitement—and our impatience. Something we never thought possible has happened. You have both been found alive and well. That has to mean something for our chances. No matter what, it will do much to bolster the hopes of the rest.”
Murmurs went up from the others, but the excitement had dwindled. My memory loss had disappointed them.
Eamon cut in, “I will let you all know when the next council meeting is called. For now, we should celebrate this victory and the return of those we had once thought lost.”
At that, another cheer went up, and the wolves joined in with short howls. Nightingale and Archer both freaked out again, but at least the cheers sounded excited instead of foreboding.
“Long live the empress!” someone shouted.
“Love live the empress,” someone else echoed.
A second later, they’d all taken it up. “Long live the empress!”
They repeated it, growing louder and louder as they went.
My cheeks heated, and I tried to plaster some regal expression over my own embarrassment, but it just wasn’t happening.
Finally, the chant began to dissipate, and I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Let her speak,” someone tacked on, silencing the last holdouts of the group cheer.
Immediately, everyone’s mouths shut and their gazes swung to me.
I could swear the silence echoed.
“Um.” I swallowed, resisting the urge to look at Eamon or Peter or even Xander. Instead I faced the crowd and summoned the dregs of courage that had somehow been planted inside me thanks to Peter’s constant pep talks about my future.
“Thank you for the zealous welcome,” I said and someone chuckled.
“Did you really forget who you are?” someone demanded. “Who we are?”
“Well...” I stood straighter, determined now if only so I didn’t disappoint Peter. I could feel his eyes on me, hopeful and nudging. I couldn’t walk away without saying something.
One by one, I looked out over their faces and as I did, something tugged at me.
A connection.
I wanted to belong here, and in this moment, I wanted them to belong to me, too. These were my people. I’d traveled across a galaxy and back again just to find them. Now, all I wanted was to be the ruler they were all hoping for. The kind of empress that could lead them through a war—all the way back to the homes they’d left behind.
I cleared my throat and spoke from my heart. “It’s true. My mother’s last act before Peter and I escaped was to do a memory wipe. Everything that had happened to me, my entire life until that moment, is gone.” Murmurs went around again, but I went on, louder now. “Despite Earth being the only home I’ve ever experienced, Peter made sure to teach and train me every single day, and he never, ever let me forget who and what I really am. I’ve trained my whole life to take my place here with you.”
My heart raced as the full weight of my words settled in my chest. I looked around at the faces and committed each of them to memory so I’d know them the next time I saw them. As I did, the fear faded and, in its place, determination rose.
My voice grew louder with it. “I’ve always known I’d someday return to you. I also know that, now that I’m here, I’ll have to work extra hard to understand this world I come from. To understand all of you. And I can promise you I’m going to do exactly that. Because even though I don’t know your faces, my heart has always felt you out here. Waiting for me. And Goddess knows I’ve been waiting for you.”
My chest ached with how much I meant my words. I found Xander watching me and my gaze locked on his as I went on, “But we’re not waiting any longer because I’ve come home.”
To you, I almost said as I stared at those hard blue eyes I’d seen so many times in my dreams.
I shook the thought away and blinked, refocusing on the rest of them as my first real sense of belonging washed over me. “Today marks the beginning for me. But let it also mark the beginning of the end for Tharos. Together, we will defeat him and we will take back our home.”
As the crowd erupted, for the first time I believed what I’d said. This is why I’d come—to lead us all home.
Chapter Twelve
The cheers and howls were deafening. I had to rush over to keep Nightingale and Archer from trampling each other or anyone else. When the crowd noticed their effect on the horses, thankfully they quieted.
“I think that’s enough excitement for one day,” Eamon said over the dull roar of voices. At his words, they finally went silent again. “We’ll reconvene as soon as we’re able. You’re all dismissed.”
The meeting ended, and the group broke up with most everyone turning to head back through the trail in the trees, this time talking excitedly and stopping to slap each other on the back. Peter went to talk to Eamon, but I stayed with Nightingale. A couple of Zorovians, one man and one woman, eyed me as if they wanted to come speak to me, but they eventually turned and left too.
In the emptying space, I looked around for Xander but he was already gone. Disappointment pricked at my chest. I still didn’t understand him at all. In fact, whatever barrier was between us only seemed to be getting worse.
“Hello, Alina.”
I jumped at the growly female voice coming from a few feet away, and my head snapped around to identify the speaker. A sandy-colored wolf stood behind me. I recognized her from the meeting. She’d been one of the loudest howlers. Up close, her giant green eyes were unblinking and nearly level with mine as her head came up as high as my own.
She was beautiful and graceful and scary.
“Um, hi,” I said.
“That’s right. You don’t remember,” she said almost to herself. “I’m Neila. I served under your parents’ reign. It’s such a relief to have you back with us. Eamon and I have never given up on you, and I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you safe and sound after all this time.”
Neila. The one who’d brought back the old magic.
“It’s nice to meet you. Eamon said you’re the one who made it possible to use the portals. I owe you for that. Without it, we would have been lunch for several Shadows back there.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” she assured me. “But I’m glad you made it. Sounds like you’ve had quite the day already. You must be exhausted. I’m here to show you where you’ll be staying so you can get some rest.”
Like a switch being turned on as soon as my brain heard the word “rest” I became fully aware of my exhaustion. The journey itself hadn’t taken more than a couple of hours, but after coming down from the many adrenaline rushes, I was definitely wiped physically and mentally. “Thanks, that would be great,” I said.
“Good, let me just ask Eamon about the healer for Peter and we’ll go.” She went to find Eamon and stopped on the way to greet Peter briefly before continuing on.
“I thought that went well,” Peter said to me as he walked up.
I scowled. “Let’s just not talk about it, okay?”
“Alina,” he began. “Your speech was beautiful. It—”
“Don’t,” I cut him off. “I’m not trying to be rude, but I mean it. My nerves are shot, there’s no coffee for a billion light years, and if you tell me I did a good job or use the word ‘proud’ in a sentence, I might lose it.” I took a wobbly breath and added, “Let’s just get settled somewhere before we talk about it. Okay?”
Peter’s lips quirked, but he nodded gently in understanding. “Okay.”
I helped him into the saddle and then slid up into my own.
In my head, Nightingale’s worry was loud enough to drown out my own exhaustion. She was wary of heading back out into all the wolf traffic that waited, but we didn’t have a choice.
One more walk, I told her. Then we can rest. And when you wake up, I’ll give you all the apples you can eat.
She snorted. It was the closest to ag
reement I was going to get. I really hoped they had apples here.
Peter and I waited while Neila and Eamon finished speaking. Some of their words reached me, but none of them registered. My device wasn’t translating their conversation, and the cadence of the sounds sounded different from before.
“I don’t know if this thing is working,” I said, fidgeting with the translator in my ear.
But Peter shook his head and waved my hand away. “It’s not the device,” he explained. “They’re speaking in their own language.”
Eamon looked up at me and their conversation cut off sharply. “I have to take care of some council business,” he said. “Neila will show you where you’ll be staying. I’ll see you both later.”
He disappeared into the trees, and we fell into line behind Neila as she led the way back down the path toward town. The streets were less busy now, and the people we did see were much quicker to get out of our way. Word of my speech—or at least my identity—had clearly spread. In a way, it reminded me of Earth. Clearly, there were no secrets in small towns—no matter what planet you were from.
Thankfully, I saw more smiles now and even a couple of waves which I tentatively returned.
“There are five residential quadrants in town,” Neila explained as she led us past a row of houses. “Yours is the quadrant farthest west.” She shot a look over her shoulder at me. “Of course, we’ll work to empty one of the larger homes near the town center as soon as possible,” she said apologetically.
My eyes widened at her meaning. “What? No way. Whatever you have now is totally fine.”
“Are you sure?” Neila asked. “Some of the councilmen have claimed the larger homes but they would be happy to relocate for you—”
“That won’t be necessary,” I assured her. “Peter and I don’t need a lot of space.”
“Well, if you change your mind, we can always move you somewhere else. Anyway, mealtimes are on your own, but the south field contains a variety of vegetables and fruits for open picking. Do you need someone to come and prepare it for you?”
I opened my mouth to assure her we didn’t, but Peter beat me to it. “We’ll manage just fine,” Peter said. “I developed an enjoyment for cooking during my time away.”
“Wonderful,” Neila said and cast a sideways glance at Peter’s arm. “But if that injury prevents you or hinders you in any way from preparing your meals, please let us know and we’ll assign someone to you.”
Peter assured her that he would.
We passed quadrant after quadrant—which I realized now was their equivalent of a neighborhood—all marked off by some sort of signage I couldn’t read. Neila pointed them out as official markers to be used for navigational purposes, which didn’t help me since none of them were written in a language I knew.
We came to quadrant number five, which I knew only because Neila announced it as she made a left onto our street. Thankfully, she led us to one of the first doors we came to. The third, to be exact. I counted to be sure I could at least get that right if I went out for some air.
The houses were super cute, but why did they have to all look the same?
“This is yours,” Neila said, gesturing with a flick of her nose toward the little stone house on my left. “There are two bedrooms so there will be plenty of room for you both, and I thought you would feel more comfortable housing together. I will let everyone else here know that you are not to be disturbed other than by the healer. Eamon assured me she’ll be here in about an hour or so. There is room in the back for the jesups or they can find their own place to sleep. There is no danger to them being out alone in the woods here. Bardawulf has no predators.”
She grinned at that and I shuddered. Of course there were no predators. Neila and her friends had probably already eaten anything that posed a threat.
“Thank you, Neila. For everything,” Peter said. He’d slid to his feet and offered the female wolf a short bow.
“It is the very least I can do, old friend,” Neila told him. “Get some rest and we’ll talk more soon.” Neila headed back the way she’d come.
I dismounted and turned to Peter. “You look exhausted. Go ahead inside.”
“You’ll find a place for the horses?” he asked. The relief already lining his features made my heart ache. I hoped the healer would hurry.
“Of course. But don’t you mean the jesups?” I joked.
“Obviously.” He kissed my forehead and then left me on the sidewalk, disappearing into the gray stone house.
I led the horses through the narrow walkway between our house and the next, relieved to find a back gate wide enough for the animals. The backyard wasn’t big enough to allow grazing indefinitely, but it would be plenty for tonight.
“Tomorrow, we’ll find somewhere better for you to stay,” I told them both, removing their saddles before hunting up some water for them.
A large dirt pile sat off to one side. Beside it, someone had built raised beds for a garden. I wandered closer and spotted a large rain barrel someone had left beside the planters.
Score.
“Water’s there,” I told the horses.
Nightingale responded by heading straight for it. Archer followed. I watched as they both took turns dunking half their faces into the water before gulping large mouthfuls of it.
I smiled, relieved we’d all made it in one piece. After a final stroke of each of their necks, I headed for the house.
If only healing Peter were as easy as finding a rain barrel.
Low voices drifted down the short hallway. I followed the sound and stopped inside the bedroom doorway. Peter lay on a mattress in the center of the room. A woman crouched over him. Dirty bare feet peeked out from the bottom of her long dress—a uniform no doctor on Earth could ever get away with. And her “tools of the trade” spread before her weren’t anything I would have categorized as medical—a broom without the handle, a wooden spoon, and three bowls full of various herbs. One of them was smoking, filling the space with a musky scent that made my head buzz.
But Peter didn’t look concerned.
If anything, he looked more relaxed than he had since before Eamon and Xander had shown up. His gaze flickered from the woman to me and he smiled, waving me forward.
“Alina, this is Mihra,” Peter said. “The healer.”
I straightened, suddenly more alert at the mention of her name. Mihra—the seer I’d overheard Eamon talking about before? The woman turned as I approached and her eyes lit at the sight of me. She pulled back her lips in a strange sort of grimace-smile and sat back, her healing work momentarily forgotten.
“You are the one I cannot see,” she said in a crackly voice.
“Are you sure about that?” I asked, tilting my head. “Because I heard you made some sort of prophecy about me.”
She squinted, studying me, and I fought the urge to look away. Some things weren’t meant to be shared—and I knew intuitively whatever she saw during all her poking around wasn’t hers to see. My skin itched and my muscles tensed as I waited for her to be done.
She blinked—then scowled. “Inconclusive,” she said simply and then went back to work on Peter, scooping a handful of herbs from one of the bowls and spreading it across Peter’s chest.
I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or irritated.
Whatever she did on Peter was much more effective. It didn’t take long for the color to return to his cheeks, and I realized why no one else had been nearly as concerned about him earlier. Either his injuries weren’t as bad as I thought or Mihra was better than I’d given her credit for.
By the time she was done murmuring things over him and massaging his chest, he was smiling. “Thank you, Mihra,” he said as she began packing her things.
“Your injuries were superficial.” She waved him off. “Once the darkness is rooted inside you, there is not much I can do. You were lucky.”
Peter nodded gravely. “I know.”
She stood and snapped her bag close. “A
nd you.” She rounded on me. “Watch him. Don’t let him get hurt again.”
“Me?” I blinked.
“Don’t give me that helpless look,” she snapped, her crackly voice a direct contradiction to the knowing look in her eyes. “What’s inside you is more than enough to keep him safe. To keep all of them safe.”
My breath caught. “What exactly is inside me?” I asked.
She huffed, shaking off my question as if it weren’t worth answering. “Plenty,” she muttered, heading for the door.
I opened my mouth, ready to call her back or fire off another question, but she turned back and glared at Peter. “I still don’t agree. And my assessment hasn’t changed. Drink plenty of fluids and call me if you hear any whispers.”
“I will,” he promised. “Thank you,” he said again.
She swatted a hand at him then turned and left.
“Peter?” I asked after the front door had opened and closed.
“Not tonight, Alina.” He sank lower against the mattress, settling in. Already, his lids drooped. “Please.”
I sighed, dropping it for now.
He was right. We’d done all we could with this day. What was left could wait.
Tucking a blanket around him, I waited until Peter fell asleep before heading to the other bedroom at the far end of the hall. This room was slightly smaller but furnished the same as the first. A mattress in the center of the room. A small dresser beside it. A singular high window.
It was more than enough for me.
I stopped only long enough to shed my clothes before crawling in between the cool sheets. Up until now, I’d managed to keep the exhaustion at bay but now, here, alone in the darkness—safe—I couldn’t fight it off.
That speech had drained me. Or maybe it was the wormhole travel before that. Or the near-death encounter with a monster of darkness before that. Or maybe it had been the whiplash of meeting my once-betrothed childhood sweetheart only to fall for him all over again and then get the cold shoulder from him the moment he’d brought me home.
The Girl Who Called The Stars (The Starlight Duology Book 1) Page 11