by Kristen Pham
“I love you, Dad,” she said. She forced herself not to beg him to live, because she knew he couldn’t control that. She struggled not to let the horror and pain inside her be reflected in her words. “Do you think you’ll find Mom in the ether?”
“I know I will. As you and Henry will find us both one day,” he said, and the faith in his voice held back the darkness inside her a little bit. “Tell Henry I love him more than I had the right to.”
“I will,” she said, unable to keep tears from clogging her voice.
“And I love you, Valerie, my daughter…” Oberon’s voice faded, and she turned her head up in time to see his last smile.
Chapter 33
Drained of hope, and light, and love, Valerie was oddly peaceful lying with her head against her father’s chest. She could shut her eyes and sleep, and with a little luck, Reaper would make sure she never awoke. But she didn’t.
Instead, she forced herself to her feet, refusing to look at her father again. She wanted her last memory of him to be of his smile as he’d said her name and called her Daughter for the last time.
She did pause before Reaper’s unconscious body after she’d picked Pathos up off the ground. She would dearly love to grant him his wish right then and end his life. For a long time, she stood with her blade pressed against his throat, but finally she sheathed Pathos and turned away.
Her legs were wooden as she walked out of the castle, and the world looked surreal. Light and dark seemed to contrast each other more than usual, and the few bright colors, like the smear of Oberon’s blood on her arm, were more brilliant than normal. When she opened the huge doors at the front of the castle and light speared the shadows, she had to squint her eyes to see.
She’d thought there would be a token group of Fractus there to defend the castle and its master, but it was deserted. A corner of her brain registered that she hadn’t seen Venu in the battle, but if he was guarding the castle, then he’d obviously decided to hide when his master collapsed.
She remembered her last battle in front of the Black Castle, and it seemed like a dream. Back then, though she’d doubted herself, she’d had hope. Her father lived, and she would find him. Her days of being an orphan were over.
Wiping the last of her tears from her cheeks, Valerie trudged toward the Oasis, which was a little part of Dunsinane that was protected from the Fractus by lingering magic from an ancient war.
Time was irrelevant to her, though a burning sensation in her throat made her idly wonder if she was thirsty. When she reached the Oasis and dropped to her knees by the little lake there, she began frantically scooping water into her mouth, hardly aware of what she was doing. It was as if her body was acting on its own to keep her alive while her mind struggled to function.
After she drank, she lay on the bank, water soaking her clothes. Valerie reached out for Henry, so that he would know she was alive, before she let her mind slip into oblivion. His relief registered before her body shut down from exhaustion.
Someone was gently shaking Valerie awake, and she squinted into the light that was burning down on her. She’d had a dreamless sleep, but the knowledge of what had happened never left her. Waking up only meant that now she’d have to deal with other people, too.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Henry said. “I was with you the whole time, even though you didn’t know it. I tried to help.”
Her vision cleared, and she could make out the details of his face. His eyes were so sad, and she saw little creases around them. Was it possible for a seventeen-year-old to already have wrinkles? It reminded her of how he’d had gray in his hair until the Glamour Guild had turned it all black for him. Without realizing it, she touched the gray streak in her own hair.
“Then you know about Dad,” Valerie said, her voice scratchy.
The first dagger of pain made its way through her haze of numbness. Henry had lost two fathers to this war with the Fractus. Even if he’d never acknowledged Oberon as his father, the two had become closer. Valerie suspected that Henry was growing to love him, too.
“It’s just the two of us, now,” he said, and his voice cracked.
Valerie didn’t know how it happened, but the rest of her numbness fell away all at once at his words, and she cried in her brother’s arms, sobs racking her entire body.
After a while, their emotions spent, they sat next to each other, staring blindly at the water, which sparkled in the bright sun. Valerie began to remember that there were more people in the world, but she was afraid to ask about how the rest of the battle with the Fractus had played out.
“Everyone’s okay, for the most part,” Henry said, answering her unspoken question. “They’re here, when you’re ready to see them.”
Valerie brushed some sand off of her face and nodded. Henry stood and raised his hand, and a group of people came running toward them. Cyrus reached them first, gripping her hard against his chest. Over his shoulder, Valerie saw Thai staring at her, his hands clenched as if he had to physically fight to keep from holding her. She squeezed her eyes shut so that she didn’t have to see the conflicted pain on his face.
Valerie pulled away from Cyrus and turned to see that Dulcea, Jack, Elle, and Will had all come with Henry.
“Where’s Kanti?” she asked, panic spiking in her.
Henry shrugged, and a stubborn, stony stillness transformed his face. She couldn’t believe after everything that had happened that he was still angry with her, but she didn’t have the energy to talk about it with him now.
“I saw her after all the fighting was over, and she’s okay,” Cyrus answered. “She left to call her parents, and when we headed out to come get you, we couldn’t find her. She probably crashed in the dorms.”
“Which is where we all should be,” Dulcea said firmly.
Valerie was infinitely grateful as Dulcea took charge of the return trek back to Arden, first feeding them a meal that she’d hastily packed in a call box, and then organizing the hike back to the outpost of the cities in the trees that was on the fringes of Dunsinane.
They climbed the tree that led to the world of the People of the Woods, and Cerise waited for them at the top. When Valerie ascended the platform and stood, she knocked over again when Emin barreled into her to give her a hug.
She dropped to one knee to hug him back.
“Ow, you’re squeezing too hard,” he said.
“Sorry,” Valerie said, forcing her tears not to spill.
“That’s okay. Mom made me miss the battle, or I would have helped you!” Emin said, his eyes alight. “But I saw you with your sword, and you were so brave!”
Valerie couldn’t stand to see the hero worship in his eyes, so instead she met Cerise’s gaze. “Since you’re here to escort us, does that mean Elden…”
Cerise shook her head. “He lives, so he is luckier than many.”
Valerie forced herself to ask the question. “How many died?”
Thai slid his hand into hers and squeezed before quickly letting go so Cyrus wouldn’t notice. “Seventy-four fallen Conjurors, and a hundred and nine Fractus.”
“In addition to nearly a hundred Fractus who have been taken prisoner,” Cerise added. “Gideon and his Knights have jailed them in the Justice Guild. It was a narrow victory.”
But the idea of so many dead could never be a win in Valerie’s eyes. It was a bloodbath. What a child she’d been before this battle, believing that only a few might fall. She couldn’t absorb the magnitude of the loss of life. Thinking of it opened a gaping hole in her heart that nothing would ever fill.
“Everyone says you’re a hero, Val,” Cyrus said gently.
His words burned, and she couldn’t even look at him.
“Then they don’t know what a failure I am,” she said. “The Byway is destroyed, and Reaper still managed to open a portal to Earth. He can send whatever remains of his army there at any moment.”
Cerise’s sharp intake of breath was the only sound that followed Valerie’s
words, but she could see from her friends’ expressions that Henry had already told them as much.
Valerie’s knees were shaking, and Thai’s arm slid around her waist to steady her. Until his arm was there, she didn’t realize that she needed his support to remain standing. She saw Cyrus register Thai’s gesture, but he didn’t say anything.
“Yesterday was no victory, then,” Cerise said, but she’d already regained her composure. “It was the beginning of a war.”
In order to face the day ahead of her, Valerie remembered a technique Gideon had once taught her. She locked her pain into a box in her mind so that she could continue to function. But that didn’t affect her physical exhaustion, and as they made their way over paths through the trees, weariness nearly made Valerie stumble. A slender hand caught her before she fell.
“Elle,” Valerie said, registering the Empath’s presence with surprise.
Elle’s usually composed face was tense. She glanced around as if to reassure herself that no one was walking close enough to overhear them. “I have sought you out because I do not wish to worry Henry over nothing.”
“What is it?”
“Something may be wrong with his girlfriend, Kanti,” Elle said.
Valerie’s stomach lurched. “Where is she? Take me to her.”
“I cannot. When I learned that she had vanished after the battle, I searched for her with my mind, because I know that Henry will never recover without her. Usually she is easy to find—her mind is so open to the world.”
“If you can’t find her mind, what does that mean?” Valerie asked.
“I cannot physically locate her. I did not say I couldn’t find her mind,” Elle said, sounding a little insulted. “It is only that it is a whisper of her usual self, as though she is at a great distance.”
“Could that be because she went home to Elsinore? Maybe it has to do with proximity,” Valerie suggested.
Elle nodded, but she frowned as if she wasn’t comfortable with that assessment. “I would have guessed that she’s farther away than that.”
“Could she be hurt?” Valerie asked.
“I don’t think so,” Elle said, sounding frustrated with herself.
“Kanti’s okay,” Henry said, startling them both. Valerie wondered how long he’d been walking behind them.
“How can you be sure?” Valerie asked.
“I talked to her mom through Dulcea’s mirror when I couldn’t find her after the battle. She said Isabella came to get Kanti, and they’d be home in Elsinore in time for dinner,” Henry said, gritting his teeth slightly. “I guess after our fight, she didn’t think she needed to say goodbye.”
“That doesn’t sound like her,” Valerie said.
“Maybe we don’t know her as well as we think,” he replied, and then walked faster so that he didn’t have to continue the conversation.
“I apologize for worrying you for no reason,” Elle said, and there was a slight flush in her cheeks.
“You were right to come to me,” Valerie assured her. “We can’t take any chances.”
In Arbor Aurum, Valerie visited the wounded that were being tended by the People of the Woods, including Elden. Cyrus’s magic had enabled many Conjurors to live, though the wounds they bore from the battle could never be cured with magic. Like humans who had suffered in war, they would have to contend with disfiguring scars and lingering problems of severed nerves and broken bones. But they survived.
Everywhere they went, people thanked Cyrus. She was surprised by how many gripped her hand, as well, their faith in her unshaken even as the news of her failure to stop the Fractus from sending their army to Earth spread.
“Cy, you’re a hero,” Valerie said. “You saved dozens of lives.”
For once, Cyrus didn’t seem pleased with his position of power and popularity. “Some of them are going to suffer for the rest of their lives, which might be a lot shorter because of their injuries. And I couldn’t save them all.”
“I know. But you saved lives, you didn’t take them,” she said, and she hoped her words gave him a little peace.
Elden was hovering between life and death, and he didn’t respond when Valerie sat next to him. Almost all of the gold had disappeared from his skin. She thought about his family, his daughter, who might have to live without him the way she would have to live without her own father. The thought almost overpowered her, but she forced herself to keep it together.
Valerie leaned down to whisper in Elden’s ear.
“I lost one flower that belonged to you, but I promise to bring you the first bloom of my garden this summer in its place. I know it can never replace what you’ve lost, but it will be a piece of life that I nurtured in your honor,” she whispered in his ear.
A whisper of a smile crossed Elden’s face, and it gave Valerie hope that he’d be alive to receive her gift soon.
Valerie parted ways with her friends to visit the Justice Guild. Inside, she was informed that Calibro was too busy scheduling trials for a personal visit, but Valerie was reassured that the prisoners were in fair hands. The Knights, including Gideon, had already left, returning to their homes and families to recover from the battle.
On her way out of the Justice Guild, Valerie saw Skye talking to Leo. They were disheveled, exhausted, and, in Skye’s case, a little bloody. They clearly hadn’t had any sleep since the battle had ended the day before.
Skye left Leo and trotted to Valerie’s side when he spotted her.
“You fought well. More importantly, you led the Fist well. Without your quick decisions, Arden and all of its guilds would be in the hands of the Fractus today,” Skye said, shaking her hand with his firm grip.
Skye’s words took Valerie aback. She hadn’t considered the repercussions for the Globe if the Fractus had a total victory.
“The portal to Earth is open,” Valerie said, and Skye nodded, unsurprised. “Reaper probably considers the battle his win.”
“Then he is mistaken. Though we were outnumbered, you led us to victory. Because of our success yesterday, we can fight again tomorrow. This was one battle in a war,” Skye replied.
“We can still save Earth,” Valerie said, realizing the truth of her words for the first time.
She could never consider the battle anything other than a horror that she hoped to never revisit, but it gave the slaughter a small piece of meaning, knowing that it happened in service of saving many more lives, human and Conjuror.
“We will define a better future for both worlds, as you say,” Skye said.
“Thank you,” Valerie said, and Skye thumped her on the back once before trotting away.
With her duties done, Valerie was ready to turn her steps home. She was halfway to her house when she remembered that Oberon wouldn’t be there, waiting for her to return. After Midnight had died, she’d decided never to live in the home they’d shared with her again. It was as if, without Midnight’s presence, they had no right to be there.
But this was different. This was the home that her father and mother had built for her and Henry. As painful as it would be to live among the things that reminded her of her father, there was nowhere else she’d rather be. Henry had left his mind open a crack all day so that they could keep track of each other, and she knew that he was waiting for her there.
She also sensed some apprehension coming from him that made her hurry as she got closer. When she entered the house and made her way to the kitchen, she saw why. Sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea, was Claremont.
Valerie drew Pathos from its sheath, though the sound of her blade scraping metal made her stomach hurt. She knew that she’d always associate that noise with death now.
“Valerie, wait,” Henry said, and she paused, realizing that Henry and Gideon were also in the kitchen.
She tried to make sense of the scene, but couldn’t. Still, she sheathed Pathos.
“Hear what Claremont has to say,” Gideon said.
Valerie sat down, and Henry and Gideon both
left the kitchen. It took a while before Claremont would meet her eyes.
“Believe me, this is harder for me than it is for you,” Claremont said. “Keep in mind that no matter what I’m about to say, I don’t like you.”
“Right back at you.”
Claremont fought a brief smile, but then her face turned serious. “I don’t like you, but I hate the Fractus more. If I have to choose between the two of you, I choose you.”
Valerie couldn’t process the meaning of Claremont’s words. “What are you saying?”
“It scares me that the leader of the Fractus is a total nut job,” Claremont snapped. “I’m saying that I quit the Fractus. I’m all for using my magic to help me get ahead, but I don’t want to kill people for no reason.”
Valerie eyed her, not sure if she totally bought Claremont’s story. Claremont huffed in frustration.
“I’m also not suicidal,” she admitted. “Reaper expects us to lay our lives on the line, to throw them away if he says so. I’d like to live to see my next birthday.”
That, Valerie could believe. Something about Claremont’s expression forced Valerie not to dismiss her words. It would be easy to think that her enemy was trying to spy for the Fractus, to get close enough to hurt her, but her instinct for danger wasn’t going off. Still, it didn’t make sense to trust her, either.
“I’m happy you’ve decided not to kill innocent people,” Valerie said, unable to keep all of the sarcasm out of her voice. “But why come to me? Why not hide out till all this is over?”
Claremont gave her a level stare. “Because I want to fight with you. And I’m not the only Knight who wants to leave the Fractus and do what’s right.”
“There are others?” Valerie asked, unable to keep the hope out of her voice.
“Yes. And I’m going to help you recruit them,” Claremont replied.
Chapter 34
The next morning, sounds from the kitchen woke Valerie up. Her heart lurched. It wasn’t Oberon, and never would be again. She turned her head and let her tears soak the pillow. The box she’d tried to stuff her emotions in wasn’t holding. Her loss was too big to be contained. How did anyone put one foot in front of the other and keep on living after something like this?