Bronagh’s stomach sank to her toes as a light erupted around her. She clutched the trunk handle as if her life depended on it. Because it did. And not just her life. The lives of all her fae rested on this one chance to return to Lenya with enough magic to protect them from the immediate threat of the fire plains.
Without warning, the ground rushed up to greet them, but a small tug somewhere around her navel slowed her descent, and her feet touched the ground gently.
“That wasn’t so bad.” Toby glanced around, as if he magically transported himself to new lands every day. “It’s rather hot here, isn’t it?” He fanned his face with his free hand. The other held the trunk suspended between them.
“I don’t think she’s breathing.” Imogen lunged for Bronagh. “Your Majesty, are you all right?”
Bronagh couldn’t seem to remember how her lungs worked, and it took her a moment to suck in a breath.
“There it is; she’s fine.” Toby patted her shoulder in a soothing gesture. “It’s never a fun way to travel if you’re not used to it.” He eyed the bleak countryside. “Any idea if we’re where we’re supposed to be?”
“We aren’t in Grima, that’s for sure.” Imogen wrinkled her nose. “It don’t smell right, does it, your Majesty?”
Bronagh shook her head. “Vondur.” She pointed across the dry, cracked ground, where a well-traveled road stretched into the distance. Turning, she squinted into the bright afternoon sunlight. It was disconcerting to leave one place at dawn and arrive at another in the blink of an eye to find it nearly dusk with a blazing hot sun. “That way.” She pointed to a hillside, where the road disappeared. “The palace is just beyond the crossroads.”
“Do you think they’ll receive us, Majesty?” Imogen bounded beside her queen, eager to help carry the trunk, but Bronagh wouldn’t let it out of her sight.
“We have a peace treaty with Vondur now.” Bronagh picked up her pace. “They will honor it.” At least, she hoped. They had much bigger worries than an age-old war no one wanted to fight anymore.
Dust kicked up just beyond the hill. “Let’s hurry.” Toby matched Bronagh’s pace. “Maybe we can hitch a ride.”
Bronagh smiled at the strange saying. “You’re not at all like your sister in so many ways, but in others, you’re the same.”
“Mom says I’m her quiet, even-tempered child.” Toby shrugged. “I think that’s Mom talk for I’m her favorite.”
A troop of scouts trotted along the road, kicking up more dust. Bronagh was sweating and eager to get out of the baking hot sun. The ground crunched beneath her feet, and she swore the bottoms of her shoes were melting.
“Hail there!” a soldier called out to them. “Do you seek refuge from the burning lands?”
Bronagh shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up to see a mixture of Vondurian and Grimian uniforms. She smiled at the sight. “I am Bronagh Agnew, Queen of Grima. I have returned from Iskalt with Prince Tobias O’Shea. We must speak with Princess Eavha Dagnan right away.”
“Your Majesty, you made it!” A young officer slid from his mount. “We’ve been worried sick for your return.” He led his horse across the hard ground to her side. “Please, take my mount. I will carry your trunk.”
“I would keep it with me if you please.” She passed the trunk off to Toby and pulled herself up into the saddle. “I’ll tie the trunk to the back of my saddle, but could my companions also have a horse?”
“I’ll ride with Imogen.” Toby smiled and thanked a soldier for lending him his horse.
He pulled Imogen up to sit behind him, and Bronagh led the way down the worn road to the crumbling castle, where she hoped they could all work together to defeat the fire plains before it was too late.
“Bron? Is that you?” A shriek of excitement echoed from the ramparts, where a leather-clad Eavha leaned over the parapet to get a better look. Her pet rested on her haunches beside her.
“We have returned.” Bronagh beamed at the young girl. “And what a tale I have to tell you!”
“Who is that with you? Is it Tia?” Eavha gasped and ran across the wall to the tower steps that led to the courtyard.
“Well, I can’t wait to tell my sister someone thinks she looks like me.” Toby ran a soothing hand over his horse’s mane and urged her into a trot.
“Eavha is more exuberant than observant.” Bronagh laughed. “But she grows on you. She also adores your sister.”
“And she has a very large cat chasing her.” Toby’s eyes shot up as they entered the courtyard and the princess came darting down the stairs to meet them.
“Sheba, don’t freak out our guests.” Eavha made the big cat sit before she came to greet them.
“I have so much to tell you.” Bronagh slipped from her mount, reaching back to release the trunk from its binding.
“Did you find it? Is my brother okay?”
“Iskalt? Yes. And it’s beautiful. Keir is still there with Tierney and the rest of her family.”
“They’ll be in Fargelsi by now.” Toby dismounted and turned to greet Eavha. “Hi there, I’m Tia’s twin brother.”
“Toby?” Eavha’s jaw dropped open, and she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around him. “I didn’t think I’d ever get to meet you.”
“It’s a pleasure, Princess Eavha.” He released her and gave her a small bow. “I won’t be with you long. I’ll need to return to my family once the moon rises.”
“The moon?” She turned questioning eyes on Bronagh.
Bronagh just shrugged. “Let’s go inside, and I’ll tell you everything.”
“We don’t have the luxury of time, I’m afraid.” Eavha looped her arm through Toby’s and the other through Bronagh’s. Imogen followed them with the chest of priceless crystals. “The fire plains are upon us, and we’re losing the battle. Most of Lenya is lost, and we’re surrounded now.
“How many have we lost?” Bronagh was afraid to hear the answer.
“Too many to count.” Eavha guided them into the palace and straight to the throne room, where most of the Vondurian court were in attendance.
“Leave us,” Eavha called to the room. “I will be in the council chambers with Queen Bronagh and Prince Tobias.” She marched across the room, careless of the whispering.
Bronagh sent Imogen with a maid to get settled comfortably and have a proper meal. She was clear that the girl must be cared for as if she were a princess herself. As far as Bronagh was concerned, the girl would never want for anything the rest of her life … however long that might be.
When they were alone in the small hall behind the throne room, Eavha threw her hands up in the air. “I hope you have the answers to all our problems in that powerful trunk of yours because just the feel of it is terrifying.”
Bronagh flipped the latch and opened the trunk filled with the most potently powerful crystals anyone in Lenya had ever seen.
“Oh my.” Eavha sank into the nearest chair. “I’ve never felt so much power from one little box.” She clutched the totem around her neck. “I wouldn’t even know what to do with them.”
“We’re going to have to figure it out. It isn’t just about Lenya and the fire plains anymore. It’s happening on the other side too. They call places like the fire plains vatlands. And they’re all expanding.”
“My family and the royals from each of the four kingdoms are hard at work searching for a solution.” Toby reached for a crystal from the trunk. “Our magic is different. We don’t need such vessels to reach it, but none of that matters. Iskalt, Fargelsi, Eldur, and Myrkur are all your allies now.” He handed Eavha the crystal, but she shrank back from it.
“I couldn’t … it’s too much. I wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
Toby smiled, placing the crystal back into the box. “We will work together to find a solution. But I must leave you tonight. Now that I have visited Lenya for myself, I will return once we have more news.”
“I have some news myself. I fear you’ll never believe me.” Eavha eyed the crystals, moving to sit at the large wooden table near the windows. “You’ll want to sit down for this.” She set a key on the table. It was an old-fashioned kind of key made of silver and set with blue sapphires.
“Keir gave me this key before he left. It unlocks a small chamber in the king’s rooms. It contains all the knowledge of ancient Lenya.”
“Like a library?” Toby leaned forward. “We have lots of experience with ancient libraries.”
“Not a library. A book. A journal really.” Eavha’s brow furrowed. “A journal of all the kings of Vondur, all the way back to the very first one. But it goes back even further than Vondur. It has histories of every ruler of ancient Lenya. I’ve studied the book night and day, looking for answers, and I thought I found it. This has all happened before. I think it’s how our kingdoms came to be isolated from yours.”
Toby nodded. “We’ve found similar histories.”
“There was one line I read.” Eavha leaned forward. “It spoke of how the fire plains came to be and how they were controlled. When our people retreated to this side of the plains, they were fleeing in much the same way we are now. But they were able to stop the spread.”
“How?” Toby and Bronagh both hung on her every word.
“There was a spell of some sort, but it was in a language I didn’t recognize.”
“May I see this book?” Toby asked.
“That’s just it.” Eavha shook her head. “It disappeared.”
“Someone stole it?” Bronagh asked.
“No. It vanished. Right from my hands, like magic. Like real, honest-to-goodness magic. One moment it was there, and the next it was gone. I know I can’t expect you to believe such a thing, but—”
Bronagh held her hand up to stop her. “I’ve seen enough strange things since I left Lenya. I believe you.”
“What are we going to do, Bron?”
“We’re going to use these crystals and put our best soldiers and magic wielders to the test. We’ll do the best we can with what we’ve got.”
“And I will be in touch with more news as soon as I’m able.” Toby took Bronagh’s and Eavha’s hands in his. “We are all in this together.”