“Any luck?” Keir asked Brea as she approached.
The queen gave a sad sigh and shook her head. “She won’t talk to me. I’m the only one in this entire realm who could understand the power inside her, how it’s shaping her reactions, her emotions, but I can’t help her if she won’t allow me to.”
“You mean she’s even more upset because of the magic?”
“In a way. If we do not control it, it amplifies our emotions. The news is horrible, but it is not her fault. She didn’t know the consequences of such an action. Yet, there’s so much turmoil inside her I’m not sure she’ll be able to see that.”
“Let me try, Mom.” Toby walked toward them through the dark. He’d only arrived a few minutes before, returning from Lenya.
His mom placed a hand on his shoulder. “Honey, I think the best thing we can do for her right now is give her peace.”
“But—”
“Come, let’s get you fed. From what Tia tells me, I’m sure you didn’t enjoy the food in Lenya with all of its spices.” She looked at Keir. “He’s always had a bit of a weak stomach when it comes to spice, like my husband.”
“Mom.” Toby groaned.
Keir was torn between following Toby to get a report on Lenya and seeking out Tierney. The latter won out. Once Toby and Brea were safely occupied and not watching, he walked off into the dark. Pulling a crystal from his pocket, he used it to light his path.
He found Tierney sitting on a sandstone boulder at the edges of Sol Loc, where the water had receded from the banks. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on them. For a moment, she didn’t look like the version of Tierney he knew—the warrior, the fierce princess.
Instead, she was just a girl, one who’d received the worst news of her life.
“If you knew me at all, you’d know I want to be alone,” she said without turning to look at him.
Keir stepped forward, stopping at her side. “It’s a good thing I don’t know you at all then.” He lifted a brow and looked down at her. It was a lie. He’d started wondering if he knew Tierney O’Shea better than anyone else in her life. For one, when she said to leave her alone, he refused to allow her to wallow.
They both stared at the shrinking lake as the silence stretched between them. Finally, when Tierney spoke, her voice wavered like she was trying not to cry. “Do you hate me, Keir?”
“No,” he answered quickly.
“You should. Your fae are dead because of me. Your lands …” Her breath stuttered as it pushed past her lips.
Keir didn’t move. “My fae are dead because our ancestors decided magic was the only way to peace.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Come on. I know you better than that. There’s always another way.” She’d spent months in Lenya with no magic and managed to bring peace to his kingdom for the first time in many years.
At first, he thought she might consider his words, but she shook her head. “Peace has no meaning if there isn’t anyone left to enjoy it.”
“Tierney O’Shea, are you giving up?”
Her head jerked up, and her eyes snapped to his. “No.”
“Really? Because it sounds an awful lot like you are. We’re still trying to pull back the fire plains, and I’m not ready to call it a failure yet. I refuse to believe we came this far only to be stopped by a little magic.”
“A little magic.” She snorted. “You mean all the power of our ancients? They were strong enough to divide the kingdoms, to place the vatlands between us.”
“And you’re stronger.” He lowered himself to the boulder at her side. “We’re stronger.”
“You sound like my Uncle Myles with his undying hope. Stop it. It’s not natural for you.”
Keir bumped her shoulder. “Maybe I’m tired of fearing the worst. Maybe I’m tired of focusing on what’s wrong and want to make things right.”
Tierney glanced away into the dark. “That doesn’t change what I did.”
“No, what your magic did. Aren’t you the one who says it’s like its own being? That you can’t always control it?”
“Yes, but—”
“No, listen. You made a giant mistake. I won’t say you didn’t. But you didn’t set off to hurt anyone.” He pictured his kingdom, how both Vondur and Grima now worked together. If they managed to succeed in fighting off the fire plains, a new day would dawn for all of Lenya.
Tears streaked down Tierney’s cheeks, and she didn’t wipe them away. “But I did. I hurt so many fae.”
Every sob that echoed out of her further cracked his heart. He wasn’t sure when her feelings had become his, but he couldn’t stand how broken she looked. Wrapping both arms around her, he held her against him.
Tierney clutched his tunic, crying into it, her back shaking. “I don’t know how to get past this.”
“You keep fighting.”
“What if I don’t know how?”
Keir smoothed the hair back from her face and pressed a kiss to her forehead, closing his eyes. “You will.” He had more faith in her than he’d ever had in anyone else. Trust didn’t come easy to men like him, but he knew Tierney’s heart. He knew every intention she’d had was of the purest sort.
They sat together for a while, neither of them feeling the need to speak. Tomorrow, they would go back to battling the fire plains, but tonight, it was just the two of them and the dark.
After a while, Tierney’s breathing evened out into sleep. She leaned most of her weight on Keir, and he smiled into her hair. In sleep, she wasn’t sad or fierce, irritating or stubborn. She was just Tierney, free from the masks she wore.
Keir gathered her into his arms and stood. Her head lolled onto his shoulder, her breath warming his neck. The night was hot, his skin sticky with sweat, and yet he didn’t want to let her go. Not now, not ever.
Carrying her through camp, he greeted Brea and Toby with nods. Toby tried to follow him, but Brea held him back.
Keir ducked into Tierney’s tent and lowered her slowly to the bedroll. She murmured something unintelligible, and he smiled. It was so rare he saw her with her defenses down. He could have watched her all night.
On his knees, Keir bent forward, pressing his nose, his lips to the spot right above the corner of her left eye. “I’m not giving up on you, Tierney,” he whispered. “Please don’t give up on yourself.”
Most of the camp was quiet as Keir emerged from the tent. The Iskaltian magic wielders were working at the border of the fire plains while the Eldurians rested. Tierney would be vexed she fell asleep instead of helping, but he didn’t have the heart to wake her.
A single figure sat by the fire, more for light than warmth in this hot climate. Keir had no desire to be close to anything that would add to the heat, but he found himself walking in that direction regardless.
Brandon O’Rourke looked up as he neared. “Ah, our Lenyan friend. I was wondering when I’d finally get to speak with you.” He gestured to the space next to him. “It’s a little crowded out here, but I’ve made room for you.”
Keir glanced around the empty area before lowering himself to the ground. “You’re the one who … er … flew the village here.”
“Yes, yes. Normally, I would be among my books right about now.” He gestured to where the village rose out of the dark. “But I came to speak with my daughter and then was hoping to speak with you.”
“Me?”
“Oh, yes. Lenya is fascinating to me. We did not know of its true existence until the library decided to show us the right materials. You use fire opals as magical totems, correct?”
Keir only understood about half of what the man said. He pulled out his crystal. “We don’t call them opals, but yes, they allow us to harness the power.”
Brandon shook his head, his eyes wide. “Truly amazing. And here we thought the human realm was our most incredible discovery. You sailed here through the stormy seas, I’m told.”
Keir nodded. “They call it the maelstrom and told us it was impassable. It probably would have been had it not been for Tia’s magic returning.”
“The maelstrom. Brilliant.” He stared into the flames, and Keir could practically see his mind turning. “Where would you say this maelstrom was?”
“Far out at sea.”
“Yes, I know that, but did it come upon you while you passed the fire plains?”
“Actually, it was after we got around them, but not long after.”
He smiled, as if he’d known that would be the answer. “I have some theories, young king. I think the maelstrom occurs when the sea and the air around it shifts so suddenly from the extreme heat of the fire plains to the icy blasts of the mountain vatlands. It’s an unnatural phenomenon.”
“Wait, so you’re saying it’s all a part of this magic as well?”
“In an indirect way, yes.”
That meant … “If we succeed in pulling back the fire plains, the maelstrom—”
“Might disappear. But like I said, it is only a theory.”
The implications of such a theory were endless. If Lenya was no longer limited in their use of the seas, it changed everything from fishing capabilities to trade.
A snore came from Tierney’s tent, and Keir looked back over his shoulder.
Brandon followed his gaze. “Is my granddaughter well? I probably shouldn’t have revealed what I’d found.”
Keir couldn’t fault the man for bringing them any and all information he found on the vatlands. “No, she would have wanted to know.” He sighed. “She blames herself for all of this, you know.”
Brandon was quiet for a moment. “Every action we take has consequences. The severity of those consequences comes down to luck.” He paused. “The O’Shea portal magic is both the most powerful and most unknown magic in the fae realm. Tierney has never had much control over it, and her actions were rash and irresponsible.”
Keir was about to defend her when Brandon continued.
“But that girl has done more for the four kingdoms than any other living fae. She was a child when she started correcting our mistakes from long ago, righting our wrongs. Now, it is time for us to do the same for her.
“No one is ever blameless. And no one is ever entirely at fault.” He pushed to his feet. “I think I’ll return to my bed in the village. When Tierney wakes up, tell her she is welcome to an actual room, though I doubt she’ll take me up on it. Stubborn as her mother, that one.” He smiled. “But stubbornness is what saves us all.”
He walked off, leaving Keir alone with the night and his thoughts. For so long, he’d blamed his father for problems in Vondur, he’d blamed himself.
No one is ever blameless, young king. And no one is ever entirely at fault.
They would fix this mistake made by their ancestors long ago. They would defeat the vatlands. And then, maybe everything they’d done would be worth it.
Maybe there would be fae left to enjoy the well-earned peace.