Rhen
Ayesha’s usually warm smile quickly faded away as she gently let go of me from her lovingly tight embrace.
“As much as I would love to catch up,” she murmured beside me, “I have news.”
Kol plunked himself down into the chair, appearing to be completely disinterested in what the Solemn Witch had to share. Everyone around him, on the other hand, grew tense with anticipation as they waited for her words.
“Good or bad?” Luka gingerly lowered himself into the chair across from Kol, his face contorted in pain. Kol watched him carefully, choosing to focus on the fox fey rather than our guest.
Both of Ayesha’s white eyes twitched involuntarily. “Some of both. I’ve been in contact with the Seers, and they’ve shown me a vision of the Driech combing through Windlar in search of the cauldron. According to the sisters, that was its last known location. I don’t need to tell you how important it is that she is unsuccessful.”
Elm took a few steps forward, crossing his arms over his chest in a determined stance. “When?”
Ayesha shook her head. Something about her expression gave me a feeling of unease, like she knew much more than she was letting on. “Soon. Very soon.”
“Dammit,” Luka muttered under his breath. “And what’s the good news?”
“I have a way to locate the Soul of Daphne.”
She then turned and looked right at me, her milky white eyes shining brightly. “And I’ve been to see your mother.”
My heart leapt to my throat, and I felt the breath choke on me. Ayesha gave my shoulder a comforting pat, for which I was grateful.
“Don’t worry, dear. I made sure she was okay. She’s safe for now.”
Kol tsked, deciding to finally join in on the conversation. He shifted in his chair, an annoyed expression on his face. “Uh, so, you just dropped in on her to say hello? Why didn’t you rescue her?”
I’d been so overwhelmed with the thought of her being alive that I’d not even considered that. We all looked at Ayesha expectantly for her to explain.
“She has her own role to play. As a member of the Wilde Hunt, she knows her duty is to gather information from the inside.”
“So, what?” Elm’s brows furrowed together in a mix of frustration and anger as he questioned, his voice trembling with emotion. “You’re just gonna pop in on her occasionally to ask her what she knows? That’s a fucking stupid plan!”
Ayesha nodded, her lips pulled back into a somber smile. “I understand why you feel that way, but I trust the seers. The sisters are working very hard to protect the whole of Etherean.”
Everyone quarreled vehemently, debating the pros and cons of whether to launch a rescue mission or if we should abandon Mama and allow her to remain a prisoner. I didn’t know what to feel or even think, but while I didn’t trust the seers, I trusted Ayesha’s judgement.
“We don’t know what her living conditions are like,” Kol argued.
“I can assure you she is fine. The Driech wouldn’t have kidnapped her without reason, only to let her die.”
Luka’s vivid green eyes met mine, and he shut them slowly, taking in a deep breath as if steeling himself from something. I could read worry in the lines of his face. When he opened his eyes again, his pupils were narrowed with a combination of pain and anger. “Don’t you think we should ask Rhen what she wants? Fuck the seers! This is her mother you’re talking about. And you’re acting like her opinion doesn’t matter!”
Everyone was looking to me for the answer, and the question wasn’t simply if I had faith in Ayesha or if I believed it would be a good idea to leave Mama there. There was something much bigger at stake here.
It was a matter of what I wanted.
And what needed to be done.
“Of course, I want to rescue her,” I started. Both Elm and Kol stood, eagerly awaiting my command to set off, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak the words. I shook my head no at the two of them, my eyes dropping to the floor. “But it’s more important to find Daphne. That’s the Driech’s big move, right? If we prevent her from getting it, it halts her plans.”
“We’ve been searching for Daphne for weeks,” Elm muttered, his while body rigid with tension.
“But she’s still collecting the Articles as well,” Kol said. “She already has Lugh’s spear. With it, she can kill thousands without even lifting a finger. If she got her hands on the cauldron, there’s no telling what kind of havoc she could wreak.”
Ayesha glided around to the table, using her fingers to guide herself into a chair. She folded her hands on her lap, her face a mask of thoughtful concentration. “She can’t use the articles yet. According to legend, only a creature made of earth can wield them, which is likely why she’s keeping our king on such a short leash.”
Elm flinched at the word king. I empathized with his plight, but refused to feign sympathy. If the situation truly weighed heavily on him, he should step up and take the crown himself rather than watch as his brother’s chaos unfold.
“We have the stone, but it’s powerless. Nothing more than a paperweight,” he muttered. I observed him with rapt attention as he visibly relaxed, the tension in his shoulders slowly ebbing away. His expression shifted from a look of concentrated effort to one of calm serenity, though I knew he was anything but.
Ayesha nodded silently; her lips pressed together in a thin line. “It contains only a fraction of the gods’ original magick. Without being used for its intended purpose, it has forgotten its true power.”
She spoke of the stone like it was alive, like it had a consciousness. I gave her a blank stare, unsure what to make of it.
Kol slumped against the wall, his feathered wings draped gently around him as he settled into a comfortable position. “If we could get a hold of the sword—”
“Then we might actually stand a chance,” Elm said, finishing his friend’s thoughts.
“Alas, it’s been missing for centuries. So, we should focus our efforts on the cauldron. I have seen what the seers’ have. I know you have, too, prince. Our world is destined for death and rotten earth if she is successful.”
“What of Daphne?” I asked again, my questions lingering unanswered.
Ayesha smiled; a haunting vision that made me uneasy. “That’s why I’ve come here. I need a drop of royal blood to locate it.” She hesitated, her milky eyes taking on a darker hue as she contemplated something. “And daemon blood.”
Luka
As I sat on the bed in the white room, I felt more useless than a sack of wilted wild onions. The healer, Fern, found me in the crowded dining room among a sea of others and immediately lectured me on the severity of my injuries. She was persistent until I finally relented and followed her to the infirmary, where she instructed me to lie down on one of the beds.
To her credit, she had managed to catch the sylph by his ear and drag him back in, despite his best efforts to persuade her otherwise. He argued that he should accompany the others on their journey to Windlar where daemons had been spotted recently pouring out of the skies, but she could not be convinced. Instead, she pressed her point that he stayed put; citing a range of reasons that he not go. In the end, it was her determination which won.
And surprisingly, Elm had agreed with her.
“You’re not well enough yet, Kol,” he’d said. “And you’re no use to us dead.”
Perched upon the edge of the cot, he sat with his wings carefully tucked into his sides, cross-armed like a child refusing to speak. His brow creased in a deep frown and his eyes reflected the weight of whatever thoughts were occupying him. He reminded me of little Scar when my sister reprimanded her.
And he was just as cute.
“So,” I began, forcing myself to speak louder in order to break through the thick anxiousness that had settled in my throat. “Think we can sneak outta here and get some more food? I don’t even know what that stuff was, but it was delicious.”
The sylph’s gray eyes lit up with excitement, the corner of his mouth twitching into a mischievous smile. “Don’t you think you’d had enough brushes with death this week? You really want to risk Fern’s wrath by disobeying a direct order to stay in here?”
I chuckled, and a stabbing pain licked up my stomach. Clenching my abdomen, I grimaced, then forced a smile. “Hey, it’s worth it for another plate of that stuff.”
Kol laughed, held a finger up to me in a playful manner, and then stood. When he rose from his chair, it struck me just how massive he was. He towered over me, making me feel small and insignificant. Even through the material of his loose-fitting shirt, the definition in his body was unmistakable; every inch of him seemed to be expertly sculpted and toned. I could make out the shape of each muscle and tendon as he moved toward the door, strengthening my already growing admiration for him.
I drank him in with my eyes, taking in his appearance from head to toe. His silver hair was disheveled and unkempt, yet strangely endearing and his frame was tall and strong, but perhaps not as intimidating as one would expect at first glance. His facial features were chiseled from stone, yet softened by a pair of deep, soulful gray eyes that revealed something more beneath the surface.
Turning back toward me, his mouth opened to speak words that I didn’t fully register. My mind was somewhere else, caught up in his beauty.
I blinked. “What?”
His brow arched ever so slightly, and a faint smirk traced its way across his face. With his eyes fixed upon me, he repeated his words. “Are you checking me out, fox?”
Panic fissured through my body. My mouth ran utterly dry, and I stammered. “Uh, wha—no! No, of course not!”
Kol flashed another grin, the corners of his mouth stretching wide and eyes twinkling with delight. He then licked his lower lip in a slow, languid movement, something that sent sparks of electricity throughout the room and made my heart flutter. “Hmm. That’s too bad.”
Then he sauntered out the door, a smug smirk curling his lips; the sound of his cocky chortle still echoing down the hallway.
Another sudden wave of embarrassment washed over me, leaving my skin prickling and my heart racing. There was no mistaking the heat rushing to my cheeks; it was as if he knew exactly where my eyes had gone when he had walked right out the door. I wished that the floor could open and swallow me whole, instead of having to face whatever conclusion he’d drawn from his observation. My stomach knotted with fear as I wondered what thoughts were now playing in his head.