Page 46 of The Fae Lord
The funeral raft is a dark, floating shadow on the surface of the lake. The last embers have long since faded, but Magdalena still stands at the water’s edge. Her silhouette looks broken, and the sight makes my heart hurt.
I miss Samuel already, but he was not my kin. Alana’s pain, and her parents’ pain, is greater than mine and Rosalie’s. Even though Rosalie and Samuel had been getting closer of late.
As Alana leaves our side to walk towards her mother, Rosalie nudges me. She’s crying. “It’s my fault,” she whispers. “I told Samuel about the vote. I sent a raven. He was on his quest, but I told him, and he came back, and now he’s dead. Because of me.”
I take her hand fiercely and shake my head. “This is not your fault. It is the fault of those who are too narrow-minded to let Alana be with the people who love her.” I look over to where Alana is now standing beside her mother. “She has never done anything to hurt us.”
“She reads our thoughts.”
“Our feelings,” I correct Rosalie. “That’s not the same thing.”
“It doesn’t ever make you feel uneasy?”
I shake my head. “No. There are worse powers. More dangerous ones.”
Rosalie wipes her cheeks, then gestures to Alana. “What is she doing?”
Alana is taking her mother’s elbow, speaking softly. From here, I can’t hear what she’s saying, but it looks like she’s trying to persuade her to come home.
Magdalena shakes her head, and pulls away from Alana’s grasp.
This time, Alana’s voice is louder. “Mother, please. You need to rest. It’s time to go home now.” She pauses, then adds. “Maura has agreed to let me stay. She persuaded the elders. Let me take care of you.”
This time, Magdalena turns to look at her daughter. For a horrific moment, I think she’s going to yell at her to leave. Tell her it’s because of her that Samuel is lost to us. But she doesn’t, she simply folds Alana into her arms and pulls her in close. “My darling girl,” she sobs. “Please don’t leave me.”
Alana wraps her arms around her mother’s waist. Her wings start to gently move.
Rosalie grabs my hand and squeezes it.
A soft purple glow is emanating from Alana’s wings, and her skin, glowing brighter and brighter. It spreads, surrounding her mother with a shimmering aura that pulses and dances, like a living thing.
Rosalie and I step back as a warmth spreads over us.
“What is that?” Rosalie breathes.
I shake my head, too entranced to speak. I’ve known Alana all my life but I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s like the core of her magic is reaching out for her mother’s pain.
As the light washes over her, Magdalena sighs. Her shoulders stop shaking. She grows quiet in her daughter’s arms.
Alana, on the other hand, grows stiff. The light flows back into her. Rushes, like a snowstorm, around her until she breathes it in. Then, she too becomes softer. More relaxed.
I search my own feelings. The throb of loss has lessened. Beside me, Rosalie smiles softly. “What happened?” she asks, pressing her palm to her chest. “Did Alana do that? Did she take away the pain?”
“I have no idea, but look...” I point towards Magdalena. Her wing is outstretched, looped around Alana’s shoulders, and they are walking toward us. Magdalena sighs heavily, and a slow smile parts her lips. She kisses Alana’s forehead.
“I’m ready to go home now,” she says.
By the time I finish recounting the memory to Alana, she is crying. “I didn’t know what I was doing,” she says. “If I’d known, maybe...” She smiles sadly at me. “Maybe I’d have been able to stop what I did to you.”
“You had no one to teach you, Alana. It wasn’t your fault. The Leafborne had never lived with an empath before. They were woefully unequipped to help you.”
“Is that how I’m going to beat Eldrion?” she asks, studying my face for any sign of agreement or disagreement. “I’m to take his emotions? His powers?”
I cannot answer.
Alana sighs heavily. Then she slides down under the blankets and turns away from me. “I’d like to sleep now,” she says quietly. “Goodnight, Kayan.”
TWENTY