Page 182 of Dare
As compensation, we’d come to a documented agreement regarding The Phantom Wild. Summer had declared the rainforest neutral continental territory and placed it under Winter’s jurisdiction. I had requested sovereignty under the guise of medical research. Coming from me, it was a sound reason that everyone understood.
This ensured the rainforest would remain uninhabited, its history preserved. Having the ruins under Winter’s protection meant Rhys could not touch it, which would enable our clan to supply details of the ancients after all. How they had built a castle and created a diverse community, which had lived in peace and prosperity until their untimely demise. Prior to the invasion, had I thought of negotiating the realm from Summer, it would have given Flare and me a chance to expand our plan.
Nonetheless, we would add this to our list of assets. Once the time was optimal to use this wildcard, our clan would act. But not yet.
As for reuniting with Flare in the rainforest, I could not say when I’d see her again. She had her mission now. Moreover, for Winter to take its eyes off my every move would require an insufferable amount of patience.
But before then, the chasm of Flare’s absence might be the end of me. My chest constricted, the knowledge calcifying.
As to my dungeon visit, Silvia misconstrued the reason. “You needn’t be worried about any fools escaping. The mad woman was an isolated incident in Summer.”
Do not call her that.
I contained the growl that clawed up my throat. My family didn’t know any better than I once had.
With my hair tied at the nape, the crisp air bit into my jaw. I would not allow these women to think harshly of my spirited little beast. If I could not impart the truth, I would at least circulate her bravery. “Before the woman died, she saved my life. I would have drowned were it not for her.”
That quieted them. I had told my queens this upon returning, but I would remind everyone until Flare was immortalized in a way she deserved.
I’d informed the court that she had vanished within the first few weeks of isolation, likely having been killed either from a carnivorous predator or one of the viruses that infested the forest. An assessment that stood to reason, since few in the Seasons expected a so-called “fool” to be smart enough to survive. Against every impulse I possessed, I had made sure to sound dismissive while recounting the story, indifference another bloody prerequisite of this farce.
And her name was Flare. Not “the mad woman.”
“You appointed me to oversee the treatment of born sou—” I set my teeth and corrected, “—born fools.”
“Ah. We did,” Doria recalled, elbowing her wife.
“Oh, yes,” Silvia agreed. “Our memories are …”
“Stubborn?” I suggested fondly.
They chuckled. Light snow fell, its descent reminiscent of rainfall. Farther off, dire wolves hunted in packs, and elks guarded The Iron Wood.
Fear gnawed on my bones. Where was she? Was she happy? To prevent myself from caving beneath the weight of those questions, I must keep busy.
I regarded my queens with deference. “Do you have faith in me?”
“Eternally,” Doria affirmed. “But we worry about you.”
“It’s what grandaunts do,” Silvia quipped, setting her fingers on my forearm.
At length, Doria contemplated my features. “You are much changed.”
Poet had echoed that in the ruins. My blood’s temperature agreed. “I have an agenda.”
“Then speak your mind.”
“That shall take a while.”
“For you, we’re never in a rush,” Doria replied.
I exhaled. They’d tended to me as a child when my mother and father had taken ill. They had appointed me as their successor. They’d reassured me after the siren shark attack. Always, these women had placed their confidence in me, even back when they shouldn’t have, when being a healer had rendered me a monster.
“I have ideas for Winter,” I said. “I will tell you, but I have a meeting to initiate first.”
Doria’s fingers twitched on my sleeve. Silvia’s eyes trembled. I hadn’t been home for long and knew what they feared, because I feared it too—that a conference meant I would be traveling. That something would happen, and I would not return.
Except I had no intention. For if I ever left these borders, I would only be tempted to find Flare, to embark on another obsessed chase for my little beast, hunting for her until my feet bled.