Page 70 of The Powers of Nyx
“Ivy, you are looking much better,” the Queen offered, smiling as I sat across from her. “Are you hungry?”
Anxiety twisted my insides; the last thing I needed was to puke in front of Adrian’s family. I rested my hands in my lap. “No, I’ll be okay for now, thank you.”
Greer nodded, while Maeve caressed the bond.Tell me what you need, and I will retrieve it,a mhuirnín.
Reaching between us, I took her hand.I’ll be okay.Maeve’s lips thinned, but she nodded, and we turned back to Greer.
“I’m looking forward to understanding more about this...role,” I said, tensing as all eyes turned on me. “More about all of this.”
The Queen cocked her head. “I know it is difficult. You and I come from different worlds. The middle ages were a time of great strife in our world. The rise and fall of Empires. Humans were making great discoveries and starting terrible wars. It was the end and the beginning of the modern world. But you come from a time with different expectations. I accepted the calling of Nyx because I wished to escape before war descended on my people, and I could be claimed by the enemy as a prize. But your past makes this so different.”
A tightness built in my throat as she spoke. It was hard to comprehend that she had come from my world, that once, she’d been in my place. She seemed so in tune with her role as Queen, and it was hard to imagine that I could ever reach that same level.
“But you will find your footing,” she continued, gaze softening. “I will be here until you are crowned.”
“And after that?” I asked.
“I will return to Nyx.” Atop the table, Theon took her hand, and her eyes softened. “It will be difficult, but every Queen before you has walked this path. We have been mentored, but we must all find our own way forward, so that we can rule the way Nyx intended.”
A lump formed in my throat, but I nodded. “How long? Until I’m crowned, then? I’d like to learn from you for as long as possible.”
Queen Greer chuckled. “We will take it slow. This is why your time at Oberon is so imperative. There, you will learn skills that I am no longer strong enough to teach you. They will educate you on the politics of our world. But these lessons will be just us. The Daughters of Nyx. There will be time spent teaching you how to be Queen. But in order to rule effectively, you must understand how powerful you truly are.”
It didn’t sit right, knowing there wasn’t a time frame, but I refrained from asking her again. Not with the sadness entering the expressions of Theon and Otto.
I sighed, sitting straighter. “Where do we start, then?”
Queen Greer smiled, and between us appeared a similar illusion to the one Captain Vale had conjured on the ship. “We start with our history.” She moved her hand over the table and the image shifted to reveal a familiar set of people. “Queen Pandora, the first Daughter of Nyx.”
“The Captain of the ferry told me her story.” Despite the strange wrongness of my magic, it still stirred at the mention of its first wielder, awakening from its slumber in curiosity. “She had three mates.”
The Queen nodded. “She is the reason for which we have bonds. But she was not the first to have a mate. Creatures of Nyx had mates before Pandora. However, before Pandora rose to power, the bonds were different. Instinctual. Now, they are magical. Nyx blessed Pandora with a type of love that needed tobe shared amongst all Her creatures. And as such, all came to receive the same blessing.”
As she spoke, the image shifted again to reveal a map of a different world. My magic twinged inside me, almost like it was sad seeing it. “The role of Queen is still similar, and yet different times call for different rulers. Pandora was the first as she stood between the destruction of the Old World and the human world. Her rule was to establish a new order for Nyx’s creatures and unite them with the Fae and the Demons.” I looked up from the map and met Queen Greer’s eye. “We are the balance between worlds. The balance of power. The reason we exist is to keep the realms as they are.”
“Which is why it is so difficult, knowing there is someone actively trying to change that,” Sir Otto said. He had a deep voice, and like Theon, an accent. “Anyone with knowledge of our history would know that destroying the Daughter of Nyx would ensure death upon us all.”
26
IVY
WEspent the rest of the week getting the children into a basic routine, one that wouldn’t be completely overturned when I went to the academy. But my mind was preoccupied by thoughts of Ry, and the first lesson I’d had with the Queen.
Breaking the news to the kids that I would have to stay at the academy five days a week nearly broke them. I’d promised not to leave them again, and I was tearing that promise apart again and again. It’d taken nearly three full nights of them sleeping over in that giant bed of mine to get them more comfortable with what was going to happen.
But at least half the team would always stay behind. It sucked knowing two of my mates would be away from me, and my magic hated it, but at the end of the day, I only felt comfortable knowing the kids would be safe under the watchful gaze of my mates. It also meant open communication between me and the children at all times. If I couldn’t be with them physically, I would be there mentally.
Up to a certain degree, anyway.
I had two more lessons with Greer going over our history as the Daughter of Nyx. Despite my anxiety, I was fascinated with the stories she told. And I’d finally been able to meet her other mates.
With help from Sir Theon and Sir Leith, I was also able to get the girls into some basic classes about the world. They wouldn’t be able to start at the palace school just yet, but there were tutorsthey could meet to start catching them up on the basics. My sisters were pretty academically inclined in the human world; Eloise hid her smarts behind her looks, but she’d always done well with science when she was younger. And Ginny and Maisie were simply enamoured by the world around them, so they had no trouble with it.
And while they were distracted with tutors, the Queen’s mates started their hunt for Andrew. I wouldn’t say anything to the girls until there was news on him, and there was no way he’d be allowed near any of them for a while. But if I could find him, then maybe I could get some answers.
I sighed, scrubbing a hand over my face. Exhaustion tightened my shoulders, as did the stress of the last week. But the kids were in a routine, Thea had something other than babysitting to do, and I...
I had to pack.