Page 50 of Shadow Wings
I sucked in my breath. “What the . . . Absolutelynot!”
I blushed as I remembered we were speaking of her brother. I rushed to mitigate my appalling manners. “I mean Kamoi is the full harvest, for sure . . . Uh, I mean he’s nice, and I’m sure every girl in Phaetynville probably wants to mate with him or bind with him. And sure, maybe he’s as amazing with everything else as he is good looking, but . . . Anyway, no.” Shaking my head, I added, “A solid no. I’m not going to bind myself toKamoi.”
The young Phaetyn girl’s face drained of color, and her eyes widened. “You’re not in love withhim?”
My face burned like it was on fire, and I shook my head. “I don’t know him. To bind myself to him would be completely shallow.”And he’s prettier thanme.
Without another word, Kamini ran away from me, disappearing into thewoods.
“Well . . . okay. Bye.” I stood there and attempted to process my bizarre morning thus far. I felt like a fool, especially after being so adamant with Dyter that I wasn’t an idiot. And then here I was, atotal idiot. Kamoi was telling people we were going to, like, dance the maypole together? Shouldn’t he have asked me first? If Kaminiwasseven, I might’ve excused her comment, but the girl was thirty. My humiliation turned to anger as I grasped Kamoi’s plan. I was not going to bind myself to him to solve their political and societal woes. I couldn’t fault him for wanting an easy answer, but I didn’t like feeling like atool.
My musing was interrupted by the rustling of branches. The surprise combined with the spike in fear, as well as my simmering anger, caused my Drae to burst forth. Scales again erupted above my heart and down my arms. My hands shifted so that my fingers became talons. I turned toward the noise to see three Phaetyn emerging from the brush. They stopped as soon as they saw me. The youngest, who appeared to be twelve, which probably meant he was fifty,gasped.
“We mean you no harm,” the eldest man said, dropping his spear and raising his arms in surrender. “We only want the opportunity to speak withyou.”
“Really?” Everyone I’d met in Phaetynville seemed to have an agenda involving me. “If it involves binding with Kamoi, the answer is no.” My aggravation spiked, and I narrowed my eyes, noticing the colors sharpen as they shifted, and the rest of my retort was lost in a lowgrowl.
The other Phaetyn dropped their weapons and held up their hands. “We pledge our oath on Luna’s Elm that we mean you no harm,” the man said, and the boy and big Phaetyn nodded. A slow smile spread across his face as he studied me. “Even if we did, I doubt we could. Please, we just want totalk.”
I closed my eyes and took slow deep breaths, allowing my Drae to settle and recede. When I opened my eyes, the three Phaetyn surrounded me, but the boy and husky Phaetyn held their weapons at the ready facing outward toward the forest—protectingme.
“Please, come with us. Soon, Harlan willreturn.”
I followed the three Phaetyn deeper into the forest until we came to a small clearing with several lean-tos, much like the ones found in Gemond. If the Phaetyn were about to eat me, I’d be really,reallymad. We stopped outside one of the make-shift shelters, and one by one, we ducked inside. The eldest indicated a chair and invited me to sit around a smalltable.
“May we offer you some food?” the youngestasked.
I’d followed them into a dark place in the depths of a forest. I wasn’t quite stupid enough to eat their food. “No, thankyou.”
The Phaetyn shrugged and popped a red berry from a bowl into hismouth.
The eldest one didn’t waste time beginning. “Our people are at a crossroads as I’m sure you’veseen.”
Even a fool could see the civil unrest in their community. “Crossroads is putting itlightly.”
The oldest Phaetyn inclined his head. “Yes, you’re right.” He took a deep breath and asked, “Will you indulge me in a little history? I think this is the best way to describe ourconflict.”
“Please,” I said. “I’d love to understand what’s goingon.”
The youngest Phaetyn snickered, and the beefy one nudgedhim.
“Queen Luna partnered with Kaelan when she was very young, perhaps a hundred annum. They seemed happy for a time, but Luna didn’t produce an heir after several decades, and there were murmurings that Kaelan was not worthy to be herpartner.
Our Luna was a soft ruler, not lazy or indifferent, but perhaps a little overly generous and kind. She enjoyed healing the land, saying it gave us purpose. Even when the rumors of Phaetyn being captured by the emperor came, she encouraged us to leave the sanctuary of Zivost and heal the land. She led this charge byexample.
When Queen Luna left, she gave the responsibility of rule to her sister, Alani. Even though Luna was partnered with Kaelan, she left sometimes for weeks or months to do what she called the Phaetyn’s work. Perhaps this is what drove Alani and Kaelan together. Perhaps, it was the other wayaround.”
Holy Drae babies. . . or rather Phaetyn babies. This was the inside scoop. Alani and Kaelan got together while he was stillwithLuna? What a turd. But how much merit did the gossip have? What people saw and interpreted was not always truth, a lesson I’d learned in Irdelron’s castle. Still, Kaelan was a jerk, so I was inclined to believeit.
I nodded, not wanting to interrupt the story, letting the Phaetyn know I waslistening.
“Alani acted as regent often, and the Phaetyn accepted their ruler’s choice. In truth, we thought nothing of it. Luna still set the rules, although there were very few, and on the rare occasion there was a dispute amongst our kind, she still passed judgment. But Luna’s trips out of Zivost increased in frequency and then in length. One day, she left and several annum passed without Queen Luna’s return. Almost two decades ago, her tree stoppedgrowing.”
An odd sense of trepidation settled deep in my chest. I looked at the three Phaetyn and couldn’t help but feel like they were looking at me with eager anticipation in their eyes. “What do you thinkhappened?”
The older Phaetyn furrowed his brow, and the air in the room grew heavy. “Initially, the Phaetyn thought her dead, but The Sacred Tree, Queen Luna's elm, did not wither and die like it should’ve had the queen’s power been extinguished. Even if Luna is gone, her power did not die with her. The rumor is she infused you or your mother with her magic, passing the ancestral force toyou.”
“Do you think that’s true?” I hedged, not wanting to revealanything.