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I frowned. “What do you mean? I’m going back home to Alisdair.”
“Home,” she repeated. “You used to call Lyrica home.”
“And I still do.” We skirted a couple walking down the sidewalk. “But Lumenfell is my home too. It’s also where my husband is. Now that I know you both are safe, I have to return.”
“Love has made you blind, Calli.”
“What? Why would you say that?”
She gave me a hard look. “Mama is not safe. She’s dying, Haeowen. She hasn’t kept a single thing down for weeks. We can afford the best healers coin can buy now, and they’re all saying the same thing. She doesn’t have much time left.”
I flinched like she punched me in the gut. “That’s not— That can’t be—”
“It’s true. You saw her yourself. You know it’s true.”
My lips flattened into a thin line. Of course I saw that my mother was thinner than a skeleton with the cracked lips and thin, sluggish skin of a parched soul lost in the Wastelands.
“What will you do, Calli? These are the last days we’ll get to spend with our mother before she... before...” Meliora blinked rapidly, eyes bright. My little sister—never wanting anyone to see her cry. “Are you really going to fly away and leave us to face this alone? Again?”
I balled my fists, mouth clenched tight. I was furious, but not at Meli or Mama. I was angry at the evil, sick system that stole my mother’s magic in the first place. I was angry at the power-hungry, bitter witch who gave them the means to do it. She came here to destroy our way of life, and we played right into her hands. As a result, my innocent, loving mother was slowly wasting away.
“I’m not going to leave you alone, Meli. I made a promise to you, all of you, that I never would. I’ll stay,” I said softly. “I’ll see Mama through this, and then we’ll all go back to Lumenfell together.
“You’ll be safe and happy there, and”—I took her hand—“we’ll be together again. As a family.”
Meli shook me off. “There’s no family without Mama.”
I didn’t know what to say, because I couldn’t disagree.
We walked the rest of the way in silence—both of us lost in our own sorrow.
Eventually, we arrived at the inn where I sent them to eat and relax. Egan’s Inn and Tavern was owned by a nice man who never had a raised voice or bad word for anyone. I figured even if faeriken weren’t welcomed with open arms, they at least wouldn’t be harassed or chased out by Egan.
“—warned you! You are to leave by order of the king.”
“And I’ve told you.” Bradach faced the palace guard down, wings rising and casting long shadows over them both. “We’re not going anywhere without our queen.”
The small, cozy tavern was completely cleared out of everyone barring the raven faeriken, Bradach, and the fifteen guards sent to meet them.
Egan stood behind the bar top, eyes darting between them and looking like he wished both groups were anywhere but in his peaceful pub.
“What’s going on here?” I demanded.
The leader of the guard turned and frowned at me. “This is of no concern of yours, shoua. Leave this place, for your own safety.”
I winced. Of course, I was back to being the peasant, not the princess.
“We’ve been ordered to evacuate,” Bradach told me flat out. “The terms of the treaty forbid faeriken frominvadingLyrica, and King Salman means to hold us to those terms to a pedantic degree. He’s granting us pardon for bringing the queen here for an emergency, but now that it’s resolved, we must leave. What say you?”
“Excuse me?” the guard scoffed. “Why are you asking her? You were given your orders. Leave!”
Bradach didn’t even glance at him. “Well?”
I peered at Meliora out of the corner of my eyes, heart squeezing. I wanted to be home with Alisdair, but there was never any choice. These were my last days with my mother, Iwouldn’t forgive myself if I wasn’t here with her—and my family—to the end.
“The queen has sent me with a message,” I replied carefully. “Rest, and then go on without her. She has to stay for now, but she’ll return home as soon as she can. She promises.”
“I understand.” Bradach tipped his chin to me. “I will pass on her promise.”
