Page 78 of Spring Guardians & Songbirds

“Perhaps you don’t have to,” she said, looking between Kilian and I. The man still laid back, holding a hand over his wound. “You two are married.”

I winced. “Being cryptic is certainly your thing, Mor. Doesn’t necessarily mean you are good at it though.”

She scowled, pointing her head to Kilian. “You are his queen.”

Kilian straightened, a groan of discomfort leaving him. “Not helping your case here, Your Majesty.”

She rubbed a frustrated hand over her eyes. “You show as the Adriatian Queen, not the Olympian one. We tell them that the two of you fell in love and Silas intended to use you to get to Adriata and the sceptre, and that Kilian had no intention to kill you. But if you want Magnus and Cora convinced you have to play the part, otherwise he will think you are Silas’s spy in Adriata or even Kilian’s slave. They have to think you two are genuine. Give them a reason to trust us enough to help.”

“By lying?” I asked.

Her eyes narrowed with irritation. “Omitting part of the truth.”

“Lies by omission are still lies.”

She sucked in a breath and then exhaled slowly before saying, “Point made, Snowlin.”

Turning to Kilian, I shot him a questioning look. “What is your say in this?”

“It would be good to forge an alliance, we might be able to figure out how these patterns work. Your father has help—dangerous help. We might need some ourselves, otherwise we are leading in blind. Not to mention that Magnus and Cora are the most knowledgeable amongst us regarding the sceptre. Their experience could even help us.”

I nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

“With both your permission,” Kilian said, standing. “I’d like to change the bandage before I bleed all over your table.”

I cleared my throat. “Where…where is your bedroom?” Moriko’s brows almost joined her hairline, and I shot her a glare. “We have a bargain. I have to spend my nights with him.”

“Right next to yours,” he said and left.

“A sweet little thing,” Moriko said, taking a sip from her drink. “Lemon blossoms.”

Standing, I moved to the windows, enjoying the echo of rain. “It’s my favourite flower.”

“I gathered,” she said with a sigh and joined me by the window. The two of us were quiet till she asked, “Do you know the story of my kingdom? How Hanai became two instead of one. Aru and Koy. Spring and Autumn.”

“I feel like there isn’t much of a choice but to listen. It’s either your stories or his presence.”

She let out a small laugh. Even that seemed like a wise and calculated move from her behalf. “You can catch him half naked if you leave now, he is probably changing his wound dressing.”

Slowly, I turned to her and sneered. “You were to tell me a story.”

“Ah, yes. Koy and Aru once were one, the land of eternal spring. As you might know, our goddess Plantae fell in love with Celesteel, the god of the dead. Life and death never touch, and they are bound to circle one another without ever meeting. And if they did, the balance between the two worlds would fall. Wherever Celesteel’s feet touched, death touched. And when Plantae’s feet touched, the earth came to life. When she walked Caligo, the ashen soil of the Otherworld bloomed with life and the deceased gained part of their living. But what is dead can only come back in such wrong ways, so she was not able to live in the Otherworld as her lover was unable to live in Mankai. After the eight gods descended to Numengarth, their fates continued to precede them in this realm as well. Until Ryuu, Plantae’s sister, sacrificed her eternity to feed life into the land Celesteel stepped on, never letting the land he stepped on die. Aru. In Aru both gods could meet and live and love, and they did. For a long time.”

I turned to her and said, “That is one of the stupidest things I’ve heard.”

“I do agree.”

“You are not making sense, Mor.”

“Love is not meant to make sense, Elding queen,” Moriko said, turning to face me. “It goes against all sense.”

“I take back what I said. That is the stupidest thing I’ve heard.”

She was silent for a moment. “The Night King loves you.”

“A heart that found it so easy to hurt me cannot love me.” He’d only cared for himself.

She sighed. “What is it that you want from all of this?”