Page 152 of A Legacy of the Light

I rush to help him and we read as much as we can until I have to meet Reyne. We don’t find anything new, but this connection to Ishbel gives us a new sense of purpose and direction. We’re so close to the answer, I can feel it. Something shimmers in the back of my mind urging me to keep searching, to keep going.

Tomorrow.

We’ll find the answers tomorrow.

Chapter 37

We don’t find the answers the next day. Or the day after that. Or the one after that. Finneus and I spend hours reading and rereading the books from the Darrow chambers, analyzing every detail. Despite finding the link to Ishbel and pulling every we can on her rule, we find very little that will help us with the Dorche. I even attempt asking questions to the voice in my head.

We do learn that the ancient war lasted sixty years and dwindled Seelie numbers to a dangerous low. The Dorche were beaten by volume but it took everything the Aotrom and light wielders had to win, including Ishbel’s life. The story we found of her death is the very same one Granny told me. We pull every battle we can find on that war and find nothing of note, and the initial excitement we had fizzles out too quickly.

There are even fewer light wielders now than there were ten-thousand years ago. It paints a pretty bleak picture for our current situation. The sadness I feel is echoed by Finneus.

I spend Christmas with him, since it transpires that he was going to be alone, and so was I. Raghnall insisted on spending it with Tavish, which he apparently hasn’t done in years. We both saw it for what it was─a ploy to keep us apart. Reyne spends it with her family and Eòghann. I don’t want to intrude, despite an invitation from an insistent Hector.

The usual hollowness is with me when I wake on Christmas morning, remembering the days when Granny would wake me and Mom up much too early so we could open presents, followed by a breakfast of fresh croissants. I think about Grandpa and hope that he’s okay. And that Rach is spending the day with him so neither of them are alone.

The short walk to Finneus’s home outside the palace walls makes that ache a little fiercer. Seeing families play together in the snow makes me long for the days when Granny and I would tag-team Mom in a snowball fight.

Finneus makes us a delicious dinner and we laugh and share stories of Christmases with our families. He insists I stay the night after we spend too long playing cards in front of the fire and, by the time I tuck myself into bed in his spare room, the smile on my face isn’t forced.

Raghnall holds another ball between Christmas and New Year, just as splendid as the last. Cait makes me a beautiful gown of deep red velvet for the event, and Tavish dances with me the whole night. He can’t keep away from me, and he practically throws Eòghann out on his ass when he asks me for a dance.

King Raghnall keeps a close eye on us, right up until he disappears behind the curtain to the chambers and isn’t seen again for the night. A shiver walks down my spine when I consider what he might be up to. After that, Hume takes it upon himself to shadow Tavish and I the entire evening. Until Tavish tells him to leave us alone unless he wants to face the consequences of pissing the prince off even further.

Tavish and I get quite good at sneaking around though. Mostly Tavish comes to my room, or I go to his, never going further than the most heated kisses. I feel like a teenager all over again. Tavish respects my boundaries when I stop him. Whenever we get too close to the point of no return, I pull away. He tells me how badly he needs me but doesn’t push.

New Year’s we spend in Pat’s bar in the city. He plies Reyne and I with obscene amounts of alcohol and most of the evening is a complete blur thanks to the wine and shots. I remember laughing and dancing and kissing Tavish deeply when the clock strikes midnight. I live my very own fairytale that night.

After the new year, I settle back into my routine again. Library in the morning with Finneus, trying to wield, and researching the Dorche. Afternoons training with Reyne, taking my frustrations at the lack of progress with Finneus into the ring.

The grief remains with me. It always will, but I don’t close Reyne out again. If I find I’m having a bad day, I tell her, and I feel lighter. Even if we do the same thing, just telling her makes me feel less alone.

I spar with her almost daily, and still cannot best her. Even with not needing to hold back against her now she knows I’m Seelie. I make sure the Craobh is tucked safely inside my training shirt or jacket, but don’t feel the need to hide it so much as the days pass.

By the time we reach the end of January, Reyne decides that I’m ready to train with a weapon.

“We’ll start with the short sword,” she declares, standing next to the weapons rack that lines the wall of the training yard.

I clasp my hands behind my back and rock back and forth on my heels.

“You don’t know what the short sword is do you?”

“Ummmm, the small one?” I guess, pointing at the small silver knives.

Reyne tips her head back and laughs. “They’re daggers, lass.” She lifts a sword that’s about as long as her arm and has a thinner blade than the other swords hung along the rack. “This is the short sword.”

I reach for it and she snaps the blade out of my reach, putting a wooden copy in front of my face.

“Let’s not lose a hand on our first try, shall we?” she challenges with a smirk.

Excitement fizzes through me as I take the wooden sword from her and return to our ring. Reyne brings her own version with her.

“Think of the sword as an extension of your arm. The movements I showed you for hand to hand have the same principles. Ground your feet.”

I lower myself into position and copy Reyne as she leads me through the maneuvers of fighting with a weapon.

After an hour, I feel like a badass warrior queen.