“Will you tell me the things you’ve seen? If we can prepare, maybe we can stop it.”
“About Terin and the daughter she would have? Or about what Reeve will do to all of us?”
Emariya bit her lip. Did she really want to know any of it? “The daughter, first.”
“I didn’t see much, regarding her. Just her in Castle Ahlen, ordering people put to death for crossing her. She said she saw what they were planning to do, so she was having them executed before they could. But to execute people for crimes they’ve not yet committed? It’s madness.”
“But Torian, don’t you see? Executing the mother of the girl who doesn’t exist for the crimes of the one not yet born is just as mad.”
“But maybe it is necessary.”
“You can’t know that, though. I mean, maybe the ones she was executing were another group like Russell’s. And how do you know it was Terin’s daughter?”
“Because she looked exactly like my sister, but younger.”
“What if it was our daughter?” Emariya dropped her hand away from his face.
“What?” Torian sat upright, staring at her.
“Think about it. Our daughter could vastly resemble your sister, if she took after you.”
His jaw dropped. “I hadn’t even considered...” Torian laid back in the grass again, a contemplative look on his face. “A daughter.” The corner of his mouth turned upwards. “I kind of like the idea of that.”
“I believe you’ve gotten away from my point.”
Torian rolled to his side, pulling Emariya down next to him. “No. I see your point. I do. But it also doesn’t change the fact that I also saw Reeve killing us all.” He choked on the last few words.
“How did he do it?” Her voice was small. “To me, I mean. How did my brother take my life in your vision?”
“I saw... I saw an arrow flying toward you. And then Reeve standing over you as you laid there...”
Torian shuddered. “And Alrec would return to Castle Ahlen and kill my father.”
“And you?” Why was she torturing herself with these details?
Torian turned away. “Does it matter? Without you, it wouldn’t matter anyway.”
Not knowing what else to say, she cradled him to her. “We’ll find a way to make it better. For us, and for our people. We must.” Failure was not an option Emariya was willing to consider, and any outcome that involved her and Torian not together was failure.
The next morning, Emariya followed Torian to the command tent. Rink had delivered an invitation to Jimm, who would meet them there. When they arrived, her grandparents, Blaine, and Jessa were all crowded around the tent waiting.
“Where’s Garith?” Emariya asked, noticing Jessa and Blaine had each chosen to sit on opposite sides.
“Want me to go find him?” Rink asked.
Emariya nodded and the boy scurried off, his smile still reaching his ears.
Sargent Corlin shook his head. “That boy’s quite full of himself. Been running around here acting like the cat that got into the hen house.”
“We would have had a much harder time rescuing Her Highness without his information. Let him crow a bit,” Torian said.
Jimm cleared his throat. “I take it that your consultation with the Council did not go as you intended.”
“I will need more time before I am able to solve the challenges facing the Uplands, but I do still intend to work toward a solution.”
“Lady Warren, our fight is not with you. You tried, which is more than most have done for us. But we agreed to let you try, and said we’d take part in your proposed peace only if the Council stood behind you. And that your brother must come to justice for his crimes. Where are they?”
Emariya didn’t correct him that she was now Princess Ahlen. It might be in her interest for him to continue to think of her as Lady Warren. “Jimm, the situation inside is worse than I thought. My brother is inside, and he’s taken my prince’s sister hostage. We barely escaped with our lives. I do believe the Council will stand behind me, but not until I can stop my brother and get them to listen.”
Jimm scratched his head. “And how do you propose to do that, if you’re out here and he’s in there?”
“I don’t know. But I have to find a way, and I’m asking you to be patient until I do.”
“Apologies, Milady. We gave you a chance to do it your way, and you couldn’t deliver. We’re anxious to seek a resolution so we can be home to begin the planting. Surely you understand that.
We’ll breech the walls and bring your brother to justice ourselves. Then maybe the Council will listen to us.”
“Men don’t make habit of listening to corpses,” Emariya said coldly.
“Now wait a minute—”
Blaine stood from his seat. “You would be best served to listen to her. Reeve Warren possesses a stronger gift than I’ve ever seen in anyone other than her.” Blaine indicated Emariya, who shifted uneasily. “And even she was felled by him. He isn’t working alone, and you stand no chance against him. That is, if you even get in the walls.”
Jimm shuddered. “Magic.”
“Yes.” Blaine nodded.
The old man spread his hands wide. “All right, what is it you want from me?”
“I don’t know,” Emariya said. “I just don’t know. That’s what this meeting is about.”
“Until your gifts are stronger, we may have to wait,” Torian said.
“Reeve’s weren’t as strong as mine. I could feel him struggling against me. He doesn’t have the added power of the Ahlen’s blood like I do.”
“For now,” Blaine said.
“As long as she feels the pull, we aren’t going to get Terin out. They will wed soon.” Torian gently squeezed her hand.
“There may be a way to remove the pull,” Kahl said cautiously.
Emariya gasped, feeling as if someone had knocked the breath out of her.
Torian took a step closer, pulling her against him. “How?”
“We can petition The Three,” Kahl said.
Alara’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure that is such a good idea.”
Her mind reeled. Could it really be true? Could they end the pull? More importantly, did she want to?
When he glanced at her, Emariya thought she saw the same uncertainty in Torian’s eyes. “You want us to journey to The Cradle of The Three?” Torian asked.
“Wait, you mean The Three are actually
at
The Cradle of The Three? I always assumed it was an ancient place of worship dedicated to them, not a place where they truly reside.”
“I don’t know that they reside there, in the full sense of the word. But it is the best place to go if you want to seek an audience with them,” Kahl said.
“Why would they even see us?” Emariya’s voice wavered.
Her grandfather laughed. “From what I’ve seen of your stubbornness, you won’t give them a choice.”
Jessa, who’d been quietly avoiding looking at anyone, spoke up. “Riya, would you really be all right with giving up your gifts?”
Blaine answered, looking straight at Emariya. “It may be our only option. If we fight Reeve with magic, we will lose some of us, or maybe everything. But you have enough forces here, if the Uplands stand with you, to best him in a fair fight.”
“There would still be casualties, and we wanted to avoid the people of the Uplands and Damphries raising arms against each other.”
Torian rubbed small circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. “Look around, Riya. I know we wanted to resolve this peacefully, but it has already gone beyond that. Now, we just have to find the best possible outcome for as many as possible.” Torian turned to face Jimm. “Will the Uplands stand with us?”
Jimm’s eyes roved back and forth between her and Torian. At last he nodded. “What do you need?”
“Don’t let anyone out. Or in. We need them sealed in the estate until we can return.” Torian dropped Emariya’s hand and walked over to the table. He unfurled a map. “It will take us at least two weeks to travel to The Cradle of The Three and back. When we return, we can end this sooner if we know that Reeve is still kept within these walls.”
“We can do that.”
“You’ll need to cover the tunnel entrance along the northern wall, too.”
“Our men can do that, Your Highness.” Corlin looked relieved to have a duty.
Emariya vaguely heard the arrangements being made around her. All she could think about was the fact that they were plotting to take away the pull of the Stones. For so long she’d hated the pull, and resented it. She’d wanted to love Torian on her own terms, by her own will. And then she’d accepted that will never had much to do with love anyway. But what if without the pull, Torian no longer loved her?
“Emariya?” Torian gently nudged her. “Is that all right with you?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“We’ll have several of our forces guard the tunnel, the ones who have been camped here. Most of the rest we will send back to Castle Ahlen to guard my father, with the wagons of food.”
“We won’t be taking any with us?”
Her grandmother was the one who answered, as gently as possible. “My child, if you fail it won’t be because of a lack of guards. Your brother can only best you with magic, not men. It’s why your husband wants to leave as many here as possible, keeping him contained.”
Kahl nodded. “It’s a sound plan, and your biggest risk will be beyond all of our control, at The Cradle of The Three.”
“From what?” Jessa asked.
“The Three,” Torian said.
Alara’s eyes were grave. “They don’t like visitors.”
All eyes turned as Rink burst into the tent. “It’s Garith, Milady! He’s gone!”
Torian stood, flashing a worried glance at Emariya. “I’m sure he isn’t gone. Perhaps he just wandered out of camp? Or maybe he’s in an...unexpected tent.”
Rink shook his head. “No, Your Highness, he’s gone. He took his pack too.”
A memory of the way Garith had looked at her yesterday as they left the Damphries tunnel floated to the surface of Emariya’s mind. He’d felt the weight of failure just as she had. But perhaps he was also feeling the sting of a broken promise.
Oh Garith,
she thought. She should have told him she didn’t hold him responsible. It wasn’t his fault. Emariya ran her hands through her hair, thinking.
“Don’t,” Jessa said, looking at Emariya. “He wouldn’t have listened.” Jessa was right, on both accounts, and Emariya knew it.
“What if he went back in, after Terin?” Emariya hoped the promise she’d made him give wouldn’t earn him an early grave.
“Riya,” Torian said gently, “I don’t think they’d let him in.”
“But where else could he have gone? The only reason I could imagine him leaving without telling us goodbye would be if he thought we’d try and stop him.” If she hadn’t been so absorbed in her own anguish, and Torian’s, she might have seen that he was hurting too.
“You know, no offense, but maybe he just got tired of following the two of you around. A man can only ignore what he wants for so long before he has to consider other options,” Blaine said.
“You don’t know Garith, or us.” Jessa huffed and walked out, leaving Emariya to stare after her.
“Does someone want to tell me what is going on between you two?” Emariya asked.
“Nothing,” Blaine said. “Apparently, nothing at all.” Then he too left the tent.
“I know you’re worried about Garith, I am too. But we need to move forward with our plans to head toward The Cradle of The Three.” Torian squeezed her hand.
“We can’t just leave him here!”
“Child, I know you worry for your friend, but considering he didn’t tell you where or why he was going, I’m afraid you can’t wait around indefinitely. You have to accept the fact that he may not return.” Alara smiled sympathetically.
“I don’t expect I’ll see you again before you leave for The Cradle of The Three, Milady. May the blessings of the Stones go with you, I expect you’ll need it. We’ll see to it that Damphries is contained until your return.”
“But if Garith’s in there, and needs to get out—”
“There can be no exceptions. We can’t risk Reeve getting away,” Torian interrupted. “Jimm, thank you and we’ll see you upon our return.” Torian, ever the prince, effectively dismissed the man.
Sargent Corlin excused himself, wanting to make preparations to move his men to guard the tunnel. He gave a respectful nod as he hurried out of the tent, leaving Emariya alone with her grandparents, her husband, and her worries.
“If we’re going to go, I want to be prepared,” Emariya said. “What can you tell us about The Cradle of The Three?”
“Not a lot. If Fidwen were here, he could tell you more than anyone,” Kahl said.
“Why Fidwen?” Emariya asked. She stood, pacing around the tent.
“Because he’s the only one I know of that has ever been there and returned,” her grandfather answered.
Pre-dawn light had barely begun to paint the dark out of the sky as they rose the next morning.
Emariya stumbled sleepily out of her tent after waking to find Torian’s side of their bedroll empty.
A pang of emptiness assaulted her as her eyes settled on Garith’s tent, standing a silent vigil, ready for its owner’s return. Flagging down the first person she found, Emariya instructed that Garith’s things be packed with her own. Whenever he showed up to rejoin them he’d be happy to have his stuff. Surely he’d be there before she set out.
Two of Torian’s soldiers stood on the back of a wagon, while another pair on the ground passed sacks of flour and corn up to be neatly packed. More wagons waited nearby, already filled to the brim.
The spoke wheels would not have an easy time over the still-soggy ground, but they should make the pass without any severe difficulty.
“You will have won their hearts for good, if you already haven’t, when the people of Thalmas see that food come through. They will stop and unload as they pass hovels, to spread it as much as possible.” Torian lightly touched her back.
“I woke and you weren’t there.” Emariya frowned.
“I didn’t mean to worry you. I wanted to make sure the wagons were started on without delay.”
His reasoning made sense, but she couldn’t shake the feeling there was a distance between them that had not been there before. Were they both trying to prepare themselves for what it might be like without the pull? “Torian, if The Three do remove the pull—”