Back.
Emariya rose up from the ashes of her grief, but allowed her tears to continue to flow unhindered.
Crouched on her knees, she leaned over, placing a last tender kiss on Torian’s lips. His lips had always conjured such heat within her; it felt utterly surreal to have them cold and unmoving.
“I will make you proud. And someday...somehow...I will make them pay.” With a last look that would have killed anyone other than a god, Emariya pushed herself to her feet and stumbled toward the entrance to the chamber. Her blinding tears slowed her down, but she found the doorway and the barrier had been removed. With a last, hatred-filled glance, she left the goddesses and her beloved behind. Torian would never forgive her if she didn’t go on. She’d save his sister, stop her brother, and then figure out what to do next. There was no other way.
The treacherous ledge descended before her. A strange, hysterical laugh bubbled through her grief-tightened throat. How fitting would it be if she survived the encounter with The Three, only to accidentally fall to her death in her emotional rage? Maybe that had been their plan all along. Fine by her, at least then she’d be with Torian.
Her only consolation was that if she made it to the bottom, she should be able to hear him, maybe even join him in the world of the spirits. She would go to sleep, see him, and if possible not wake up.
Except, when her mother did exactly that to her, she’d nearly died.
So maybe she should just jump. She could save herself and everyone else the trouble.
No,
she cautioned herself. They were waiting for her down below. She leaned against the rock wall, away from the drop off of the ledge. Her shoulders heaved and nausea twisted her stomach into unruly knots.
Torian is really gone.
Unable to bear the weight of her grief, Emariya sank to her knees and sobbed until her throat became inflamed and the well supplying her eyes ran dry. The lack of tears to cry left her eyes as gritty as her throat was raw. She forced herself to take a deep breath. If she could make it to the point where they’d had the visions of Sheas before, she’d allow herself to stop and cry again.
Would she have more visions on the way down? She had no idea how long the return trip would take, seeing as the trip in had been filtered through the warped time of the goddesses’ tests. What else could they possibly test her with? They had already taken the thing that mattered most.
She tried to comfort herself with knowing her grandparents and Jessa would be waiting for her.
They’d hold her up and help her through until she could stand on her own again. If only Garith were there waiting too. He’d know just what to say.
Maybe it is better that he isn’t. I don’t want to give him
false hope. Even with Torian gone, it wouldn’t be fair to him, even if it would make me feel better.
But Garith would know what to do about the armies. She had no idea how to utilize them. All of her hopes had been resting on The Three. What was she supposed to do now?
Somehow, she’d have to fight her way back into Damphries, yank Terin out—by her hair if necessary—and confront her brother once and for all. Then, she’d fix the Council, purge the corruption and start fresh.
Emariya slipped on loose rocks and tumbled to the ground. The steep decline of the ledge offered her no favors and she slid several feet before managing to grip a rocky outcropping to halt her slide.
She glanced down at her bloodied palms. Not like she hadn’t known going into it that she might have to get a bit of blood and dirt on her hands. She’d do what she had to.
What was she going to tell his soldiers? They would be horrified to not be able to give an honorable sendoff as their prince. He would have no last pyre, and the way her heart ached and burned for him was no consolation.
After hours of clumsily stumbling down the path, she found their luncheon spot from the way up, and stopped for a break. By then her knees were as skinned as her hands and she could feel the dirt caked in the tear trails on her cheek. She considered that she should eat something, but couldn’t find the will to even open her pack.
Emariya hooked her arms around her knees, hugging herself close and resting her forehead on her knees. She had no idea how long had passed when she lifted her face again, since the sun still didn’t seem to change position here. “Go away!” she screamed at no one in particular. At least if the sun set she could officially say the most awful day of her life was over. But in truth, would tomorrow be any better?
How could they possibly expect her to live without him? Was she destined to be like her father?
Would she disappear under the weight of her grief, becoming only a shell of her former self? Her most recent sob caught in her throat. Torian would be furious. He wouldn’t want her to let that happen, to herself or to their people. Her father had lost himself, he couldn’t fight the pain—Emariya understood that now—and because of it Eltar had suffered. The best thing she could do for Torian would be to make sure their hopes for their lands were realized.
Her back straightened a tiny bit. She would do it. Somehow, she would find the strength to go on.
It wouldn’t be the life she’d hoped for, but it would be a life. By The Three, she would live, for Torian.
Emariya looked ahead down the path. The barrier! Her companions should be just on the other side. Her tears renewed themselves in force as she ran—half stumbling, half tripping—determined to be off this damned mountain. The barrier swelled around her, holding her within it. Emariya hunched her shoulders, determined to pass through. Was it because she’d drawn on Torian’s strength to create it that now she couldn’t remove it?
Her chest tightened and for a moment she thought she might suffocate. Then the world went white and she thought nothing at all.
Emariya floated on a weightless cloud, and her pain began to ebb away as if someone were drawing the heartache out of her but leaving her in a fog of exhaustion. She sighed, not sure where she was but not caring. Here, her heart hurt a little less. Maybe she could stay here. Even with her eyes closed, she could sense that wherever she was, it was incredibly bright.
“Riya, open your eyes.”
That was Torian’s voice! Had she died when the barrier didn’t let her pass? Were they now in the spirit world together?
“Riya, it’s all right. I promise.”
No, it wasn’t. He was gone, and things would never be all right ever again. Everything—everyone
—had been taken from her. Her mother. Her father. Even her brother, through his corruption. And now Torian. Her heart couldn’t bear another loss.
The pain seeped back, darkening and twisting like vines around her heart, constricting until all her hope began to close off. ‘Here’ didn’t feel so pleasant anymore.
“Quit being so stubborn, my Acimastrea. Open your eyes and look at me. Be here, with me.”
Her eyes snapped open. Instead of the base of the Cradle of The Three, Emariya was back inside the Cradle, at the top in the goddesses’ cavern. Torian knelt before her while The Three looked on.
Emariya squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. The scene before her hadn’t changed. A primal scream escaped as she stood, flying across the circular space. “How dare you! Have you not meddled enough? With our love and our hearts and our very lives. You take him from me, and then you show me this? Is my heart not broken enough? I told you I would carry through and bring the lands together, what more do you want from me?” Emariya stamped her foot and almost felt foolish for it.
Without giving them a chance to answer she called within herself, drawing the fire forward. She held it, letting her anger and her rage and her pain feed it until she could shape it upon her palms. “I quit. Strike me down, send me to the afterlife with my prince, or let me go. But I’m done.” Her eyes narrowed as she flung the orb of flame toward the three goddesses.
Today laughed and waved her hand and the flame died out. Then her eyes darkened. “Do not try that again, or we shall not be so good-natured. Turn, daughter of the soil, I believe your prince wants to speak with you.”
Confused, Emariya dropped her arms to her sides, and turned to face the image of Torian behind her. Was it possible that he
wasn’t
just another trick?
“Riya, I’m so sorry for what they put you through. But I’m here. Really.”
She stared at him, open-mouthed.
“Emariya! I’m not dead.” Torian grinned, his mouth twisting up at the corner in the familiar way that she loved.
Her throat swelled and she flew into his arms. He crushed her against him, and she felt that he was again warm. She could even feel his heart hammering to match hers. His palm gently cradled her cheek.
“I was so lost without you,” she whispered.
“We passed, and we’re together now. That’s what matters.”
Behind her, The Goddess of Tomorrow spoke. “We had to know that you would continue your cause, even without him. Your journey will not be an easy one. You may not both survive.”
Emariya buried her face against Torian, inhaling his familiar scent, letting his presence surround her.
“We have removed the pull of the Stones. You convinced us that you would do what was right, no matter what. We believe that you will unite The Three Corners, and releasing the forced attraction between Stones may make that easier.”
“Are you ready to go?” Emariya asked Torian.
He looked over her shoulder, then nodded and reached down to clutch one of her hands. “Let’s go.”
Emariya didn’t glance back as her husband led her from the cavern, each step taking her a little farther from the horrors she had faced there.
As soon as they had exited the inner sanctum layer of the mountainous home of The Three, the barrier they’d erected to keep their friends out appeared before them.
“Looks like they are done playing with us,” Torian said.
Emariya tugged on his hand, turning him to face her. “But... they said they removed the pull.” Her eyes turned up to him, and she made no move to hide her worry.
“I love you just as much as I did on the way here. Maybe more, after seeing how you reacted when they made you think I’d died.”
She gasped. “You saw that?”
He nodded. “I wanted to kill them for what they did to you. I had to live through my own horrors...
Then watch yours.”
“What...what did they show you?”
Torian put a finger against her lips, shushing her. “That doesn’t matter now.” He replaced his finger with his lips, and when she pressed against him, molding her body to his, he deepened the kiss.
Emariya shivered and pulled away. “I love you, too. Pull or not. I didn’t even realize it was gone.”
He squeezed her hand and they stepped through the barrier back to their waiting world.
Emariya was bombarded the moment she passed through. Under the relief of seeing her friends again and the agony of what she’d endured, her shoulders began to heave.
Kahl encircled her in his arms and spoke in a low tone over her head. “Is she all right? What the hell happened up there?”
Torian let out a long, drawn out breath. “The Three...tested us. They tested our commitment to our lands—all three of them—and to each other. We were interrogated separately and they fooled her into thinking I’d died.”
Raising her head from her grandfather’s now tear-stained chest, Emariya saw Jessa’s face drain of all color. “That’s awful!” Jessa swore.
“We’ll camp here tonight,” Torian said. “I think both Riya and I need a night to recover before we head back to Damphries.”
“Did The Three at least agree to take the gifts and the pull?” Blaine asked, putting his arm around Jessa’s shoulder.
“The pull, yes. But not the gifts.” Emariya flashed her grandfather a tired smile and returned to Torian’s side. She entwined her fingers with his.
Alara frowned. “So His Highness’s sister may come more willingly now, but your mother will still be able to try to enter your mind.”
“The Three did give me some insight to beating them, in my own conversations with them. That can wait, though. Right now, I just need to hold my bride.”
Welcome back, my little palomino. Take your time to rest, but don’t stop looking forward. I’m
afraid that now you are going to have to do something you won’t like. Otherwise, there is only one way
that this can end.
The next morning, Emariya shook her head and glared at her grandfather. “You agree with my father? After everything she’s done, you want me to try to make peace with my mother?” She leaned forward, wrapping her arms more tightly around Torian’s waist. They’d set out with the sun, after a tearful goodbye with Rink.
Kahl nodded. “I know you are angry with her. So am I. But how can we possibly hope to unite three entire lands if we cannot even unite our own family?”
Raina snorted uneasily from her tethered position beside Torian’s stallion. Realizing she was upsetting the horse, Emariya let out a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
The tension in Torian’s shoulders showed his unease. “Are we forgetting that merely the act of speaking to her to try and make peace with her mother puts Emariya in danger?”
Emariya leaned her face against Torian’s back, and she felt his heavy, annoyed breathing still. Her fingers buried themselves in the fabric of his vest.
“No, son, I’m not forgetting it. But she will be in just as much danger if she goes to confront her brother without having resolved the situation with her mother. I can see no other way. Can you?”
Blaine interrupted. “What did The Three tell you? You said they shared information that might give us an advantage?”
Emariya’s ears perked up. She’d meant to ask about that as well.
“I spoke with the Goddess of Today at length. She said the powers of the Warrens are not as tied to the earth as most people believe. Or at least not in the way that we have always believed. According to her, herbal magic is different than all other magic. It is something that everyone has the power to tap into, to some degree or another, because the magic is in the herb, not the person.”