‘R?ven?’ I said, shaking her harder.
Jack placed his hand on her forehead and closed his eyes, concentrating with all his might. At that moment, Fae reached us, her eyes wild and frantic.
‘Is she okay? Are you healing her?’ she demanded.
‘R?ven?’ I repeated, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. ‘Hey … look who’s here. It’s Fae … your old friend.’
Jack removed his hand from her forehead and stared at me, his pupils dilated.
‘What’s the matter?’ I asked. ‘Why aren’t you fixing her?’
‘Avalon, I’m sorry,’ he said, his mouth barely moving. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t be stupid,’ I said harshly. ‘Start healing.’
‘I can’t,’ he said, his voice strangled. ‘It’s too late. I was too late. I’m sorry.’
‘What do you mean too late?’ I repeated. ‘You can heal her.’
I tried to thrust R?ven into his arms, but he shook his head. I didn’t like the way his eyes glistened, or his top lip quivered.
Fae pushed Jack out of the way and pulled R?ven into her arms, as I relinquished my hold on her.
‘R?ven!’ Fae shook her. ‘R?ven. Please …’
I looked away, unable to witness it.
‘R?ven, look. It’s me, Fae. I came to see you,’ she crooned, brushing R?ven’s hair from her face.
R?ven lay perfectly still, her ice-blue eyes staring vacantly.
‘I … I found you,’ whispered Fae. ‘I came to tell you that your Mama and Papa are at home … waiting for you.’
I watched in silence as Fae’s words fell on R?ven’s deaf ears.
‘Their memories came back,’ Fae continued, a tear slipping down her dirt-encrusted cheek. She sniffed loudly, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. ‘Your song wasn’t permanent. They sent me to bring you home. They gave me a message for you.’
How cruel, how ironic, that they had been moments away from one another, yet R?ven would never know that Fae had come all this way to be with her. Their reunion was bittersweet.
‘They told me to tell you two words,’ whispered Fae, pressing her forehead against R?ven’s. ‘Mein Liebling.’
I covered my mouth and stifled the cry that escaped me. I couldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t. How could the sun shine, and the earth turn when R?ven Blacklock was dead?
I broke down then. My heart was being crushed. I stood up, stepping on the hem of my dress and staggering backwards. Jack caught me and wrapped his arms around me tight, holding me against his chest. I sobbed into his uniform, burning great holes through it, whilst feeling his own tears falling against my hair.
‘Mein Liebling,’ Fae repeated over and over. ‘Mein Liebling.’
Slowly, the others crowded around us, whispering.
‘Is she dead?’
‘She’s dead.’
‘R?ven’s dead?’
‘No!’
A middle-aged woman stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. I didn’t know who she was, but tears filled her eyes.
‘Your friend was very brave,’ she said.
‘Who are you?’
‘My name is Cecilia Pinschmidt,’ she said. ‘And it’s because of R?ven that we have a cure for the humans.’
Fae looked up, her eyes bloodshot, and her face tear-streaked. ‘Because of R?ven?’
Cecilia nodded. ‘The cure was a man called Mackerville, a Mage with the ability to absorb Power, and gift memories. He offered to heal any human we brought to him, in exchange for a Power. R?ven volunteered.’
‘She did?’ said Fae, sniffing loudly.
Cecilia nodded and knelt beside Fae, placing a kind hand on her shoulder. ‘Your friend was very brave, and her death will be mourned for generations to come. It is because of her that we can help thousands of innocent people.’
‘That girl is a hero,’ my father said gruffly, to mumbled agreement amongst the other rebels.
Fae looked down at her lost lover, a tear hanging on to the tip of her nose, before falling onto R?ven’s cheek.
‘She didn’t even know I was here,’ she whispered. ‘I didn’t make it in time.’
This simple sentence wrenched at my heart strings, and I buried my face into Jack’s chest once more. I couldn’t bear to watch Fae’s agony.
No one spoke as Fae wept over R?ven’s body, rocking her in her arms. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I’m sorry.’
I couldn’t take it. I pulled away from Jack and walked to Fae’s side, crouching beside her. Fae looked at me through her curtain of red hair, before laying R?ven against the grass and throwing her arms around me, sobbing into my shoulder. I gripped her tightly, looking down at R?ven’s lifeless form. The way her eyes stared up was so unnatural. I reached my hand forward and gently closed her eyelids so she appeared to be sleeping.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Afterwards