I remained hunched over Tyrrik as I scanned the area.
That central tree didn’t seem to be getting any closer, and the serenity I’d felt when I first stepped into the forest was ebbing away. Taking a closer look, I noticed the crowd had divided into two distinct groups on either side of our escort. Those to my right didn’t seem angry at me, but rather at the rest of the Phaetyn. Those to my left were all young men and women, and judging by the glares aimed my way, they didn’t like me and Tyrrik one bit. I wasn’t so sure Kamoi’s twelve guards would hold them all off if they charged. I would go full Drae if they didn’t watch out.
“How much farther until we’re safe?”
“Not much farther,” Kamoi said with a frown. “Ryn, you are safe here.”
“Mm-hmm,” I replied, making sure to be just as helpful as he’d been.
The guards halted and faced outward, banging their spears and shields together with a loud clatter. I turned to look back, and a wave of energy rippled over me from the direction of the tree. I gasped, staggering with a deep and sudden sense of yearning.
I forgot about the guards, the faction of young Phaetyn, and almost Tyrrik as I slid from the horse to the ground. I released my hold on the Drae, watching for any signs of agony, but Tyrrik’s limp body remained draped over our horse. We’d moved into the central safe zone, apparently.
Giving into the new yearning with a sigh that I felt soul-deep, I moved toward the ginormous gnarled elm reaching into the sky, its branches extending out as wide as the limbs extended above us. The rough bark was warm beneath my palm, and I ran my fingertips over the trunk in a soft caress, my heart shuddering.
A sense of home washed over me. A deep feeling of belonging, a tenderness that reminded me of my mother, the love she’d had for me, deep enough that she would sacrifice her life, and this brought tears to my eyes. I dropped to my knees.
The feeling didn’t stop but expanded, and images flashed behind my closed eyelids. A beautiful Phaetyn woman, laughing as she ran through the forest, her lover chasing after. The two of them kissing in an obvious binding celebration. A crowd of Phaetyn cheering as she spoke to them. This was their queen with her mate? The images shifted, and shadows fell over the forest. Blind panic was etched on the faces of Phaetyn, young and old. The numbers of Phaetyn dwindled, and the queen addressed her people, resignation on her face. The queen kissed her mate, she and a few of her attendants leaving the forest. As she left, the queen pulled the rocks up into jagged teeth, the jaws surrounding Zivost in a protective barrier none could penetrate.
At one with the trees, I longed to reach out for her and was crippled by my loneliness when she didn’t return. The images receded, fading into shadows of gray before dissolving into a canvas of solid black. A whisper of curiosity brushed my mind, but when an image of Irdelron standing over me surfaced, I broke contact with the elm with a gasp.
I closed my eyes, the bright light blinding me with stabbing pain in comparison to my time spent within the tree’s memories. Sitting, I pushed my palms into my eyes and put my head between my knees.
“What did you see?” Kamoi asked in a hushed voice. “Did the tree show you anything?”
I processed what I’d seen, opening my eyes and blinking so they’d adjust. “What happened to her? The previous queen?”
Kamoi’s lavender eyes darkened. “Luna Nuloa?”
I nodded. Her name fit her, like a sliver of moonbeam, delicate but strong.
“She—”
“Highness,” a guard yelled.
A crowd of Phaetyn marched toward us. Drak.
“I thought you said we’d be safe here, Kamoi.”
Prince Kamoi puffed his chest and extended his hand. “I did say that, Kealani, and I meant it. This is sacred ground.”
I let him pull me up, but as soon as I was standing, he released my hand and went to the guards.
Their murmuring was an indistinguishable chorus, but the low undercurrents betrayed their angst. Three of the guards waved their arms at me, and I ran to where Dyter stood by my horse and Tyrrik.
“This is not good,” Dyter said, stating the obvious. “I had no idea I was agreeing to take you into the middle of a war.”
I wrinkled my nose as I thought about it. “Is that what this is? Wait a minute. Can the Phaetyn harm each other? Is that even possible?”
Dyter shrugged, but beads of sweat glistened on top of his bald head. “I always thought the Drae were invincible and the Phaetyn extinct. I know hardly anything about them, except what I’ve learned from you and Kamoi on the journey here.”
I’d stopped listening, realizing I knew the answer, thanks to Ty, aka Tyr, aka Tyrrik. Phaetyn and Drae canceled each other which meant the Phaetyn needed Drae blood to kill one another.
I rested my hand on Tyrrik to assure myself he was still alive but pushed down my worry about his state as I eyed the crowd again. What the hay were they so angry about to begin with?
A second group of guards marched toward us by the sacred tree clearing, and the crowd of angry Phaetyn slowly dispersed.
Kamoi returned to us, shaking his head. “I’m sorry for the interruption, Kaelani—”
I held my hand out to stop him. “Don’t apologize. And don’t call me Kaelani. My name is Ryn. Just Ryn. I don’t have any pet names, except Rynnie, and only Dyter calls me that. You don’t control the people, do you? Is that your father’s job?”
Dyter cleared his throat, and I had a feeling I’d stepped in horse poop again.
“His mother’s job,” Dyter said. “His mother is the queen. The Phaetyn are a matriarchal society.”
Yikes. I winced. “Sorry,” I said with a grimace. “I’ve never been very good at politics.” Or cared.
Kamoi took my hand, and my heart started thumping despite all my bluster. Being that good looking wasn’t fair. His skin was really, really smooth. He led me back past the tree, and I stumbled to a halt. There was a path. A golden path. Like beautiful shiny gold that made me want to walk down it . . . and possibly dig up the sparkly bricks and put them in safe keeping. Drak. There was something wrong with my head when it came to shiny objects of late.
“My mother and father are expecting us. They live just over this way,” he said, indicating another, not shiny, path. “I’m sure they’ll have food and beds ready.”
“Wait,” I said belatedly.
I turned to see Dyter leading the horse with Tyrrik on it. I was about to walk off with sexy-schmexy Prince Phaetyn without my unconscious . . . friend . . . my acquaintance? Gah. I couldn’t leave Tyrrik.
I met Dyter halfway and put my hand back on Tyrrik as I asked, “How long is he going to sleep like this?”
Dyter lifted a shoulder. Right. Dyter doesn’t know everything.
I guess it’d be better to ask Kamoi my questions—at least the Phaetyn ones. “Do the Phaetyn all have the same powers? Can everyone do everything?”