Our Luna was a soft ruler, not lazy or indifferent, but perhaps a little overly generous and kind. She enjoyed healing the land, saying it gave us purpose. Even when the rumors of Phaetyn being captured by the emperor came, she encouraged us to leave the sanctuary of Zivost and heal the land. She led this charge by example.
When Queen Luna left, she gave the responsibility of rule to her sister, Alani. Even though Luna was partnered with Kaelan, she left sometimes for weeks or months to do what she called the Phaetyn’s work. Perhaps this is what drove Alani and Kaelan together. Perhaps, it was the other way around.”
Holy Drae babies . . . or rather Phaetyn babies. This was the inside scoop. Alani and Kaelan got together while he was still with Luna? What a turd. But how much merit did the gossip have? What people saw and interpreted was not always truth, a lesson I’d learned in Irdelron’s castle. Still, Kaelan was a jerk, so I was inclined to believe it.
I nodded, not wanting to interrupt the story, letting the Phaetyn know I was listening.
“Alani acted as regent often, and the Phaetyn accepted their ruler’s choice. In truth, we thought nothing of it. Luna still set the rules, although there were very few, and on the rare occasion there was a dispute amongst our kind, she still passed judgment. But Luna’s trips out of Zivost increased in frequency and then in length. One day, she left and several annum passed without Queen Luna’s return. Almost two decades ago, her tree stopped growing.”
An odd sense of trepidation settled deep in my chest. I looked at the three Phaetyn and couldn’t help but feel like they were looking at me with eager anticipation in their eyes. “What do you think happened?”
The older Phaetyn furrowed his brow, and the air in the room grew heavy. “Initially, the Phaetyn thought her dead, but The Sacred Tree, Queen Luna's elm, did not wither and die like it should’ve had the queen’s power been extinguished. Even if Luna is gone, her power did not die with her. The rumor is she infused you or your mother with her magic, passing the ancestral force to you.”
“Do you think that’s true?” I hedged, not wanting to reveal anything.
The older Phaetyn shrugged. “It seems like it. You can talk to the trees, right?”
I shook my head in disbelief; news sure traveled fast. Maybe I could get some more answers from them. “So, why don’t the Phaetyn heal the land anymore? What happened with that?”
“Queen Luna erected the borders around Zivost when the Phaetyn started disappearing over a century ago. The border that cloaks the skies is the one that keeps us safe from the Drae, and the stone one around the forest protects us from humans. However, Luna dropped the physical wall regularly for the Phaetyn to visit other lands. Remember, she felt it our purpose to regenerate and renew the earth. Less than a decade after Luna’s disappearance, Queen Alani decreed the outside world unsafe for all the Phaetyn. She pointed to those captured and killed as reason for her decision. She insisted that if the wall had been up, her dear sister would’ve been safe. The majority of the Phaetyn supported Queen Alani’s decision for isolation, if for no other reason than their love for Luna.”
As I listened to the Phaetyn explain their history, I wanted to ring Kamoi’s neck. His grossly abbreviated history was rife with missing bits.
“The intent of our rebellion is not to protest Alani’s right to be queen. Luna gave her that right, and it was hers to give. But it is our calling and purpose to heal the land. Word has reached us of the need of the kingdoms in the Draecon Empire. We just want the choice to leave Zivost.”
“It’s not like there aren’t a few Phaetyn out there anyway. Or there were when Alani raised the wall. The emperor probably got them all by now,” the biggest Phaetyn said in a rumbling low voice.
“We want to leave, and she won’t let us,” the youngest of the three said.
“But if you leave, you might die,” I argued. “Isn’t she just trying to keep you safe?”
“Some want to leave to heal the land; some just don’t want to be trapped. Others want to look for their loved ones even if only to bring closure to their disappearance. They can lower and raise the wall, but they rarely let anyone leave. Very rarely.” The eldest Phaetyn gave me a sad smile. “Have you ever felt trapped?”
The question made me nauseated, and I nodded.
“Is it true you saw visions of Queen Luna?” the eldest Phaetyn asked.
I shifted on the hard seat and stared into the empty bowl, contemplating my answer. The biggest problems I’d experienced in my life were because of other’s lies. I took a deep breath and raised my head to meet the three Phaetyn’s gazes. I didn’t want to be a liar. “Yes,” I said. “I did.”
“Then you must come back to The Sacred Elm tree and ask it to show you the truth about Queen Luna. Alani said it was her sister’s last wish to keep the Phaetyn safe. If that were truly her wish, we would all comply. She was our true queen. She held the ancestral powers.”
“But if Queen Alani is lying,” the stocky Phaetyn said in a deep voice, “then we would ask that you drop the rock barrier so those of us who want to leave are free to be one with the world again. If you can see the truth from the trees, you have the ancestral power, and it is your right to do it.”
“You can’t move it like Kamoi?”
He shook his head. “Only the royals have that power.”
I wanted to tell them not to be stupid or rash, but I didn’t know what life was like here or how it was affecting the Phaetyn. I also didn’t want to drop the wall and leave them exposed, but the safety they were told they had here, just like the high tower I’d once been in, was only an illusion. Alani’s grip on the barrier would inevitably fail.
Knowing the Phaetyn in Zivost were divided, I wasn’t about to agree to just anything. But they weren’t asking me to do anything more than tell them the truth, and I was more than willing to do that. Everyone deserved the truth.
“If you want to take me to the tree, we’ll have to do something to disguise me. Let’s face it,” I said, holding up my hemp sack tunic. “I stick out like a sore thumb.”
20
When we got to the Sacred Circle and no one stopped us, I mentally patted myself on the back. I could blend in with my new silver robes. I could be a Phaetyn spy. Wait. That was what I was doing. For some reason, I heard Tyrrik’s suffering sigh in my head at that moment, and my lips twitched.
The royal guard surrounded the Sacred Circle. The Phaetyn warriors, dressed in their purple aketons, created a barrier to the tree.
The smallest Phaetyn grabbed my hand and said, “Do they know you have Queen Luna’s power?”
I nodded, and the young Phaetyn cringed. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. Why did I always have to blurt everything out? I was so going to get better at keeping secrets, starting right now.