Windburn (The Elemental Series #4)

The Sylphs rushed forward, all of them this time. But there was no malice in them. Apparently her show of force was enough to convince them. They fell at Samara’s feet on their knees, their hands raised above their heads and their eyes closed. I pushed through the crowd carefully until I was beside Aria and my father.

His eyes met mine first, and there was a tiny bit of clarity there, a hint of the man he’d been before Cassava had manipulated his mind. Before hope could truly spring forward, his green eyes narrowed and distrust replaced any emotion I might have seen there. Beside him lay the emerald stone, as if it had dropped from the heavens. Yet it had been in Cassava’s hand when last I’d seen it. I scooped it up as I crouched down, tucking it into my vest.

“How did you find me?” my father asked.

“I used a Tracker.” Exhaustion made my words soft.

His eyes narrowed farther, and his words were heavy with disappointment. “Using a supernatural? We will discuss this when we get back to the Rim.”

He shook his head, but unlike the shame I normally felt, there was nothing but fatigue. Ignoring him, I went to my knees beside Aria. Her eyes met mine and she smiled. “Give her the stone. She will need it.”

I glanced over my shoulder to where Samara walked through her people, touching them gently on the heads and shoulders. Connecting with them. “She kicked ass without help from anyone else.”

“She is the strongest of us. I’ve always known it. But wild, ah, she is wild like I was when I first took the throne.” Aria slipped the smoky diamond from her neck and handed it to me. The stone shook from the trembling in her hand and I folded my fingers over it.

Boreas, the only Ender who hadn’t charged Samara, went to his knees beside his queen. Tears trickled down his cheeks as he took her free hand and held it to his chest. “Mother, do not leave us.”

“Ah, my boy. How I love you. Protect her. She needs your strength and loyalty. And maybe even your love.”

He dropped his head to her chest, his shoulders shaking. His defense of her, his fierce loyalty, it made even more sense. Though her daughters did not love her the way they should have, her son obviously made up for them. To see their bond made the lack of bond with my own remaining parent that much more painful.

I buried my hands into the rocks. One last thing before we left. My mother’s spear . . . I wasn’t leaving it behind. Using the power of the earth, I searched through the rubble, seeking the weapon and pulling it toward me. The ground bulged and spit up my spear, right into my hand. Peta rolled her eyes. “Shouldn’t be able to do that either.”

I pushed to my feet and stepped back, unable to stay any longer.

“Larkspur, you have an armband?” my father said, stopping me.

“No.”

“You can use one of ours. I want you gone.” Samara’s voice cut through anything I might have said. She pointed at one of the Enders. He handed her an armband made of pale smoky quartz that mimicked the diamond I held in my hand.

There was no globe to use, though, no way to point ourselves home.

“We need to leave. Now.” My father’s grip was tight on my forearm, and his fingers dug into me.

“In a minute—”

“You would defy me?” He seemed truly confused.

I shook his hand off. “I need to speak with Samara before we go.”

Samara wore no crown; she still wore her Enders leathers . . . yet she was the queen. I could see it in the way she held herself, the tip of her chin. Even the blood splatter on her leathers that spoke of the fight for the throne. I’d made the right choice. Even if the mother goddess didn’t like it.

I bent a knee and lowered my head. “I will not fight you.”

The Sylphs around us sucked in a collective breath. Cactus let out a single soft word. “No.”

Through my bond to Peta, I felt her concern. And her pride in me. That was enough to keep me where I knelt. I no longer cared what my father thought of me. I would follow my heart.

“Look at me,” Samara said. I slowly raised my head and lifted my eyes to hers. “Only because Aria spoke your sentence do I not kill you where you kneel. Leave from this place, Destroyer. Never return. Your life will be forfeit if you ever place foot in the Eyrie, wherever it may be.”

I stared up at her. “That’s it?”

Her eyes narrowed and every muscle in her body seemed to tense at once. “I will not go against her last words. I would like to take your heart from your body and cast it from the highest peak. But I won’t. For her.”

That was more along the lines of what I’d been expecting. I held the smoky diamond up to her. “A last gift from your queen.”

She frowned and took the jewel from me. She knew what it was, but her face gave nothing away.

My father approached from behind, and clamped his hand on my shoulder. “Take us home, Larkspur. The Rim awaits.”

Samara handed me the armband and our fingers touched for a brief second. Her eyes met mine and I saw all the emotions I too felt. Anger, fear, relief. She and I were too alike in too many ways.