Page 19 of Broken Hearted
Dawn gave me a soft smile. “It’s grown on me … but now it doesn’t matter,” she finished, the smile slipping from her face.
I reached for her arm. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She squeezed my hand. “I know. I just … I did fall in love with this land and its people and now if you don’t find a way to get to the Wise Ones, I fear it might all be lost. Including those I love back home.”
The Summer Court was certainly lost, but I wasn’t about to tell her that. There was no use. Her people were safe in my court for the time being, and that was all that mattered.
“I promise I’ll find a way to them,” I vowed and dropped her hand. “Go evacuate your people. I’m sure Zane will let you use his train. We can manage on our own.”
“Of course you can use the train.” Zane’s strong voice came from behind me and I turned. “Where is my brother?” he asked.
“On his way with the most fragile from our castle,” Dawn said.
We gave each other one last hug and then she shouted somethingat her guards. They moved out of the way then, and a horde of people I hadn’t noticed, who must have been hiding behind the line of a dozen guards on horseback, began to move forward toward the train.
We stepped back as seelie all but dragged sickly looking unseelie toward the train platform. Black veins grew along their skin, and they limped along if conscious or were carried on a stretcher if not.
“Dawn,” I breathed, emotion clogging my throat.
She tipped her chin high, her bottom lip unwavering. “No pressure, but we’re all really counting on you.”
An unseelie fae with green skin passed by on a stretcher, and Dawn’s eyes lingered on her as if she truly cared.
“I won’t let you down,” I said.
It was in that moment that I realized I was no longer doing this for Faerie alone; I was doing it for Ethereum, too.
Patting the Shadow Heart at my hip, where it sat safely in the satchel, I readied myself for a rough night and day ahead.
* * *
We didn’t get much time to visit, but I briefly got to meet Dawn’s husband, Zander, in real life when he arrived with more refugees. Apparently, his official name was Lord Roan, but his closest friends and family referred to him by his middle name, Zander, instead. Like his brothers, Zander was a handsome man, and even though it was a short introduction, it was enough to convince me of his love and affection for my friend. The way he looked at her, as if she was his whole world, even made my icy heart melt a little. All toosoon, though, I had to say goodbye to Dawn and watched glumly as she led a long line of refugees onto Zane’s train.
Dawn gave us a detailed map, but assured me it was impassable with waters as high as a horse.
“You may be able to cross it using your powers, Izzy, but even then … it would take a lot out of you,” she’d told me.
I’d balked at that. Take a lot out of me? In order to tire me, I’d have to freeze half the world. I assured her I’d be fine.
After she was out of sight, Zane and I headed for the mountains where the Wise Ones lived. We only rode for a few hours before it was too dark to travel any longer and so we stayed at an inn that Dawn recommended just outside Noreum, the Northern Kingdom capital. The next morning, after a light breakfast, we were off again for our true full day of travel.
We were well into that tiring day of travel with nighttime approaching, when a man rushed up to us. He had blackened stains up his legs all the way to his hips.
“Go no further,” the fae warned, and I stared at the little serrated points on the tips of his ears and the black horns on his forehead.
I followed the man’s gaze to a sheet of black water that crept forward through what looked like some old farm-lands in the valley in front of us. Trees and cottages were halfway submerged in the dark liquid. It was hard to tell from here exactly how deep it was, but the waters were definitely rising and would eventually reach the high ground where we were.
Zane looked at me in alarm, and I pulled my horse to a stop. The man was traveling with his wife and a small child. The child clung to the arms of his mother, and I noticed that the womanwas also covered in the same stains up to her waist. Whatever was in this water, it wasn’t good.
I slid off my horse. “Please take my horse. It’s a day’s ride to the train station in Noreum, but from there, everyone is heading south for safety.”
They wouldn’t be able to make it before dark, because the sun was already low in the sky, but if they were careful and rode through the night, they could reach the station by morning.
The fae man looked at me like I’d grown two heads. “We couldn’t possibly deprive you of your horse, my lady.”
I handed him the reins. “Nonsense. I will ride with my friend. Please make good time so that the waters do not hurt you.”
“And what about you, my lady? Are you heading back to the train station?” he asked me.
