Page 84 of On Silver Winds
“Kai.” Os shifted uncomfortably, and raked a hand through his mop of sandy hair. “There’s no precedent here. We’re all finding our way; King or not, that includes you.”
But they weren’t finding their way. They were waiting, all of them. Stuck. Patient, blessedly patient, but as trapped here on land as they had been been beneath that ice. Kai watched the mother he’d spoken to earlier; she sat bouncing a babe in her lap, singing something they couldn’t hear over the chatter and the crackle of the fire. The babe grabbed her cheeks in both round hands and cooed wetly in her face. Both of them merry enough – and yet the woman subconsciously held a space open beside her where no one sat. The untouched cup of wine wedged in the snow by her feet had long stopped steaming, and her eyes, though bright, were ringed with strain.
“There’s something I must see to,” Kai said, dragging his gaze away from the mother and child. “Cover for me, if anyone asks?”
Os nodded once, then jerked his head toward the treeline. “Done. Go on, while it’s quiet.”
Kai made to move away, but his eyes caught on Adeline, as they so often did, and he paused. Where they sat together, Alun leaned toward her, gesturing broadly and flashing a gleaming white grin; the flickering firelight caught gold along her cheekbones as she laughed.
“Is there something else?”
Kai drew himself up decisively.
“Yes. Don’t let Alun dance with her.”
Os huffed a laugh.
Chapter 28
Kai
He found his way back to the Shrine easily, even in the half-light. The woods were quiet, the clearing by the stream abandoned; the laughter and bustle now sounded from the other side of the trees, by the lakefront.
The statue was a white beacon in the dim light of the setting sun and the sparse shade of the few evergreens that enclosed the Shrine. Kai pulled his hood up as he took his place behind the worshippers, bowing his head in what he hoped was a passing imitation of reverence. If anyone cared to look, they might recognise the Merrow King for his height, but there was little to be done on that front. He found himself slouching slightly, just in case.
The patrons before him seemed to take an age. He stood back to afford them their privacy, but a few words of their quiet prayers caught on the breeze. Each of them begged for an end to the creeping Thaw, or for the return of their livelihoods. A pair of young women knelt together, holding hands as they recited some lyrical passage in unison. One of them struggled through her prayer, her breath catching every few words in a wet gasp. Each ragged breath sent a spike through Kai’s chest.
The Thaw was happening anyway, he told himself, and as hard as the Commander and his Wielders might try, there was no stopping it. All Kai wanted was to accelerate the magic that would naturally take hold over the next few years. That was all.
And keep the monarchy from discovering the pendant that could preserve their Silver Kingdom.
He pushed back against that cresting wave of guilt. They would be fine. Hehadto do this. Queen Selma’s devotion to her country was legendary, even to his own limited knowledge of this new world. She would find a way to navigate the change. She would save her people; and he would save his own.
The women climbed to their feet, and the quiet one took the crying woman’s face in her hands and kissed her gently until her breathing evened out. Hand in hand, they came away from the statue and the calmer of the two nodded at Kai; “May you soar on Silver Winds.”
Kai stiffened. His hands twitched to pull his hood lower over his face, but he was clearly expected to say something, to complete the blessing.
“And you, also.”
It was the wrong thing to say. The woman frowned, but her companion was walking still, tugging on her hand. She gave one last confused nod, and the pair of them disappeared through the trees to the banks of the lake, leaving Kai quite alone.
No. Not alone.
His legs trembled beneath him as he took his first slow steps toward her. Finally, he allowed himself to look up. Forced himself.
It was Avette. It really was Avette.
The woman he had once thought he loved.
She looked exactly as she had that day. Her long dress billowed around her ankles in the same invisible wind that lifted her hair, and her arms were held high above her head. Every part of her was encased in white; the same ice and frost that had held Kai captive for so long.
He felt a small, sickly stab of satisfaction.
“You did this,” he told her, his voice low. A tremor in his throat shook the words as they came out, but he went on through gritted teeth. “If you can hear me, Avette, I want you to know that you deserve this eternity, and all the madness it inspires. You did this to yourself.”
He paused, dragging in a breath that shook above the hammering in his chest. He thought of the crying woman, her ragged gasping as she sobbed quietly at Avette’s feet.
Kai swallowed hard before speaking again, steadier now.
