Page 106 of Crowned By Roses

He looks almost peaceful, an expression I’ve never seen on the grouchy old man’s face.

“Justus?”

“Concentrate, Daytonales. It’s a long way to the Queen’s Realm.”

His shape isn’t right; the edges of it are growing misty, translucent.

“What are you doing?” I scream.

“Helping you, as I should have done when you were cursed,” he says. “Instead, I fled like a coward.”

Summer’s blessing pulses in my chest as if welcoming home an old friend, burning brighter and brighter as Justus’s form keeps dissipating before my eyes. Tiny drops of mist break away from his form like spray from a wave.

“You’re giving me your power,” I whisper.

“A fleeting gift,” he says with a glint in his eye, the kind that mirrors my own mischief. “Wield it well.”

The ocean surges wild beneath my control, rushing us faster and faster, and I can’t stop it. I try to blink through the spray of ocean water, or maybe it’s my tears. “Stop! I can do this on my own.”

“That’s the thing, kid.” He grasps my arm, and it feels like water and wind and sun. “You don’t have to.”

“Justus!” I scream, and another wave hits the ship, breaking what is left of him apart.

His voice ghosts on the wind: “For Summer. For the Vale. For…Aurelia.”

“Justus!” My blessing beats in my chest, a wild, untamed thing. I stare ahead, the endless river, the long journey to Castletree.

The water pulses beneath my touch, wavering, wondering if I’ll reach out and grasp it. What if he was wrong? What if it’s not enough?

What if I’m not enough?

44

Ezryn

Usually the clang of metal, the sensation of steel against steel, and the calming rhythm of work are enough to settle me. But there is nothing peaceful about the mechanics of Kairyn’s airships.

I’ve spent the day down in the caverns below Florendel where Kairyn’s armada—or rather, Spring’s armada, after they were requisitioned from the Green Rule—are stationed. An entire fleet, capable of transporting hundreds of soldiers in a fraction of the time it would take to march.

An entire fleet…completely useless.

I collapse back against the wall of the engine room, sinking into a crouch. This is even more frustrating than lighting the Forge of Onaulion, if that’s possible. At least then, I knew there was a solution somewhere. But I truly think this is hopeless.

These ships were built to be powered by the Green Flame. With Baron Malekai Furiondemius banished from this world, there’s no energy to fuel them. I’ve tried regular fire, Spring’s flame, oil, wind…

Perhaps Caspian could fuel it, but I’m without means to contact him. Besides, I’m not sure his magic has recovered enough for that.

This is nothing but a scrapyard.

“Giving up already?”

The lilting voice makes my teeth grind. I’d had five minutes of peace while Jack got distracted wandering the lower deck of the ship, but now he’s returned to the engine room to bother me. Why did Kel condemn me with this kid?

Well, not a kid. He’s probably eons older than I am. But he has a youthful face and a cheeky grin that make me regard him as about the same age as Wrenley.

As soon as we arrived in Florendel yesterday, Jack wandered off, happy to entertain himself. Perhaps I should have been concerned about what he was getting into, but there were too many other things that required my attention.

However, for some reason, today he’s decided he’s going to stick to me like slag to a smithy’s floor.