Chapter 15
“Are you surprised to see me?”he asks with gravel weighing down his voice.
I turn to face him and can’t decide if he’s more like a wraith, or an agent of the Forgotten Gods. The darkness of his hair is teased by the mist of the Fade. The gray pallor of his skin is like cut stone, unnatural and ethereal in this world of living night. If it were possible, he looks even more powerful than he did in the throne room. And several times more severe. I fold my arms to protect myself from his judgment.
“I suppose I shouldn’t be.”
“No, you shouldn’t be.” Eldas scowls. “What were you thinking?”
“I sat on your throne; I brought about spring. You clearly don’t want or need me here anymore and I am little more than a burden to you. I was going home.”
He blinks slowly and shakes his head. “You…you think you were a burden?”
“Given how you’ve treated me, what else was I supposed to think?”
“I have made an effort to be civil to you.”
“You have not,” I snap without thinking. He takes a step back, as if he’s taken aback someone would speak to him in such a manner. Given our experience in the throne room, I’m the one who’s surprised I can still make him shocked.
“Well, I…I’ve given you apartments. I’ve given you the royal purse to furnish them with. I’ve not locked you away or barred you access to anywhere in my castle—a decision you’ve made me very much regret.”
“You treated me like a puppet! You controlled me with my own true name!” I continue without remorse. I’m in too deep by now, might as well keep digging. “I don’t want to be some pawn for you. I’m not going to spend the rest of my life training my magic just so you can scare some other kings of Midscape.”
He takes another step back. I see anger rise on his cheeks, furrowing his brow. Until his whole face softens.
“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
“I don’t…” I don’t want your apology, is what I want to say. But I gather my composure and rephrase. “I don’t want words, I want action. It’s easy to apologize, Eldas. It’s harder to mean it.”
“I will try harder then.”
“Or you can let me leave.” A wet muzzle presses into my palm, as if the wolf is trying to remind me he’s still here, beside me. I scratch him between the ears, grateful I have someone on my side. Eldas’s eyes drop to the beast and narrow slightly, but he returns his attention to me. “You don’t want this marriage; I don’t want it. I did what you needed and brought about spring. So why are we trying to navigate living and working together?”
“Because we must.”
“Why though?” I take a step toward him and the wolf matches my pace. The idea of advancing on the king with a beast of the Fade emboldens me some. “Stop…stop shutting me out, please. If you’re really sorry for how you’ve acted, here is your time to change it. If you want me to help you then help me sincerely. Teach me like I asked, don’t berate and put me down.”
His eyes widen slightly and, for the first time, his walls don’t immediately come up. He studies me and I keep myself open, bare before him. This is the last chance I’m giving him, though I don’t say so outright.
“The Human Queen is our link to the Natural World and the redwood throne is her link to the foundations of Midscape. The magic flows through her, and from her, to nurture the earth and give it life. This connection is something that must be nurtured. You don’t sit once and that’s all.”
“Wait, are you saying that I’m to be magically leeched by the throne regularly?” I say in horror.
“Yes, you charged the earth of Midscape, but the magic you put in will fade over time. So you must continue to sit on the throne to keep fortifying the land.”
“That’s too much…” I wrap my arms around myself, fighting off the phantom sensation of the throne grabbing for me.
“Yes, eventually you will be depleted. As your strength wanes over the year, Midscape will cool, and the earth will wither.”
“Then you cast me aside because I am no longer useful?”
“No,” Eldas says sharply. “You truly think so little of me?”
“You haven’t given me a lot of reasons to think positively of you,” I admit.
He grimaces. “Your magic will grow thin, but you will return to the Natural World when it is most strong—midsummer—to recharge and reaffirm your bonds.”
When I arrived, it was a deep winter here in Midscape. After I sat on the throne, spring bloomed into existence. Summer will come next. As my power fades, so too will the earth.