It was the first time I’d described the experience out loud, and I didn’t get through without tears. But in solid silence, he held me through them, and when I tugged on my necklace, suddenly hating having anything near my neck, he removed it and placed his orrery in my hand.
With that, I got through the whole story and felt a little less broken for it. Maybe his hobby applied to things outside his workroom.
The next day, we rode through a wide, dry mountain pass. Shrubs and grass poked through the recent light snowfall, and at first glance I thought brown shrubby trees grew in the distance. Then they moved.
Bastian didn’t seem concerned by the creatures—didn’t even mention them—and as we got closer, I picked out their sloped backs and long tusks. “Mammoths,” I breathed, the word steaming into the air. I’d read about them and seen pictures in books, but I never dreamed I’d see one.
“Our lands were once connected to the mainland by ice. When it retreated, they were stranded. My people were here; they remember.”
I watched as we rode closer. They moved in a herd, with fur varying from reddish brown to almost black. Two animals—a smaller adult and a calf—had lighter brown coats.
I pressed my hand to my chest, which suddenly felt very full. “Were humans here then, or hadn’t we yet arrived?”
“You had, though I’m not sure you had writing to record it. Eventually, you hunted most of the mammoths on the island to extinction. Remote populations like this one survived.”
“To extinction?” I frowned at the creatures as they used their trunks to tear up clumps of grass and place them in their mouths. “That was short-sighted. If they’d limited their hunting, they would’ve still had more to hunt in the years to come—for their children and grandchildren.”
He snorted and lifted a shoulder. “I’m not going to argue with that. But I suppose only living a short life makes you not consider much beyond its end.”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “Whereas fae are so far-sighted.”
This time he laughed fully. “No. Not at all. I take it back—it’s nothing to do with how long the life is. People just want something that will benefit them now rather than enduring the pain of wanting.”
That made me huff out a breath. The pain of wanting.
Stars above was that a pain I knew well.
It was an endurance sport we’d grown good at. I returned my gaze to the mammoths. “Not everyone.”
“No,” he murmured, “not everyone.”
We didn’t speak much more for the rest of the afternoon, and we found a sleepy village with an inn at the base of the next mountain pass. Tomorrow would take us up into the pass and to the lake.
Polite chit-chat punctuated dinner in our two room suite, and I felt like my chest might explode with all the things I didn’t know how to say. But I piled roast chicken and crispy potatoes on top of those unspoken words and swallowed them all down, finished with a slab of gooey chocolate cake.
I might not be able to speak about my feelings, but I could damn well eat them.
58
Kat
The next day we rode up into thick snow. Vespera would’ve huffed about the cold and kept her head hunched low. The stags weren’t so bothered, but despite my poison, part of me wished she was here. Bastian seemed unaffected.
In the afternoon, we passed a cosy-looking inn nestled against the mountainside. Hunting parties sometimes came up this way, Bastian told me, though they were banned from hunting the mammoths, and many stayed at the Fallen Star Inn.
As we rode higher and the sun set, the cold bit deeper into my face and hands, despite the warmth enchantments Ariadne had sewn into my coat.
“So, this Lady of the Lake.” I dipped my chin into my upturned collar and frowned over at Bastian. “Ari mentioned she’s met one, but is it really worth all this?”
He chuckled, canines bright in the moonlight. “Well, your King Arthur certainly thought so.”
I gasped, even though the air felt like it was made of tiny needles. “You mean… this is that Lady of the Lake? The one who gave him his sword?”
“The very same. She’s the eldest of the sisters and the most powerful. If anyone can tell us about the Circle of Ash, it’s her.” His brow tightened. “At least I hope so.”
“You’re… not sure?”
“There’s a reason I didn’t do this straight away.” His mouth twisted. “If you go at the right time, give a satisfactory offering, and declare your ‘truest desire,’ a Lady of the Lake must answer your question.”
I canted my head. “That sounds like a good thing.”
“It would be, but they are known for… cryptic answers. I can’t blame them—otherwise they’d be constantly harassed. But it does mean we’re only bothering with this because…” His eyebrows pushed together as he pursed his lips.
“Because we’re out of options.”
“Exactly.”
We rode on for another hour before we reached a rocky crest and below us stretched a large, round lake of milky turquoise water with three small islands at its centre. A faint waft of steam rose from the lake’s surface, surrounding it with mist.
“Warm water?” I shot him a questioning look. “Like the hot spring baths at the palace?”
“It used to be a volcano, once upon a time. The water is acidic and sometimes there’s a plume of gas coming from the north edge—it’s not safe to go close then. I suppose technically it still is a volcano.”
“An acid lake. Poisonous gasses. You bring me to all the best holiday destinations.”
He smirked. “I know, I spoil you.”
We rode down a rocky path to the lake’s edge. I caught the faint, eggy scent of sulphur as we dismounted.
Bastian placed his offering—something small I didn’t catch sight of—in a fine mesh bag and used that to dangle it in the water.
“The moon is high, and this is my offering. Lady of the Lake, I call to you.” He said it three times, frowning at the water.
Just as I thought nothing was going to happen, ripples radiated across the lake’s glassy surface. Within seconds they’d formed a bow wave like the front of an invisible ship coming towards us.
My heart thrummed against my ribs, matched by the magic vibrating harder and harder against my skin.
At last, a dark, slick head of hair broke the surface, followed by a face as pale as freshly fallen snow. Eyes of ice, unblinking, watched us as the woman’s naked body emerged. No water dripped from her, but rather seemed to drip from the lake up to her clawed fingertips and sheeted up to her midnight hair, breaking every law of gravity.
The back of my neck prickled and the magic around me suddenly felt beyond powerful, like I could take her strength and make it my own. I trembled at the idea.
She stood on the lake’s surface and lifted her chin, taking us both in. Her skin was unmarked by the lake’s acid, though Bastian’s mesh bag was already fraying. “You summoned me, Serpent and…” She canted her head at me and raised her thin eyebrows. “Interesting.”
She probably didn’t see many—if any humans. Maybe none since King Arthur. I bowed my head.