“Keep moving,” Wrenley hisses under her breath. “We’ll draw attention otherwise.”
We’re in the market, but no one’s buying. No one’s selling. Vendors man their stalls, picking up and putting down wares in a rhythmic pattern.
“How is Kairyn going to rule a city of ghosts?” I growl.
“He must have a plan,” Wrenley says. “I don’t think the effects of the pollen will last forever. By the time it wears off—”
“He’ll have the soldiers and goblins in place. His new reign will be absolute.” I give a heavy sigh. “It’ll make it almost impossible for the people to fight back.”
“He’s smarter than you think.”
I whirl, pushing her against the wall. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were still loyal to him. That sounded an awful lot like a compliment.”
Her face scrunches up in a frown. “I know him well from the monastery. Which is why I’m telling you not to underestimate him.”
I release her before any of the goblins see my outburst. She saved my life. And now she’s helping me save Fare.
“Okay,” I say. “Time to get my boy.”
“We’ll have to break his daze. The stardrop works, or water, if there’s enough to clear the airways.”
“I could throw him in that fountain.” I point to one in the center of the square.
“There are goblins everywhere,” she says. “They’ll notice you doing that.”
“Don’t worry.” I give her a wink. “I always have a plan. And you’re going to help me with this one.”
Grabbing her hand, I drag her to the nearby fountain. We sit along the edge. A few other dazed Spring folks rest around us, so it’s easy enough to blend in. In the center of the fountain, water sprays out from a cluster of stone butterflies.
“What are you doing?” Wrenley hisses under her breath.
“I had the great idea of sending a wave of water over everyone.” I lean in close so as not to be heard, my mouth a breath away from her ear. “The only problem is all of my magic got drained saving my girl. Until I refresh at Castletree, I’m dry as a bone.”
“Your girl?” Wrenley says softly. “I thought she was Prince Farron’s mate.”
I swallow in a tight throat. She’s not wrong. “So, you’re going to cause the uproar with this water.”
Her eyes widen. “I-I don’t have any magic. I couldn’t.”
Her fingers tremble in my hand, and I realize I haven’t let go. But she hasn’t let me go, either. Her skin is more calloused than Rosalina’s, hand smaller than Farron's, and yet … I can’t deny there is something comforting about having someone to hold in this moment. Having a connection to one person in a place so dangerous. “Your father is from the Summer Realm, right? All children of Summer share a connection to the sea.” Slowly, I draw both our hands into the fountain. “Can you feel it?”
She grimaces. “Feels like water.”
The fountain is cold, mountain water. It’s not Summer, with the salt and cresting waves. But every moment we hesitate, Fare gets further and further away. I can’t lose him.
Rosie wouldn’t have any trouble seeing the similarity between salt and fresh water. No, she shifts effortlessly between all of us. She appeared just as at home here in Spring as she did in the Autumn Realm. But I can’t keep thinking about Rosalina. I need to focus on Wrenley.
“Magic flows through all of the Enchanted Vale, as do rivers and lakes and seas. You are connected to it.”
She shakes her head, a look of sadness in her eyes. “Not like that.”
“Try thinking of a memory around water. Do the Golden Acolytes have any hymns about a lake?” Her glare has me chuckling softly. “Humor me, Wren.”
“My brother taught me to swim,” she whispers. “The river was so cold I used to spit and snarl every time he brought me to the edge. But once I got in, I always had fun. He’d throw colorful stones and make me dive to get them.”
“My brothers taught me to swim, too,” I say. “Though their idea of fun was tossing me in the surf and seeing how long it took me to come to the surface. Joke was on them. I could hold my breath under water a whole minute longer than Damocles.”
It’s so rare to think of Damocles and Decimus like that. To have a memory that isn’t tainted by blood. Even though there’s no magic within me, there’s a tiny part that sparks, thinking of those waves, the beach and sand.