“Tejus, I can’t fly with anyone. I’m too hungry.”
“I know, it’s all right,” he replied, momentarily slowing down. “You can fly solo—I’ll control your bird like last time. Take some of Jenus’s energy before we depart. He’s not going to be of any further use otherwise.”
I nodded, heading back in the direction of the guards.
It was feeding time.
Rose
I paced up and down the chamber, waiting for Mona, Nuriya and my father to return. They had been discussing the stones with some elder jinn in The Dunes whom Nuriya had a decent relationship with—we were hoping they might know what creatures were contained in the stones. Corrine, my mother, Ben and I were due for a meeting with the fae elders once my father returned to join us. We would be asking them the same questions, in the hope that at least one of them had some recollection or knowledge of what creature was considered so deadly that it had to be locked in a stone for all eternity.
All of the delays that had taken place since I’d received the phone call from Caleb to stop opening the portal had made me more and more anxious. If the threat was that bad, then each day that we left the kids alone would put them in more danger. What if we were too late?
Don’t think like that! I chided myself. There was no point expecting the worst. I just had to trust that the kids knew how to survive—against the odds.
“Your father’s on his way.” Caleb entered the chamber, looking stressed.
“And Sherus?”
“He’s brought some of the elder members of his council to join us. Apparently, none of the other kings recall the stones—they had completely forgotten that the star existed at all.”
“They forgot they put fae on a star to wither away to nothing?”
“Tell me about it,” Caleb muttered.
As much as I felt for the plight of the Shadowed, I wished we hadn’t brought it to Sherus’s attention. We’d be in the blocked-off dimension by now, trying to find the kids.
Nuriya entered the room, looking as harassed as Caleb did. Nuriya’s regal stance had dropped slightly—the jinni looked tired and defeated.
“They know nothing.” She shook her head in irritation. “Absolutely nothing. At first I thought they were being deliberately obtuse, but we questioned them for hours. Not a soul knows any more than I did—just that the star exists, and the creatures trapped within the stones are dangerous.”
“That’s more than most of the fae knew,” Caleb retorted.
“Where’s Mona?” I asked, noticing the absence of the witch.
“She’s gone to check on the portal. She will return in a while,” Nuriya replied, turning toward the door as my father appeared, his face stern and his blue eyes wary.
“The fae elders will be here shortly. Sherus and Lidera are bringing them here.”
I nodded—hopefully we would know something soon.
“I’ll take my leave,” Nuriya announced. “I’m not overly fond of fae.”
I looked at my dad. That wasn’t a good idea. I wanted the queen to hear what they had to say—hopefully it might jog some of her memories, maybe she might be able to recall more of what her grandfather said to her.
“Please, Nuriya, stay. We’re still in need of your counsel. You understand the ways of the fae better than we do,” my father requested.
“I do not understand the ways of the fae.” The jinni sighed, looking at me and then back to my father. “But I see that you probably do need me. The fae are tricky creatures.”
I smiled with relief.
A moment later, Sherus and his sister entered, followed by four other fae, instantly recognizable as the elders. Their faces looked like bark, cracked, wrinkled and rosy, as if they’d spent ten lifetimes in the wind and sunshine. I wondered how old they actually were, but figured it would be impolite to ask. Corrine appeared behind them, keeping her distance from the elders as she came to stand next to me.
“These are the elders,” Sherus announced, “the oldest generation of fae.”
He bowed low as they came into the room, and we all did the same—it seemed appropriate faced with such ancient men.
“Well met, creatures of The Shade,” muttered one of the elders, his voice raspy and quiet.
“Elders, we have asked you here to discuss the stones—the stones which are guarded by the Shadowed, one of which recently emerged from a portal in the ocean. We wish to understand more about them and what they contain,” my dad said respectfully.
The elders nodded, contemplating my father’s request. After a long pause, one of them replied.
“We don’t know what creatures are held within the stones. It is something that was never shared with us or our forefathers, those who sent the Shadowed to guard them.”