But nothing happened. The new Rocaan took his hands away. Jewel removed the cloth and smiled at the Prince. He smiled back. He seemed to be feeling the same odd joy that Jewel was.
In Nye the new Rocaan said, “It is done.”
His tone made Rugar look at him. The new Rocaan was no happier about this than the rest of them. But Jewel didn’t seem to notice. She hugged her father. “We made it,” she whispered.
“Yes,” he said. They had made it through the treacheries of her first Vision. The Shaman stood beside him—he could smell her faintly cinnamon scent. Jewel put her arm through the Prince’s—Nicholas. Rugar would have to remember that since they had just become relations—and she spoke to the Islander King.
“We will have peace now,” the Shaman said in Fey.
Rugar gave her a startled look. She was watching Jewel laugh.
“This will work?” Rugar asked.
“Parts of it,” the Shaman said, her voice soft and raspy at the same time. “You always forget, Rugar, that children hold the key to the future. It is a place we travel ever so briefly, a place they will know intimately.”
A cool breeze had come up from the water. It ruffled his hair. “You’re telling me that Jewel made the right choice,” Rugar said.
The Shaman continued to follow Jewel’s movement through the barge. “Jewel made the only choice for peace. Would that you always do the same, Rugar.”
He straightened. “You forget yourself,” he said. “I am a warrior.”
“I forget nothing,” she said, and walked away from him, her white robes trailing on the wood. He bit back a curse. He always had such elliptical discussions with her, and he hated them.
The barge started moving back toward the harbor. Jewel and her new husband stood at the rail, watching the shore come up to meet them. She had decided to live in the Islander palace, the symbol of power on Blue Isle, she had reminded him. He had said nothing. He knew how much she wanted to be out of the Shadowlands.
She waved him over. Rugar took a deep breath and crossed the deck. He hated moments like this, moments after the wars ended, when the Fey and their former enemies had to coexist as best they could.
When he stopped beside her, she took his hand with her free one. Her fingers were warm, her grip tight. “We beat the Visions, Papa,” she said in Fey.
“Yes,” he said again. He could say no more. He didn’t want to spoil her obvious joy. They had defeated her Vision, but not his. He had always seen her walking through the halls of the Islander palace as if she owned it. Only he had thought they would come to that moment through a military victory, not through loss and treachery.
“We are sailing toward the future,” Nicholas said softly in Nye. His words were meant for Jewel, but Rugar heard them.
The future. The Shaman said it had no place for warriors.
Rugar wondered if she was right.
About the Author
Kristine Kathryn Rusch, the former editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, has won a World Fantasy award and two Hugo awards for her work in science fiction and fantasy. She has also won France’s most prestigious fantasy award, Le Prix Imaginales. Her fantasy novels, including the stand-alone novels, The White Mists of Power, Heart Readers, and Traitors have won praise around the world.
She also writes science fiction. Io9 has called the hero of her Retrieval Artist series one of the top ten science fiction detectives of all time. Her mystery novels, published under the name Kris Nelscott, are classics of the genre. And her romance novels, published under the name Kristine Grayson, are actually lightweight fantasy novels hiding in another genre.
To find out more about her work, go to kristinekathrynrusch.com.
To find out more about the Fey, go to thefeyseries.com.
Full Table of Contents
Vision
One
Battle
Two
Three
Four
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
The Siege
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Thirty-nine
Forty
Forty-one
Forty-two
Forty-three
Forty-four
Forty-five
Forty-six
Forty-seven
Forty-eight
Forty-nine
Fifty
Fifty-one
Fifty-two
Fifty-three
Fifty-four
Fifty-five
Fifty-six
Fifty-seven
Fifty-eight
Fifty-nine
Sixty
Sixty-one
Sixty-two
Sixty-three
Sixty-four
Sixty-five
Sixty-seven
Sixty-eight
Sixty-nine
Seventy
Seventy-one
Seventy-two
Seventy-three
Seventy-four
Seventy-five
Seventy-six
Seventy-seven
Seventy-eight
Seventy-nine
Eighty
Eighty-one
Eighty-two
Eighty-three
Eighty-four
Eighty-five
Eighty-six
The Meeting
Eighty-seven
Eighty-eight
Sacrifice
Eighty-nine