I glanced at Penelope and she nodded. “Even if you have other fae powers, as you do, your ability to use them will be diminished in intensity until your inner spirit magic has been replenished. It is the cost of a spirit-fae’s vast power.”
I clenched my fists as I tried to gather my thoughts. This had thrown me off guard. Every time I thought I had learned enough about magic and how it worked, something would be revealed to show me that I never really knew very much at all. There was so much to know and so little time to learn.
“What about Rafe?” I asked.
My grandmother’s eyes narrowed. “What about him?”
“I have to help Rafe get his throne back, and I have to explain why I agreed to get engaged to Tristan.”
“Then you should have gone there when you had the chance instead of following me here,” growled Tristan, who was leaning against a wall near the door to the room.
I couldn’t deal with him right now, so I ignored his jab and continued speaking with my grandmother. “You said yourself we will need the mages to stand with us. And now that King Petrocales is dead, Rafe is the rightful King of Eldoren. Without him we will never get the warrior-mages of Eldoren to join us in this war.”
Penelope looked at my grandmother and raised an eyebrow. “She does have a point.”
“Yes,” said the fae queen, her lips a thin line. “But right now, we don’t have enough warriors to waste our forces on restoring Rafael to his throne.” Her eyes narrowed as she assessed me. “Our first priority is getting the Dagger of Dragath out of Morgana’s clutches. But at the same time, we have to make sure that the Book of Abraxas is never opened.”
“How can you be so cold?” I gritted my teeth, my hands balled into fists.
“What’s done is done,” said the queen of the fae. “Rafael Ravenswood is not your concern anymore, Aurora.”
I put my hands on my hips and glared at my grandmother. “He will always be my concern.”
My grandmother’s gold eyes flashed, but she chose to keep quiet.
The dowager came closer to the mirror. “This is the way things have to be, Aurora. It is better for all the kingdoms if you marry a High Fae prince instead of a mage.”
I frowned. “Says who?”
“Says anyone with a lick of sense,” snapped my grandmother, obviously unable to keep quiet any longer.
Rhiannon clasped her hands together. “You may not see it now, Aurora.” Her tone was sympathetic. “But soon you will come to realize your grandmother only has your best interests at heart. You are the only heir to the ancient house of Eos-Eirendil, and the last Dragonlord of Avalonia. You cannot marry a mage, and you don’t need to. You are the rightful queen of the most powerful mage kingdom in these lands. An alliance with a High Fae prince is what will bring Avalonia together once more and heal the rift between the mages and the fae.”
My shoulders drooped as I looked at my grandmother, suddenly feeling like a little girl who was in way over her head. “But you promised to help me.”
“I did,” said my grandmother. “I promised to help you save your mother and get your kingdom back. That is what I am doing. We had no agreement to help the Prince of Eldoren.”
At that moment I really hated the fae queen.
Ever since that fateful night nearly a month ago when Rafe had walked out of my life forever, I had thrown myself into tracking Andromeda and the book. I had left Elfi without consulting my grandmother, but I was so angry with her, it was better for us to have this time apart. She had tricked me into becoming engaged to Tristan when she knew Rafe was on his way to see me, and every time I thought about what she had done, my blood boiled.
I crossed my arms and glared at her. “I cannot stand by and let Rafe lose his throne. It was my fault that Lilith came back from the dead as a shadow wraith in the first place. And Uncle Gabriel is still in the dungeons. Isn’t securing the last key as important as finding the Book of Abraxas?”
“Silverthorne doesn’t have his key—he must have hidden it somewhere,” said Rhiannon. “So far Morgana hasn’t found it, or he would already be dead, like the other guardians.”
“What about the weapons she is making?” I told them about the blackened iron arrow shot at us in the back alleys of the desert city.
Izadora stiffened visibly as she turned her golden gaze to her sister. “Penelope, find out where they are getting this blackened iron and stop them,” she snapped. “Dragath’s forces are already stirring. Something doesn’t feel right.”
My heart fluttered as a great weight seemed to descend on my shoulders. “I’m not sure I can do this on my own.”
Izadora’s eyes softened, but only slightly. “You won’t be alone, Aurora. Tristan and Penelope will accompany you. Once you have secured Brandor, Penelope will contact me. We can decide how to proceed from there.”
Tristan, who had stayed out of most of the conversation, pushed himself off the wall and came to stand beside me in front of the mirror. “And if I refuse to help?”
My grandmother’s golden eyes hardened again as she stared at Tristan. “You cannot refuse. If you do, your oath will be broken.” She moderated her tone. “I need you to go with her, Tristan. You are the only one who can protect her on such a perilous journey.”
“I’m quite capable of looking after myself,” I said tartly.
Tristan snorted but didn’t say any more.
“And Penelope will be there,” I added, more to convince myself than anyone else. I
