I found myself glaring at Daath. “You don’t seem to understand. There’s something about what I am that she went through a fuck ton of trouble to hide from me. She took everything from me. My family, my life, my memories… and she tried to take you two. And there’s a chance that this thing she tried to hide can help me stop the destruction of every realm in the universe. I have to know what else she didn’t want me to know. I killed the bitch once. I’m not afraid of her. Besides, I’m not trying to resurrect her! I just need to speak to her. I need to know if that’s possible.”
The brothers were silent in response. I was so angry at them both for trying to tell me what to do and for not trying to understand what this meant to me.
Daath finally cleared his throat. “It’s not possible. The Bay holds every soul that’s ever crossed over, and there’s a lot of them. It creates intricate realities for each one of them. For all I know, it might not even let you go past the shore through the trees. I’m telling you, it’s not possible.”
“Serriah…” Syrion said thoughtfully. “Serriah mentioned something about a cabal of witches in the fae realm.”
“Syrion-” Daath tried to interrupt him, but Syrion pushed on. My attention was glued to him.
“They were supporters of Minerva. She offered them power and riches in exchange for their assistance. Ever since word spread of her death, they’ve been trying to bring her back. They haven’t succeeded, of course.”
“And they won’t,” his brother added. “Death is not temporary. It is final. The soul may exist, but it can’t occupy a vessel again.”
“Of course,” the white-haired man nodded. “You’re right, Daath. But perhaps some of their magic might help us come up with an avenue we haven’t thought of.”
Daath scoffed. “This is insulting-”
“Stop it!” I hissed. He looked at me in pure shock. “You have no idea how important this is to me, do you? You’ve had millions of years to come to terms with who you are. I’ve had a couple of months, and there’s information about me that’s been hidden. I need to find it. It could save lives! I’m going to find it, with or without your help.”
I waited for his response. His onyx eyes seemed to soften just a bit. Silence hung in the air until he came over and wrapped his arms around me, and I immediately returned the gesture.
“I’ll… help you with this,” he sighed. I could hear the resistance and frustration in his voice, but I appreciated the gesture, anyway.
“Thank you,” I nodded. “Syrion, how would we get in touch with these witches?”
“Well,” he rubbed his neck, “if they’re such strong supporters of Minerva that they want to bring her back, the odds are none of them would take kindly to us, seeing as how we’re responsible for her death. However… perhaps they would speak to Kalian?”
23
Myrcedes
“Kalian?” I knocked on the open door to the library where he was reading. He sat at a chair turned sideways in front of a desk with his back against the lip of the furniture and one arm slung over the back of the chair. The library in the House of Stars was grand, but this one made it look like a child’s collection. In the library of the Moonstone Castle, there were records from every realm spanning millions of years, texts written in almost every language, and catalogs of literature from every creature that knew how to write. The Seelie looked up from his book, a soft smile pulling at his face when he saw me.
“Hello.” He rose from his armchair and came over to wrap his arms around me, kissing me as he did so. I was more than happy to kiss him back. In a setting without so much frustration and tension built between us, I could take in how wonderful he really was. Though he had the sharp, aggressive features that suited an army General, everything about him was soft when we kissed. His skin, his lips, and the feeling of his arms around me all brought me a wave of comfort, preparing me for what I needed to ask. “What brings you here, my dear?”
“Kalian,” I loved saying his name. “I have a… a favor to ask of you.”
His eyebrow ticked up in curiosity. “Very well.” He gestured to a nearby chair with a nod and returned to his seat.
I took a deep breath as I sat across from him. I explained what I had seen on the Floor of Dreams, and why I felt like Minerva had hidden something from me. I came clean about the fact that the Kings and I had been kidnapping council members. I described the lengths the Unseelie Queen had gone to to make sure the prophecy went unrecorded and unrepeated so that no one would ever know what was said. Lastly, I informed him of the coven seeking to resurrect Minerva.
“Daath and Syrion say that it’s impossible to bring her back, and I believe them, but maybe there’s some avenue of magic these witches have researched or found to just communicate, and maybe we could expand upon it. Maybe there’s something we just haven’t thought of… and we were hoping you would, well, speak to them for us.”
He listened in silence, and I nearly winced at the expression of shock on his face when I finished speaking. He was quiet for what felt like far too long.
“I know the witches you’re speaking of.” The golden-haired Seelie finally broke the silence. I struggled to read an answer in his response, but luckily he continued. “They wouldn’t dare to help the monarchs responsible for her death. That’s your concern, isn’t it?” I simply nodded. I waited for
