He frowned and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “We won’t stop looking for them, you know.”
“You’ll be looking forever,” I said.
Kiyo said no more and left me. Thinking back to when he’d been ensnared by dryads, I couldn’t help but again see Jasmine and Keeli’s reasoning about letting him die. It really would’ve made things simpler. He was Maiwenn’s main contact in the human world. Her search wouldn’t get far without him.
The next day, he departed from our group, his fox form scurrying off across the muddy landscape of the Willow Land. All the recovering kingdoms had a similar appearance right now, but I knew they’d show their true natures soon.
Dorian and I split shortly thereafter in the Thorn Land. Even though the land’s song burned within me, I was reluctant to leave him. I suspected he felt the same way, though it was hard to tell with his poker face and gallantries.
“Well, here we are,” he declared. Alistir and Pagiel were by his side. “It’s time for me to go get my subjects out of trouble, I suppose. Thank you as always for a lovely time. You always arrange the best soirees.”
I smiled. “I try.”
“And I’ll try to come see you as soon as I can.”
That was unexpected. “I figured you wouldn’t want to leave your land for a while.”
“Oh, I don’t, but you and I still have a lot to discuss. Seeing as you’ll have twice as much work on your hands, it’ll be easier for me to come to you.” I caught his eye and wondered what exactly he wanted to discuss. Maiwenn and the twins were the obvious topic, but I got a sense there might be more.
Pagiel and Jasmine were equally formal in their parting, but I saw them watch each other longingly. Ah, young love. So much simpler than grown-up love.
Although, when I saw Shaya and Rurik’s reunion, I had to admit that was a pretty touching example of grown-up love. It had total movie-quality epicness, including them racing into each other’s arms. I tried not to watch, but it was kind of hard not to. I even felt a little misty-eyed, and this time, I couldn’t blame it on hormones since I was well over those.
Thinking of hormones again brought Isaac and Ivy to mind. I still wanted to go to them, but one look at the state of my kingdoms told me I’d be here for a while. At the very least, I wanted to let Roland know everything had worked out ... but I had no means to, short of traveling to Tucson myself. I certainly didn’t miss Volusian’s biting personality or constant threats to kill me, but he’d had his uses in my service. After his story, I even felt slightly sympathetic. But only slightly. Ganene and Onya had wronged him, but he’d taken out his revenge on innocents. Why, I wondered, did this seem to be such a recurring theme among those I encountered?
One of the first things I did upon my return to my lands was start arranging those delegations to Varia’s freed kingdoms. We needed food badly, and our copper supply gave us an unharmed currency other blighted kingdoms weren’t lucky enough to have. After meeting the new monarchs, I knew there’d be no more price gouging either. Shaya excelled at organizing this sort of thing. She actually would’ve been a great choice to lead the groups, but I couldn’t bring myself to part her and Rurik so soon. I trusted her judgment to find others who were capable.
Along with the food shortage, we simply had to deal with the aftermath of the blight’s devastation. People were sick. Homes and other structures were damaged. And despite how much we could repair, nothing could make up for the loss of life. Both kingdoms’ populations had suffered, meaning we had less help to rebuild. It was disheartening some days.
Along with the lands’ natural magic, I also discovered I could speed along the healing and regrowth. Just as I’d seen Dorian healing his oaks, I was able to coax the plants and trees of my kingdoms to grow again. Most of my efforts were focused on the Rowan Land, which contained more food-bearing plant life. In particular, I worked on the cherry trees since they were so plentiful. I sped them through their leaf and flowering phases, and after a few weeks, we began to see the first signs of fruit. Cherries weren’t exactly the most filling food, but they were welcome to everyone after what we’d endured.
Even though the Thorn Land wasn’t a priority for food production, I still worked to restore some of the plants and trees there. It brought hope to the land’s residents, who had gotten used to their desert kingdom. Each flower that bloomed on a cactus was a sign that we were on our way to recovery, and the land radiated its gratitude to me.
Healing the vegetation wasn’t easy or fast. I often had to spend a lot of alone time with one tree or plant, and then frequent visits were required to keep aiding each step in the process. One day, I was sitting in an orchard near the Rowan castle, painstakingly encouraging each tree to grow its fruit. The day was sunny, and the grass—which had returned quickly—was green and lush beneath me. There was less birdsong than there used to be, which was a little weird. The animals had been hit as hard as the people, but many assured me that within a year, we could expect our furry and feathered countrymen to replenish their numbers.
I rested my hand on the bark of a cherry tree, my eyes closed. I felt the pulse of the tree’s life and tried to join it with both myself and the land so that we could lend the tree our strength. A thump in the grass beside me snapped me out of my trance, and I looked down to see a bright red apple in the grass beside me. I smiled and picked it up.
“This isn’t one of mine,” I said as a familiar shadow fell over me.
Dorian eased himself down beside me, sitting cross-legged. He carried an apple of his own and bit into it. He swallowed and smiled back at me. “Our second harvest. I would’ve brought you some from the first, but we needed them too badly.”
“You should’ve kept these too.” I bit into the apple. It was delicious. “Second, huh? I’m behind.”
He glanced up at the cherry tree. “You seem to be doing just fine. Besides, you’ve also had to do twice as much work as me, remember? You’re not overtiring yourself, are you?”
I leaned back in the grass and swallowed another bite of apple. “Nothing I can’t handle. After that crazy journey to the Yew Land, hanging out here with trees all day feels downright lazy.”
Dorian stretched out beside me so that our shoulders touched. “Do you have plans to go back to the human world? I know you must be burning to.”
“I am,” I admitted. “We’re pushing two months. Two months, Dorian! Isaac and Ivy have to be out of the NICU now. I need them to know who I am. And I need Roland to know I’m okay too. I’m nearing a point where the lands will be okay without me, but then ... well, I’m not sure of my next move. When I last saw Kiyo, he made it clear they weren’t giving up on preventing the prophecy.”
“I feel pretty confident that Maiwenn’s preoccupied with exactly the same kinds of tasks we are in restoring our lands,” he said.
“I don’t doubt it. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if Kiyo’s out there watching and waiting. If I go to the twins, there’s a good chance I’ll compromise their location.” I sighed. This had been something I’d had a lot of time to think about while tending my lands. “I’m in the same bind as before they were born.”
“Not entirely,” said Dorian. “Before, you were a moving target because you always had to be in multiple places. Now? Your children don’t have to move around. You keep them in one place, and you keep them safe. Go to them and bring them back with you. Put them in a stronghold somewhere.”
“But will they ever have peace?” I asked sadly. “Even if they grow up surrounded in bodyguards, their identities will be known here. There’ll always be people trying to kill them—or at least trying to kill Isaac.”