Chapter 26

Davi pulled magic from the earth, using it to protect himself from the cold morning air. Now that Dreach-Sciene had their magic back, the cold would stretch out for months. He’d experienced seasons in Dreach-Dhoun. The power kept the weather in balance. It would allow crops to thrive and the people to be fed.

If they survived what was to come.

The voice in his head reminded him just who he was, as if he could forget. His memories were recovered days ago, but the ones of the past few months were also there.

Growing up, he’d longed for a family name. He’d always just been Davion. Now he was Davion Bearne. He wanted to hate the name and the man it came from, but he couldn’t.

His father was not a good man.

And yet he loved him.

He was the only family Davi had. Well, not the only family.

Lorelai. What was happening to her? She’d chosen to help Ramsey and Trystan.

The crunch of grass alerted him to someone’s presence just moments before Trystan dropped down beside him. It wouldn’t be long before they reached the far edge of Aldorwood, and the forests grew thicker the closer they got.

But the trees didn’t provide him with the solitude he needed, the peace he’d sought since waking up to remember everything he’d done to the people he loved.

Trystan extended a wooden bowl toward him. Rabbit stew again, no doubt.

“Thought you could use some breakfast.”

Davi took the bowl, doing his best not to shrink away from Trystan’s voice. He could see the two of them in his mind, sparring and laughing and fighting side by side. But what he hadn’t told anyone was that the memories Calis and Ramsey planted in him were still there as well. One moment, he saw flashes of stumbling through the palace with Trystan after too much wine. The next, it was Trystan standing on the opposite side of the bars of a cell, taunting him.

With Rissa, it was better. Ramsey had taken everything of her so all he had was the truth.

He couldn’t even look at Ramsey Kane.

“Eat,” Trystan said.

“Are you going to force me?” Davi looked to the sky, ashamed at the harshness of his voice. “I’m sorry. I just can’t always tell what’s real.”

“I’m real, Dav. You and I are real. You’re my brother.”

Davi breathed in deeply. “Truwa, Brathair.”

A grin spread across Trystan’s face. “Trust, brother.” He nodded toward the bowl. “Now eat. We have a long day ahead of us.”

Red hair shining in the sunlight caught Davi’s gaze and Trystan followed his line of sight. Rissa stood at a distance with Avery and Alixa, sword in hand. She danced around them with quick feet.

“Since when is she training with a sword?” Davi raised an eyebrow.

“You know Ri. She finally annoyed Avery enough to teach her. She’s fast, but not really any good at actually handling the blade.”

Davi laughed, the first genuine laugh since coming to Dreach-Sciene. “She’s good at everything else. She has to leave some things to the rest of us who are rather useless without a sword in our hands.”

Trystan looked sideways at him. “I missed this.”

“I’m going to try, Trystan. Do you think they’ll welcome me back at court now that my parentage is known?”

“They’re coming around on Alixa.”

“Duke Eisner is not the same as Calis Bearne and you know it.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’m the king now.”

Davi stared into his stew as he took another bite. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

Trystan laughed, but when Davi looked at him again, all humor was gone.

“Can I make a first request of the king?”

“Dav.” Trystan gripped his arm and when Davi tried to flinch away, he held it tighter. “Anything.”

“I need to go back to Dreach-Dhoun.”

Trystan’s hand dropped. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“It’s not what you think.” Davi rubbed his neck. “My cousin, Lorelai. I need to get her away from my father.”

“No. Absolutely not. I am not letting you risk your life for the woman who killed my father.” Trystan jumped to his feet and Davi followed him.

“She didn’t do it.”

“That’s bull, Dav. Don’t lie to me.”

“It’s true. Lorelai couldn’t kill him. A man my father sent to watch her finished the job.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Do you want to know how I know?” Davi growled. “Thom was blackmailing Lorelai. Using her. Her body. Her mind. She almost let him destroy her just to keep her secret from Calis.” He stepped close to Trystan. “And you know what I did? I killed him.”

Trystan’s jaw unclenched. “This Thom killed my father?”

Davi nodded.

“And he is dead? By your hand?”

“I’m glad he is.” Davi pounded on the side of his own head. “My feelings about Marcus may be messed up because of what Calis put in here, but I know what he was to me. He has been avenged, Brathair.”

Trystan leaned back against a tree and slid down until he was sitting again. “My father’s killer is dead.”

“I have a lot to tell you, Trystan, but I’m not going to tell you everything. You’re going to have to be okay with that. You have to give me time.”

“Now that we’ve completed our mission, time is something we finally have.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” Davi knelt in front of Trystan. “All we’ve done is exactly what my father wanted.” He paused for a long moment to study Trystan’s face. “My orders were to allow you to escape and then follow you. Once magic was returned to Dreach-Sciene, I was to kill you.”

“I’m not an idiot, Davi. As soon as I learned who Lorelai truly was, I started putting the pieces together. I assumed Calis wanted the Tri-Gard in his possession. We knew he’d sent us to find Briggs in Sona. Lorelai set us on that path. I even suspected there was something we didn’t know about you. But after we got the magic back?” Trystan shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would he want us to have our power?”

“Because everything you’ve done, every action you’ve taken was orchestrated, planned. You’ve been playing his game since before you knew it.”

“More than just finding Briggs?”

Davi met his gaze. “Lorelai was first sent to your father when we were five-years-old. She told him a man would rise to defeat the darkness. He took that to mean you. Lorelai also placed me in your household at that same meeting. For the next fifteen years, my father used blood magic to watch you through my eyes.

Davi scratched the back of his neck. “This is where Briggs Villard comes in. He’s always worked for my father. His job was to stay close to the palace. He lived in the village. His proximity to you and Rissa is the reason Ramsey did many of the things he did. When the time came, Briggs relocated to the swamps of Sona where he released a bit of his magic, suddenly making him traceable by all seers.”

Davi paused, but when Trystan didn’t say anything, he continued, “So, Lorelai reappeared. She told us of feeling the magic.”

“What about the curse?” Trystan leaned forward. “The one she placed on me. Was that Calis’ doing?”

Davi shook his head. “It wasn’t a curse that was placed on you. Lorelai saw it come to pass. Those words were a reading of the future.” He smiled slightly. “But you were able to change it.”

“I had to,” Trystan said.

“So, Briggs joined you and he was able to lead you to Lonara. The unit of soldiers who attacked when I… died.” He gulped in air. “They were supposed to capture us all and take us to Dreach-Dhoun. Briggs released too much magic. He’d never been good at controlling it. One of the guards told me my father was livid with him. Then Eisner went after you, and I’ve never seen my father so angry. You weren’t supposed to die yet. Not until you were reunited with Ramsey. You had to reunite all the Tri- Gard. Only you could get them to willingly do what Calis has wanted them to do for years. Once you were captured in Dreach-Dhoun and Ramsey had his crystal, he allowed you all to think you escaped.”

“But why? Davi, why does Calis want us to have our magic?”

“Think about it.” Davi ran a hand nervously through his dark hair. “The people of Dreach-Sciene have their magic back, but they’re untrained and weak from years of suffering. They don’t know what to do with the magic they now have. If Calis had brought his army across the border before, then he wouldn’t have magic either. Calis’ army wouldn’t have stood a chance in hand-to-hand combat with Dreach-Sciene’s massive army. Now that the magic is back, Calis’ army has the upper hand. They know what to do with it. Your people do not.”

Davi sat back on his heels as Trystan’s expression grew angrier with each passing moment. For a second, he allowed his mind to retreat into the false memories of Trystan and his father. Their treatment of him. Their scorn. It hadn’t seemed any different from the questions before him now.

But it was different. He pushed out a breath. It hadn’t been real. This was real. He couldn’t fear the man who’d been more like family to him than his own father.

“Everything we’ve done.” Trystan shook his head in disbelief. “This quest. Finding the Tri-Gard. Why me, Dav? Why did Calis choose me?”

Davi rocked back and pushed himself to his feet, his eyes finding Rissa once again. She blocked Avery’s sword as Alixa cheered her on. He’d never seen her fight with a sword, only her bow. His father had been right. Women like her were dangerous. Once you loved them, you’d do anything they needed you to do. Anything.

The answer was so simple. His father hadn’t told him why Trystan was important or why it had to be him, but it didn’t take much to figure it out.

He looked back down at his friend. “Because my father loved your mother, and she chose someone else. Because Ramsey loved his daughter and spent the past twenty years doing everything he could, everything he was against, to keep my father from going after you. Because Lonara loved the girl she trained, and only for that girl’s children would she come out of hiding. Everything comes back to you, Trystan. You and Rissa.”

“Me and Rissa. He’s coming for us.”

“Not just you this time, Brathair. He’s coming for Dreach-Sciene.”

Davi turned without another word and walked toward the three women. When he stepped up beside Alixa, he motioned to the sword in her hand. “Mind if I borrow that?”

She raised one dark eyebrow. “I still don’t trust that you’re not evil Davi.”

“Evil Davi?”

She shrugged. “That’s what I’ve been calling you in my head. Evil Davi and annoying Davi.”

“What about ridiculously handsome Davi?” He smiled.

Alixa smirked. “Guess that answers that question. Evil Davi was a dick, but he didn’t have the ego of annoying Davi.”

Neither noticed Trystan joining them until he spoke. “Say it again, Dav.”

“Say what?” He didn’t take his eyes off Rissa and Avery’s fight as he spoke. Even as she got her butt kicked, Rissa was beautiful. Her hair flew out behind her as she spun and then ducked under Avery’s blade, holding hers high to block it.

“The ridiculously handsome thing.”

Davi finally tore his eyes away from Ri to look at her brother in amusement. “That’s kind of an odd request from a fancy king… or from anyone, really.”

Trystan shook his head with a laugh. “It’s just… that was the first time you sounded like yourself. We get that you need time. We all do. It’s only been a few days, but before this morning, you’ve barely spoken to us and when you have, there was a formality to it.”

Davi understood what he meant. He’d separated himself from them through their days of travel and their nights among the trees.

He shrugged. “Admit it, you’ve just missed seeing this ridiculously handsome face.”

Trystan slapped him on the back. “Thank you.”

Alixa held out her sword to Davi hilt first, and he wrapped his hand around it before stepping forward. Rissa and Avery ceased sparring immediately and looked to him in question.

“You’re gripping the sword too tightly, Ri.” He reached her and Avery joined the others.

Rissa stared at him, distrust in her eyes. He’d put it there. She’d been through hell, and he’d avoided her. Offering her a smile, he reached forward and touched her sword hand. “Loosen your fingers. The sword should be an extension of yourself, and if you use too much strength just to hold it, you’ll tire quickly. Let it swing freely.”

He put distance between them and demonstrated with Alixa’s sword, letting it fly in a controlled arc.

Rissa watched him for a moment longer. “Sometimes you have to hold on to things to keep them from flying out of your grasp.”

She wasn’t talking about swordplay.

He froze. “Every battle is different, but they all come down to one thing. Not strength. Not power. Endurance. You can’t give every part of yourself in the beginning because there’ll be nothing left when it really matters.”

She swung her sword, and it met his in a crash of steel. “I should have fought harder for you.”

“You didn’t know I was alive.” He advanced, and she met his movement with more ease than he’d been expecting.

“But then when I did, I gave up on you.”

“If you’d tried to fight for me in Dreach-Dhoun, I would have destroyed you.”

She flinched, but he wouldn’t hide the truth from her.

“Endurance is key, Rissa. You’d have given everything to save me. No one is worth that.”

She lowered her sword, chest rising and falling rapidly. “You are.”

“And then where would Dreach-Sciene be? They need their princess. You did the right thing.”

Her chin quivered, but she stopped it by hardening her jaw. “I left you.”

“That wasn’t me. It was…” He glanced at Alixa. “Evil Davi.”

Rissa closed her eyes, trying to even her breath. “Not evil. Never evil. Confused. Broken.” Her eyes snapped open and trapped him. “Lost.”

Davi’s sword slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground. “I was so lost.” His shoulders shook.

Rissa discarded her blade and stepped in front of Davi. Raising her hand, she paused as if asking for permission.

He nodded, and she cupped his cheek. He leaned into her.

“You’re not lost anymore.”

Her words permeated his skin, seeping into him and sending warmth throughout his body.

“Blood doesn’t matter. You’re one of us. Family. And you’re finally home.”

He crushed her to him and took her lips as if he needed them for survival. She wound her hands around the back of his head and kissed him back.

“I never thought I’d get to do that again,” she whispered, resting her forehead against his.

He leaned in for another kiss when Trystan cleared his throat. Davi had forgotten they were there.

Rissa laughed and pulled her face away but remained in his arms.

Trystan moved toward them and wrapped his arms around them both. It had always been the three of them since they were children. Marcus was gone, but he’d raised them to follow in his footsteps.

Lonara’s voice drifted out to them as she and Ramsey appeared. “Are you all ready to start the day? We should reach Aldorwood by nightfall and then the palace by early next week.”

The palace. Home.

Davi released Rissa and studied the faces surrounding him. It wasn’t just the three of them this time. He clasped Trystan’s shoulder.

“We did it, didn’t we?”

“Did what?” Trystan asked.

“We set out to do the impossible, bring magic back to our dying kingdom.”

“It wasn’t impossible. You said it yourself, Calis planned this.”

“Trystan.” Davi shook his head. “That doesn’t change the fact that you united the ancient Tri-Gard and brought back the power you once told me you didn’t believe in.”

Trystan’s smile spread across his face. “Yeah, then I guess we did. I only wish my father could have been here to see it.”

“Me too.”

Alixa spoke up. “The only reason you boys accomplished anything is because Rissa and I forced you to take us along.”

Trystan was about to argue, but he met Davi’s eye and laughed. “Probably true.”

Davi bumped Trystan’s shoulder with his own. “He’d be proud.”

“Yeah, I think he would. For a moment. Then he’d tell me to get back to work because this was the easy part.”

Davi arched a brow. “Easy? You think me dying and coming back to life while you were chased across Dreach-Sciene was easy?”

Davi’s words were lighthearted, but Trystan heard the underlying fear. “I think, my friend, that this is only the beginning.”