Eternal Promise (Between Worlds Book 3) (21 page)

Satine’s eyes grew wide as the twister came closer to us. She gripped my throat and said, “Make it stop.”

I smiled. I had no plans on making it stop even if it took both our lives. This needed to end. The twister inched closer again and she was just distracted enough for me to push her into the wind. She screamed as she flew up into the twister and then just as fast as it had appeared, it was gone.

I rested my head on the ground and took deep breaths.

“Rylie!” I heard my name being called and Kallan was by my side, kissing my face. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. The battle?”

“Over. What was left of Satine’s army fled when that tornado appeared.”

“Good. I’m just gonna lay here a minute.”

“Then I will too.”

Our bodies bruised and our clothes dirty, we lay next to each other. Most of the other faeries had taken off, probably standing in a line in front of Lena.

Kallan looked into my eyes and said, “I know this isn’t the most romantic way to do this, but I can’t let another moment pass. I love you, Rylie, and I want to be with you forever. Will you marry me?”

My heart leapt and my wings tried to flutter underneath me. “Yes.”

Chapter Nineteen

A
s soon as I felt like the world wasn’t spinning anymore, I got up and climbed on Abrax. “Hurry to Azura’s,” I told Kallan as he mounted his horse, Eton.

“I’ll race you!”

I laughed and clung to Abrax. “Let’s go home, boy.” Abrax took off toward Azura’s, landing just a second or two before Kallan’s. “Ha! Take that!” I jumped off.

“Oleander! You’re okay.” Azura ran to us.

I hugged her. “Did the alan make it here?”

“Yes. The stone is safe inside.”

I let out a sigh of relief and glanced around. There were faeries sitting all over the meadow. Lena and another healer were going around to each of them, healing them. “Wow…lot of injuries. How many died?”

“On our side, eight light and six dark if you include Olwydd. About twenty of Satine’s army,” Azura answered.

I looked away, my eyes filled with tears. I hated that so many had to lose their lives. All over this hatred between the two sides.

Once inside, Azura showed me the stone and surprisingly the alan was still there. “I stayed to make sure it got directly into your hands.”

I nodded at her. “Thank you.”

She nodded back. “You’re welcome.”

After Azura let the alan outside, she asked, “What do you think happened to Satine? Is she gone?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I won’t believe it until I see her body with my own eyes.”

“She didn’t seem like a quitter. She’ll be back,” Kallan added.

I examined the stone. It was dark, smooth on one side, jagged on the other, just like the light stone, which was hidden. “Kallan asked me to marry him,” I told Azura.

Azura’s face lit up. “I’m so happy!”

“You don’t know what my answer was.”

She looked at me and said, “Your eyes give it away.”

I looked at Kallan. “You sure you want to be stuck with me?”

“Absolutely.”

Azura was beaming. “This is wonderful! There are so many things to do. I must get busy.”

I laughed as she hurried away talking to herself.

I turned to Kallan. “We need to wait until we take care of Satine. I can’t get married without Sierra and my parents.” I was scared out of my mind to have my loved ones here when she was probably still out there. I wanted to wait until the threat was resolved.

“I wouldn’t ask you to. We will get her soon.” A smile spread across his face. “So…um…how are you going to tell your parents?”

“They’re going to flip. I’m only seventeen.”

“Older than most girls that get married here.”

My fingers played with Kallan’s necklace still around my neck. “I know that and you know that, but they’re not going to understand.”

“I could force them—”

“Absolutely not!”

“Okay.” He put his hands up. “Just an option.”

There was a knock on the door. Kallan and I walked into the living room. Azura opened the door and the sagart stood there. “Come in,” Azura welcomed him.

“May I speak with your daughter?”

“Of course.” She moved aside, allowing him to enter.

“Oleander.”

“Good evening. What can I do for you?” I asked politely.

“I hear you were able to get both halves of the stone.”

“Yes. How do we join the stone? Just put it together?”

“No. It must be joined at dawn or dusk by a light and dark faery, in this case, you two.”

“Should we do it in the morning?”

He took both of our hands. “Am I right that you two will be getting married?”

Word traveled fast. “Yes.”

“I think you should have a sunrise wedding and we’ll join the stone then too. You two getting married will signify the unity of the dark and the light and the joining of the stone will signify the unity of the lands. Not tomorrow…” He looked up like he was deep in thought. “On the third sunrise. Until then, keep the stones well hidden.”

“Third sunrise? Like in three days?” My voice squeaked. “All those fey who just died. Shouldn’t there be a memorial or something?”

“Of course. Tomorrow we will say goodbye to the fallen,” the sagart said. “We should move forward with the ceremony. The fey need unity.”

What he was saying rang true. The wedding would bring the light and dark together. I looked into Kallan’s eyes. He reached out and took my hands. “What do you think?”

“I think I love you and while it’s crazy fast, I will marry you in three days.”

Kallan grinned, but before he could say anything, the sagart clapped his hands once. “Wonderful! I will leave you to your planning.”

After the sagart left, I gathered both stones and found Azura looking panicked. “All the things I must do in such a short time.”

“Don’t freak out. I don’t need anything fancy.”

She met my eyes. “You will get a faery wedding.”

I could hear the promise in her words. “Okay. Before you go into full planning mode, do you have a place I can hide the stones?”

“Yes.” She brought me to a closet and moved some things around. She pushed down on a corner of a board and it popped up. Grabbing the end, she pulled the board out. I peeked in and found a journal. Carefully I picked it up and opened it. Inside was a picture of me a few years ago along with some entries. I glanced up at Azura. “I had to hide the picture of you for fear someone would figure it out, but I wrote in the journal every year. It’s for you to read, when you’re ready.”

I blinked to keep the tears away before taking the stones and putting them in the space. I closed it and covered it back up, then stood up with the journal. I wrapped my arms around Azura, but said nothing more.

After Kallan left for the night, I curled up in my bed and opened the journal. I read the words, letting the tears fall freely. These were the words of a mother in pain, a mother who had lost her child, a mother who loved her daughter very deeply. My mother. I fell asleep with the book clutched to my chest.

In the shower the next morning, I started thinking about the wedding. Where were we going to have the ceremony? The waterfalls had been destroyed.
Where are we going to get married?
I asked Kallan once I was dressed.

Ry, the light stone will fix the waterfalls.

What about Satine?

We’ll take guards with us. I know how much you love it there.

That brought up my other concern.
What if Satine attacks our wedding?

Let’s focus on us, not her. We’ll have guards there just in case.

Okay.

I’ll meet you near Abrax.

I retrieved only the white stone, carefully placed it in a satchel, and secured the satchel around my neck. Azura wasn’t around, so I skipped breakfast and walked to Abrax. Kallan was already there with Eton and four of his guards. He slid off Eton and gave me a hug. “I’ll ride with you so you don’t fall off when we hit the neutral land.”

“Good thinking.” After rubbing Abrax’s head and feeding him a snack, I climbed on and said, “To the waterfalls.”

A minute later, we were all in the air. By the time we landed, I had felt the effects of the dying land. Kallan helped me off Abrax. My legs were weak.

“Can you stand?” he asked.

“Barely,” I whispered.

“Then we’ll sit.” He swooped me up and carried me to a spot near the sad trickling waterfall and put me down.

“What do I do?” I asked feebly.

“I’m not sure.”

“Help me hold it in the light.”

Kallan supported my hands as I held the stone in the rays of the sun. Suddenly the words just came to me and soon I was talking in an ancient language.

Slowly, the land started changing. The dead, brown grass turned a vibrant green. The trees and flowers perked up and began to bloom. Lastly, the water started pouring over the crest. The nausea disappeared and the world stopped spinning. My energy returned and I felt normal again. “So beautiful.”

“It is.” After another minute, he said, “We need to go. The memorial will start soon.”

“Okay.” I gazed at the waterfalls. “I can’t believe we’re going to be married here.”

He kissed me long and slow, then grinned against my lips. “I can’t wait.”

We made it just in time to return the stone to its hiding spot before for the afternoon memorial. The bodies of the fey were laid out in the meadow. So many bodies. It didn’t matter if they were dark or light, on Satine’s side or ours. They were brought here to rest until they turned to ash, which should happen within the hour.

The sagart stepped out of the crowd. “My fellow fey, yesterday we suffered a terrible loss. Many of our loved ones died. Although we won’t see them while we live in this realm, we shall see them again when we ourselves move on to the next. Let’s remember our fallen friends and family, and rejoice in their lives.”

The family of each faery that was killed knelt next to them, holding their hands, stroking their hair, doing whatever it was that gave them comfort.

The sagart announced, “Ava is going to sing ‘Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep.’”

Another faery joined the older one and began to sing. She had a beautiful voice and I found myself humming along. I didn’t know the words, but the song was lovely.

When she was done, the faeries stood in silence for a long time, until poof…the bodies of the dead faeries began turning to ash. The eldest faery stood in the middle and said, “With permission from the families, Azura will blow the ashes away now.”

Azura stood at one end of the meadow, raised her hands, and flung them forward. With it came a gust of wind that picked up every single ash and carried them away.

Where does it go?
I asked Kallan.

All over the realm. Forests, meadows, lakes. The faery becomes part of nature.

Fitting.

When the memorial was over, Kallan turned to me and said, “We have time to go to the human realm now. Are you ready?”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

A short time later, we sat on the log looking at my house. My parents had gotten home just a few minutes ago and I was about to tell them of my marriage plans. Kallan put his arm around me. “Do you want to get married?”

My eyes shot over to him. “Of course I do! I’m just…nervous about how they’re going to react.” I cupped his face with my hand. “You’re the love of my life. I want to be with you forever and I can’t wait to marry you.”

“Your parents love you. They’ll understand.”

I stood up. “Let’s go tell them.”

He took my hand and we crossed the backyard, climbed the stairs to the back deck, and walked into my house.

“Rylie!” Mom called out and threw her arms around me. “How are you?”

“Good. Really good, Mom. You okay?”

“I am now.” She stood back and looked at me. “Look at you.”

I blushed. I didn’t wear dresses like the one I was wearing in the human realm often. “Thanks. Mom, there’s something I need to talk to you and Dad about.”

“Of course. Is everything all right?”

“Yes.” I didn’t want to say more until my father was here.

“Max!” Mom yelled. “Rylie’s here!”

Dad came bounding into the room and embraced me. “I’m mad at you, but right now I just want to hug you.”

After the long squeeze he placed his hands on my shoulders and said, “Where have you been? What happened to our deal? And you,” he said, looking at Kallan. “You’re the one stealing her away.”

“Dad…I’m sorry. I planned on staying here and finishing school, but things came up in the faery realm.”

“These things you had to deal with?”

“Yes. It was extremely important that I was there to deal with it.”

“Okay, fine. Are you back now?”

I glanced at Kallan and then back at my parents. “No. Can we sit down?”

Dad pursed his lips. “I’m not going to like this, am I?” he muttered.

Kallan and I sat down at the table first. My parents followed suit. “I…uh…we…well, we are—”

Kallan placed his hand on mine. “Mr. and Mrs. McCallister, I’d like to ask for Rylie’s hand in marriage.”

“Um…what?!” My father jumped up, banging his knee on the table.

“Dad…Kallan and I love each other and we’re going to get married. Please sit back down so we can discuss this.”

“No. This is unacceptable. You’re a minor. You need our permission.”

“Not to be married in the faery realm, although I’d really like your blessing. Please, Dad.”

He glowered. “Sounds like your mind is already made up.”

“Sit down, Max!” my mother hollered.

My father grumbled and sat back down. He crossed one arm over the other and glared at Kallan.

“Mr. McCallister, I love Rylie. She’s my whole life and I can’t imagine a day without her. I want to make her my wife.”

“She’s only seventeen,” Dad argued.

“Dad, in our realm faeries marry at sixteen.”

Dad gave a heaving sigh. “We can’t stop you, can we?”

“No.” I reached across the table and took both my mom and dad’s hands. “Kallan and I are getting married, but I really want you and Mom to be there. Will you come, please?”

Mom smiled and said, “Of course, Rylie. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Where are you going to be married?”

“At this beautiful waterfall in the faery realm.”

“Will we be able to see everything?”