Chapter 140: Announcements and leaps

When she made it down to the caverns, she brought Qzi through to the light before asking him to remove his blindfold. Especially because she had been expecting everyone to be unnerved by his presence again, even if she knew the Pest would welcome him gladly.

But nope.

After removing Qzi’s blindfold, she scanned, finding Dusty waiting on the edge of the group, standing next to a crate while he scanned over a board in his hands. The crate was clearly positioned as a stool to make the announcements on, meaning it was for her since anyone else would just float to be seen.

It was, however, a surprise to note that he was separated from the other greenlings. They shifted, giving him awkward looks out of the corners of their eyes as they huddled in little groups, whispering to each other. The distance between them was stark, and obvious, and more than even…

The others had spread out, seating themselves on the firm ground of the cavern, their eyes brightening at her appearance, including several giving her a wave before they faltered, their expressions shy embarrassment as they giggled quietly. There was no fear, and minimal otherness.

The looks Dusty got othered him more than Squirt.

When had that happened?

Before she could think on it further, Qzi moved to stand just behind her, and the crowd that had shyly waved to her beamed at him.

“Qzi!” came the excited whoop from the wrongly colored Pest. He was in the back with the elders, standing next to them who sat on the kitchen stools rather than the hard ground. At the sight of Qzi, he waved his arm eagerly, bouncing and jumping to get the redcap’s attention. A burst of giggling murmurs broke out amongst the greenlings as Qzi stood proudly next to Squirt, his hands on his hips.

Squirt found herself staring up at him, wondering what the hell she had missed.

Qzi glanced down and shot her a wink, then leaned down to whisper theatrically to her—and thus loudly enough for everyone to hear it— “I told you, make friends, then we protect them.”

Shaking her head, squashing the flutters of complicated emotions, she trotted herself over to Dusty. He turned at her approach, waiting patiently until she was in speaking distance.

Close enough, she started with a nod. “You ready?”

“Are you?”

She would much rather him do the speaking, if she were honest. But he didn’t know about the Athereon title bit, which would also require its own announcement, since she refused to leave them in the dark about that.

Though she wouldn’t let them know about the funds just yet. Maybe she could dump that all in Dusty’s lap.

Frankly, that amount of money terrified her to even think about.

Shaking her head, she hopped up onto the crate—a feat on its own, since the crate was roughly as tall as her shoulders—before turning to face the crowd.

All whispers and giggles silenced. Qzi stood with his hands in his pockets as he grinned up at her, since she was now taller than he was.

Though it was impossible to do completely, she did her best to ignore him, pitching her voice to be clear as she spoke in Common rather than greenling. “I have two announcements to make.”

Dusty did a double take, having not expected the second one.

She suppressed the urge to grimace down at him, hating every second of this speaking bit. Instead— “Who here knows of the fate of Riverlands?”

A few sparse hands went up. She suspected they all knew, but greenlings weren’t ones to volunteer if they weren’t sure, and anything they did know would be wrapped up in rumors.

Wiping her sweaty palms on her pants as subtly as she could, she glanced at the Pest, seeing his encouraging smile.

It should have annoyed her.

It didn’t.

Instead, she found herself staring at him, the crowd disappearing momentarily from her mind. Their silence helped, and when she spoke again, it was as if she were telling him, and not a crowd of her people. Her tone was measured and level.

“I’ve been blessed by the Hunt, and was falsely accused of theft, and punished for it. The Hunt… took exception to this. As far as I am aware, Riverlands experienced daily surges with feybeasts throwing themselves at the walls. Citizens abandoned their homes, convinced the territory was cursed due to the insult to the Hunt, and the country border was redrawn to exclude Riverlands until a new titled could be chosen.”

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She paused, swallowing the emotions, finding the focus on the pest oddly soothing. Even if she could see his shoulders stiffen, his jaw tick, and his brows furrow in sorrow and anger.

He’d already heard this bit, though she had never told him what the punishment was.

She’d been expecting murmurs or muttering from others questioning her, but no one did. Their attention remained rapt on her.

She shifted from one foot to the other, her weight shifting as she gathered her thoughts. “A village was attacked on the border between Everwinter and Riverlands. Evidence points to an army of humans hiding out in Riverlands, with the intent to bring their unnatural weapons against the Capital. The weapons use no magic. There is no defense against them.

“Tomorrow morning, I leave to scout the lost territory of Riverlands. Humans lack magic and aren’t at risk of being hurt by feybeasts anymore than we are. The bigger fey cannot scout the territory without bringing every feybeast in the territory down on them, but we won’t have that issue.”

She paused, taking in a breath, her fists clenched. Scanning over the gathered greenlings, she admitted, “I intended to go alone. To scout the territory with Qzi. But the territory is large. And so… begrudgingly, I am offering for any greenling here to scout with me. Pairs, probably. You’d be left alone by feybeasts, but the humans won’t be so kind. What they will be is even more unfamiliar with the Wylds than we are. And…”

Her mouth went dry. But her eyes were up, scanning over the crowd, and surprisingly, she found them landing on Tater.

Tater was huddled, seated next to Puff towards the middle, looking like she was hanging off of Squirt’s every word.

Though there was a slight rasp to her voice, she managed, “And I am not the only one chosen by the Hunt.”

Dusty’s eyes whipped up to her now, his own lips parting in shock.

Squirt kept her eyes on Puds, on that tiny shock of pink hair. “If a greenling chooses the Wylds, the Wylds will choose us back. We are all chosen by the Hunt.”

An incredulous murmur broke out amongst the greenlings, but in Tater’s eye, Squirt saw something else. Something far more dangerous.

Hope.

Gods, if only Pakos were here.

Need me, mother? I can leave the redcaps to their—

Don’t you dare. She wasn’t convinced they wouldn’t just take off to kill the out-of-towners if they were unwatched.

The bond between her and Pakos hummed with amusement. You do realize you’ll be gone tomorrow—

That was a problem for tomorrow then.

Clearing her throat, she said, “On that note… the Queen intends to make our status clear. To share the name Athereon as a title for any greenling who chooses the Wylds. It’s… not been decided. But if it happens, we will be recognized as Hers. It would protect us. No one wants a repeat of Riverlands, and by giving us all the same title…”

She didn’t know how to end the sentence, but based on their expressions, she didn’t need to. Several were bitter and furious, likely at the idea that any god cared for them after all these years. Others were aghast. And others were like Tater, filled with hope that they’d never had before.

Dusty asked, “What… does that mean for the spring?”

Squirt glanced at him before answering honestly. “I told you. If you’re smart, you’ll realize that the Capital is a death trap for us.”

Spark called out, “Ain’t that the fucking truth. You couldn’t get me to go back with a hundred earth pieces.”

Just wait until he found out Squirt had over a hundred suns—

His outburst was followed with murmurs of agreement that silenced at Squirt’s sigh. Her hands on her hips, she said, “Yeah… well… that’s it. That’s the two announcements. No one is forced to come with me tomorrow, but those who want to, stay. For everyone else, just… think about the rest.”

Every single greenling she had already taken through the Wylds stood. After a moment of hesitation, another dozen stood with them. Berry included. The woman’s gaze was cool and challenging, daring Squirt to disparage her.

Squirt let out a huff that was almost a sigh. “Well, at least this makes the pairs even.”

Bartos slowly roused to a soft touch petting his hair. For a little while, he dozed, caught somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, his thoughts mixed with dreams. The hazy state was both and neither all at once. With her scent surrounding him, he faded in and out.

Kenna.

Thoughts flittered and mixed with images and memories.

The way the redcap had so easily wrapped around Athereon. Or Athi, now.

The weights on his shoulders that never eased. The mounting death toll.

The dangers ahead.

And the light scent of Kenna making everything seem doable again. The missing musk of Tobias that made his other half want to whine in discomfort.

His other half?

The line between wolf and fey blended, the wispy thoughts coalesced into one.

So when his eyes fluttered open to Kenna’s warm purple ones, he woke to a realization fifty years in the making.

He didn’t want Athereon to go, yes. It upset him. Worry and fear for her outweighing that of any others going on this venture by far, in a way he had to concede was not that of a lord to his citizen, but a Lumin to his pack.

But Kenna or Tobias facing the same? Taking the same risks, facing the same dangers, far outside of his sphere of influence, where he could not go and could not protect them?

It would kill him.

He didn’t realize he was staring until Kenna’s smile softened and she asked, “Bad dream?”

He stared up at her, her hand still on his head, and suddenly neither was breathing.

Bartos was tired. Too tired to feel the paralyzing fears of the future as keenly, too tired to perfectly arrange the words he didn’t know how to say, too tired to do anything but stare at the woman he loved and realize with sudden intensity that he couldn’t ever bear to let her go.

“What’s wrong, Lumin?”

He didn’t want to be her Lumin.

But… the only thing left was…

“Bartos, come on, you’re scaring me,” laughed Kenna lightly.

Bartos searched her eyes. And then, almost on accident, the words tumbled out. “I don’t know what I want between us three. I just want more.”

Her smile fell, her eyes wide with stunned vulnerability. “You want… more? With us both?”

“More than anything in the world,” he confessed in a fearful whisper.

Her eyes glistened just a touch, filled with emotion. She laid her head down on the couch in front of his, her face a bare couple of inches from his as she whispered, “You have us. Always. We don’t need more than that—”

“But you do. I do. I—” Bartos faltered, dizzy and lost.

Kenna put a finger on his lips, stilling his thoughts. Her smile warm, she leaned in and murmured over his lips, “Why don’t we start slow, Lumin?”

And then her lips were on his, and the whole world faded away to just this.