for the men,” Finn explained as they walked back toward camp. “But it’s a bit of walk to the next ridge. We’ll ride if you don’t mind.”
“Okay.” Honestly, she’d rather go back to sleep, but Finn really wanted her to see whatever he was so excited about.
“Have you ever seen a snúa aftur?”
“Bless you.” Brea chuckled. “I have no idea what you just said.”
“Look just there.” Finn pointed up to the sky. Swirls of green, purple, and yellow lights illuminated the night.
“An Aurora Borealis.”
“Bless you.” Finn cracked a smile.
“That’s what we call the Northern Lights in the human realm.”
“Here it’s the Southern Lights called snúa aftur. To the soldiers it means we’re almost home. This will be our last night at camp.”
“We’ll reach the palace tomorrow?” Her nerves immediately spiraled into panic mode. “What does the Eldur queen want with me, Finn?”
“I don’t know, Brea, but I know you can trust her with your life. She’s a good woman and a fair ruler.”
“Thank you for bringing me here.” She settled onto the ground to watch the lights with the soldiers. “It’s beautiful.”
The cluster of soldiers were all silent as they watched the colors dance across the night sky. Brea leaned against Finn’s shoulder, cradling her injured arm. It was such a soothing sight. The tension in her body relaxed as she watched a riot of colors shoot across the sky.
Each of the soldiers sent a spark of color into the sky to join the phenomenon.
“What are they doing?”
“It’s their magic,” Finn explained. “They’re making wishes. It’s an Eldur tradition.”
“It’s beautiful.” Brea wished she could send up a streak of yellow, but she barely had the energy to keep her eyes open. “What do the colors mean?”
“It’s like a signature.” A tiny ball of orange left his fingertips. “Each Fae’s magic has a distinct color that connects their magic back to them. Families sometimes share a similar color, but not always. It depends on the strength of their magic and their heritage from both sides.”
Brea wondered if the mystery of her own heritage would ever be so clear.
Chapter Nineteen
“The Fargelsi palace is nice, I suppose, if you’re into trees and flowers everywhere.” Finn chomped on a piece of desert fruit that was somewhere between a pear and a peach. “But the Eldurian palace is really something special.”
“Have you always lived at the palace?” Brea had gathered Finnegan Donovan was the son of soldier and had grown up with Lochlan. She appreciated his chatter. It kept her from thinking about the pain in her arm and the unpleasant experience that waited for her when they arrived at the palace.
“We have a family house in town, but we spend most of our time in the palace when I’m home.”
“Finn made himself at home so often when we were boys, the queen gave him his own apartment so he’d stop sneaking into mine and Princess Alona’s rooms.” Lochlan rolled his eyes at his lifelong friend.
“Who is Alona?” Brea asked.
“Queen Faolan’s daughter and the Princess of Eldur,” Finn explained.
“Her mother must have had a time chasing after two young boys and a girl.”
“Mothers.” Finn corrected. “Alona has two mothers. Queen Faolan Cahill is the ruler of Eldur and gave birth to Alona. Queen Tierney Cahill is Faolan’s wife.”
“Cool.” She was impressed with how they never seemed to fret about sexuality like humans did. But at the moment, Brea wouldn’t care if they were queens of a dung heap if she could just get off this horse and sleep in a real bed and get some real painkillers for her arm. She was much better than she was two days ago, but the fever had left her exhausted and in need of rest.
“Look there,” Lochlan murmured in her ear, pointing in the distance. “Your first look at the palace.”
“Oh, it’s so green.” Brea hadn’t expected that. After days of dry desert heat and miles and miles of red dirt and sand with the occasional sparse forest of stunted trees, the Eldurian palace sat like a jewel along the horizon.
“The Dalur River flows through the south eastern corner of Eldur, creating a fertile valley, much cooler than the desert.”
“It’s beautiful.” Brea squinted to see the many-tiered structure that rose from the green valley like a pyramid. Rich green plant life sprouted from each tier where vines crept down the walls. “It looks like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.”
“Very good assessment, Brea.” Lochlan sounded impressed. “It’s not the Hanging Gardens of the ancient human world, but it’s close