Watching a woman openly grieve the loss of her child, being robbed of her daughter even knowing she existed, it broke my heart in two.
“When I did learn about you—” I stepped forward “—I did everything I could to protect you, to figure out what was going on.”
She smiled weakly, stepping closer to me. “You did well. Tell me what’s going on. Did your mom not get the crystals back?”
She had no idea how big the Winter King’s resistance had become. How scattered the crystals had gotten out on Earth and that the Sons of Darkness needed them to survive.
“She got six. I got the rest, but then the king stole them all, and the protection dome fell. Now we have three.”
Determination settled into her features. “I tied the protection field to the Tree of Life, which weakens without the crystals.”
I quickly rambled anything else I could think of, I didn’t know how much time we had. I told her how the king was changing the crystals to be dark, how he was working with Chrysanthemum, the witch, and how we’d formed an alliance with a small band of rebel halflings, which was actually led by Liam. She didn’t look as shocked as I’d thought.
“Good. Alliances are good as long as you know you can truly trust them.”
I told her about Indra and how I’d confronted her and she’d fled; she stood before me, listening to every word as I finally unpacked everything I’d been carrying and rested it on someone else’s shoulders.
“Now he has all of the remaining crystals on Earth and is creating a ‘New Faerie’.”
She nodded as if she wasn’t surprised. “Okay. Here’s what you’re going to do.” She stepped forward and rested two hands on my shoulders, looking me square in the eye.
“You’re going to take my power from the tree and restore the dome, widen it so that it can encompass more land. Then, you’re going to march into ‘New Faerie’,” she said those two words with venom, “and tell every fae on Earth, halfling, full-blood, warlock or witch, that they are welcome to return home.”
My jaw dropped open. “What?”
She nodded. “This war has gone on long enough. And you can’t fight a war without an army. Your halfling alliance sounds like a start, but it’s not enough to take on the king and his ‘New Faerie’. If you want to truly win this war, you need to bring everyone home.”
She was right.
“But what if some of them come back to Faerie and… take the crystals or kill our people or—,”
“They might try.” She nodded. “And hopefully, I’ll awaken before that happens, but this will test your leadership. You’re a Queen now with the blood of our ancestors running through your veins and the magic of sunlight.” Her voice was a growl, and pride swelled in my chest as she continued. “They don’t have that. You will always be superior in power to them. That’s not ego, just fact, and if you need to demonstrate that fact to make them see, then so be it.”
Whoa.
“Okay.” I gulped.
She dropped her hands from my shoulders. “Every new fae who comes from Earth to live in Faerie must pledge an oath of loyalty to you and join the royal guard.”
I nodded, palms growing sweaty.
“You will treat them all equally. Give them a job in society, give them food and shelter.”
“But why would they want to come here when they can just stay there with the king?” I didn’t think he was giving them jobs and making them join the royal guard.
A twinkle shone in her eye. “Because nothing will ever replace Faerie. Not Earth, not Mars, nothing. Their souls yearn to return and be with their motherland. It’s time to end the war, Lily, and I need your help to do it.”
I nodded, about to respond when I felt a tug at my navel.
“Lily!” Jasper roared, his voice echoing through the space. The Queen flinched, grabbing her head.
She looked at me desperately as if she wasn’t ready for our time to be cut short. I wasn’t either. She was giving me advice on how to fix all of this, and I was actually getting to know her, my mother... Seeing her right in front of me was so crazy. She looked so much like my mom.
We both rushed forward at the same time and crashed into a tight hug. I felt that pull at my navel again, and I knew Jasper was going to pull me out.
“I’m going