Richelle Mead - Shadow Heir

I got to my feet and found the rest of my companions watching me indulgently. Dorian even had a wistful look on his face, no doubt yearning for his own land. “It’s recovering,” I said. “Slowly but surely.”

“What do you want to do?” asked Rurik. “Cut across country or follow the road?”

I understood what he was asking. In the Otherworld’s bizarre layout, it would take us longer to turn off into the Rowan Land and reach my castle. The road would be shorter but would crisscross through other kingdoms. I admit, I just wanted to lose myself in this land but opted for practicality instead.

“We’ll stick to the road,” I said. “I want to see the Thorn Land if I can.”

It was early evening, and we’d have to camp soon, even though all of us were eager to push forward. We traveled as long as the light allowed and finally made camp just over the border of the Oak Land, much to Dorian’s delight. As was the case with me, this wasn’t an ideal spot from which to go to his castle, so he was content to stay overnight with us.

Honestly, I think it was enough for him just to be home again. I’d never seen him so entranced by something. Usually he was always watching the people around him, always on top of whatever plots were developing. Now, he had eyes only for the land. He paced around, examining the dirt and touching the trees. Whenever he walked away, I saw shoots and buds on the trees. He and I had taken to having bedtime talks near the fire, but I left him alone tonight.

Kiyo sat beside me as I unfolded my bedroll. “I’ll likely be leaving tomorrow,” he told me. “We should reach the Willow Land.”

“I’m kind of surprised you haven’t tried to kill me, now that we’ve ended the blight,” I remarked lightly.

He sighed. “You’re not the problem anymore, Eugenie. You know that.”

“Neither are my children.”

The end of the blight had allowed me to hope I might be seeing Isaac and Ivy soon. Nearly a month had passed, which was huge for infants their age. So much could change, and I yearned to hurry back before I missed much more. After the way Kiyo and I had worked together in the Yew Land, I’d kind of hoped things might improve between us. I hadn’t forgiven him, but it had seemed like we had the potential to establish some sort of civility now. Apparently not.

“Is there anything at all that would change your mind?” Kiyo asked. “Anything at all to convince you of the danger he represents?”

“Is there anything that would convince you that your son is a real person with the right to live and not some pawn of destiny?” I returned.

He frowned and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “We won’t stop looking for them, you know.”

“You’ll be looking forever,” I said.

Kiyo said no more and left me. Thinking back to when he’d been ensnared by dryads, I couldn’t help but again see Jasmine and Keeli’s reasoning about letting him die. It really would’ve made things simpler. He was Maiwenn’s main contact in the human world. Her search wouldn’t get far without him.

The next day, he departed from our group, his fox form scurrying off across the muddy landscape of the Willow Land. All the recovering kingdoms had a similar appearance right now, but I knew they’d show their true natures soon.

Dorian and I split shortly thereafter in the Thorn Land. Even though the land’s song burned within me, I was reluctant to leave him. I suspected he felt the same way, though it was hard to tell with his poker face and gallantries.

“Well, here we are,” he declared. Alistir and Pagiel were by his side. “It’s time for me to go get my subjects out of trouble, I suppose. Thank you as always for a lovely time. You always arrange the best soirees.”

I smiled. “I try.”

“And I’ll try to come see you as soon as I can.”

That was unexpected. “I figured you wouldn’t want to leave your land for a while.”

“Oh, I don’t, but you and I still have a lot to discuss. Seeing as you’ll have twice as much work on your hands, it’ll be easier for me to come to you.” I caught his eye and wondered what exactly he wanted to discuss. Maiwenn and the twins were the obvious topic, but I got a sense there might be more.

Pagiel and Jasmine were equally formal in their parting, but I saw them watch each other longingly. Ah, young love. So much simpler than grown-up love.

Although, when I saw Shaya and Rurik’s reunion, I had to admit that was a pretty touching example of grown-up love. It had total movie-quality epicness, including them racing into each other’s arms. I tried not to watch, but it was kind of hard not to. I even felt a little misty-eyed, and this time, I couldn’t blame it on hormones since I was well over those.

Thinking of hormones again brought Isaac and Ivy to mind. I still wanted to go to them, but one look at the state of my kingdoms told me I’d be here for a while. At the very least, I wanted to let Roland know everything had worked out ... but I had no means to, short of traveling to Tucson myself. I certainly didn’t miss Volusian’s biting personality or constant threats to kill me, but he’d had his uses in my service. After his story, I even felt slightly sympathetic. But only slightly. Ganene and Onya had wronged him, but he’d taken out his revenge on innocents. Why, I wondered, did this seem to be such a recurring theme among those I encountered?

One of the first things I did upon my return to my lands was start arranging those delegations to Varia’s freed kingdoms. We needed food badly, and our copper supply gave us an unharmed currency other blighted kingdoms weren’t lucky enough to have. After meeting the new monarchs, I knew there’d be no more price gouging either. Shaya excelled at organizing this sort of thing. She actually would’ve been a great choice to lead the groups, but I couldn’t bring myself to part her and Rurik so soon. I trusted her judgment to find others who were capable.

Along with the food shortage, we simply had to deal with the aftermath of the blight’s devastation. People were sick. Homes and other structures were damaged. And despite how much we could repair, nothing could make up for the loss of life. Both kingdoms’ populations had suffered, meaning we had less help to rebuild. It was disheartening some days.

Along with the lands’ natural magic, I also discovered I could speed along the healing and regrowth. Just as I’d seen Dorian healing his oaks, I was able to coax the plants and trees of my kingdoms to grow again. Most of my efforts were focused on the Rowan Land, which contained more food-bearing plant life. In particular, I worked on the cherry trees since they were so plentiful. I sped them through their leaf and flowering phases, and after a few weeks, we began to see the first signs of fruit. Cherries weren’t exactly the most filling food, but they were welcome to everyone after what we’d endured.

Even though the Thorn Land wasn’t a priority for food production, I still worked to restore some of the plants and trees there. It brought hope to the land’s residents, who had gotten used to their desert kingdom. Each flower that bloomed on a cactus was a sign that we were on our way to recovery, and the land radiated its gratitude to me.

Healing the vegetation wasn’t easy or fast. I often had to spend a lot of alone time with one tree or plant, and then frequent visits were required to keep aiding each step in the process. One day, I was sitting in an orchard near the Rowan castle, painstakingly encouraging each tree to grow its fruit. The day was sunny, and the grass—which had returned quickly—was green and lush beneath me. There was less birdsong than there used to be, which was a little weird. The animals had been hit as hard as the people, but many assured me that within a year, we could expect our furry and feathered countrymen to replenish their numbers.