Aprilynne Pike: Destined

“I know,” Chelsea said, holding him close. She squeezed her eyes shut and her voice quavered as she spoke. “You did the right thing. And hey, there are worse places to live, right?”

Laurel threw her arms round both of them; behind her, Tamani struggled to his feet and joined them, his weight leaning heavy on her shoulder. “Guys, I can—” he started to whisper.

“I will not stand by and let this happen.”

They all turned to see Jamison on his feet, Yasmine tucked under his arm, bearing him up. “I will open the gate for them. And then I will accept my punishment.”

“Jamison, no,” Tamani said quietly.

“I’ve so little time left anyway — it would be an honour,” Jamison said, his chin high.

But Tamani was already shaking his head. “No one is sacrificing themselves today. Not even you.”

Jamison eyed Tamani appraisingly, but after a moment they seemed to come to some kind of understanding that Laurel couldn’t comprehend, and Jamison took one step back, silent now.

Tamani turned to Laurel, David, and Chelsea. “I will make things right,” he said softly.

“How?” Laurel said. “We can’t just—”

“If you have ever trusted me, any of you, trust me now,” he whispered. He looked around the circle, meeting everyone’s eyes. They all nodded.

With visible effort Tamani straightened, speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear him. “I have a few things to do. Laurel,” Tamani said, turning to her, “will you help Jamison to the Gate Garden?”

“You can’t let him do this for us,” Laurel said quietly.

“Please?” Tamani replied.

She had agreed to trust him. She nodded slowly.

“Chelsea? Will you come help me?”

Chelsea mustered up a smile. “Of course.”

“One hour — I want everyone together at the Gate Garden.” Tamani looked up and met the Queen’s eyes. “You should be there too.”

“I am not accustomed to being ordered about like a—”

“You’ll want to stop me if I’m better than you think I am, won’t you?” Tamani interrupted with a raised eyebrow. Never before had he sounded so much like Shar’s protégé. Laurel recalled how he once had trembled in the presence of Autumn faeries, how he had cowered beneath the gaze of the Queen — it was as if a different faerie stood before her now.

Marion was silent and Laurel realised Tamani had caught her in a trap. If she didn’t come, Tamani might succeed. But if she did, it would prove she was afraid.

Control or appearances?

Queen Marion turned purposefully and departed without a word. But Laurel suspected that, in the end, Avalon’s monarch would comply.

Laurel watched Tamani lumbering down the road to the Spring quarter, one arm slung across Chelsea’s shoulders for support. He was getting stronger every minute, but the serum cleansing the poison from his system would not change the fact that he was clearly exhausted.

They all were. Dark rings hung beneath Chelsea’s and David’s eyes, and Tamani’s body had been badly battered even before Klea poisoned him. But Chelsea would take care of him — Laurel knew without a doubt that she could depend on her friend for that.

“That boy has something in mind,” Jamison said, a twinkle in his eye. “And I am most anxious to see what it is.”

Laurel nodded, though what she felt was fear. Tamani had proven his willingness to sacrifice himself for her and Laurel could only hope that wasn’t what he was planning now. Not that she could see how it would change anything. She helped Jamison to his feet and took one of his arms while Yasmine took the other.

David stood to the side, hesitating, then joined them, his arm linked with Laurel’s.

“It feels strange for Klea to be dead,” Laurel admitted as they walked slowly down the path. “I feel like I’ve been trying to figure her out and stay safe from her every moment of every day for… more than a year, I guess.”

“I do wish things could have ended differently for her,” Jamison admitted.

“I didn’t like putting myself in her head, but it’s the only reason I came up with that final ingredient,” Laurel said.

“That is because she had a brilliant mind. And, perhaps more importantly, she had an open mind. She was willing to ask questions and pursue answers in ways other faeries simply could not fathom. In the end it was her downfall, but it was also her salvation.”

“You told me once that I could be as good as someone, but you didn’t say who. Were you talking about her?”

“I was indeed. I have thought of her often in the past fifty years, and how much Avalon lost when we gave up on her.”

Laurel hesitated, then blurted out, “How can you remember her potential after everything she’s done? When I think of Klea all I see is misery and death.”

David squeezed her arm sympathetically.

“Then try to remember how often she has saved your family and friends.”

“We were never actually in danger,” Laurel argued, remembering the first night they’d met Klea. The first time she’d ‘saved’ them. “She sent those trolls after us to begin with. It’s not the same. Even her saving us from Barnes was because she lost control of him.”

“Ah, but you told me yourself that she said she made the best toxins and antidotes. I believe the healing tonic I gave you saved your father, and has also been administered to your human friends on occasion.”

Laurel sucked in a breath, thinking of the small blue bottle she kept in her kit back home. “She made that?”

Jamison nodded. “I have encountered few truly bad seeds in my life. Even people who find themselves acting out of envy, or greed, or selfish pride, do not lose their ability to act out of love. In the end, even Yuki found her way back. I’m sorry that Callista was unable to do the same, but I still believe she had goodness inside her at one point.”

“Yeah,” Laurel said, but she was unconvinced. After watching Tamani nearly die, she was not inclined to think nice thoughts about Klea.

Jamison was silent for a spell, then said, “I do not know that I will still be here when you next return to Avalon.”

“Jamison—”

“Please,” Jamison interrupted, his face almost unfamiliar in its seriousness. “This is important. So very, very important.” He paused and glanced around conspiratorially, then took both Laurel’s hands in his and met her eyes. “It has been more than fifty years since we first decided to place a scion in the human world and began putting our plan into action. I was reluctant. I did not think the timing was right. Cora was ready to wilt and I could see the kind of queen Marion was going to be. But I was outvoted. Then one day, many years later, they brought us a new Winter faerie, fresh from her sprout.”

Jamison laid a fatherly arm round Yasmine and she smiled up at him.

“I looked down at this tiny Winter faerie — one who was doomed to never rule, as she was too close to Marion’s age — and I thought of the potential in her that would be wasted. Just like Callista. And I knew at that moment that I could not let that happen again. Days later, they brought in the final two candidates for the human scion.”

“Mara and me?” Laurel asked, and Jamison nodded.

“I realised I knew one of the young Mixers. I had seen her often when I was in the Academy, watching the Gardener care for the Winter sprout. This little Mixer was best friends with the Gardener’s son.”

“Tamani,” Laurel whispered.

“And I realied that perhaps this was the answer. A scion — a good, kind scion with someone in Avalon who loved her, truly loved her, someone who could be her anchor, who could keep her coming back to our realm.