Aprilynne Pike: Destined

“But not empty-handed. I needed a scion who would not look down on humans, but who would love them — a scion who would reject traditions and prejudices so difficult to unlearn that I could not even trust a memory elixir to erase them. And what if this scion could show the fae of Avalon that there was another way? Might she prove a worthy adviser to the throne? Would it be possible to conduct a peaceful revolution — to bring new glory, a new way of life to our realm?”

“Jamison!” Laurel gasped.

“And while this scion was learning another way, I could teach that tiny Winter faerie to respect all the faeries in Avalon, not just those with power. And maybe, just maybe, when the time was right, she would have a chance to rule — a chance to make Avalon the place I always secretly dreamed it could be.”

“You planned this!” Laurel said breathlessly, trying to grasp the scope of Jamison’s involvement. “You picked me, you helped Tamani, you planned everything !”

“Not everything. Not this,” Jamison said, gesturing to the evidence of the destruction that surrounded them. “Never this. But after Callista was exiled, I had to do something. I had to start a change. It is our secret,” Jamison said, sobering as he looked down at Yasmine, then back at Laurel. “And now it is yours too. Move slowly, my no-longer-so-little sprout. The best, most lasting changes are those which come about gradually; to reach great heights, a tree must first put down extensive roots. But I promise you this, when it’s time — when Avalon is prepared and when you’re ready to join us here — Yasmine will be ready. Then we can have a true revolution. A peaceful one; one with the support of all the Avalon faeries behind it. And with you and Yasmine working together, Avalon can finally be everything we’ve always hoped it could be.”

Her eyes wide, Laurel looked down at Yasmine, seeing all the goodness Laurel had always loved in Jamsion shining in this young faerie’s eyes.

Avalon’s future , Laurel realised, and her face broke into a smile. She looked at them both and nodded, silently joining their secret crusade.

They began walking again as Laurel tried to comprehend everything Jamison had done — the seeds he had planted, literally and figuratively, and the harvest he had planned even though he knew he would not live to see it. When they reached the gate Laurel numbly helped Jamison sit on the little stone bench inside the shattered doors to the Garden, Yasmine beside him, their Am Fear-faire standing at attention on all sides.

“I–I’ll be back,” Laurel murmured, needing a few minutes to digest everything.

With David at her heels, Laurel passed back out through the entrance and walked a way before putting her back against the stone wall and sliding down to the ground.

“I can’t believe he had everything planned,” she said softly.

“And now he’ll die to see it through,” David said, joining her on the ground. “To make sure we get out.”

But Laurel shook her head. “Tamani will think of something.”

“I hope so.”

They were silent for a long time as the sun started to peek over the horizon and a cool breeze tousled Laurel’s hair. She cleared her throat and said, “I’m sorry you got stuck with the sword.”

“I’m not.”

“Well, then I’m sorry you were put in a position where you had to kill so many trolls.”

He didn’t respond, but she knew how tormented he must be on the inside.

“It was — it was great, though. You really saved the day. You’re my hero,” she added, hoping he would warm to the praise.

But David didn’t crack a smile. “You can’t even imagine what it feels like to take hold of that sword.” He shrugged. “Actually, maybe you can. Maybe this is what it feels like when you do magic.”

“Trust me, Mixing doesn’t feel much different than home ec.”

“You touch it,” David continued, as though she hadn’t spoken, and Laurel closed her mouth and let him talk. Clearly he needed to get it out. “And this surge of power just pours into you. And it doesn’t go away as long as you’re touching the sword.”

Laurel thought of the World Tree and wondered if it was similar to that.

“And it’s the most incredible rush in the world and you can’t help but believe that… that you can do anything.” He looked down at his hands, clenched in his lap. “But even the unbeatable sword can’t give me what I really want.”

He hesitated, and Laurel knew what was coming next.

“We’re not getting back together, are we?”

Laurel looked down at her feet and shook her head.

She saw his face fall, but he said nothing.

“I wish,” Laurel began tentatively, “I wish there was a way that no one could get hurt in all this. And I hate that I’m the one who has to do it.”

“I think it’s better to know, though,” David said.

“I didn’t know,” Laurel said. “Not for sure. Not until I almost lost him.”

“Well, staring death in the face does tend to put things in perspective,” David said, leaning back against the wall.

“David,” Laurel said, trying to find the right words. “I don’t want you to think you did anything wrong, or that you weren’t good enough. You were the perfect boyfriend. Always. You would have done anything for me, and I knew that.”

David maintained his pose, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“And I don’t know,” Laurel continued, “if this is making things better or worse, but you have to know how much I loved you — how much I needed you. You were the best thing that could have ever happened to me in high school. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Thanks for that,” David said, sounding sincere. “And — it’s not like I didn’t see it coming. I mean, I hoped it wouldn’t, but…”

Laurel looked away.

“I think Tam’s the only person in the world who could love you as much as I do,” David said grudgingly.

Laurel nodded, but remained silent.

“So will you stay here with him?”

“No,” Laurel said firmly, and David looked up in surprise. “I don’t belong here, David. Not yet. Maybe someday. If — when Yasmine becomes Queen, she’ll need me, but for now, what Avalon really needs is someone in the human world, just like Jamison said. Someone to remind them how great humans really are. How great you are,” she added. “And I intend to do that.”

“Laurel?”

There was an edge of desperation in his voice, a deep sorrow she knew she had put there. “Yeah?”

He was quiet for a long time and Laurel wondered if he had changed his mind when he blurted, “We could have made it. If it hadn’t been for… for him, we would have had the real thing. Our whole lives. I truly believe that.”

Laurel smiled sadly. “Me too.” She threw herself into David’s arms, pressing her cheek against his warm chest, the same way she’d hugged him countless times before. But there was something more in it, this time, as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. And she knew, despite the fact that she would probably see him every day from now through graduation, that this was goodbye.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “For everything.”

A movement caught the corner of her eye; he was far away, but she knew him in an instant. Tamani was struggling up the pathway on his own, hardly able to put one foot in front of the other. Even as she watched he stumbled and barely caught himself.

Laurel gasped and was on her feet in an instant. “I have to go help him,” she said.

David met her eyes and held her gaze for several seconds before he looked down and nodded. “Go,” he said. “He needs you.”