Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

A Year After the Covenant

I can’t believe they forced us into such close quarters. I can see the Norden Point as we work on our respective houses. If our power is strengthened here, if all four of us are to live on this lake, we’ll see who can make the most intimidating fortress.

I’ve already covered the ground in seedlings. We’ll have a forest on our property—a remnant of the one we wanted to claim. Whatever I must deal with living so near these other fae leaders, I’ll ensure my successors will not. I will give them a cover under which to hide—woods to roam. Keeping our additional gift of shifting a secret was a lost cause. Just last week, the Suden Point saw my brother coming out of his bear form. He was so angry, raging that Lord Arctos snuck us a second gift. That he somehow cheated the power balance. It proves how little he understands the connection between our element and our animal. Two sides of the same coin, like Lord Arctos’s gift to us.

The worst offense is still having to come together for the Refilling Ceremony. The Summer Solstice brings us together every year. We honor the gods like we were told. Not that we’ve seen much of them since the first Ceremony.

Zrak, at least, has an excuse, though I think the Osten may feel his absence more than we realize. The Osten Point is resilient, but her wind feels faint as it blows around my fire during the Ceremony. I think it will get the job done, but I wonder if the others notice. We’ve lived in relative peace, but weakness, if sensed on either of her borders, would bring trouble.

Lord Arctos is rarely here. When he comes, it is only with Aurora. The Norden goddess is more eager to visit her court, at least. She makes herself available to ensure its success. She even stopped by my property with Lord Arctos. I’ll admit, she asks about the strangest things. A few weeks ago, she questioned me about the trees I was planting.

“Kenna, this will be a lovely forest. But do you think it will discourage visits from your Norden and Suden neighbors?”

“That’s the point, my lady,” I gently reminded her.

She shared a look with Lord Arctos then, her hand clasping his.

“How will you fulfill your duty to the continent if you don’t know or understand your neighbors?” she asked.

“Begging your pardon, but if you focus on not doing anything to disrupt the balance, then maybe I won’t have to worry about working with my neighbors.” It got quite hot then, like the ground beneath me was burning, though I saw no flame. I looked up, and fire danced in Lord Arctos’s eye before his lady squeezed his hand tight enough to douse it.

“Have you at least seen Aterra here to visit the Suden Point?” Lord Arctos asked.

“I must have seen him a few weeks back. He doesn’t come often, and he doesn’t stay. I think I overheard the Suden in the Compass Lake Village saying he was spending more time in the southern villages. A good many Suden left the lake to live elsewhere. I even heard they started establishing villages of their own.”

“Villages of their own?” Aurora asked.

“Yes, per your request, they’ll let in any humans that wants to come, of course. But instead of living in a village filled with humans, they decided to build a village for themselves.”

I saw Lord Arctos running his hand through his hair, pushing it back in disarray. I’m not sure what he was so upset about.

One Hundred and Fifty Years After the Covenant

Today is my last day as Vesten Point. I’m passing the torch, if you will. I’ve made some mistakes and will share my learnings here for future generations since they no longer do me any good. Nicholas has more taste for politics than me. I focused on defending our court, establishing our borders at Compass Lake, and giving us space to thrive.

Then, we started meeting regularly as Compass Points.

The annual Ceremony was no longer enough as the number of fae grew and spread out. They needed help to live in harmony with the humans. While none of the gods instructed us, we all knew this fell within our remit of maintaining balance on the continent. We would hold a god in check should it ever come to it, but more often, we were to ensure humans and fae lived together peacefully.

These meetings brought as many headaches as solutions. I had to bring more Vesten into positions of power within my court to manage the duties. Nicholas was one such appointment.

In addition to his duties, he came to me with ideas on securing our position among the courts. We needed to have information to trade, information of value to the other Compass Points. Nicholas didn’t think that open war and conquering territories was the only way to gain position among the fae courts. He formed a group of Vesten who traveled the continent and sought information from villages or lands more heavily inhabited by the other fae.

The Osten—no surprise—did not stray far from Compass Lake. However, they don’t seem to need to leave the lake to learn of the goings on of the continent. The Osten Point is always more informed than I expect. She must have done something to enhance her power. I rarely notice a lapse at the Ceremonies. And they proved they could hold off attacks from the Suden Point. No one will ever admit to it, but I know the Suden Point tried to take Osten house. Nicholas may patrol the continent, but my knowledge of what goes on at the lake is absolute. I’ve been best at keeping my shifter form a secret. No one notices a black bird sitting outside an open window or flying around the lake at night.

The Norden are an uninteresting lot. Many have established themselves up north. They did much the same that the Suden did years ago and made Norden-filled villages near the human ones. They never barred humans from entrance, but it’s funny when the humans and the fae have their own space; they don’t mix often.

The Suden. Well, it’s not the Suden themselves who are interesting, but their god. The only good thing from Nicholas’s prowling the continent is hearing what Aterra has been up to. He has been seen more than any other god among his fae. I guess Lord Arctos and Aurora are able to entertain each other —Aterra only has the Suden. Reports indicate that he is more familiar with some Suden than one might think proper. I can’t imagine that is a good idea, but I also can’t fault an immortal being for much.

Nicholas, armed with his spies and his secrets, has found a way to lift himself up. He found out the other courts have a test for power, each one different. He convinced the Vesten that we needed one too. It should be no surprise that the test he designed, and he happened to take, ensured he was the strongest Vesten on the continent.

I leave you with this. Trust no one when you are in power, or you will find yourself not in power for long.

The Compass Points assembled the most critical entries. The sun was setting, and they hadn’t finished reading, but they had plenty to discuss.

Rose’s entries from the first Refilling Ceremony, and sometime a year later, were particularly enlightening.

Luc had found the entry from Kenna’s last day as Vesten Point. The entry left him more contemplative than Rose cared for.

“So Zrak at least seemed right about how we would be lost if we continued with our seclusion,” Carter said. “What do you think about what he says here?” Carter pointed to the page:

“To uphold your task, you must work together. The powers we bestow you with must intertwine—a bond that strengthens and does not break. They must be as united as the water in the lake, unable to tell which drop has touched which shoreline.”

“ You think this means more than the same elements working together as you and Juliette have?” he asked.

Rose nodded. “I can’t imagine that the gods would have considered a situation where two Compass Points had the same element. It has to mean that what we’ve done with our wind is possible with all the elements.”

“Saying it must be true and doing it are still two different things,” Juliette said cautiously.

“I agree.” Rose nodded. “It helps to read that it’s possible, though. I was also thinking about something we might have overlooked.”

“Don’t keep us waiting,” Juliette said.

“All of these pieces—working together, intertwining, uniting—they speak of the power of all four Compass Points. This might be obvious, but I think we each have to use our elements at the same time.”

“We were using our elements together in Loch when you pulled power from Juliette,” Luc noted, catching her train of thought.

“Exactly, and when we faced Aterra.” She looked at Luc and shrugged. “It would also explain why I couldn’t find the connection when we were using our wind to push the horses.”

“It makes sense…” Juliette said thoughtfully.

“I think we should call it for today.” Rose stretched and twisted her body from the hours spent sitting on the floor. “We can put it to the test tomorrow.”