REGENERATION

11

"Daughter," Vera Erdane greeted Joyen as she entered the room where Vera sat rigidly at the end of the dining table inside the Zephyr castle. The old fae woman smirked, her chin resting on the backs of her hands, elbows propped on the table as she surveyed the room. "Your home is just as I remember it. Stuffy." A beat passed as Vera assessed her daughter's empty hands. "I've asked the staff twice to fetch me wine, but they keep disappearing. I'd hoped you might bring some with you, but apparently no such luck."

Queen Joyen turned and dismissed the guard who had escorted her to the room, taking the opportunity to blow out a breath and compose herself. Vera's words didn't affect her, not after more than a century of dealing with the woman's attempts at getting under her skin. No, her verbal jabs could be ignored. But Vera's appearance could not.

"Hello to you, too, Mother. You look…" Joyen searched for an adjective to describe her surprise at Vera's improved condition and hoped she masked her emotions before settling on "well."

She hadn't expected Vera for at least another day or two, considering the aged woman flew much slower than she used to. Did everything slower than she used to, for that matter. The last time they had seen each other, the former queen had seemed frail. Her once-blonde hair had turned as white as Aria's and her skin wrinkled.

But when the guard fetched Joyen from her chambers with news of Vera's arrival, he'd informed the queen that Vera had required no assistance on the flight. In fact, she had flown ahead of them for most of the journey, seemingly in a hurry.

Joyen looked at her mother's head resting on those once-knobby hands, now lithe and youthful, and gulped. "You arrived much sooner than we expected. I apologize for not greeting you upon your landing. I hope your escort guards proved hospitable and showed you to your room?"

"That won't be necessary," Vera replied firmly. "I'll be leaving as soon as we're done here."

The woman who sat in front of Joyen looked like she had gone back in time at least a century. Her hair was still white, but the wrinkles in her pale skin were much less prominent. Her posture was stiff and confident. "Don't look so surprised, Joyen, I'm a busy woman these days," Vera addressed the slight concern on Joyen's face. "It's amazing how much more youthful you feel when people finally listen to you, for once." Joyen refrained from rolling her eyes, but that left her with more questions than answers about her mother's mysteriously improved condition. Vera continued before she could ask them, though. "I was hoping our beautiful princess might be here. I've been dying to see how her powers are coming along since you keep her under lock and key."

"Aria is fine," Joyen said flatly. She didn't like that the inquiry felt like a threat.

"And where is your wonderful husband? He didn't want to see me? "

Joyen ignored the sarcasm in her tone. She wouldn't give in to her mother's obvious prying for information. "The king is visiting with our people, addressing their concerns over the border."

"Ah, yes. That. Well, I hope you have plenty of guards stationed along the river. Wouldn't want to leave it defenseless against those nasty shifters, would we?"

"To be honest, Mother, I'm more concerned about the army you're putting together. Shall we talk about that first? Or would you like to continue threatening me without cause?" Joyen finally pulled up a chair at the opposite end of the table, almost comically far from Vera, but making her point, nonetheless. This was going to be a formal discussion, and despite the sweat that gathered on her palms, Joyen told herself she would settle for nothing less than a compromise between them.

"Well, perhaps if you would have responded to my letter—"

"With what?" Joyen snapped. "You left me no room for discussion amid your threats."

Vera tsk ed, shaking her head. "You've grown complacent. I knew this would happen. The only reason I agreed with your father to let you marry a Zephyr was so you could use his power as a means to achieve our goals," she sighed dramatically. "I thought you understood that. Your power is too great to be wasted away. All your silly little husband can do is blow things around. We can move mountains together, Joyen. And together, we will reclaim our family's power. You will join me this time, won't you?" Vera's eyes were fiery, all but erupting from the vision playing out in her head. The sight of it was revolting.

"I know how you feel about my marriage, and frankly, I don't care," Joyen retorted. "You're just envious you no longer have the keys to our kingdom. And you know what? I get it. But we've lived in relative peace for almost a century, and after Mallium erected the border decades ago," she narrowed her eyes accusingly, "we grew tired of fighting. Our people were dying in combat—and for what? More power? More land? We already have so much of it that isn't even used. We have no need for more," she exhaled, finally letting the thoughts that had been living in her head out into the world. She'd be damned if she let Vera continue spinning her own narrative. "Just because the shifters live differently, use magic differently—it doesn't mean we are better than them. We may not like each other, but it doesn't mean we have to be enemies. In fact, right now, we have to be allies," Joyen stopped herself as Vera's face twisted in intrigue.

She had to spin this correctly. If she didn't… Well , she thought, this was their only chance at convincing Vera to back down before she unwittingly sealed the entire continent's fate with her greed. Joyen took a deep breath. "There is more danger coming our way, not just the disappearance of the border wall," Joyen started. "And I need you to listen to me very carefully. When we visited the Sanctum, Mallium's usual inconsequential warning had become a full-blown threat. All of Wren is to face an unknown enemy on the equinox," Joyen did her best to remain calm, but a twinge of panic laced her voice against her will. "We don't know what this force is, but he declared that fae and shifters must work together to banish it, or the entire continent will be wiped clean." She steeled herself before adding, " All of the fae."

Vera considered this quietly. Joyen could see something happening in Vera's mind, but her mother's face was unmoving. Unreadable. "Interesting" was all she replied.

Joyen took it as an opportunity to elaborate. "Mallium removed the border wall not to entice us to fight, but to work together, for once. And the shifters have already agreed to cooperate. But it's all for nothing if we must fight you, too," Joyen continued. Vera didn't need to know that the terms were still uncertain. She hoped presenting a united front would be more convincing. "And we don't want to fight you. We want to fight alongside you. We can settle the rest of our issues later, but right now, we all need to work together. Or it will mean the end of your band of followers, too. There will be no people to rule—no power to be had—if we're all dead."

The last word echoed in the otherwise empty hall.

But rather than the surprise she'd expected from her mother, Joyen was met by Vera pushing back from the table, unbothered as she sauntered past her daughter toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Joyen called after her, scrambling up from her chair. "We're not done here!"

Vera didn't look back. "I'm afraid you're too late, my dear. I will not be stopped this time."

***

Aria left the library deflated. She'd returned to check in with the librarians, initially optimistic. That had quickly changed when they informed her they'd found a lot of information on historical events, but nothing they didn't already know. Not a single lead. Nothing that could clue them into what Mallium had planned. They all assured her they would keep looking, but she was no longer hopeful.

She made her way down the foyer steps and through the castle entrance on her way to the Institute to meet Taren for dinner before she had to leave for patrol. As she walked through the gates and turned the corner, she found Vera taking flight, heading north away from the castle. She blinked once, twice, before realizing her mother stood before her, also watching the woman leave.

"Where is she going?" Aria demanded.

Joyen turned, quickly wiping frustrated tears from the corner of her eye. "Please, Aria, don't do this right now." She began to make her way back toward the gates.

"What happened?" Aria noticed the distress on her mother's face and softened her tone. "Why is she leaving?"

"It's too late," the queen resolved, believing that to be enough of a response. But it only left Aria more confused.

"What does that even mean? Too late for what? I didn't even know she was here. How is she already gone?"

"I need to speak with your father," she tried to move past Aria again, but Aria moved in her way, blocking her from entering the castle.

"This is my kingdom, too, you know? And gods forbid something were to happen to you both, I would be responsible for it," Aria's voice rose, the stress of the day seeking an outlet. "You can't keep brushing me off. You've forced me into training my entire life to prepare me for something like this, at least let me try to live up to your expectations instead of dismissing me." The words continued to burst from her. "We have less than three months to unite two warring realms into battle against an unknown enemy, and you expect me to be okay with sitting idly until you come up with a plan? I'm fully capable of helping, and right now, you need all the help you can get," she finished, angry tears threatening to fall.

Her eyes searched Joyen's for something, anything.

The queen sighed and pulled Aria into a tight hug. "You're right, Aria. I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just so scared of losing you, of making a mistake and putting you at risk. I've let my fear cloud my judgment." Aria balked at the sudden change in Joyen's demeanor but returned the hug anyway. "I just… That didn't go how I'd hoped."

"Tell me what happened. Please," Aria urged.

"Vera came all the way here entirely on her own," Joyen compiled her thoughts. "She looked… great, actually. Healthy. Concerningly so." The queen finally looked into Aria's eyes. "She listened to me explain the situation just to tell me it was too late. That she ‘wouldn't be stopped this time,'" she quoted.

"That's all she said?" Aria looked at her mother blankly, puzzled. "She won't work with us?"

"That's it. She basically ran out of the room and took off so quickly I couldn't catch her. And by the tone of her voice, even getting on my knees to beg wouldn't have changed her mind. I don't know what they're planning, but it's something big," Joyen released a sob into her hands. "I'm so lost, Aria, this is all so much. I never wanted this, any of it."

The sudden emotion from her mother—usually so reserved and poised—came as a shock. But it ignited something deep in her chest. She removed her mother's hands from her face, holding them in her own. "We'll figure this out," she comforted. "I'm meeting Luka tonight to debrief," she started before realizing her mother had no idea they'd spoken previously. "In his, um, message a couple days ago…" she recovered quickly, "he said the Legion Council asked for me to be their ambassador and to meet him tonight so we can discuss our plans in more detail. I'm going to tell him what's going on. They deserve to know we may have more than one battle on our hands."

Joyen sighed heavily, peering at her daughter. "So, is that how you found out? Why you accosted me in my chambers that morning?"

Aria glanced away. She really had to work on her ability to lie. "I don't like being treated like a child. I was upset. "

"And rightfully so," Joyen said calmly. She paused. "If they knew, I'm surprised they didn't confront us about it at the Sanctum. Though, perhaps it's best you found out at home. I should have told you sooner, and I regret that. Among other things." She breathed deeply. "You've been handling this better than I have, honestly," she chuckled halfheartedly. "I'll be better moving forward. I promise. You have my blessing to work with Luka, but please urge them to keep that particular information as quiet as possible. I hope the disappointing outcome today doesn't affect their willingness to work with us."

Aria offered a soft smile. "I'll let you know what happens with Luka tonight, but I need to go meet Taren. Tell me if anything else comes up before then."

She left her mother, not at all comforted by their conversation. Without Vera's cooperation, and no leads from the librarians… They'd have to rely very heavily on the shifters. And while Aria didn't love that idea, she saw no other option. She'd have to make sure the shifters would work with them. Trusted them.

And based on her last interaction with Luka, that would not be an easy task.