16
Eislyn
The crew was wild. Eislyn had never seen anything quite like it before. They were up on the tables, stomping their feet, shouting out the words to a song she’d never heard, drinks sloshing from their mugs as they danced. Half of them were fully naked. Now, this, this was a revel.
Neck flushed, Eislyn backed toward the door. They looked like they were having fun, of course. The kind of fun that Eislyn had never experienced for herself. She just did not feel prepared to face it now. Not when her thoughts were so thick with shadows. The visions had gotten worse as the days went on. Memories of death and screams were always so close by.
It was the first time that Eislyn had joined the crew since they’d set off from the shores of the Air Court. Most of the time, a servant brought her meals to her cabin or to a small table on the main deck when the waters were calm enough to allow it. Even though the crew of the Stingray had wholeheartedly agreed to spirit her away from Tairngire, she knew they still viewed her as an outsider. A stranger in the mists.
Vreis had joined them a few times, he’d mentioned. So, she had decided to seek them out this night. By the time she’d arrived, plates had been already cleared, and the naked dancing was well underway.
One of the females was dancing right near Vreis.
She twisted on her heels and pushed out of the cabin, racing up the stairs to the cool safety of the main deck. Leaning against the thin wooden railing, she pulled pocketfuls of air deep into her lungs, relishing how the spray of the water on her face made her feel alive. After several moments passed, she heard footsteps approach from behind.
Vreis’s familiar presence curled around her like a cloak. “Are you all right, Princess Eislyn? Did the revel frighten you?”
“I’m fine,” she said as the salty air rustled her silver strands. “I envy them more than anything. They don’t have a care in the world. They seem so free of darkness.”
Why had she said that aloud? Vreis did not need to know about the twisted visions in her mind, the darkness and fear that plagued her always.
“No one is free of darkness,” he said, taking a place by her side and leaning against the railing. “Some are just better at ignoring it, or finding a way to smile through it.”
“Hmm,” she said.
They fell into companionable silence. Even though Eislyn had yearned for solitude, she found she didn’t mind Vreis’s company. There was nothing dark about his presence, nothing overwhelming. Where most fae left her feeling unsteady on her feet—even Thane—Vreis felt more like a steadying rock. A rock she knew very little about. She didn’t know where he’d come from, what he’d dreamed of as a boy. She didn’t even know what he believed in or if he even believed in anything at all.
Suddenly, she was desperate to know what he thought of it all.
“Vreis, do you ever wonder…” she trailed off, not even sure what she wanted to ask. “What are the gods doing? Why have they taken our magic? Is there a way to get it back?”
“At times, I’ve wondered.” He stared out at the sea, black beneath the dark clouds above. “I assume we’ll never learn the answers to those questions.”
“That’s not very satisfying.”
“Do you ever wonder if the gods even exist?” he asked, turning to face her.
Surprised, she laughed. “Now that’s something coming from an air fae. You lot take the Dagda’s laws very seriously. And it’s very much against the rules to question his existence.”
“Oh, I believe the Dagda existed—or exists. What I am uncertain of…was he a god? The tales say he was, but why?” He shook his head. “No, if there is a god, I doubt he’s walked these lands.”
“Of course he’s walked these lands. Our magic had to come from somewhere. He couldn’t very well imbue the lands without touching it, without running his fingers through the grass and brushing his feet against the dirt.”
Vreis gave her a long, thoughtful stare before responding, which made her flush. “If that is how we got our magic, then how did he take it away? Did he return to Tir Na Nog? If so, why did no one see him?”
“I…” Eislyn frowned. “His hidden servants must have taken it, just as they carry away the souls of the dead. He didn’t need to return to Tir Na Nog himself.” She thought for a moment, and then added, “Or he was hidden himself.”
“Or something else took away the magic,” Vreis said quietly as he absentmindedly fingered the amber jewel that hung around his neck.
A shock of alarm zapped Eislyn’s heart. Vreis’s suggestion went against everything she had ever believed about the Fall. Once, the Dagda had roamed Tir Na Nog, far before the fae ever did. He knew that one day a people would rise up in need of help. His magic was his gift to the fae. It was their armor, their strength in the world. And then, centuries later, he decided to take it away.
There was no other explanation. The gift of a god could not just vanish. Not without a reason.
“You don’t truly believe that,” Eislyn whispered. “You’re only tossing about theories to pass the time while we’re stuck waiting for the dawn.”
Vreis gave her a strange smile. “I don’t believe any particular thing, Eislyn. That was my point. We don’t know if he took it or if someone else did. It’s only a possibility, one that is no less plausible than the rest.”
Eislyn leaned back against the railing. Vreis was wrong. He had to be. If the Dagda had not taken away their gift, then something else had. Or someone else had. And that was a terrifying thought.
It also meant…
“But,” she said breathlessly, “if there is some other reason we lost our magic, then could that mean…” It couldn’t. She dare not speak it aloud. She shouldn’t even be entertaining these thoughts in the first place. It would lead to nothing good. Despite Vreis’s uncertainty, Eislyn believed in the Dagda. She always had, even in her darkest times.
“That we might be able to get it back?” Vreis finished for her. And then he shrugged. “Perhaps we could…if the kingdoms were not intent on their theory about what caused the Fall. They are all content believing in the Dagda. Only Fire and Shadow might have questioned it. But Fire is gone, and Shadow is exiled. We’ll find no help from either of them.”
She could not help but laugh. “We? You speak as though the two of us are about to embark on a grand adventure to find the thief of our magic.”
“Well, we’re certainly not far off, now are we? Or have your priorities changed since boarding this ship?”
The smile fell from her lips. “You speak of the Ruin.”
“Of course. It is your life’s purpose is it not?”
Eislyn had never quite thought of it like that, but Vreis was not wrong. If there was only one thing she could ever accomplish, one thing in all her years spent walking these lands, it would be that. To end the Ruin.
She nodded.
“Then, you see.” He smiled a smile that shot tingles into her toes. “Your aim is not far off at all.”
Her forehead crinkled as she frowned. “You don’t mean to say that the Ruin and the Fall are connected, do you?”