“I need to get them back,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone else. “Every second they’re in that place feels like I’m failing them.”
Nico’s hand found my shoulder—warm and solid. “We’re close. I swear it. Just a little longer. Lunavale is within the week. I’d like to have a feast, to honor the day. We’ll plan to hit the heart of Mathenholm after we’ve taken a moment to celebrate.”
“We should move to strike on Lunavale,” Jase challenged. “Everyone will be celebrating. They’ll be at their weakest.”
“And we should put our blind faith in you? The one who can’t even follow a simple order?” Lu growled, stepping up to Jase, the two standing chest to chest.
“Perhaps I’m not the type to follow orders,” Jase barked, shoving Lucius back.
“Enough!” Nico bellowed. “We are at war. We don’t need to be fighting with each other. Jase, we’re waiting until after we honor Lunavale. The people need this. And Lu… learn to choose your battles. Now, Michaela and I are late for drinks, and I much prefer her company over the lot of you.”
“What’s Lunavale?”I asked Maxfield, breaking the silence. Our lesson today consisted of sitting in a quiet spot and meditating. The calm of nature was supposed to help me connect with mymagic—or some ridiculousness he’d come up with. I think he just wanted to take a nap in the woods and this was his way of accomplishing that without pissing off Lu.
A dull hazel eye popped open beneath a wildly bushy eyebrow. “I’m not here for a history lesson. I’m sure your princes are well versed in that.”
“Oh, come on. I know it has something to do with magic, so technically that’s your area,” I said, trying to sound convincing. The celebration was in a few days and the camp was teeming with excitement. I’d overheard more than a few rumors, but there hadn’t been a moment for me to ask Fallon. Nor did I want to bother the others with my curiosities while everyone was so busy.
“This is why you’ve learned nothing. You refuse to listen.” He slammed his one eye shut again, rearranging his robes before setting his hands back on his knees.
“You’re not teaching me anything. I’ll never break the Tribulation if all we do is listen to the birds in the forest. I want to learn about magic.”
“And I want to go home and be left alone. There! I guess neither of us gets what we want,” he grumbled, pulling himself up from the ground and ambling back toward Whisperhold. “Lesson’s over.”
“I’ll make you a deal. Tell me about Lunavale and I’ll send Maeve to fetch you for our next meeting instead of Lucius.”
That stopped him in his tracks. He turned around, scrutinizing me from under those bushy eyebrows.
“Ugh, fine. The only good thing about Lunavale is the serviceberry pie. But I’ll grant you three questions. To the point, and don’t be vague.”
“Well, for starters, what exactly are we celebrating?”
“Lunavale is the day the Divine wove the bond that connected the people of Hiraeth with our beasts. The night thefirst four were born into existence. It is said that the spirit of the first shifters cross the veil to watch over their descendants.”
“You mean the four houses, right? And what exactly are they watching?”
“Yes, the original four shifters make up the royal houses that exist in Hiraeth today. This isn’t just a festival—it’s a reckoning. A time to show strength and honor—the primal nature we were born to. It’s very primitive. Those who prove their dominance in the eyes of the founding ancestors will be blessed in the coming year.”
“So what about?—”
“Ah, ah. That was three questions. We’re done.”
“It was not! I was confirming what I already knew. That’s not a question.”
“You are insufferable, child. One more blasted question and no amount of sweet talk will keep me from leaving.”
“I heard there was a… chase?” I asked, my cheeks flushing as I thought of the females recounting the prior year’s celebration. Nothing I wanted to verbalize to Maxfield, but I had to know if it was true.
“Ah yes, the Villrenna. The wild run. It is a mating chase. Males chase down their prospective female and, well… for those that manage to catch their prize, nature takes its course. But,” he continued, his gaze flicking to me, “when it’s a fated bond, it becomes something else. Something sacred. The land joins in the binding. Villrenna isn’t just tradition—it’s life. The magic in the soil, in the wind, in the very roots of the trees. When the fated run the wild together, the realm awakens to witness it. And when the bond is sealed…” He smiled like he’d seen it once and never forgotten. “You’re not just tied to each other. You’re bound to Hiraeth itself.”
I may have been in a peaceful grove, but my heart was racing as if I was already being chased.
“Thank you, Maxfield. Maybe next time I can barter for some actual instruction on how to use my magic?”
The old shifter harrumphed as I wrapped my arm with his, my mind whirling with possibilities.
“You’re buttering me up for something,” he muttered, eyeing me from beneath his bushy grey brows. “I’m not blind, child. Or deaf.”
“Can’t I be nice?” I asked, giving him my best innocent smile. As much as Maxfield tried to hide behind that grumpy demeanor, I could tell he was softening toward me.
