Edge of Pathos (Book 4 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 2

It was night by the time that Valerie and Gideon turned their steps homeward. In the moonlight, everything seemed less like a wasteland and more like the city that she'd fallen in love with when she'd first come to the Globe.

"Oberon would be proud of how you are leading this war," Gideon said after they had walked silently for a ways. There was no bitterness in his voice, even though Gideon and her father had not been friends.

Valerie released a laugh that was also a sob. "He'd probably tell me to listen to Skye and kill as many Fractus as I can."

Gideon flashed her a brief smile. "You might be right. But he'd support you when you told him no."

They reached the garden in front of her house, and Valerie shut her eyes, letting herself remember her father—the taste of his awful pancakes, the effortless grace of his movements when he fought in battle, and, best of all, the pride in his stormy eyes whenever he looked at her.

Gideon's sharp breath brought her back to reality, and she opened her eyes and saw why he'd been startled. In the waning light, in the middle of a drought, her father's garden had bloomed. He had filled it with hundreds of white poppies. It was the flower that he said symbolized her, and it was the only kind he'd planted in his garden, apparently.

Had he somehow known that he would die, and had left this as a gift to her? It didn't matter. As the delicate scent of the flowers reached her, she laughed. Beside her, Gideon was smiling, too.

"I'm starting to see why your mother loved him," he admitted.

Valerie asked him the question she'd never had the guts to before. "You loved her, too, didn't you?"

He nodded once, and then squeezed her shoulder.

"And like Oberon, I am proud of you," he said. "I see her in you, next to the best parts of your father."

The lump in Valerie's throat made it impossible to speak, so she gave Gideon a hug instead. Finally, she cleared her throat.

"I promised someone the first bloom from my garden," she said. "I'll be back before dawn."

Valerie raced through the forest to one of the trees that led up to Arbor Aurum, the capital city for the People of the Woods, and also the location where Elden, their former leader, was healing.

She climbed the tree effortlessly, because she'd had a lot of practice. The People were on the front lines of the fight with the Fractus, with a contingent on Earth and another on the Globe. They fought the Fractus guerrilla-style, hiding in the trees and leaping out to attack the army when they tried to advance into Silva. Valerie talked battle tactics with them several times a week.

When she reached the platform, it was full dark, but the stars were brighter up there. The wounded were all located in an enormous hollow tree deep in the city, where they could be protected.

Elden's alcove was usually attended by his wife, daughter, or one of his many friends, but at this time of night, he was alone. He slept fitfully, his fingers obsessively twining and untwining. He hadn't regained consciousness since he'd been almost fatally attacked with one of the black weapons wielded by the Fractus.

"I brought you a poppy, the first bloom of my garden, like I promised," Valerie said, speaking quietly so as not to awaken the other patients.

Elden's hands stilled at the sound of her voice.

"I wish you'd wake up," she continued, and let her body slump a little. For the first time in a while, she wasn't thinking like a leader, wishing that one of her most trusted generals would get back into the action. She was just a girl who missed her friend.

"Valerie, you're back," Cara said.

She turned and gave Cyrus's sister a smile. "You're still helping give the sick light treatments?"

Cara had fully embraced her potential as a lightweaver, and Cyrus was helping her develop her magic.

"My parents are horrified, even though I'm using my magic to save lives, not take them."

"You're doing the right thing," Valerie said.

"I know. Someday they will, too, I hope," Cara said. "In the meantime, I'm enjoying the fact that Arbor Aurum doesn't have cell phone service. The only means to contact me are magical, so I haven't heard from them since I left."

Valerie turned back to Elden. "Any change in him?"

Cara put her hand against Elden's chest, and Valerie watched light pulse from her hand into her patient, giving him a temporary glow. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but he seemed to breathe a little easier.

"Some days, he seems stronger," Cara said. "Other days, it seems like his recovery has plateaued. We don't know what the long-term effects of the Fractus's weapons are. And Elden had a very strong exposure."

Valerie was grateful that Cara didn't try to hide her doubts. She barely recognized the girl she'd met three years ago. That angry kid had been replaced by someone who seemed to know her purpose better than Valerie did.

"How's Cyrus?" Cara asked.

Valerie knew that she'd seen her brother earlier in the week, so she suspected that Cara was really asking how she and Cyrus were doing.

"There's not a lot of time for romance in the middle of a war," Valerie hedged.

"He loves you. If you don't feel the same, you need to let him know," Cara said, eyeing her critically.

"I love Cyrus!"

"You know what I mean," Cara said, her tone brooking no nonsense.

Valerie deflated a little. "I would never string him along."

Cara cocked her eyebrow at Valerie's Earth expression, but she nodded. "No one dies of a broken heart in real life. People move on."

"Okay," Valerie said, since Cara was still staring at her.

Cara broke the tension with a smile and a welcome change of subject. "Tell Ceru to come visit me."

Ceru was a journeyman at Cyrus's old guild, The Society of Imaginary Friends. He was one of Cyrus's good friends, and Valerie suspected that Cara had a crush on him.

"I'm not going to tell Cyrus you said that," Valerie teased.

"Thanks. Ceru never sees me as anything other than a child, though," Cara said, and her earlier maturity slipped away. "But I'm not!"

Valerie couldn't help being reminded of when she'd first met Thai. She remembered his bossy attitude with bemused affection.

"Why are you grinning like that?" Cara asked.

"Thank you, Cara," Valerie said.

"For what?"

"For giving me the firstsomewhat normal night I've had in a really, really long time."