Chapter Thirty-Six
Ryder’s arms were wrapped around me, holding me against him as we watched the waves rush back out to sea. The crystal blue water rushed back in, hitting us and rocking our bodies as we braced ourselves against the tide. It was calming, the chaos of the ocean that surrounded us. The gentle breeze ruffled my hair, and I let out a happy sigh of contentment as I held on to the man I loved.
We didn’t need words to tell each other our thoughts; somehow, even without the mental connection we’d lost, we knew what each other was thinking without needing words. I felt his turmoil at the impending war, as he felt my turmoil over the loss of Danu, but neither of us spoke.
After some time had passed, I pulled away from him and looked into his golden eyes.
“We need to talk,” I whispered, knowing I had to tell him something about what I was doing, even though I couldn’t tell him everything.
“I know,” he admitted, and I tensed, unsure of what he had to tell me. He sifted us to the sandy white beach and glamoured us into bathing suits; mine was a tiny white bikini that left little to the imagination, while he wore black Bermuda shorts, which made me smirk. Seeing Ryder in them was something to behold, but his cock was already pressing against them as he took in the suit I wore.
“You first,” I said, wondering what he had to say.
“I don’t want you fighting in the war with the Mages,” he admitted. I started to argue, but he held up his hand. “I know you will be there, and I know we need you. It doesn’t change the fact that it scares me. I know you can fight, and I know of no other warrior Goddess who can handle herself as well as you can, but we have to consider our children.”
“They are children,” I whispered, taken aback by what he was saying. “That would make them a target for our enemies.”
“Yes, which is why one of us needs to stay behind the castle walls with them when the war comes,” he whispered against my ear.
“I’m a Goddess; I am needed on the field.”
“I know that too,” he laughed. “And I’m the King of the Horde, and you and I know that the Horde King can die only at the hands of the Heir of the Horde. I am expected to be on the field. It has to be you or I who stays behind to protect them, unless we can appoint someone guardian of the children, as the humans do, to watch over them in our absence.”
“This sucks,” I whispered as I chewed on my lip.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” he asked and I paused, wondering if and what I should tell him. I waved one hand over the other and the necklace Destiny gave me materialized in my hand. The little blue crystal dangling from the chain seemed to glow a little.
“You found a crystal?”
I laughed nervously as I lifted my eyes to hold his. “I found a cure for Faery.”
“How can one little bauble be the cure for anything?” he teased, and I frowned.
“I can’t tell you everything. I don’t even know all of it, or if it will work. What I do know is that Danu thought it would work. Though, she also said I would have to do a few things before it would work as Destiny foretold it. Hannah, the Witch we found under the Guild, whispered in my ear before she left and told me to trust that Danu and Destiny knew what they were doing. She told me that before I entered the Guild to save you. She knew what would happen before it did. So tell me, Ryder, do I go with what could set this world on a path to healing, do I take the leap and trust that they are correct, or do I wait to see if the stars align and then try it?”
“I don’t know what you are trying,” he whispered, swallowing hard as he watched me.
“I will tell you what I can, but I can’t tell you everything.”
“Will it affect us?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” I murmured as I looked up at him. “Not in a bad way, but it will change our lives. If I don’t, Faery will continue to weaken until it is nothing but an extension of earth. If I do, Faery could start to heal itself at a rapid pace, like how I heal.” I pulled my hair to the side and clasped the necklace around my neck.
“If it can fix Faery.” He watched me as I closed the distance between us and stood on my tiptoes as he leaned down to meet me. My voice barely carried to his ears and my hands trembled as I whispered part of my secrets to him, feeling him tense as I told him what I intended to do. Once I finished, I pulled away and stepped back, giving him room to absorb what I’d told him.
“Gods,” he muttered, staring at me. His hands trembled, and I smiled.
“The Gods have nothing to do with this,” I replied coldly.
“Synthia,” he exhaled as he shook his head watching me.
“Bilé is out there. He was freed when my mother died. He has already found his way back to the Mages and is leading them here. I’m done losing. It’s time we stopped waiting around for them to find us. No more waiting for them to come to our gates. It’s time we went out to find them. I may not be able to fight them outside of Faery, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take the fight to them. Just because I cannot fight them outside of this world doesn’t mean I will sit around on my hands while you do it. I am Synthia, Daughter of Danu, Goddess of Faery, and the Queen of the Horde. I am a queen by choice and birthright. I am not a sit-around-and-wait kind of girl either. It’s time we bring the war to them. I say we level the playing field and use their tactics on them. Danu told me to look for loopholes in the rules that the Gods made so that they can’t intervene. We find them and we use them. We take back our world and make them tremble in fear of our names. We are the King and Queen of the Horde, and I am ready to hunt.”
“That’s my girl,” he said proudly as he smiled and pulled me to him. “Let’s sound the war horns. My Queen wishes to hunt.”
“We will ride together and take back what is ours.”
“And this?” he asked, touching the crystal.
“We’ll wait until the war has been won and we are ready for it.”
“I love you, Witch.”
“And I love you, Fairy. Now, let’s go make some noise, shall we?” I asked, as a smile played on my lips.
The End, For Now