Princess Willowyn's Arc

Chapter 47 of 70

The tent held two kings and one long table. Willowyn stood at its head with Kai at her shoulder. She had proved the flood was natural. But proof of the water did not undo the grief. Both kings still stared at her like a liar sent to shame them. The first king slammed his fist on the wood. "You clear the road and expect us to forget our sons?" The second king said nothing. His eyes were red and dry. Willowyn understood then that no words would reach them. Not while their sons lay unburied. "When did they die?" she asked. "Your sons." The first king's voice broke. "Yesterday. Both drowned in the same flood. Their bodies are still with us." The second king finally spoke. "We could not bury them. Not until we knew who to blame." "Bring me to them," Willowyn said. "At once." Kai touched her arm. "Willowyn," he said low, "the dead are the dead." His dark eyes searched hers. He had followed her across pine forests and stood beside her at every table. He knew the cost her magic took. But he also knew that look on her face. He let go of her arm. The kings led her to a cold room behind the tent. Two young men lay side by side on wooden boards. Their skin was gray. Water still darkened their hair. Willowyn looked up through the open flap. The moon hung full and pale above the ridge. Her breath caught. Drowned only a day. The water was still in them. She did not know if it could be done. But the moon was with her, and moonlight filled her instead of draining her. "Stand back," she said. The kings obeyed. Willowyn spread her hands over the first son's chest. She reached for the water the way Raven had taught her, but gentler now. She felt it, trapped and heavy in his lungs. Slowly she drew it up. A thin ribbon of water rose from his mouth and hung shining in the air. Then she pulled the moonlight down. It poured through her hands, cold and bright. She pressed it into the drowned flesh where the water had torn it. The young man's chest jerked. He coughed. His eyes opened. The first king cried out. Willowyn did not stop. She moved to the second board and did it again. More water rose. More moonlight sank in. The second son gasped and turned his head, alive. Both kings fell to their knees. There was no liar left to accuse. There was no one to blame. She had given each of them back the thing the war was fought over. Willowyn swayed, but the moon held her up. Kai steadied her all the same. "You brought their sons back," he whispered. "Now they have no reason to fight," she said. "Only a reason to thank each other." But both kings knelt not to one another. They knelt to her.