Ayren landed in the camp gently, and carefully put Polly down. She staggered slightly, but then grinned up at him.
People began rushing toward Ayren. "Oh, snap," Polly muttered, and clicked her fingers together.
Everything around the two froze.
Ayren glanced questioningly down at the little girl, not entirely surprised. "Why'd you do that?"
"I need to glamor," Polly explained. "Nobody really knows what I look like, or which reincarnation I am." With a shimmer of sparkles, Polly transformed into the ancient woman Ayren had first met her as. It seemed like forever ago.
Polly snapped her fingers, now shaking and bony, and everything jumped into motion once more. A few people paused and started, gazing at the old woman in the space where a little girl had formerly been standing.
They all stopped as three figures strode toward Ayren.
Maria, Jason, and the king, glowering, strode over to Ayren. Maria stepped forward and sent her palm flying across his cheek in a stinging slap.
Ayren gasped, more out of shock than pain. "What the - "
"We've been waiting for hours," spat the princess. "We've been waiting - waiting - " Her voice broke and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them and saying in a deadly calm voice, "We've been waiting for you so we can bury Rowen."
Ayren felt dizzy. "No - " he managed and made a weak gesture at Polly. She stepped forward and regarded the king coldly.
"Take me to the body," she ordered.
The king hesitated, but he must have either known or sensed who Polly was, because he soon nodded and began walking.
Jason sidled up to Ayren. "Is that Polly?" he asked with a note of hope in his voice.
"Who?" asked Maria.
The boys quickly explained as they followed Polly and the king from a distance.
"And you think she can raise the dead?" Maria asked disbelievingly.
"No," said Jason. "Um...maybe?"
"If anyone can, she can," Ayren pointed out.
"Okay," Maria said, the bleakness raising from her voice slightly.
They stopped outside of a tiny tent. A boulder sat next to the tent, most likely reinforcing the thin wall. Polly tottered inside.
"This'll take a while," were the last words she called out before the tent flap fluttered shut.
"Now what?" Jason asked after a pause.
"Now we wait," Ayren said grimly.
*
Everything hurts.
"Rowen?"
What is this?
"Rowen, please."
Make the pain stop, please, PLEASE!
"By the gods, just wake UP!"
Rowen's eyes flew open and she bolted upright.
An old woman was hunched in a nearby chair, pulled as close to the bed as she could manage. She was grinning wildly. "Mornin'," she chuckled.
Rowen opened her mouth to speak but clutched at her throat. It felt like someone had scraped sandpaper around her mouth and down her throat.
The old woman handed her a cup of water. "Drink."
Rowen did, hastily, sloppily. She eagerly held out the cup for more after she had drained the first. She drank three more cups in that fashion before her throat stopped aching and her mouth was wet.
The old woman cheered raspily, punching a fist in the air. Then she quieted, smiling softly and patting Rowen's cheek with her gnarled hand.
"It cost me the use of two good legs...damn transfer magic...but I'm glad you're with us, Rowen."
And then everything came rushing back.
*
Ayren was leaning against the boulder next to the tent, staring into the woods. The king had retreated to his tent an hour ago. Jason and Maria were leaning against the armory tent, which had a hard side. Maria was fast asleep in Jason's arms.
Ayren couldn't even consider sleep. He felt fragile, jumpy. His fingers tapped nervously against his bicep.
"Please," he whispered into the silent, still morning air.
"Please."
*
Rowen cracked an eye open.
"You blacked out," Polly said disapprovingly, returned to her normal body.
"Sorry," Rowen said distractedly. She had a pounding headache.
"A few things," began Polly, shoving medicine and water at Rowen. "First, you died."
Rowen gagged and barely managed to swallow the pill she had been given. "What?" But even as she said it and the magical pill began to erase her headache, she knew Polly was telling the truth.
"Terr stabbed - "
"I remember, I remember." Rowen's headache was almost entirely gone now, left with dull disbelief.
"Two, Terr's dead."
Relief flooded Rowen. "Who killed him?"
Polly's mouth quirked into a smile. "Maria shot him in the head. Three times, I believe."
Rowen shook her head slightly. "But - but I was the One!"
"About that." Polly sounded thoughtful. "I think only Maria and Jason were in the prophecy. That misplaced comma wasn't a mistake. Maria was both the princess and the One."
"Wh - what?"
"You lived awfully close to a portal and your best friend is a færie. Anything from Tamría...radiates...magic. It's possible you could have absorbed enough..." Polly shrugged. "I'll have to look into it."
Rowen felt strangely empty. "So, I'm a mistake. I'm not supposed to be here."
"Here inTamría? No," Polly admitted. "But you were a huge point in the war effort. You died for a dimension that wasn't even yours, for crying out loud!"
Rowen had to admit that was true. But another thought sprang to her mind. "So Ayren's still thefærie in the prophecy, right?"
"Yes. Of course. You can tell that he's special. All those years of torture and darkness? He was able to wipe them away as easily as cleaning dirt off of a stained glass window. His emotions are amplified as well, and he has the extremely rare ability to take on other forms and faces. That's a one in a billion power Rowen. It's him."
Rowen nodded slowly. Suddenly, she opened her arms and leaned toward Polly, trying not to cry. "Thank you."
Polly leaned forward too, not leaving her chair, and hugged Rowen's arms as best she could. Rowen laughed around her tears.
"You know, this would be a lot easier if you would just stand up and come here," she teased shakily.
"Oh, that's what I forgot," Polly said in a small voice. "Um, I kinda...can't."
Rowen's heart lurched. "What do you mean, can't?"
"The...the reanimation spell...you had no life left in you. It was all gone. If I had gotten to you a half hour, maybe even an hour after you died...but I was hours too late. I had to get enough life in you to reanimate you and I...needed to take that life from somewhere."
Rowen pulled away from her in shock and stared at the little girl's unmoving legs. "Your...your legs are dead?"
Polly smiled slightly, pain in her eyes. "And wouldn't you know, turns out that I would have to take life from something else to reanimate them, so...that's not happening."
Rowen felt her eyes fill with tears. "Polly...I am so sorry."
"Don't be. I'm glad," Polly assured her. "I would do it again, in case you're wondering."
Rowen let out a sob and wiped her eyes, laughing. "You are the best...the best..."
"The best what?"
"Just the best." She leaned farther out of bed so she could properly hug the little girl.
"I'm gonna build myself some awesome leg braces," the child whispered. "They're gonna have cupholders."
Rowen pulled away, laughing and crying, and tried to get herself under control. Once she had calmed down, Polly asked, "Are you feeling better? Do you want to see your friends?"
Her friends. Rowen thought of Maria, a lioness hidden under a kitten. She thought of Jason, who had been willing to go through so much for the sake of his friends and the war.
And Rowen thought of Ayren. How he had always treated her respectfully and later, kindly. How being a traitor had eaten away at him. How he smiled whenever he looked at her, a crooked little smile that made her feel as though all was right with the world.
She realized Polly was staring at her, waiting for an answer.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Rowen whispered, standing up carefully and discovering that it didn't hurt a bit. She started toward the tent flaps.