Chapter 56
Chapter Fifty-Six
She drops her hood. My stomach drops to my boots.
It’s her. Skies damn me, it’s really her. The years have aged her—dark hair now streaked with white, deep lines etched around her mouth and the corners of her eyes.
“Impossible. He—he had you killed.”
Guilt flits through her dark gaze, her energy signature pulsing softly. “I’m so sorry, Vayru. I left.”
She left me.
She’s been alive this entire time.
“Varad didn’t kill me,” she continues, stepping closer. “But he wasn’t kind to me, either. You know I suffered. Every nonwielder suffered. I couldn’t bear it anymore. So when I had the chance, I left.”
I left. I left. I left.
“You left me with them. Alone.” My voice cracks, steeped with bitterness. “He told me you went home. To Volca.” A deep, shuddering inhale. “He was lying.”
She nods in understanding, taking another step forward. “He didn’t know where I went. He was trying to appease you. Varad didn’t see me as a threat.” Her lips twist into a hateful smile, fingers absently rubbing her wrist. “He should have.”
“You could’ve taken me with you.”
My power roils inside me. It begins to rain.
She shakes her head, tucking her hood back over her head.
“I wanted to. But I couldn’t. I’m so sorry, Vayru.
Varad would’ve torn the world apart to find me if I had you.
” She raises a cautious hand. “But I kept tabs on you. I watched you grow. The strong wielder you’ve become.
The formidable Commander.” Her gaze cuts to Mayah.
“And I was thrilled to learn of your marriage. That perhaps, you two would find happiness in each other. Meerah would have wanted that.”
Mayah’s breath catches.
My entire body tenses.
The rain hammers the ground.
“You knew my mother?” Mayah whispers.
Fuck. Fuck. Skies, fuck.
Tairna nods. “We were both nonwielder mothers of royal children. We both fled, sought refuge with the rebels. It’s where we met.
The first time I saw you, Mayah, you had a toy reindeer in one hand and were clutching Meerah’s leg with the other, looking suspiciously at grass.
Like you didn’t trust it because it wasn’t white and cold.
” She cuts her gaze away. “I told Meerah to send you back. That she’d endangered herself by fleeing with you.
But she wouldn’t listen. And the price was her life. ”
No prickles.
My throat is tight as I study Mayah’s face, watch the conflicting emotions flit across her features.
Mayah doesn’t look at me. She just asks, “Why did you attack us? When we were leaving Tundrayn.”
“We wanted to take you then, before you ever made it to Arbinj. But my men didn’t expect you to be in the prisoners’ carriage.
” Her smile is sharp. “And we expected Faramir with you. Not Vayru.” She smiles, and it looks almost prideful at the fact that I’m a skilled killer.
“My son is quite clever. By the time they saw you, Vayru had already decimated most of my men.”
Truth.
“And in the woods near Arbinj?” Mayah asks. “What about those rebels?”
Her lips purse. “We found their … remains. Those men didn’t know who you were. They’d have never attacked otherwise.”
Mayah’s knees buckle, and she leans against me for support.
Skies, my mother is the leader of the fucking Rebellion. And judging by her shrewd gaze, fixed on Mayah, she wants my wife for something.
And I know it’s nothing good.
Mayah must wonder the same thing because she asks, “What do you want with me?”
“I promised your mother I’d look after you.” Her eyes flick to me. “But that’s not the only reason.”
She wants Mayah. The leader of the skiesdamned Rebellion wants Mayah.
“You’re lying,” I growl. She isn’t, but an overwhelming pit of dread tears open in my gut.
Thunder rumbles in warning.
Tairna clicks her tongue, calling my bullshit. “Easy. I know better than to lie to you, Vayru.” Her dark gaze slides to Mayah again. “The Rebellion needs you, Mayah. We’re planning something—something big. We need your help.”
Say no. Refuse her. Don’t go with them.
When she says nothing, I scrub a hand down my face. “Mayah, no. They want to use you as a pawn.”
“I remember the night Meerah died, Mayah,” Tairna says softly.
“Tormik took many lives. You were so small—asleep in a nameless warrior’s arms as they brought you from the house.
Your father had just murdered your mother and couldn’t even carry you himself.
” Her voice grows hard. “I want him gone, Mayah. Both him and Varad. Come with us.”
Like fuck she will.
I step in front of Mayah, blocking her from their view. “She’s not yours to command.”
“I will respect her decision,” Tairna says, arms crossed.
Truth.
Mayah leans around me, meeting my gaze. An unparalleled fear churns through me and sets my every nerve into a panic. The Rebellion will endanger her, use her for their goals, they’ll—
“How can I trust you?” Mayah asks my mother and guts me.
“Trust is built over time. I don’t expect to earn it immediately.
But I swear by the Flames, Mayah, I mean you no harm.
” Her eyes cut to me, almost in challenge, then adds, “And your husband is welcome to join us, if he chooses.” She pointedly eyes my tight hold around Mayah’s upper arm. I don’t ease my grip.
Maybe she won’t go with them.
Maybe she’ll realize she’s trading one cage for another.
Maybe she’ll—
“I—” Mayah starts.
A loud rustling echoes in the small clearing.
A faint energy signature—female judging by the size—bolts toward us.
“Mayah!”
The thudding of boots, then a woman around Mayah’s age emerges through the trees, twin braids swaying.
Her lips curve into a smile when her blue gaze lands on Mayah.
“Mayah-bear!”
An incredulous beat.
Then—“Sura?”
The ground sways beneath me. My stomach plummets into the earth. When Mayah wrenches from my grasp, I let her.
She darts across the clearing and barrels into her friend.
“You’re alive,” Mayah breathes, cradling Sura’s face. “How? How?”
Sura’s gaze cuts me like a blade. “It was chaos the night he incinerated our camp. But Tumaas and I escaped under the cover of dark. A few others, too. Then Tairna found us.”
“Tumaas?” The hope in Mayah’s voice mocks me. “He’s alive, too?”
She nods. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Why didn’t you come home?” Mayah asks, a whisper of hurt lining her voice.
“Your father … he’d have just sent us back to the front lines eventually. I’m sorry, Mayah. Come with us.”
Mayah glances back at me.
She needs no words. I know she’s chosen.