23. CHAPTER 23
I finally returned to my room for the evening, taking everything in.
Fortunately, my room faced the field beside the college.
The chambers on the other side lacked windows because they shared a wall with the dining hall.
The room featured a full-size bed, larger than the small chamber bed upstairs.
There was a high-back reading chair in the corner, an armoire opposite the bed, and a desk in front of the large floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the field.
Black drapes could be drawn closed for privacy.
Flight Guides didn’t get private bathing chambers. We used the common hall bathing room. Only Wing Commanders, Executive Officers, and Platoon Leaders had private baths in their rooms. Their rooms were also significantly larger—a benefit of their rank.
I hadn’t addressed my cuts from sparring earlier.
They weren’t deep and really wouldn’t require stitches.
I pulled out my mom’s med bag and started taking out the items, looking to see what I could use to take care of them.
I pulled out a brown bottle of salve. It had ‘wound care’ written on it, so I set it aside.
I pulled some gauze out and put it with the salve.
As I felt into the bag, I noticed a small zipper halfway down.
I opened it and pulled out another deep brown bottle.
There wasn't anything written on it, and it was hard to see inside.
I opened it and looked inside, finding a neatly folded paper.
I gently pulled it out. It had definitely been in there for a while.
My dearest Auri,
If you're reading this, it likely means something has gone wrong. I wrote two letters for this bag—a general one in case something happens to me, and this one. I'm writing this before my meeting with your father, the general, and other senior officers. If I am not here to retrieve this letter later, assume I was killed due to what I found out. Auri, I really hope you reconsider and decide not to join at all. Your dad is in deep, with more secrets than I can share. We only stayed together for you. They are taking powerful cadets and experimenting on them. However, if you join the military, hopefully, your dad will finally change. A war is coming, and it might arrive before you actually enter, but they don’t expect everything to fall into place for another eight years—by the time you’re twenty-two, you should be graduating.
The King of Rudemont is building an army, recruiting Fae to join him.
Some of the dukes in our provinces are collaborating with him to stage a mutiny aimed at breaking away from Yebel.
Our king is corrupt, and maybe joining the mutiny is what you need to survive.
But all of this will come out over the next several years—pay attention, baby girl.
I’ve taught you everything you need to know.
Now you need to put it all together. Remember what I discussed in your other letter about your mate—they will always be loyal to you.
You can trust Lili. Her mom doesn’t know everything, but enough to try and keep you three safe.
I have always loved you, and everything I have done is for you.
Love always, Mama
Tears streamed down my face, and I hadn’t realized I was crying.
My mother had been murdered, and my father was involved.
How did this happen? My heart pounded fiercely, my chest felt scorching hot, and heat radiated down my arms as it climbed up my neck.
I placed the letter on my bed and decided I needed fresh air.
I fortified my mental shields block by block, certain he could feel my pain through them.
A faint tingling ran along my spine as I ignored it.
I didn’t want to speak right then. I couldn’t speak right then.
I was shattered. I ached to set the entire world on fire.
I climbed to the top of Watchtower One, where two Riders sat on watch duty.
I didn’t say anything, simply moved to the ledge and sat on it, gazing at the sky.
The moon was bright, and stars were scattered across it.
Facing towards the Flier’s Vale, I saw fliers circling overhead for overwatch.
It was quiet tonight, and I appreciated that peace.
I thought about my mom and the last year of her life.
She was murdered the year before I was raped—were those events connected?
I never believed so, but now I wasn’t sure.
My dad had enemies who, in some way, also became my enemies.
Honestly, he only recently became my enemy.
He was involved in my mother’s murder, or so she implied.
At the very least, he knew who did it and did nothing. Was that why he didn’t want me to join?
Swoosh . Suddenly, he sat down next to me on the edge. I didn’t bother to look at him because I knew it was Zane.
“You’ve successfully blocked me out.”
“That was my goal.”
He looked over his shoulder at the two Riders, nodded to the side, and they moved down the stairs.
“I felt glimmers of sadness and anger, but you have gotten good at shielding.”
I simply nodded my head slowly and kept staring into the darkness. I was speechless at that moment.
“Auri, you’ve never been quiet. What’s wrong?” he asked, reaching over to put his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close.
Tears streamed down my face faster than before.
He pulled me close, reminding me he was my safe person.
I smelled his lavender and pine scent, which made me feel at home.
I didn’t exactly know what or where home was anymore.
It was a reminder of how chaotic things were at the moment.
I let my shields lower, bit by bit. I couldn’t shut him out.
I wanted this relationship to be different.
I wanted to trust him and let him in. I had to.
Undoubtedly, every part of me wanted to run away.
“My mom was murdered…” I told him through our bond, knowing I couldn’t say it out loud—not only because I didn’t want to believe it, but because I couldn’t let anyone overhear it.
“Shit… Are you sure?”
"I discovered another letter hidden in my pack. She wrote it days before she was murdered, essentially stating that if she didn’t pull it out, it meant she had been murdered."
“Wow… I am so sorry.”
“There is more…”
“I can’t imagine how much worse this can be.”
“Is the Veil of Vultures planning a mutiny?” He turned his head toward me so fast, his eyes wide.
“I… um…”
“So that’s a yes…”
“I… Fuck…”
“It’s just us here, literally and mentally.”
“Saying it to you puts both of our lives at risk.”
“I love this… I fucking love this.” Anger surged through my body. My chest felt so tight, and my throat seemed like it was closing in on itself. I recognized that my anxiety was rising, and I needed to get it under control before it controlled me.
“I am in fact not loving this.” He placed a kiss on the top of my head and hugged me tighter.
“My dad was involved in the murder of my mom, my mate’s province is part of a mutiny I’m just learning about, we’re apparently going to war soon with the other continent and the provinces within it. Oh, and somewhere, someone is performing experiments on... I have no clue who.”
“Your dad—”
“Yeah, my dad—fucking killed my mom.”
“Literally?”
“I mean, does it matter? She said she went to a meeting with him, the general, and other officers. He’s here, she’s not. He’s now the general… sooooo not much to deduce there.”
“I honestly don’t have much information. I’m not certainly sure where I stand on everything. I know that my dad might be planning a coup. I don't know which other provinces are involved. I only know a few details because I listen and pay attention when I shouldn’t.”
“I want to crawl into my bed, cry, and not come out for days…”
“Not an option, you are strong. You have already overcome so much. We are a team now, and you will not falter.”
“I can’t think about this anymore. I have more questions, and neither of us has answers. My mom did tell me that I was safer joining the mutiny… so there’s that. ”
“Tell me, Auriella Reyna Blackcreek, what do you want?
“I don’t know, as long as I have you and my dragon.”
“I forget that one day a dragon will be added to our dynamic.”
“There are seven of you, right?” changing the subject.
“Yes…”
“Wow, what was that like?”
"Chaotic and loud, our home was filled with frequent arguments among siblings.
Raised as royalty, we were expected to behave impeccably.
As the eldest twins, Aeliana and I were supposed to set an example and guide the younger children.
I was rebellious and resisted these expectations throughout my childhood, while Aeliana always kept me grounded. "
“What are your other siblings like?”
“Theodora is after us, and she’s the wild card.
Then there’s Arkin, quiet and shy, always following the rules.
Helena, ah, I miss her. She's the calm in the storm, always reasonable. Adrian is the sixth, and we weren’t prepared for him.
Thea was wild, but Adrian was wilder. He climbed the walls and was generally into everything.
Elizabeth, or Lizzy, is the baby. The first six of us were all under two years apart, most of us only a year apart, but Lizzy came five years after Adrian.
Everything is her way or the highway.” He smiled afterward.
“You miss them, huh?”
“Yeah, I do. Well, sometimes, I don’t miss the bickering.”
“The most bickering I have experienced was with Lili and Alex. They are the closest to me.”
“That might make you lucky.”
“Perk was that I was the center of my parents’ attention, which apparently is the only reason they remained together.”
“Being with me means you have gained six siblings, so welcome to the—chaos.”
He pulled me in tighter. “Hold tight.”
Lights flashed.
I heard a whooshing sound. I opened my eyes, and we were on top of the mountain—Pass of Bête Noire.
I thought I was going to die when I was up here before.
I remembered the view was beautiful. He had just teleported us—or roved, as he called it, which felt weird.
One second, we were on the ledge, and the next, we were on this mountain top.
He sat on the ground and pulled me down next to him before lying us back to stare directly into the sky.
“What’s going to happen when you graduate?”
“That’s almost two years away…”
“I get anxious about the future. I am constantly thinking about it, especially with all of the things coming up.”
“I will graduate and be stationed somewhere, probably Fort Dasyn, because it’s the nearest fort to the college, and we will need to be near each other. Assuming we have gone to a priestess by then.”
“We will. How far of a flight is Fort Dasyn?”
“For me, about three hours, it is over the mountains on the Alpha side. Dragons fly a bit faster. I, of course, can be in your room in seconds. Let’s worry about making it through the next couple of years here, though.”
We lay on top of the mountain with my head resting on his shoulder and leaning toward his head.
His arm was wrapped around me, curling under and up to my side, holding me close.
We stayed there quietly, breathing in unison.
I inhaled the crisp mountain air, listening to the cheerful chirping of insects as they sang.
I heard the river rushing in the valley below.
It was an incredibly peaceful night. My mind felt overwhelmed.
I had endured many tough challenges. Fighting daily to survive and dealing with my parents' constant bullshit was exhausting.
Every day, I was pushed physically and mentally.
Cadets wanted to see me fail, secretly hoping and praying for my downfall.
But I was determined to succeed. I aimed to prove to everyone who doubted me that I could overcome anything and rise above it.