Chapter Fifty-Four
Aelia
“Come with me on patrol this morning?” Reign tugged a dark tunic over his head as I stepped into my leathers. Soft moonlight spilled into our chamber, the fortress still quiet at this early hour.
I’d planned to spend the day training with Kaelith, as my mate was supposed to be doing.
After some reluctance, he’d agreed that learning to master his zar would prove to be the greatest aid when it came to the war effort.
The whispers of troop movement along the border with the Wilds were growing in intensity.
If Helroth’s army materialized from the ether near Feywood, we had to be the first to know of it.
The powerless Kin would be utterly defenseless against the Demons.
“How did you get roped into patrol duty?” Lacing up my boots, I glanced up at my mercurial mate.
“I volunteered.”
“Trying to avoid Kaelith?”
He grunted before spearing his arms into his cloak, shadows already buzzing over his skin, a telltale sign of his emotional state.
“You are, aren’t you?” I marched toward him, slapping my hands on my hips. “Why?”
Another grunt.
“Reign…” Curling my hands around his collar, I rose to my tiptoes to meet his conflicted gaze. “Don’t make me delve into your mind uninvited.”
A rueful grin curled the corner of his mouth. “Oh, princess, you are always invited anywhere I am.”
“Then tell me, why are you avoiding this?”
Reign’s expression tightened, shadows flickering across his cheekbones like restless spirits. He exhaled sharply, the sound edged with frustration.
“I’m not afraid of Kaelith,” he said at last, voice low. “I’m afraid of what he’ll find lacking.”
I blinked. “Lacking?”
“My zar,” he admitted. “What if it’s not strong enough? What if I’ve reached my limit, and there’s no more to unlock? Helroth has had centuries to master his. Mine still feels unruly. Incomplete.”
My heart squeezed. “Reign…”
“I’ve tried everything, Aelia. I’ve betrayed my own damned father for this war, for this realm, for you.
And still, I’m failing. I couldn’t stop Aidan from dying.
I couldn’t kill Helroth when I had the chance.
I don’t want to face the truth that maybe—” He broke off, jaw clenched.
“Maybe I won’t be strong enough. That I will fail you when it matters most.”
The words hung heavy between us. And gods, did I understand them.
I reached up, pressing my hand to his chest where the cuorem pulsed beneath skin and bone, connecting us on the deepest level two souls could be connected.
“You are more than enough. You have strength no one else has, and not just power, but restraint. Compassion. Purpose. You are not the same male I met at the foot of my cottage door in Feywood. You are so much more. The gods wouldn’t have chosen to bestow the cuorem on someone weak, Reign. It chose you for me. I chose you.”
His eyes flicked to mine, and for a moment, I saw it, the boy who had grown up unwanted, his origins kept secret, always doubting where he belonged.
“Kaelith might know the zar,” I continued, “but you know what it means to wield power for something greater than yourself. You are the Night Court’s true heir. My mate. The realm’s last chance at balance. But more than that, you’re the male I trust with my life. That has to count for something.”
He stared at me for a long beat. Then, slowly, his shoulders eased, and he cupped my face in his hands. “You’re infuriating when you’re right, you know that?”
I grinned. “So I’ve been told.”
Reign’s expression softened, and something in him settled. The shadows no longer clung to him like regret. Instead, they stirred with purpose. He bent to kiss me, soft and reverent, then rested his forehead against mine. “All right. I’ll go see Kaelith after patrol.”
“Good,” I said. “But first, let’s go see our dragons. I could use a few hours in the sky, even if it is for patrolling. And besides, something tells me they’ve been waiting for us.”
As we stepped out into the pale moonlight, hand in hand, the fortress behind us faded into shadow and the horizon ahead brimmed with sunlight and promise. Solanthus and Phantom clawed at the earth, luminescent eyes fixed to ours.
“See, I told you.” I pointed at the anxious pair.
Reign cocked his head, shadows coalescing across his shoulders. “Yes, Phantom has been moodier than normal lately. Cryptic, too.”
“Then let’s find out what’s going on.” I squeezed his hand once more before releasing him and marching toward my skyrider.
Are you ready to fly, Sol?
With you, always, little Kin.
My wings flared, sparks of ethereal light igniting across my back, waking the rais deep in my core. Sometimes, I still couldn’t believe I had luminescent wings, forged of light and shadow.
Once I was firmly settled between Sol’s wing bones, I glanced across the way to my mate aboard Phantom. She clawed at the earth, nostrils flaring and a stream of tension vibrating the air around the onyx beast.
What’s going on with Phantom? I threw the question at my dragon.
You mean besides the looming war, her brooding bonded rider, and the general chaos that has erupted since you dropped into our lives? He snorted, columns of smoke curling around his nostrils.
Very funny, Sol.
His gleaming golden wings unfolded, and with one powerful beat, we thrust skyward. My stomach dipped, legs tightening around his massive form.
You’re really not going to tell me? I tried again once we were airborne with Phantom soaring beside us.
Not until we’ve decided.
Decided what?
Patience, little Kin. All in due time.
Gods, I hated when Sol kept things from me. Damned dragon secrecy.
I heard that. His gruff voice rumbled through my skull.
Good, I wanted you to. Then, after stewing for another moment, I added, Just tell me what’s going on. I couldn’t help the frustration that tinged my tone, even mentally.
Phantom is discussing the situation with your mate as we speak. Besides, we are supposed to be on patrol. Focus.
Right.
Wait… How come Phantom can tell Reign, but you won’t tell me?
But instead of responding, my stubborn skyrider only pounded his wings harder, drowning out everything else.
While I silently stewed, I watched as the Court of Ethereal Light stretched ahead just beyond the Luminoc, the blessed sun already high in the sky, bathing the lands in Raysa’s glory. In the past few months of residing in Shadow lands, I’d missed the sun more than I’d thought possible.
We soared higher, Sol coasting effortlessly while Phantom veered off slightly to the left, her wings like twin blades cutting through the morning light.
Below us, green hills unfurled into golden meadows, then dense thickets of woodland. As we crested a ridgeline, my chest tightened.
There it was. The Conservatory of Luce.
Where it had all started.
Its crystalline spires shimmered in the distance, catching the sunlight like mirrors reflecting heaven itself. The gardens still bloomed, even after the Night Court’s siege weeks ago. The wards I’d put in place were holding strong, a golden glimmer pulsing faintly above the dome.
But all I could think about was what we’d lost. The bodies we’d buried. All the remaining students still haunted by the attack. Would I ever set foot in those halls again?
A lump rose in my throat, and I blinked away the sting of tears.
I miss it, too. Sol’s murmur echoed through my mind, and I couldn’t stay annoyed with him any longer.
I nodded, pressing a hand to his warm scales. We didn’t linger for long, though. There was no time to wallow in memory. Onward we flew, past the outer villages of the Light Court, where the rooftops gleamed with sunstone tiles.
“Reign,” I said aloud this time. “Do you see that?”
Umhmm. His grim reply rushed through the cuorem.
At the border, where the golden fields of Light bled into the smoky grays of Shadow, a host of tents had been pitched. Pale golden banners bearing the sigil of the Court of Ethereal Light fluttered in the wind.
“Elian’s Royal Guardians,” I murmured.
“They’ve been camped there since the king declared my father’s capture,” Reign said darkly. “Waiting. Watching. Either they’re planning another strike, or they’re simply too ashamed to return to the Light Court.”
We circled overhead in silence, scanning the encampment. No immediate signs of aggression, just drills and watch rotations. It looked quiet. Too quiet.
Sol and Phantom kept their distance, their massive shadows rippling over the hills.
“All clear,” I finally said, releasing a breath. “For now.”
Reign let out a slow exhale, and I felt something tingle down the bond before he said, “Then maybe we can steal a moment to ourselves.”
I glanced over my shoulder, raising a brow. “What are you suggesting, Night Prince?”
He grinned. “There’s a waterfall a few miles south of here, hidden in the cliffs near the Whispering Groves. Phantom found it ages ago.”
“A waterfall?” I laughed. “Reign, there’s a war brewing.”
“And we’ve just confirmed that, for today at least, it isn’t erupting.” His shadows danced along Phantom’s spine. “Come on, starlight. One hour. Just us. Then we can continue south to Feywood.”
A thrill curled through my chest, unexpected and welcome. “You want to go swimming?”
“Desperately,” he said with mock solemnity. “Preferably naked.”
I barked a laugh. “Gods, you’re incorrigible.”
“And you love it.” He wasn’t wrong.
Sol veered toward the southeast, and I let my heart follow him.
Maybe we were foolish to take even a sliver of peace for ourselves in the midst of war. But after everything we’d lost, maybe we needed it. Maybe we deserved it.
Just one moment to breathe before the world demanded our blood again.