76. Chapter 76
CHAPTER 76
Dynalya
D yna’s let the sound of her heels clacking on the steps fill the loud void in her mind. She had spent all last night deliberating about officially ending their marriage. Cassiel had nearly convinced her to give them another chance, but learning about her past life and Gadriel’s message only confirmed ending it was the right thing to do. The Realms had declared it so from the beginning.
They were not meant to be.
She inhaled a shaky breath and banished away the tears gathering in her eyes. The weak bond dimmed to near nothing, sending a sharp ache through her chest. Eventually it would lose all its light and the doors between them would seal.
She had to do this. For both of their sakes.
Dyna reached in her pocket as she continued down the steps and her fingers wrapped around Raiden’s message.
Except, she noticed now it wasn’t flat.
Frowning, Dyna pulled it out of her pocket and broke the wax seal. She pulled a page with a short message in elegant script.
To Dynalya Astron, the High Queen of Hilos,
I have met many interesting individuals in my short life, but none as brave and sincere and with a great sense of integrity as the girl named after a flower. Our short time together has changed my life, and it will save that of my father’s. Before I go, I must pay my debts, and so I hope you can accept this gift. It may not seem like much, but it holds great value to me. After today, I believe it was always meant to be in your hands.
Your grateful friend and humble servant,
Raiden Norrlen
Sucking in a breath, Dyna turned over the envelope. A cold piece of bronze metal landed in her palm.
The second half of the key.
Gasping, Dyna sprinted down the hall to the east wing, but Raiden was not in his room. She ran through the castle, asking the servants where he was. Until she finally spotted him in the empty grand hall, holding his mother as she wept in his arms. Noticing Dyna over her shoulder, he and murmured something to his mother. Aerina released him and stepped aside, giving them a moment alone.
Dyna went to him and her stomach tightened as she held out the missing key piece. “I got your message. When did you—how?”
“My father sent it to me a long time ago inside of this.” Raiden laid a hand over his wooden token. “I didn’t understand what it was at the time. I thought it perhaps a jest or a slight, before it became one of the few connections I had to him. Then you arrived. When I saw your scroll at the falls with an illustration of a key, I began to realize none of it was ever a coincidence.” He gently closed her fingers over the broken bit. “It is yours now. Whatever happens onward, I am at peace.”
Dyna’s brow furrowed at his words that sounded like a goodbye. “You can’t mean to leave yet.”
He sighed. “It is a command from the king. I cannot defy him. If this will save my father, then I go willingly.”
“Rawn would not want this, Raiden. It would break his heart and that of your mother’s.”
Raiden’s brow tightened as Aerina’s soft weeping drifted to them from the corner of the room. “Dyna?—”
“No, I won’t let you go.”
“Then marry me,” he blurted.
Dyna froze and the Aerina fell silent. “What?”
Raiden flushed and laughed airily. “I know this is all ever untoward. Truth be told, I was waiting for your hand to be free, and if is, then am I mistaken to ask? I have every intention of retrieving my father, but if you don’t want to me stay in Red Highland, then give me reason to return, my lady.”
Dyna stared at him, her mouth opening and closing. Her friends were standing at the doors, watching with silent shock.
This was so unexpected she wasn’t sure how to react or what to think.
Aerina walked over to them hesitantly with wide eyes. “Raiden…”
“If I am already promised to another, then I cannot be forced into a marriage I do not want.” He glanced bashfully at his mother. “This one … I do want.”
Aerina smiled tearily. She removed her emerald ring and handed it to him. “Then I suppose you should properly ask her, son.”
Dyna struggled for air, her mind spinning. The last thing she wanted was to get married again. But what gave her pause was what the fact Raiden could not be forced into a marriage if she accepted.
Before she could say a word, Raiden took his mother’s ring and kneeled in front of her. Her heart leaped into her throat.
“Dynalya, I know we have not known each other long, but when I look at you, I see a strong, fierce woman to face every tomorrow to come. Therefore I, Raiden Norrlen, the firstborn son of Rawn Norrlen, the Lord of Sellav, would beg for your hand in marriage under the eye of the God of Urn. Would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
Dyna took a gasping breath. Every fiber of her being was against this. She could not speak the word that would have been a lie.
Yet she owed it to Rawn to protect his son. She could continue the ruse and accept the engagement until both of them were safe in Sellav.
“Yes…” she said, so faint it was barely a whisper.
A smile lit Raiden’s face and he slipped the emerald ring onto her finger. It was a little tight and little cold. It looked wrong.
Motion to her left drew her to meet Cassiel’s eyes standing at another set of doors. He stood motionless. Silent.
He looked as if his soul had been pulled from him
Dyna almost blurted that it wasn’t what it looked like, but she stopped herself because she had to. This way, he could let her go. They couldn’t be together no matter how much she wished it. It would only end in tragedy. She could not bear it if he died simply for loving her.
Noticing him, Raiden stood. “I … will give you a moment.”
He and Aerina quickly left the grand hall through the set doors her friends stood at, leaving her with Cassiel.
His silver eyes lifted to hers and after a breath, he came to her. For a moment he said nothing. His brows curled and he rubbed his mouth, shifting a step, his fingers tightened around the folded parchment in his hand. “So … this is what you want?”
Dyna made sure her shield was in place. She meant to answer firmly, but no words came out so all she managed was a nod.
His throat bobbed. “I see...”
Dyna couldn’t quite look at him. She told herself this was a good thing. Now he could move on with his life and she could go on with hers, no matter how much it hurt.
“I’m glad.” Cassiel offered her a feeble smile. One that was trapped between pain and acceptance. Clearing his throat, he handed her the folded parchment. “The ghet I mentioned. A contract of annulment. Once you sign it, our marriage is dissolved, and you are free to marry again.”
Dyna’s hands trembled as she took it, masking the great effort needed to swallow the lump lodged in her throat. As the parchment passed into her hands, she felt the moment Cassiel gave up on the possibility they could ever recover what they had lost. In its place was regret and sorrow, but beneath it lingered a relief that she would be all right now.
His gaze lowered to her new ring. “Can I ask only one thing of you?” he asked quietly. “Don’t go on in life merely existing. Promise me you will live.”
His voice cracked on that last word, and it made her vision well. Standing her on her toes, Dyna pulled him into her arms, and held him tight. She needed that one last embrace.
And so did he.
“Goodbye...” she whispered.
Cassiel’s hands quivered on her waist, and he planted a light kiss on her temple. “Be happy, lev sheli . That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you … even if it’s not with me.”
Then he slipped out of her hold and walked away. He passed the courtyard doors into the garden without looking back. Her legs trembled and she forced herself not to call out to him.
She had to let go, too.
Dyna opened the scroll, finding the letters jagged and smeared as if written by a shaking hand. Cassiel had left her everything he owned. Enough wealth to live the rest of her life without wanting for anything.
Why would he leave her everything?
Lucenna came to her with Keena fluttering at her side. “Are you all right with this?”
Taking a deep breath, Dyna made herself turn away from the direction he left. “I already caused Rawn to lose Fair. I will not let him lose his son, too.”
“Do you think Cassiel will be all right?” Keena asked her.
The question made her heart ache. “I hope so.”
“Dyna ...” Zev murmured. He had moved to the windows that faced the garden. “I don’t think he’s fine.”
Her throat tightened. She blinked away her wet eyes and tucked the parchment in her satchel. “It’s only natural for him to pretend he’s fine with this.”
“No. I mean something is wrong. I don’t think he is fine.”
Frowning, Dyna and the others joined Zev by the windows. Cassiel was only in the garden sitting on a bench beneath a tree. There wasn’t anything out of place with that. She couldn’t see what was wrong.
Until she did.