Chapter 27 The Other Side
twenty-seven
The Other Side
Miralyte
"Let me go," I hissed, struggling in his grasp.
His arms wrapped around me like iron bands, yanking me back from the threshold just as my foot touched the portal's edge. The world spun as we stumbled away from the crackling gateway, his grip unrelenting even as I fought against him.
I had been so close. So close to freedom, to escape, to never having to face the choice between my death and everyone else's.
But Zydar didn't release me. Instead, he raised his hand toward the portal, power flowing from his fingers like liquid starlight. The gateway began to collapse in on itself, the tear in reality sealing with a sound like breaking glass.
No. No, no, no.
I watched my escape disappear, watched the last glimpse of another world fade into nothing. My chest felt hollow, scraped clean of hope. I'd broken the cardinal rule. I'd tried to use magic I didn't understand, attempted something that should have been impossible for someone like me.
Now I was doomed.
"You're the changeling."
The words hit me like ice water in the veins. I turned to stare at him.
"What?" The single word came out as barely a whisper.
Tremors ran through my hands where they pressed against his chest. Changeling.
The word brought back memories of childhood stories, of my father's voice warning me about fae who stole human babies in the night.
'Eat your porridge, little one, or the fae folk will come steal you away and leave something else in your place. '
Zydar's eyes searched my face, looking for something I didn't understand. "You opened a portal. Only high fae can open portals."
"That's not... I'm not..." I shook my head, backing away from him. "I'm human. I'm mortal."
"You're coming with me."
"No." I took another step back. "I'm not."
Something shifted in his expression, a hardening that made my stomach drop. "I'm sorry if that came out like a question."
Before I could react, he swept me up into his arms. The world tilted as he launched us both into the air, his wings of pure energy carrying us up through the night sky. I wanted to struggle, to fight against him, but we were so high that falling would mean certain death.
So, I clung to him instead, burying my face in his shoulder. That’s when I noticed he had more clothes on than usual. I didn’t mind the extra fabric but my body selfishly missed the touch of his skin to mine.
By the time we touched down inside the palace again, my legs had stopped shaking. We landed on a balcony high in the palace's eastern tower.
Zydar set me down gently, but his hands remained on my arms as if he expected me to bolt.
"Zydar..." I began, attempting to steady my breathing. "I'm really not... This is ridiculous."
"Do you know what you've just done?" he asked, voice low. "Are you aware of the kind of catastrophe you could have unleashed?"
I narrowed my eyes. "I wasn't trying to unleash a catastrophe, I was just trying to—"
"Trying to what? To reach the human realm?
" He raised one eyebrow. "This isn't the mortal plane.
There's nothing but the Night Realm on the other side of that portal.
We guard those lands carefully. They're forbidden.
I don't even know how you found that chamber, let alone how you knew how to open a portal. "
"I thought I was opening a gateway home. To the human realm."
"This confirms Narietta's visions."
A chill ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the night air. "Zydar... what visions?"
"She has been seeing you in her dreams. She believes you were changed as a babe, but her visions aren't always true. So I didn't believe them. Until tonight."
I wasn't sure which part made me angry: the fact that this revelation flipped my entire life on its axis, or the fact that it was him who'd uncovered the secret. "No. I’m no changeling. Don’t tell me otherwise."
The words didn't make sense. They couldn't make sense. I shook my head, gripping the balcony railing so hard my knuckles turned white. "My father was a hunter and my mother... she died when I was a baby. She died of fever. She was normal. Mortal. Human. "
"You're the daughter of Emystra."
The name hit me like a physical blow. I stared at him, my mouth opening and closing without sound. Emystra. Former Queen of the Sun Court. Mother of Ylvena, the Scorchbringer who currently ruled.
"That's not... No. That's not possible. I hate the fae!
" I struggled to find words, to make sense of the impossible things he was saying.
"Her children were killed! And halflings always look like fae!
I read about this in your library. They have pointed ears, some of them even have wings.
And they almost always display abilities from birth. I'm just a mortal."
"Your mother... Emystra." His voice turned gentle, as if he understood the magnitude of what he was telling me.
"She must have put some sort of protection spell on you.
She was the most powerful fae of us all.
No one could do or undo her spells. This explains why no curse gets to you. Why your fae abilities can't surface."
The world started to tilt. My vision blurred at the edges, and suddenly I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. Everything I thought I knew about myself, about my life, about who I was... none of it was real.
I wasn't human. I wasn't the hunter's daughter who'd survived tragedy and learned to fight. I was something else entirely. Something I'd been taught to fear.
My head spun as images flashed through my mind.
Memories that didn't quite fit, moments when things had happened that shouldn't have been possible.
The way animals had always been drawn to me.
The way plants seemed to grow better in my presence.
The dreams I'd had of golden courts and beings made of light.
I gripped the railing tighter, but the world kept spinning. My knees buckled.
"Mira? Mira, are you all right?"
His voice sounded like it was coming from very far away. I tried to respond, but the words stuck in my throat.
Zydar caught me before I could fall, supporting my weight with his body. He held me against his chest, and a part of me wanted to cling to him like a helpless child.
"Mira, look at me." His hand cupped my cheek, the contact soothing and warm. "Take a deep breath. Please. Just breathe."
I struggled to obey. The room continued to spin, refusing to right itself. My head felt full of cotton. The pulse throbbing in my ears was too fast, too frantic.
Without warning, he lifted me. One arm beneath my knees, the other supporting my back, carrying me like I weighed nothing at all. The world swayed as he moved, but his steps were steady, sure. He lowered me onto his bed, the mattress soft beneath my trembling body.
I expected him to step back. To give me space to fall apart in private. Instead, he sat beside me and pulled me into his arms.
This wasn't the Zydar I knew. No sharp words or cruel smiles. No games or power plays. Just warmth and the steady rhythm of his breathing against my hair. His wings unfurled around us, creating a curtain of night against the world.
"This is not terrible for you, for any of us.," he said quietly. " This was always who you were meant to be." Then he smiled and bent his forehead down to mine. “We can be together, Miralyte. Doesn’t it please your heart?”
I didn't want this to be who I was.
After some time, my breathing began to steady, heartbeat falling into sync with his. The terrible spinning in my head gradually stilled.
When I could finally breathe without gasping, I found my voice.
"Then my sister... Ciradyl..." The words came out broken, jagged. "She must have been killed by the Sun Court. By Ylvena."
His hand stroked my hair, and I allowed my body to relax a fraction, responding to the comforting gesture in spite of myself. "I believe that is likely. She might've drawn attention to herself trying to protect you. "
All this time, I'd believed fae raiders had taken her. Random violence from creatures who saw humans as lesser beings. But if what Zydar said was true, if I really was Emystra's daughter, then Ciradyl's death hadn't been random at all.
She'd been murdered. Executed for the simple crime of existing.
My tears dried to salty tracks on my cheeks, and I turned my head to stare up at him. "I'm going to kill Ylvena."
Zydar's mouth curved in a faint smile. "I would expect nothing less."
His arms were solid warmth, and I couldn't make myself pull away. "I'm going to kill her slowly. Painfully. I'll make her regret every breath she took after she killed Ciradyl."
"I promise you will have your vengeance."
I swallowed hard, my throat still tight and raw. "How did I never know? How did no one see what I was?"
"It's rare for halflings to look human. " He gave a small shrug, the movement shifting me where I rested against him.
"Magic can be unpredictable in its methods, especially when there's strong intent involved.
It's possible that your mother's magic was simply more powerful than anyone realized at the time. "
"What happens now?"
Zydar studied my face. "We're going to have to figure out how to reverse this spell."
I looked up into his eyes, my breath catching in my chest. "You really think it can be done?"
"There is a way. There's always a way. You've shown us that much tonight."
I nodded, struggling to process everything that had happened in the last hour. "I thought... I thought I was going home."
"This is your home." His hand moved to my cheek, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw. "This is where you belong."
The words hit harder than I expected. My eyes stung, but I refused to let the tears fall again. I didn't know where I belonged anymore. I wasn't even sure who I was. But right now in this moment, I wanted to stay here. To stay with him.
So, I tilted my head up and kissed him.
He tensed slightly, and for a heartbeat, I thought he might push me away. Then his mouth softened beneath mine. He responded to the kiss with a gentleness that made my chest ache. His lips were warm and firm, his stubble rough against my skin.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself closer, wanting to be nearer to the warmth of his body, the solid strength of his muscles. His hand moved to cradle my cheek as he deepened the kiss, his tongue tracing the seam of my lips.
I opened my mouth beneath his, tasting him.
His kiss was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. It felt like coming home after being lost in the dark for a long, long time. Like coming up for air after nearly drowning in sorrow.
I could have stayed like that forever, lost in the feel of his lips on mine. But eventually, we had to break apart for air.
When we finally pulled away from each other, I felt lightheaded. The look in his eyes took my breath away. I'd seen desire there before, but this was something different. Something deeper. Something that made me want to crawl into his arms and never leave.
"Zydar," I whispered. "I..."
I didn't know what to say. I couldn't put words to the feelings swirling through my chest. I couldn't find a way to tell him that he was the only reason I'd been able to stay sane these past few weeks.
He ran a thumb across my lower lip. "I know."
I blinked away the sting in my eyes, my breathing shaky.
He kissed my forehead lightly, his breath stirring my hair. "I know, little dove."
"Do you?" The question slipped out before I could stop it. "Really know, I mean. Know me."
His hand stilled against my cheek. "What do you mean?"
I pulled back slightly, needing to see his face. "Everything I thought I was, everything I believed about myself... It was a lie. So how can you know me when I don't even know myself?"
"Because the truth of who you are isn't in your bloodline. It's not where you come from or the powers you may or may not possess." He leaned closer, his mouth nearly brushing mine. "It's who you choose to be."
I stared up at him. "And who am I choosing to be right now?"
There was a pause, a heartbeat that felt like the ticking of a thousand invisible clocks. His expression shifted, eyes growing dark with a heat I recognized all too well.
"You're choosing to be mine."
I tried to remember what it was like to be afraid of him.
I couldn't. Not when he was looking at me like that. Not when his lips parted and he spoke those words like a promise.
"Then I am yours."