Chapter 43 #2
Everyone might see a crown on my head, but she is the only kingdom I would burn the world to protect.
I’d risk it all—for her. My duty, my honor, all that I am.
“You, Raea—you’re it. The only thing I want.
I can’t undo what I’ve done. I’d rip time apart if it meant erasing that look on your face, but I can’t.
I’ve got nothing to give you but what’s left of me.
And every damn bit of my future is yours if you want it. ”
I watch the fight drain from her, see her face crumble just before she buries it in my chest. I wrap my arms around her as she starts to cry, holding her like I can somehow fix this. Gods, she doesn’t deserve to be tethered to someone like me—but I’m going to hold on to her anyway.
Her body shakes against mine, and every second of it guts me. I did this. I broke her. And yet, the way she clings to me—it’s the only thing keeping me from unraveling completely. Maybe I haven’t ruined everything. Not yet.
I never thought Sienna would become this much of a problem. For years, she’s thrown herself at me—always circling, always waiting for a yes that never came. I kept the line clear. Except for that one gods-cursed night when I was drunk and she was willing. The worst mistake I’ve ever made.
I’ve been with women before—ones who understood what it was: one night, nothing more. They moved on. She didn’t. I don’t know what’s twisted in her head, but if I don’t put a stop to this, it’s going to get worse.
And I won’t be the reason Raea cries. Not again.
After long minutes, Raea's sobs turn to sniffling, but she remains in my arms, her breaths shuddering as she tries to regain her composure. “I hate her,” she hiccups. “I really hate her, and I don’t hate anyone."
“I know,” I soothe, running a hand down her hair. "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
She remains pressed into my chest as I continue to run a soothing hand up and down her spine. Over and over again until I feel her body relax and the last of her hiccups dry. I bring my hand to her nape, running my thumb along her neck, causing her to shiver.
“I was just coming to tell you that I think we should talk to Professor Ainslyn,” she whispers.
Trysten moves closer, stopping before us.
I had forgotten he was here, and based on the shock on her face, I’m assuming she did, too.
“I was here the whole time,” he reassures her.
“Ry refused to even look at her until you came in.” She gulps and offers him a wobbly smile as she steps out of my arms. “I’ll see you both later. ”
When he’s gone, I pull her back to my chest. “I’m so sorry,” I repeat, rocking her back and forth.
She sniffles but nods before pulling out a scroll from her bag.
Three days later, we’re escorted to the Isles with Professor Ainslyn at our sides.
Raea said she wanted someone seasoned to work with us because she believes we’ll find an immortal species here.
The scroll mentioned some of the lesser fae still being scattered around the system.
We didn’t learn details about what lesser fae are, but I guess we’ll find out.
Not knowing what we’re up against, we agreed we needed more than just our friends. Professor Ainslyn has always been on our side, and when we told him all that had transpired, he just shook his head and asked what we needed. I swear, nothing surprises him.
The beach comes into view from where we’re seated atop what appears to be some sort of ray. It glides just beneath the water, but the harness strapped to it has a platform with two benches.
“What if this was all for nothing?” Raea asks.
“It’s not. We’ll either find answers or we won’t.
Either way, we’ll know for sure, and then we can move on.
” We both fall quiet as the ray slows, gliding onto the beach where it comes to a stop.
Six men and women greet us in a language I don’t understand.
We both bow, offering them thanks for allowing us to visit.
Raea and I are allowed two guards to escort us to the elder’s hut, which is nothing more than a stick room built over the water with a fire in the center. The roof is made of large leaves from local trees, and the floor features a few worn rugs that serve as a barrier from the hard floor.
Kuron and Rune stay with us as the ray disappears back into the water after the harness is removed.
The four men and two women appear to have spent their whole lives in the sun, with dark, wrinkled, and weathered skin, and wearing animal skins to cover themselves.
They look human, yet a closer glance reveals something ‘other’ I can’t quite place.
The two women have tusks through their noses, their long, dark hair now mostly grayed, and red paint under their wild eyes.
The men’s bodies are covered in the same red paint, portraying symbols and pictures I recognize as a language, but it’s incomplete, and I can’t read it.
The tallest of the four is their leader, as indicated by the symbol on his collarbone and something that tugs at my awareness.
When they speak, they start in their native tongue. It’s some sort of prayer to the gods, offering their knowledge freely to save their people.
“Prince Anders, we welcome you. Princess Raea, we welcome you,” one of the women says in the common language. “We have waited generations for the ones foretold. Your Bond was felt here, and we knew you would come.” Raea shifts anxiously beside me.
“Our Bond? How did you know we would come?” Raea asks.
The woman smiles. “Your Bond has been awakened. You feel it. That bridge between your souls. The first elder saw you two in a dream many millennia ago and was told that when the war came, and all peace was lost, you two would be mated and restore what should be.”
…Mated?
Raea's face scrunches in confusion while Professor Ainslyn shifts to her other side.
“Tell us, why have you come?” one of the men asks, sticking with the common language. I relay our findings of the books and our magic, but it’s Raea who asks if they are human.
The six look around, silently communicating with each other somehow. “We serve the second council and the true heir,” one of the women says.
The second council. We read about them. There were three. “And what is the second council?” Professor Ainslyn asks.
Instead of answering, the first woman moves to the fire, stroking it. “What are your powers, Prince?” the woman asks, studying me.
Good question. What are my powers? I know I can sense the veil and magic, Raea's aura, apparently wind and water, but only with her. I’ve been trying to figure it all out myself for so long that I’m not really sure what’s real and what isn’t.
It all kind of blends into something that doesn’t make sense.
Even as a boy, I can remember being faster and stronger, but is that part of this, too? Are Raea and I even human? Our parents are human—I think. Raea was right to come here.
“I think,” I pause, looking at Raea. “I think I can manipulate air.”
The elder hums as if this doesn’t bother her one bit.
One of the men steps forward; he’s the youngest-looking of all of them.
He also looks the most human. It’s only then that I realize that the woman at the fire shimmers beneath her dark skin, like pearlescent scales.
I must be hallucinating, right? She looks at me then and nods as the man says, “Your lifeforce must be restored. The ancient blood calls to you, even without it, and with the gifts bestowed upon you by Astor and Calia, you have magic, even without your ancestral birthright.”
“Is that why I can sense the veil? I feel its power waning, and sometimes, I think I can hear it.” I shake my head. I sound insane.
One of the men responds from the other side of the room, “It is your job to protect her until she is ready.” He points to Raea.
The woman shifts her gaze to Raea, who is nibbling on her lip nervously. “And your light, why do you fear it?”
Soraea winces like she’s been slapped. “I don’t,” she whispers.
It’s the man who answers, “You’re scared of your powers, Princess. Magic is not something that has been given to you. It flows through you, just as your blood does. It is you. You must embrace who you are.”
Raea falls quiet for a minute, still nibbling on her bottom lip. I grip her hand tighter, running a thumb over her hand. “And who is that?” she finally asks quietly.
It’s the other female who answers, “Our savior and mate to the young Prince.” Her head swivels back to me.
“What’s a mate?” Professor Ainslyn asks on our behalf. Raea's gaze remains fixed on me, but something washes over her. An understanding, maybe. It explains the otherness we feel that isn’t a regular Lumos Bond. “They aren’t Lumos Bonded?”
Their leader, the eldest male, then speaks, crossing his arms as something akin to anger fills his features. “The Lumos Bond is a pathetic excuse for a mating Bond. It’s blasphemy. Mating Bonds are rare. Two souls united as one. Powerful. You do not have a Lumos Bond.”
My attention moves back to the elders. “So what do we do now?”
The second woman kneels beside the fire, and the other woman follows. “Our own powers have never been fully revealed outside of our people for a millennium, but we will now unveil their secret to you.” They gather around the fire, holding hands, including us in their circle.
The fire at the center of the room flashes, rising to the ceiling before slowly shifting to a picture of the first elder’s dream of Raea and me.
The image changes to Raea radiating her starlight and projecting it from her body while I stand at her side, a tornado sweeping past us.
The third image shows us with a little baby in Raea's arms as the three of us stand before a crowd of people.
More images—past, present, and future—of Raea and me, weaving our lives together.
Us as kids, wrapped in that cocoon of starlight.
Another of us at school, down at the river, sharing our first real kiss.
The next is another image of us fighting back to back as shadows swarm us and creatures crawl from it, with her starlight glowing to keep them away.
“You have been given great gifts with great responsibility. We share our knowledge with you now,” the second man says. “You must restore what is yours. Dangerous days lie ahead.”
Their skin changes before us, almost dissolving, becoming scales. Only their faces remain “human,” but large gills cover their necks, and their hands and feet become webbed. Along the women’s backs, a spine of sharp fins pokes out. The men have hardened cone-like spikes protruding.
Professor Ainslyn gasps alongside Raea; behind us, Rune and Kuron shuffle uneasily, but I just sit, watching, studying. My people. These are my people. Not just because they live in the Okenen Kingdom, but because of the second council. My blood sings at their reveal.
The first woman studies me, tilting her head. "You’re not afraid,” she says. “We serve until our last breath.”
Their leader says, “You must train if you are to win."
“But our powers—” I feel more confused than when we first arrived. “Do we need to do something about the…mating Bond?”
He shifts his gaze between the two of us. “The trial of the Bond will be completed in due time. For now, to harness your powers, you must ground yourself in all the elements. Feel them around you, as a part of you.”
They wait expectantly, so I close my eyes and envision burying my feet in the sands of Malaya and then feeling the wind, the power of the oceans, and every living animal. I feel the heartbeat of the planet. It comes so naturally, as if their powers are guiding me, heightening what I see.
“Separate them,” one of the women says. “Envision each of the elements in color. Blue for the water. Red for fire. Gold for energy."
“White for air, green for the planet, silver for lightning,” the other woman coaches. I keep my eyes closed and, in my mind, give color to all I see and feel. Raea's excitement radiates through me as I share with her what I’m seeing.
I open my eyes and turn toward the water.
I reach for the blue, twisting my hand and raising my palm, and the water rises in a small column.
As I move my hand, the water follows, obeying my command.
The connection feels like communication.
The elements want to obey me. I twirl my hand, and Raea giggles beside me as the water column becomes a small spout.
“Very good,” the leader says. “Remember, the greatest strength of your power will come when you remain calm and one with the planet. Trust in the gift the gods have given you.”
For the next hour, they share their knowledge of the veil, explaining the two races, fae—which I guess is my ancestral line—and Elven—Raea's line.
Both races gave their immortality, or their impossibly long lifespans, to power the veil.
We are then given a map, and told not to show it to anyone.
After staying for a luncheon of fresh fish and wild berries, we are given a tour of their island and their people, who all know who we are.
Raea was right. They aren’t human. They are fae, my people, and knowing the truth, I feel a sudden, fierce need to restore them to their true heritage. Every single one, even the babies, pulses with inherent magic.
Humans, the third council, possess no inherent magic. Yet, despite this, the three races have always lived in harmony, with the Fae and Elven promising protection and sharing their knowledge. In return, humans have agreed to serve and fight alongside us.
As we navigate through the village, the women offer us food they’ve prepared in baskets along with chains of flowers, and the men offer gifts of spears and fishing tools.
They’re all in their human form, but I see the pearlescent scales hidden beneath their dark skin.
Raea plays with the children and braids a few girls’ hair before we thank them for their hospitality and promise to try our best to keep them safe.
Before we board the ray to take us back to the mainland, where our transport waits, one of the elders stops us.
“Soraea, Light-bringer, do not fear your gift, or what is to come. You were chosen for this long before your birth. And he—” she looks to me, “is your mate. Your true match in every way. Take this and find your light, Soraea, or we’re all dead without it. ”
Raea opens her palm to see an orb, milky white with streaks of gold, but it moves like a mini weather system inside. Without a second glance, the woman leaves us.