Chapter 17
Still in a state of shock and disbelief, I wandered the castle gardens alone. Though Jion had offered to escort me back after our visit to Vindina’s home, I preferred the silence to process everything I had learned. To be honest, I felt utterly devastated and even slightly depressed.
Until this point, I had been living in a state of denial.
There had been no concrete evidence to support the theory that I was truly the “Last Daughter of Domus”.
In fact, I had hoped that the king and his Blue Light Wielders had made a mistake and abducted the wrong woman, clinging to the desperate hope that the last surviving human from Domus was still out there, somewhere, waiting to be found.
That person would have spent their entire life preparing for this moment.
She would have been trained to harness Source Light like a pro and be skilled in combat as a fierce warrior.
The chosen one would have been ready to face the Tenebrae and triumph, celebrating in their defeat.
That girl would have accepted her duty to marry Jion with joy and willingness, honourable to a fault.
That person was not me.
Yet how could I continue to deny my lineage? How could I keep refusing to confront the truth that had haunted me throughout my short, pathetic life? How could I dismiss the Goddess Amantius herself when she came to me, calling me by another name?
Amicamea. Daughter of Abbas and Ina.
For twenty years, I had wondered who my parents might be, and now I finally knew their names: Abbas and Ina.
I had always held onto the hope that they might still be alive…
That they had been unable to care for me, or that they were in danger, or even that they were just teenagers who didn’t know how to raise a child.
But they were gone. Forever. I would never have the chance to know them or anyone else from Domus, my true home.
The weight and pain of that thought was unbearable, and my mind spun so fast that I nearly lost my footing. I leaned against a rough tree trunk nearby, sliding down its crinkled hide until I hit the ground with a dull thud.
Tears streamed down my cheeks amid heavy sobs, enveloped in the solitude of the gardens and the shade of the trees.
I didn’t need to pretend to be strong or tough here.
I didn’t have to guard my emotions from anyone.
No one could see me, so I allowed myself to break down completely as I imagined what my parents might have been like.
Did they have brown hair like mine? Who had I inherited my hazel eyes from? Were they kind and good-hearted? Was I an only child? Did they love me?
A lifetime of feeling unwanted and unloved erupted within me, pouring out through my tear ducts.
I felt weak and exhausted, yearning for a sense of home that no longer existed.
My rightful place in this universe was long gone, reduced to a boulder of ash and dust floating somewhere far off in space.
After some time, once I had done my best to compose myself, I wandered back down the stony path toward the castle. My gaze drifted toward the mountains beyond me, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that a dragon snuggle would make everything better.
I heard the distant call of my name from behind me. When I peeked over my shoulder, I spotted Glade jogging up the hill, waving in greeting.
Urgh.
He was the last person I wanted to see right now.
So, I kept moving toward the castle doors, determined to ignore him, but Glade, frustrated and out of breath, shouted, “Oi!” and then whistled with his two fingers.
In a matter of seconds, a hand gripped my bicep and twirled me around.
“Hello! Were you just ignoring me there? Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” His expression was genuinely concerned, with furrowed brows and bright blue pupils searching every inch of my face. He studied me as if I had lost my mind.
I shrugged off his hand. “I just needed some time alone to think,” I sternly replied, jolting my head around in an absurd attempt to hide the swelling and redness of my eyes.
However, he still searched them for an explanation I wasn’t ready to give.
Although for just a moment his brows pulled together in perplexity, he let it go, stating matter-of-factly, “Okay…well, it’s time to go train now.
You’re never going to master your Light hiding out here like a mole in the bushes.
What are we thinking? The meadow again? I know we didn’t have much luck yesterday, but I really think—”
My head tilted to the side, and I grumbled, cutting off the prince completely, “I am not in the mood to train right now, Glade.”
I tried to continue down the path back to the castle. He gripped my arm again and gawked at me.
“Are you kidding me? No. You’re the one who begged me to train you, remember?
Oh, please, Glade. I’ll do whatever you want, Glade!
” he mocked. “I’m sorry, Princess, but once you’re enrolled as one of my protégés, there’s no getting out of it.
” He scoffed. “Look, is this about what happened up on the mountain? Are you still pissed at me about that?”
I had totally forgotten about our fight on the mountain plateau yesterday afternoon.
It seemed like a distant memory at this point.
How could that have only been twenty-four hours ago?
But still, the memory brought back flashbacks of his callous words and cruel accusations against my people…
Well, Earthlings. I recalled him shouting that my people were dead, and you know what? He was right.
“Look, I am sorry. I honestly didn’t mean to be such an asshole.
Sometimes words just spew out of my mouth like vomit.
I don’t think before I speak—it’s a recurring problem in my life.
” He tilted his head downward to meet my gaze, closing his eyes briefly as he inhaled and exhaled, releasing whatever turmoil had built up inside him.
“I am so sorry I used Domus’ demise against you.
That was unfair and mean-spirited, and I shouldn’t have done so.
If you see Earth as your home and its humans as your people, I’ll respect that. I promise. Okay?”
I silently nodded in acceptance, but my eyes remained cold and unmoving. Glade attempted to pull my gaze to his, but I looked far into the distance, unable to think of anything really.
“Jane,” he whispered, lifting my chin with his thumb and forefinger to bring me back to the current realm.
“Are you alright?” His eyebrows softened as he peered into my irises with his big ocean-blues.
He explored my face and finally noticed the inflammation of my cheekbones and the red, blotchy tinge on my skin. “What happened, Jane?”
I recounted everything that had happened with Jion and Vindina, watching as his mouth set into a hard line. Still, he patiently let me finish my story in its entirety.
Glade then told me about his night before. He had followed the tunnel and found a hidden cavern, slain a Tenebranian beast, and opened a secret castle entrance with blood—his hand still wrapped in a dried, stained bandage.
After we both had recounted the stresses of our day, Glade stared off into the distant town below the hill, biting his bottom lip as he seemed to debate something in his mind. When he looked back at me, his eyes sparkled with determination, and a smile curled the corners of his mouth upward.
“Come with me,” he suggested, offering his hand as if he had just made some magnificent decision.
My shoulders fell as I sighed. “Glade, did you not hear a word I just said? I am in no mood to train.”
“We are not training. Come with me,” he repeated, his hand unwaveringly outstretched toward mine.
I bit my lip, feeling unsure of what to do. Where could Glade want to take me?
His eyes watched my bitten lip swell before meeting my gaze again, a wildfire burning brightly within them.
After a moment of consideration, I slowly reached forward, offering my hand to his. As soon as our fingers touched, he pulled me down the hill, and we ran off into the blazing orange and pink setting sun.
Glade and I approached the gatehouse where two guards stood blocking the entranceway. His horse was already prepared for travel, standing patiently behind the men.
“Prince Glade,” a stout guard said, bowing his head in reverence.
The other man quickly followed. “With respect sir, we cannot allow you to leave unescorted. Please let us call for extra security to take you and the young lady into town. With the recent Tenebranian attacks…it may not be wise to travel alone. The bastards are growing bolder. We cannot guarantee safety beyond the gates.”
Glade tilted his head, amused. “Nonsense, Kriston. The village is secure and safe. We will be fine on our own. Besides”—he winked devilishly—” I can’t think of anyone more capable of protecting the lady.
” He chuckled to himself. “If the Tenebranians wish to try their luck again, I welcome it.” His gaze flicked towards me.
“It would save me the trouble of hunting them later.”
Glade patted the man on the shoulder and effortlessly passed through the portcullis, attaching a leather bag from his shoulder onto the horse’s saddle. Though, the guard’s warning caused a knot to form in my stomach.
“Now, Jane, not just any woman gets to meet my two special girls. That makes you incredibly fortunate,” he declared with a toothy smile, retrieving an apple from one of the bags and offering it to the horse. “This is Joy.”
I scoffed, unable to hold back a smile. “I have a tough time believing you’re popular with the ladies at all. Unless your job is to annoy the hell out of them, that is.”