Chapter 35 #2
He takes in a deep breath, his arm tightening around me. I’m fully aware that I’m asking no small feat of him, so I don’t push. I wait patiently for him to speak what I’ve been desperately wanting to know since I’ve arrived.
The silence stretches between us; only the sound of Finnick’s laughter and the soft trot of horses can be heard. And still, I wait.
Just when I think Zephyr has changed his mind, he finally speaks. “My parents died in battle when I was just a boy. At least that was the official statement.”
I knew something must have happened in his past, but I didn’t realize this was it. “What really happened?”
I feel him tense behind me. Then: “They killed each other in a fit of jealous rage.”
I suck in a deep breath, letting the words wash over me like a tidal wave. Zephyr continues before I can say anything, as if he needs to get the words out before he can talk himself out of it.
“I grew up with two fathers and a mother. I was their only child. It was quite obvious who my biological father was based off looks, even if no one would speak it out loud. I think that was the start of the jealousy. My mother having a child with only one of them over the other. Kaeson, my mother’s other husband, grew resentful of Rhodri, my biological father.
My mother grew tired of them bickering, and that soon turned into resentment for both of them.
“They never dealt with their anger and bitterness. They let their resentment simmer over the years until it became its own entity.” Zephyr pauses, carefully deciding his next words.
“Then, one day, everything came to a head,” he says softly.
“But it wasn’t like their usual arguments.
This time, it was different. It turned violent—truly violent.
Their shouting escalated until swords were drawn.
It happened so fast. The air was filled with the clash of steel and the sounds of pain—grunts, cries, the kind that come from real wounds, not sparring. Blood was everywhere.
“Kaeson struck first. He killed Rhodri. I don’t think he meant to—not at first. But once it happened…it broke something in my mother. Rhodri was her favorite. She never said it outright, but it was clear. The way she looked at him, protected him, forgave him.”
His voice lowers. “After that, she turned on Kaeson. And he didn’t back down. They fought like two storms colliding; both of them landed fatal blows.
“Then everything just…stopped,” he says. “No more fighting. No more noise. I watched the whole thing, but I was just a boy and was scared. I did nothing but watch them bleed out. Dead by their own bitter jealousy. I screamed for them, begged them to come back, but they were already lost to me.”
“Oh, Zephyr…” I want to hold him, take him in my arms and shield him from the memories assaulting his mind.
He was just a child when he found his family dead.
Losing my parents gutted me, but if I had lost them in such a violent manner?
I don’t think I would be here today. Zephyr holds so much in, thinking he needs to be strong for everyone around him, while he’s the one carrying so much pain.
I provide the only comfort I can, placing my hand down upon his, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“You didn’t deserve that. What they did wasn’t your fault.
It was their own. But you, Zephyr? You have so much love in you.
I feel it. Niko feels it.” I hesitate before adding, “I understand why you don’t want to court me, but I also need you to know that if you ever opened your heart to me, I would cherish it. We wouldn’t end up like your parents.”
“You don’t know that.” His words come out fast, angry. But he isn’t fooling me, not anymore. There’s fear in his voice, thinly veiled by the anger he uses as a mask.
I shake my head, voice soft but sure. “But I do know, Zephyr. I see it every time you look at him—how deeply Niko loves you. And I love that about you… how fiercely you love him back. When I see you two together, it just feels right. All of us, tangled up in each other—it feels like home. There’s never been jealousy brewing within me, and I think Niko would say the same.
” I pause, my chest tightening. “But I’ll respect whatever you choose. I just want you to be happy, Zephyr.”
For the first time since I met him, Zephyr is speechless, and not with anger.
I’ve come to know his silence well, and this one feels different.
It settles between us like a quiet understanding, heavy with all the things we don’t know how to say.
I don’t rush to fill it. I let it linger, soft and familiar, like an old friend.
Then I feel it. His arms tighten around me.
Just a little. Just enough to know he’s heard everything I just said, and it feels like something shifting, like the smallest crack in the walls he’s built.
It feels a lot like hope. Like maybe he’s starting to imagine what we could be…
if he’d only let me in, but I won’t push him.
Even if my feelings for him are growing stronger by the day.
No, he needs to come to terms with this on his own. I desperately hope he does.
We ride for another few hours before the sun sets. The fae in front of us stop for the night, dismounting their horses. Finnick flies over to us, eyeing the way Zephyr is holding me firmly against his chest. His brows rise, but he doesn’t comment.
“We’ll rest here for the night. The wolves are a few miles out, same with the dragons. It’s best if we spread out for the evening so we don’t draw attention. I vote Zephyr pitches our tent, while Evangeline sits here and looks pretty.”
Zephyr strides toward the edge of the clearing, pulling a bundle of canvases from his satchel.
He kneels and begins pitching the tent with swift, practiced movements.
Every now and then, he glances over, like he’s making sure I’m still there, still safe.
I don’t think he realizes how often he does it, but it makes my cheeks flush.
He likes to think himself unreadable, but I’m learning he wears his heart and emotions on his sleeve.
I let my gaze follow him, watching the careful way he works. Zephyr’s never been one for wasting words. He speaks in gestures. In action. In the small, tender silences that bloom between us. And right now, his silence is saying rest. I’ve got this.
So I do.
My body begins to relax under the dappled shade, the last of the sunlight warming my skin, the sound of water nearby lulling me into something close to calm. Finnick leans back on his elbows, humming a tune I don’t recognize.
And for the first time since we left, I let myself breathe.
Because tonight, there will be no sleep. Tomorrow, there will be danger, but right now, there is stillness and a moment to gather the strength we’ll need to face what’s coming.