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“None of that is your fault! You were a child. Your father chose to go to war. He did that, not you!” Her face is deadly serious, and while her words are stern, they aren’t untrue.
“You have been spending every day since then making up for a tragedy you had no part in. Anolas is thriving because of you. Me and every other orphan have been taken care of because of you, and the people follow you because they love you, not because they fear you. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
Pride swells in my chest as I watch my mate. She’s not the same scared little girl she was when I first met her. Instead, she’s grown into a strong, beautiful, and caring woman—my woman.
Our woman.
Storm’s voice fills my head, and I have to resist the urge to roll my eyes. One day with the bond and he’s already so easily in my mind. We’d all communicated easily the first day we arrived, so I know it’s possible, but it’s since quieted. I’m unsure if it was the influx of magic from switching realms or something else, but I’d enjoyed the quiet. Now that they’re bonded, I’ll have to remember to keep my thoughts to myself.
“Thank you, dear.” Mother wraps Serena in her arms and pulls her into a tight hug, but not before I see a tear escape.
“Not that all of that isn’t important to know in terms of the realm, but why the crash course?” Lyle asks, sounding less than amused. I can’t imagine he thought this was how his morning would go after he went through all the hassle of getting breakfast and bringing it up here for her.
Ha ha, asshole.
“Salona is where Serena is from,” Blair says. It’s not a question, though it should be, considering he has only been here a few days, but like I said, Blair doesn’t miss shit.
“Yes, that’s the only thing that makes sense, considering her element is that of the shadows. Only those within the bloodline of Salona have shadows the same way only those within the bloodline here in Anolas have light,” Mother explains, seemingly pleased that he caught on.
“So, what happened after Salona fell?” Sol asks, standing from the bed and walking over to pick at some of the fruit on the tray.
“Nothing,” I say before my mother can. “The population was already low from the war. It didn’t happen quickly, but their numbers suffered over the ten years it took before Salona fell.”
I’ve heard the history enough; I even dug into it with Serena when we were younger. What little there is of it, that is.
“The king died, and almost overnight, the land turned to a barren wasteland. The forests withered, and anyone left disappeared. My grandfather sent troops to take the lands and anything else of value, but they never returned. After a few times, he gave up trying, and the land that was once Salona became known as the Forest of the Lost.”
The room is quiet as my words sink in.
“So, Serena is the only one ever to come out?” Pike asks, trying to piece together what we're saying. It’s not easy. Everything about Serena is one big mystery, has been since the day she washed ashore. How had she survived? Where had she come from? How did she end up in the water in the first place?
“Clearly, the people of Salona weren’t entirely gone if Serena’s here. She wouldn’t have been alive when the kingdom fell if you were still a child yourself,” Lyle says, looking to my mother for confirmation as he begins to pace. It’s a terribly annoying habit of his, from the looks of it. He’d damn near paced a hole in the floor of the medical room while Serena was unconscious.
“No, they aren’t all gone,” Serena says, taking a step back from my mother. She folds her arms across her chest, rubbing at her bare skin as if trying to warm herself, and I know, without the help of the bond, what she’s thinking about. Who she’s thinking about.
“Draven.” His name feels like a curse word. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, and I have to swallow down the growl that threatens to spill from me at just the thought of that monster.
“Who?” Storm asks, walking up behind Serena and pulling her back into his chest, where he wraps his arms around her. I watch, wishing I could take his place, but I don’t want to rush her. So much is happening right now, and I’m unsure where we stand even with her memories back.
No, it’s probably best that he went to her, but I can’t help the feeling of envy that weighs heavily on me, knowing I can’t be what she needs right now.
“Draven was the last known person alive to wield the shadows before Serena…” My mother trails off, watching Serena closely. Her history might be a hard memory, but Draven is a sore spot for all of us.
He’s the reason my father sent Serena away, after all.
“During the war, those in Salona took desperate measures to fight back when they felt their king wasn’t doing enough. I don’t have all the details, but Draven was said to be gifted with mixtures—potions, if you will—much the same as I am. But where I use my ability to help my people, he used it to make weapons in a last-ditch effort to win the war.”
My mother's eyes go far away, and I know she’s thinking of that night. Of the monsters we fought against and almost lost to.
If not for Serena, we would have.
“He used his gift to make monsters, chimeras.” My mother spits the word in disgust.
It’s strange to hear her hate something. Growing up, she taught me not to hate or fear things because those feelings can grow and fester. I’d always thought she was telling me that as a lesson, like all parents do, but when I got older, I realized she was speaking from experience. My grandfather's fear of the shadows led to a war, to us losing a kingdom and a gift.
But this isn’t the same. My mother isn’t waging a war against Draven for fear of what he might do. No, she hates him and is ready to stand against him because of what he’s already done and promised to do.
“They came out of nowhere. Nobody had ever heard of or seen anything like them until the day they attacked the kingdom. Even our most skilled warriors and guards struggled to hold them off, and for a while, we believed them unkillable. They wreaked havoc on the villages. Many were able to escape, but we weren't without casualties. Entire villages were burned to the ground. Livestock and crops needed to maintain the kingdom were gone in the blink of an eye.”
