CHAPTER 55
Esmyra
Esmyra blinked awake to the warmth of Draevyn pressed against her, the soft, morning sunlight filtering through the window. His chest rose and fell steadily beneath her hand, and for a moment, all the chaos of the past few days felt distant, replaced by the bliss of being next to him.
“Morning,” she murmured, brushing the longer strands of hair from his face.
He stirred, blinking open those eyes that burned like amber in the sun, and gave her a sleepy, crooked smile. “Good morning, Wildfire.”
The corners of her lips lifted as she watched him, but it slowed as the memory of all the guilt he carried crept back in. She knew he felt responsible for what Irah had done to Kaelypso nearly a thousand years ago, and she thought maybe if he knew the truth of what she witnessed, it could ease some of that pain.
“What is it?” he asked in a whisper, a crease forming between his brows.
He always knows when something’s off.
“As he should,” Kae purred, and Esmyra almost let out a laugh.
She met his gaze. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
He straightened in the bed, concern etched into his features, but he said nothing.
“Remember how I told you I saw my father’s murder through the Veil of Visions?”
Draevyn flinched. “Yes.”
“That’s not all it showed me.” She paused. “Before I fled Maerinys, I asked it to show me why my father was in the kingdom the day it sank. Why he was in the castle to begin with when he’d been nothing but a criminal his entire life.”
He was silent for a moment. “What did it show you?”
Esmyra sucked in a sharp breath. “I saw him, but it wasn’t the first memory shown.” His brows furrowed, but he let her continue. “It showed me Kaelypso and Irah in bed together.”
His eyes flared. “Were they…”
A soft chuckle slipped even though there was barely any joy in it. “No. Not in that moment anyway. But they were happy.”
A soft flutter went through Esmyra and Kaelypso’s shared heart.
“Until they weren’t,” Draevyn grumbled. “Irah betrayed Kaelypso. I’ll never forget that day in the crypt for the remainder of my life. The day I watched you touch your own remains from a past life, learning the truth of it all.”
The rage radiated off him in waves of heat, and she reached up to cradle his face in her hands.
“It was Naerysa’s fault,” she said, anger creeping into her tone as the memories surfaced. “The moment Kae left the room, her twin appeared in a hidden corner. She’d been camouflaging herself against the surroundings.”
Draevyn’s eyes flared, and she knew it was likely because that was exactly what Syrena had done in his room.
“Naerysa walked up to Irah as he was sleeping and didn’t wake him until she was straddling him in his bed. And the moment he opened his eyes, she compelled him.”
The veins in Draevyn’s neck bulged against his skin, his jaw ticking.
“Naerysa made him believe she was Kaelypso.”
He blew out a breath. “So, history truly has repeated itself, huh,Wildfire?”
“Aye,” she whispered. “Irah snapped out of it somehow and caught her, throwing her to the ground and threatening her. Naerysa admitted she’d been doing that to him for a long while, and he never knew. It was… horrifying. She took his choice away.”
His lips pressed into a thin line, but he continued to listen.
“Just as Syrena tookyourchoice away,” Esmyra finished.
