“Congratulations,” I cut in, pinching my lips between my teeth to keep from smiling.
The corner of his lips kicked up, but the smirk was half-hearted. My throat bobbed at the solemnity that had befallen him.
“I need to tell you some things, Lyvia,” he continued, and his head tipped back as his gaze followed the long line of stars stretching up the sky.
“Okay,” I said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
Kellan turned back to me and rubbed a hand over his face as if he could wipe away the exhaustion.
“I know you can break the air oath,” he said. “And if you wish to do so after I share this with you, I won’t try to stop you, but you are someone I want to be honest with.”
My brows pinched, and my chest squeezed as unease slipped into me.
“There is a reason Xenelpha held me in that cell in the Death Dunes. Why she thought I was a bigger threat,” he continued. His dark eyes softened as his brows tilted up, as if long-held secrets waited cautiously beneath the surface.
I swallowed as he paused. His eyes drifted to his hands.
“You are one of the Starlings, the People of the Stars,” I said for him.
Daimos had said as much.Children of the gods. His dark eyes sparked as they slid up to mine, and for the first time, those tiny bits of gray seemed to lighten, looking eerily similar to the stars shining above us.
As his chin dipped in confirmation, the gray flashed to silver, and I staggered back a step, fear pulsing through me.
“I’m not him,” he said, holding a hand out. “I’m not an imposter. I’m not theMessenger.” His brows pinched upward.
My powers surged as my eyes skipped between his. Those silver eyes, so similar to the Impostor, the being watching me. But Kellan… His mouth parted as his eyes searched mine.
Paralyzed, unable to move beneath his stare, I let the feeling sit, my heart banging against my ribs.
A hawk trilled nearby, and a flash of white drew my attention inland. The snowy white hawk swooped overhead and soared toward the Onyx Tower.Nishanth, Selvina’s hawk, the one I’d seen out my window during my time at the Crystal Castle.
Kellan took a step forward, and I shook my head.
“I need to see Selvina.” I tore my gaze away from the cooling silver in Kellan’s eyes. His brows pinched upward as I left him on the snowy beach.
A soft cracklepopped in the fire that lined the back of the throne room of the Onyx Tower, and I breathed in the burning wood. My powers stood at attention upon entering the fortress, and my blood pumped wildly at being back in this haunted place.
Selvina’s blonde-white hair was tied into an elaborate braid that rested over her shoulders as she paced in front of the dais. Her eyes frequently shot toward the man in the velvet sitting chair, his jet-black hair disheveled as he ran his hands through it, turning his sapphire eyes toward me as I approached.
There was no warmth in Aeriden’s gaze. My eyes shot to Selvina, who held them without balking. How much had she told him? Had she assumedI’dtold him what I’d done to our father? Shame and self-hatred writhed in the pit of my stomach at the thought of what she must have revealed to elicit the empty look he gave me now. I tore my gaze away as I clenched my fists, forcing them to stop shaking as I approached.
Ursa’s crystal blue eyes sparkled in the light of the fire as she watched Selvina. I pulled my gaze away, finding I couldn’t look at her. Not without dredging up a torrent of pain from the well of emotions I kept locked down. She looked so much like her sister Eira, like the elf who had given her life for me.
“Sacrifices had to be made,” Selvina finally said, her long, blue nightgown swishing as she stopped her pacing. “And they will continue to be made.”
“It didn’t have to end the way it did,” Aeriden gritted out. “You were all there. You could have helped her.Helped him.”
The musk of exhaustion that had settled on me was wiped away with a nauseating, plunging feeling.
“Ididhelp her,” Selvina snapped. “In more than one way.” Selvina’s eyes slid to the scar on my neck before returning to Aeriden. I frowned. Hadshehealed me?
“The Court of the Two Moonspalesin comparison to the dangers of the Crystal Court,” she continued, her hands bunched into fists at her sides. Selvina’s white blonde brows narrowed as she spoke to Aeriden. “King Saros played the part of a good king for thousands of years. Ours was not so worried about appearances. You haveno ideawhat I’ve had to endure. What we’veallendured.”
Selvina straightened, her face inches from Aeriden’s. “She is theBonder. And she would not be able to do what it takes had she not given your father the gift of mercy. He made the ultimate sacrifice. So did Eira, Ursa’s sister.”
Aeriden’s stare landed on me, but I kept my own locked on Selvina, still unsure what role she had played in the Crystal Castle.
Selvina’s eyes softened on Ursa, who blinked and slowly wiped a tear from her face.
