He closes his eyes and says something in a language I don't know. He strides forward, his forehead pressing against mine.
'You're here,' he whispers, his cheeks wet.
'Who are you? How do you know me?' I ask, frozen in place by my surprise.
He draws back and answers this time. 'I’m your father, Bryn.’
My brow furrows as my eyes search his. 'I don't understand.'
'You were taken from me. You were so young. I was tricked, and you were stolen.'
I step back. 'If that’s true, why didn't you come for me? Why didn't you find me?' I ask, the feeling of betrayal twisting through me, though I don't comprehend why fully.
I don’t really know him, but I’m his kin and I know that I would never leave my child if they were taken from me. I wouldn’t rest until I’d found them. He abandoned me to The Barrack, to the Dark Realms.
He looks sad. 'I wanted to. I would have if I could. But I was trapped, my child. I still am.'
I look around the white room. 'This isn't really where you are, is it?'
He shakes his head. 'No. This was our home once. Me. Your mother. You. In the Light. But it only exists in my memories now. We’re in the Breach still. I've been stuck here since you were taken. There's no way out for me. It’s been too long.'
The white room melts away and so do his pristine robes. In their place are the dirty, gray ones, ragged and torn. His face is thinner. Older. Gaunt.
'This is where you are now?' I ask.
He nods.
'Can I help you? Can I get you out of this place?'
He cups my cheek, shakes his head. 'There's no getting out. I will wander the ether until I am no more. I cannot be rescued. I’m tied to the void as surely as if I was molded from it.'
'Who did this to you?' I ask.
He sighs, taking my hand.
'It's no matter now. I'm just sorry that I let him trick me, my child. He was a friend. I trusted him.'
'But why? What did he want?'
'He was searching for something. A lake. Lost long ago to the Dark Realms. I wouldn’t help him find it. He punished me by killing your mother and hoped to force my hand by taking you away, but he miscalculated, and I was lost. Even he couldn’tbring me back. I believe he thought you would be able to help him once you were old enough.’
'But how could I? I’m no mage,' I say helplessly. 'I’m Fate Touched.'
‘He assumed being Kismet meant that Fate works through us.’ He scoffs. ‘He assumed that he could direct events, and Fate would simply lead him to what he wanted. But that isn’t true. WewieldFate, Bryn, and so much more. I had the gifts, and so do you.'
'What gifts?' I ask dubiously, ‘I can do little that Fate does not wish.’
He takes my hands. ‘Youarethe hand of Fate. You apply it. You decide.’
I shake my head. 'But it doesn't work. It doesn't happen when I want it to.'
‘Now that you are here and able to hear me, I believe you are strong enough. It will come to you. Quickly. You will find it easier.'
'But why now? All that time I was in The Barrack, in the Dark, and I could never…'
He closes his eyes sadly. ‘I’m so sorry, my little one. If I could have spared you, I would have.’
He squeezes my hands. ‘But as to the timing, even I cannot say for sure. Power is based in strength and you’re much stronger now than when I saw you the first time. I was trying so hard to call to you every time you came through the Breach, in your dreams when I could find you, but you couldn’t hear me until now.’
