Page 46 of Sun, Moon & Shadow

“Common purpose?”

“Serving as a light for those in darkness.”

Nova followed Sister Iris in silence, past a large pool of pristine water with a magnificent fountain and through a high stone archway into what Nova gathered was the main temple.

The structure was open all the way to a curved ceiling so high above that Nova had to tip her head all the way back to see the constellations painted across it, mirroring the night sky. The air was thick with the murmured prayers of the Sisters gathered to pay homage to the goddess Illora. The rap of Nova’s boots echoed loudly off the stone walls as Sister Iris approached the base of an oversized statue of the goddess carved from the gleaming stone. Illora’s flowing hair and robes floated out around her, her kind face lowered, smiling lovingly at those who worshipped at her feet.

Sister Iris approached one of the figures kneeling before the statue, tapping her lightly on the shoulder and whispering in her ear. The female rose and turned to face Nova.

Nova’s heart stopped for an instant before stuttering back to life.

She knew the face staring back at her as well as she knew her own. The face she had seen on canvas, nearly every day of her life, was now cast before her in flesh and bone. The face of her mother, Elena.

Twenty-Two

Nova's chest tightened. “I-I don’t believe it,” she stammered.

Elena’s chin trembled. She reached a hand out toward her daughter, who pulled back at first. “Nova, you came,” she said, taking a tentative step closer.

Elena looked exactly as she had in the painting. The gold flecks in her green eyes matched the tone of her skin. When she reached out a second time, Nova remained motionless, allowing her mother to run a hand over her hair and down to her cheek. Nova blinked several times, completely numb. Elena drew Nova to her, stroking her hair as Nova stared wide-eyed over her mother’s shoulder. After a moment, Elena pulled back, holding her daughter at arm’s length.

“Come,” she said, glancing around the crowded temple. “Let us find somewhere to speak in private.”

She led Nova outside to an isolated stone bench at the edge of the fountain. Several minutes passed in near silence, no sound but the the fountain’s spray falling onto the surface of the shimmering water. Nova studied Elena’s profile from the corner of her eye. How strange to be sitting with her mother, who barely looked older than she did. There was an aura of wisdom about her, but otherwise, Elena could easily have passed for her sister.

Finally, her mother spoke. “I’m certain you have many questions—”

“How?” Nova demanded. The initial shock of seeing her mother had withered, and anger rose within her to claim the space it left behind. “Why? Why did you leave me?”

“My heart broke when I left you. You must believe that.” Elena slid closer to her on the bench.

“And what of my father’s heart? Do you think he felt nothing when you died? When you left? It changed him. I was all he had.” Nova thought of Anson’s kind smile. “Did you even love him?”

Elena stared down at the refracted sunlight, darting like bolts of lightning across the bottom of the pool.

“I cared for him. Deeply. Anson was kind to me. Before I met him, I had known only cruelty for a very long time.”

“Cruelty?” Nova barely contained her scoff. “I was a monster in the Human Realm. Ridiculed. Beaten. Alone.”

Anger surged in her chest at the memory of the frightened, lonely girl she had once been. Nova clenched her jaw and turned her face away from her mother.

Elena laid a hand on Nova’s shoulder. “You must believe me, my darling. Leaving you was the only way I could protect you.”

“Protect me from what?” Nova shrugged out from under her mother’s touch. “Your selfishness?”

“From your father,” Elena said, her voice dropping lower. “From Omen.”

Nova’s breath caught as if all the air had been siphoned from her chest. She tried to stand, but her legs refused to cooperate, and she dropped back onto the hard surface of the bench. Elena grasped her shoulders to steady her.

“I don’t understand,” Nova said, brows pinched. “Omen of Raven’s Isle? He is my true father?”

“He wasn’t always as he is now,” Elena said, as if it might quell the fear gathering like storm clouds in Nova’s chest. “He was once caring and idealistic, but deeply angry. His entire life, he’d been tormented by his father and older brother. I’m sure you’ve heard stories of Onyx.”

Nova nodded vaguely, recalling the night she’d crept to the library in Pyralis and learned of Silvergard’s dark history.

“Omen’s father despised him—feared him. He knew Omen’s abilities would one day eclipse his own. So, he sent him away to Sonnend to serve as an emissary. That’s where we met. We were young. We fell in love. We wanted to be wed, but our parents needed to arrange the union.

“Omen begged for his father’s blessing, but Onyx refused. Shortly after, my parents told me I had been promised to Omen’s older brother instead. There was nothing I could do. I was duty bound to marry Sable. Omen was blind with rage. He vowed to kill Onyx and Sable himself. He frightened me.