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“What?” Leah turned to Fel. “You thought I could write something like that? Really?” It was odd to see the girl, who wasn’t tall or strong, yelling at a huge dragon.
“I thought your mother had made you do that,” Fel said.
“No!” There was anger in Leah’s voice. “If that was the case, I would write that I was sorry and changed my mind, that I had to break up our engagement, I would write something decent!” Engagement. They had been a lot more involved than Naia had suspected. The girl had tears in her eyes. “I had agreed to marry you and you never proposed! You wished me good luck.”
“I did propose,” he said. “To your mother. She clearly didn’t pass on the message.”
Leah sighed and covered her eyes. “That’s different. Still bad, but different. And she probably thought we were siblings.”
What?
“Siblings?” Naia repeated, unsure from where that word had come from.
“She’s a deathbringer,” Fel said. “I think she’s our father’s daughter. I mean, not Ircantari, but Azir.”
Naia almost said that it made no sense, but then… She recalled the look his father had given the Frostlake queen and it all fell into place. Almost. “Why then didn’t he marry—”
Leah waved her hands. “Some men are dishonorable and use then abandon women, that’s all.”
Naia frowned, still stunned. “My father is not perfect, but I don’t think anyone can say he has no honor. He wouldn’t do that.”
Leah shrugged. “We don’t know our parents, we don’t.” Her voice was cracking.
Naia felt bad for the princess, but then Fel pushed the girl closer to him with his wing, and she rested her face on his beautiful scales. Leah was so obviously enamored of him, even in this form, that it made Naia regret her past anger. All she remembered now was the girl’s smile while on stage, when she and Fel had stared at each other like nothing else existed in the world.
“I’m sorry,” Naia said. “Sorry I believed that note was yours.” And in fact she had found it strange, she had thought there had been something wrong, and yet, she had allowed anger to blind both Fel and her. Her brother had been so hurt… and for a lie.
The Frostlake princess shook her head, then caressed Fel’s scales. “It’s all in the past. And we have more important matters to discuss. We found out… a lot. I haven’t even had the chance to tell Fel everything.”
River still held Naia’s hand and said, “We also made our own discoveries—and we have a lot to plan. I guess it’s time to compare stories, isn’t it? I can start.”
He glanced at Naia, and she gave him an encouraging smile. It felt that this was his way to let her know that he intended to be open and honest about things, and that his openness included his family.
Leah opened her mouth, as if about to say something, perhaps anxious to tell all her news, but ended up listening.
River summarized some events that he had already told Naia, about the war against the Ancients, his incursion into the dragon lair, to retrieve a staff, then his return and discovery that it would kill all humans in Aluria, which led him to destroy it.
He looked at Leah and Fel, and said, “You may think the white fae are terrible for considering doing this, but it was desperation, desperation that led us to this dark path, this dark thought, this horrible possibility.” In a way, he was justifying his father’s choices, which was odd. “And yet, despite everything, despite our losses, I couldn’t carry on with that much destruction. And I don’t think we caused the disaster in Formosa. We don’t have magic that would do that kind of physical damage.”
“But you don’t know,” Fel said.
River shook his head slightly. “I can’t be sure.”
He then talked about his meeting with the dragon lords. Naia hadn’t paid that much attention the first time he’d told her about it, but now it had another meaning, if their father had been among those dragons, and seemed to be their leader.
Naia had to hold back all her questions, otherwise they’d spend forever asking about what might have been, about so much… River then told them about his city being frozen in time, him getting lost in the hollow, and finding Naia. Her cheeks got hot and she almost stopped him. After all, this was also her secret and her story to tell Fel, but then, at least he omitted the kiss, saying thattouchingher had almost killed him. It wasn’t a lie, of course, and ended up being important when he told them about helping Ironhold and creating illusions for them, including the fae attack in Frostlake.
“What about the watersnake?” Fel asked.
River sighed. “I don’t know who or what caused it, and I didn’t hear anything about it from Ironhold. I’m sorry.” He looked up, thinking. “How it came to that lake… It confounds me. I can see how it would be a good opportunity for Ironhold to get rid of you two.” He glanced at Fel and Naia. “But I don’t know. I don’t think they’d want to risk hurting her.” He pointed at Leah.
Surprisingly, he told them that he hadn’t been forthcoming about his past and even identity to Naia, and he told them about their house in the hollow and that she had found a way into the Ancient City, from where he had to rescue her.
When he started telling them about his recent discoveries in Ironhold, Leah’s eyes widened in alarm. “Cassius’ been revived?”
“Yes,” River said. “I… don’t know if it’s really him, though. I haven’t had the chance to check.”
He then detailed following Queen Kara, and how she was connected to a mysterious entity, then something about the vessel, and that River was the key. He ended up telling them that he killed his own father, without specifying the method of murder.
