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“I don’t know. But she was not affected. Only a few escaped and those who did, were killed. Luna got away with you. Many immortals fled past the Ebony Woods. They were lucky. The massacre was. . . horrendous.”
“If she was immortal, why did she die?”
“She is a Creature of the Realm. Her life, as is yours- is tied to Inirea. Her passing is due to that tie, the sickness as you call it back in Rothnia. She’d been away too long. Her life was taken from her as the land tried to survive. Any who do not return will eventually die. Any who did not make the crossing back to the Fae Realms before the siege, they passed sooner. Their life sources were weaker. It sought them out, took from them what it needed and it has been for eighteen years. Your return had to happen.”
I felt a pang of sadness at the thought of Luna keeping me hidden away from the world for so long. But at the same time, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the story. Why had Luna kept me hidden away? And who was I really?
The sadness I felt at her passing washed over me. The loss of my family and her had taken its hold of my heart once again. I had never really been free of it. I had never really gotten the chance to be.
He’d taken it from me.
Something stirred in me again, something that had surfaced before. The ember that had started to burn- sparked, shining brighter. My emotion, my sadness causing it to flare. The glow of a power not from here. The glow of a power I had no idea I carried. A power that I could feel living within me, swirling and begging to be freed. It was a power that felt foreign yet familiar.
I looked down at my fingers, the tips alight with the magic. Casting the ruins in a soft glow. The Goblin King’s face lit up, his eyes wide. The walls around us began to tremble. The ground shook as the stones fell. Fear of them crushing me had the light going out. Confusion and hate, fear and loss. Remembering that the Fae male before me was a liar, an enemy.
No longer would I trust him.
No longer would I play his game.
I refused to play any longer. I was done with him and I was done with the this place. The burning question inside me- the one that had been bothering me. The one that had surfaced after each encounter with him. Who was he? A question fueled by anger and confusion, demanding to be answer. The sprite in my head,Prince, echoed in my thoughts.
“Who are you?” I turned to face him, my voice laced with fury. “Who are you really? And don’t you dare lie to me again.”
He straightened up, his voice firm as he spoke. “My name is Eirsen Arik Faerieth. Prince Eirsen. Heir to the throne of Orndelle.”
His name ran in my ears, his identity no longer a mystery. The image came forward almost immediately. The vision clearer than any I had before. I’d seen them before, in a dream under a large oak tree. But this time, this time it was different. . .
The hallway echoed with the sound of running feet as a girl with chocolate colored hair and bright green eyes darted down it, her pointed ears a reminder of what she was. A voice called out to her from behind, causing her to glance over her shoulder.“Astraea! Wait for me!”
A boy with white-blond hair and two different-colored eyes rushed after her.
“Hurry up, Eirsen! I want to see the sunset,” she urged, her laughter ringing through the halls. She had a good lead, but her stumble on a carpet gave him a chance to catch up.
Bursting past the busy servants, Eirsen called out to her once more. “Astraea!”
“Come on!” she replied, her heart racing with anticipation.
"Princess, you know you're supposed to wait for me,” he scolded playfully.
“Quick! The sun is setting. If you don't hurry, we'll miss it!” Astraea urged, urging him on.
He finally caught up with her as they burst onto the balcony, the doors slamming open behind them. They came to a stop at the railing, gazing out at the breathtaking sight before them. The sun was sinking behind the horizon, painting the sky with a riot of pink, orange, and purple hues.
My breath rushes from my lungs. I felt like I had been punched in the gut. Tears threaten at the corners of my eyes again. My voice cracks as I look up at him. “Eirsen.”
He’d been my playmate.
My friend.
All this time he had been my friend and companion. The longing in his eyes was unmistakable. That’s when it hit me. The realization, the thing I did not want to believe. The truth, what he had done. The pain he had caused me and my family.
The final truth.
He approached me then, his voice strained. “Astraea?”
Cupping my face in his hands, my eyes lock with his. “What else do you remember?”
What I remembered was not worth telling him. Instead, “I don’t understand.”
