Page 68 of Realms of Shadow and Sun

“Well, I think you have quite a bit to fill me in on, Sunshine.”

Renya sat opposite Aunt Agatha in the library, with a fire roaring in front of them and crimling tea steaming in mugs on a small side table.

“So I was stuck in that blasted rocky land for weeks! I forgot how awful the coastal worlds are, nothing but water and rocks. I finally found a broken portal, and it took forever to fix it.”

“I’m just so glad you’re here!” Renya looked down at her skirt, smoothing it absentmindedly.

“Out with it, Renya.”

“What?” Renya asked, sipping the contents of her mug carefully.

“You have something to tell me, and you don’t want to. You’ve been in my care since you were a babe, you don’t think I know when you’re uncomfortable?”

Renya set her drink down and steadied her breath, staring at the fire. “So, Grayden and I—”

“Are fated.”

Renya jerked her head up from looking at the fire. “You know?”

“Of course I know. You’re mated and engaged.”

“Who told you?”

Agatha laughed, her shoulders shaking slightly. She looked at Renya and then picked at the hem of her shirt. She wore a man’s tunic and leggings, clearly loaned from someone in the Snow Lands.

“I’m not blind, Sunshine. You’re wearing his ring and your mating mark shines clearer than the moon in the Twilight Kingdom.”

Renya looked down at her wrist, where the corner of the snowflake peaked out from her sleeve.

“You never seemed very interested in tattoos, and that ring has Snowden written all over it. It wasn’t exactly a secret.”

“Are you disappointed?” Renya’s stomach churned as she waited for her aunt to answer.

“Fates, no child. Of course not. You think I would be upset over something fate decided? No, Sunshine. I raised you to be a strong woman, to not depend on any man. Are you that woman? At any time in the Sun Realm did you need Grayden to come and rescue you? Or did you manage on your own?”

“He did rescue me,” she said hesitantly.

“Did he now? Sion said you stayed voluntarily after he and Cyrus left.”

“When did you hear that?”

“I was speaking with Tumwalt.”

There. It was no longer than a split second, but the tips of her aunt’s ears turned red like she was embarrassed. Was it Tumwalt? Did her aunt have a thing for Grayden’s advisor? Renya chose to ignore what she saw, and moved on.

“Yes, I stayed. I needed Grayden there though. I was miserable without him.”

“Of course you were, Sunshine. He’s your mate. Your other half. You needed him to comfort you. But that’s no different than me missing you when you were gone. In my eyes, you set out to do the impossible and succeeded. Your mother must trust you if you’ve won the heart of one of her prized dragons. Obsessed with them as a child, she was.”

“What was she like?” Renya winced and rubbed the bridge of her nose after she asked the question. Did she really want to know what her mother was like? Would it humanize her? Make it harder for Renya to do what she must?

Agatha pondered the question. “She was younger than me, of course. Independent. It seems to be a Shadow Realm trait that we all share.” She looked at Renya with a knowing grin. “But thoughtful too. She was interested in the history of our people, wanting to know where we came from and why. I thought she might end up being close to the Gods, like Almory is. Some people seem to have a connection to them, almost spiritual. She seemed like she might have possessed that. Once our parents died, I had taken over the leadership of the Shadow Realm, and I thought she might train under a seer or healer. But then she met your father.”

Renya closed her eyes tightly. She didn’t want to hear anymore. Everything Aunt Agatha was saying resonated deep in her bones, and she kept trying to reconcile the version of Cressida that she knew with the one that Aunt Agatha grew up with.

The fire popped and hissed, and Renya watched as the flames licked the wood. Agatha sighed.

“It’s not easy for me, Renya. I should have ended her in the Sunset Land. I had her, powerless and friendless, right within my grasp. But instead I fled, leaving her to lick her wounds. I couldn’t do it then. I’m not sure if I would ever be able to do it.”

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