Page 197 of Between Despair and Hope

“Cy is a good teacher. He helped me a bit when I was having trouble. I was…very upset about things with—” She cleared her throat. “Faxon and Mama. I was having problems with my light. And he helped me.”

“Divinity is tricky when our emotions are overwhelming. Like how Em—your Mama—” I corrected. ”—made the dragons. She had more control over it by the time she made Ryo.”

“Ryo?” Elora jolted to a stop.

“Yes. I, uh, wanted to take you to see the dragons soon. I thought Ryo might be the one you’d choose to be yours.” Gods, how was I such a nervous fool over a child? She was mine, and, while I had every right to worry about what she thought, I still felt silly.

“I get a dragon?” Eyes wide, her smile spread over her face, and I relaxed in one to match it before nodding. “I’m—that’s amazing! I’m surprised Mama remembered that name.” I cleared my throat, not certain if I should correct her, but she read my body language despite my hesitation, shock etching her features. “Younamed him? Did you read the book too?”

I nodded.

“Alright, so what do you think about Ryo? Do you think he took too long to come around to Alina? When I made Mama read it, she said if he would have just told her his feelings sooner, she would have understood him, but I think—”

I threw my head back and laughed, eager to continue speaking to her about her passions. We spent the rest of our time together discussing her book, and I had four more added to my mental list she had ordered me to get through. And, though I’d never been much of a reader, I knew I’d absorb every word in haste just to hear her speak to me about them. By the time we returned to the estate from our turn around the garden, I needed to leave to meet with Cyran, and, by the look on her face, it surprised me that Elora didn’t request to come with me.

After receiving news from Dickey—who’d turned into my errand boy more than anything else—I met Em at the palace where we were to work with Cyran. We were early, and I had been pacing for a few moments before Em snagged my wrist, pulling me to sit beside her. We were in the council room, and I’d just explained how my mother had gone off to the hot springs once more, making her unavailable for the dozens of questions we had.

“Love, she couldn’t have known I was going to break the statue of Larke and unveil a five century old secret love letter.”

“No, but I’m sure she knows something,” I said.

“She might, but is it that important?”

“It might be. If the treaty wasn’t actually broken, then—”

“Then Declan has already broken it by now. Do you think his mind would be changed by the fact your father might not have been the one to kill her? I don’t think he cares.”

I sighed, leaning forward and holding my head in my hands. “You’re right. I just—”

I struggled to put into words what I was feeling. There was very little I knew about my father, and all of it was carefully curated. Based on his reactions and what the kingdom believed, he’d killed Larke. But my mother said he had loved the woman, though she’d committed atrocities he wouldn’t speak of, and the Supreme had admitted Soren had been hard to deal with after her death. Em’s hand dragged up my back, rubbing soft circles up my spine, and her voice matched it.

“I want to know just as much as you do, but it is not so pressing as the rest of it. You leave for Lamera soon, and we have the prophecy to worry about, and Declan will not stop because we find out the mystery of two dead monarchs.” She spoke sense. Even so, there was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind which told me I needed to know now.

“I didn’t know she was with child,” I said, closing my eyes as Em rubbed my shoulder blades with more force. “It makes it worse.”

“Only if he actually killed her. Either way, it’s sad but…you don’t think someone killed her because of what he wrote? About the babe not being his?”

“Honestly, I cannot fathom the idea of my father being willing to parent, let alone love a child who didn’t truly belong to him.”

She made a thoughtful sound just as the door to the council room slammed open, and Cyran swaggered through. I did my best to hold my tongue, though I felt amusement from Em, which made it difficult. For all he was, for all the fear he held for us, he hid it well. Standing tall, he took us in and removed his cloak, shaking his mussed hair out of his eyes. Gods, that age. He was far better than I ever was at faking it, I’d give him that.

“Before we begin, Ismene told me last night that Lamera is a distraction. With most of your forces amassed to the west, he expects it will be easier to march northward from Nara’s Cove.”

“He told her this?”

“She overheard it, but I trust her.”

I nodded, grateful Dewalt and I had made a contingency plan in case something like this happened.

“Any news on the rebels? Were you able to appear to any of them?”

“Nigel was the only one I could appear to, and he wasn’t quite right. I think he was injured in the blast; his dreams were hard to work in. But nearly everyone we had contact with is dead.”

And with that sobering information, the three of us worked in near silence, coaxing the shadows to do what we wished, and considering how much more I felt in control at the end, it seemed Elora had been right. The prince was a good teacher.

Chapter 51

Elora

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