Page 65 of Whispers of the Dragon
With the way the dragon looked at her now, her clothes practically wanted to fall off her body on their own, so she figured …
Oh, what the hell.
See You in the Next Life
Epilogue One
“You wanted to see me?” Tatsu remarked when he entered the room.
Eira had been staring at the beautiful, smoky black vase with golden veins she had been mesmerized by the moment she had first seen it. “Yes.” She held on to the cloth-wrapped package that sat in her hands with slight fear. Not wanting to prolong the guilt any longer, she decided to get on with it. “There’s something I’ve been needing to show you.”
He looked at her with a raised brow. “Yes?”
Slowly, Eira unwrapped the package to reveal the necklace of his late wife’s that had been broken. The shattered look on his face matched the item that only broke her heart in the same amount of pieces. There had been no time to fix it, and without Yuri, she had no one to trust in fixing it now.
“I’m sorry I didn’t wear it on our wedding day.”
“I wondered why you didn’t, but I only thought you didn’t think it suited you. But, Eira … what in the world happened to it?”
Her fear grew. She had known he’d be furious. Luckily, she didn’t have to lie about her being the one to break it anymore.
“When Yuri took it upstairs to put it away, it broke in her care. She said it was an accident, and even though some things have come to light about her, I’m sure that it was.”
“Oh, Eira …” Tatsu carefully took it out of her hands to inspect it closer. “This was no accident.”
“It wasn’t?” she asked in disbelief, unbelieving Yuri, no matter how truly evil her colors, was capable of doing that to a belonging of Tatsu’s late wife’s.
But alas …
“No, this was destroyed on purpose and with such hate,” he said with disgust.
“So”—Eira bit her lip, not knowing what to think—“you’re not mad at me?”
“Of course not,” he soothed her fears.
Relieved of any guilt, Eira took a deep breath. “Can you fix it?”
“It might not look the same as it did before, but I should be able to,” he said, still inspecting it.
“Oh.” Sadness filled her that the piece couldn’t be brought back to its former glory. “That’s a shame.”
Putting the shattered necklace in his pocket, he pointed to the vase Eira had been looking at when he had come in. “Did Ryu ever tell you the story about this vase?”
Eira simply shook her head. “Just that his mother picked it out.”
“That she did,” he agreed, picking it up himself. He spun the delicate glass in his hands to reveal the gold veins that spanned across all sides. “The day Ryu found out about his mother’sillness, he broke it. Much like the necklace, it was no accident and done with powerful emotions. I admit I was quite mad at him for doing it, even though he was young. I expected more—no, too much—out of my son,” he corrected himself. “And before my Kana passed from this life, she repaired it.”
It was as if Eira could suddenly see the item in a whole new life as Tatsu went on talking and turning the piece in his hands to show off his wife’s work proudly.
“It’s an old art form called Kintsugi, where you repair what’s broken with a precious metal, like gold, and give it new life,” he explained where the veins came from. “I remember when she revealed it to Ryu, she told him how something broken could become beautiful again …”
With a single tear streaking down Eira’s face at the touching story, Tatsu gently wiped it away from her just as beautifully scarred face.
“And I couldn’t agree more, daughter.”
Eira stared out at every islander who slowly began to bow before her. The intricate crown on her head only accentuated the burns on her face that she had grown just as proud to wear, along with the red kimono that was embroidered with gold stitching. It was a flamboyant outfit that made her look as if she was a phoenix rising from the ashes.
And that she was,Ryu thought delightfully of his wife.
