Page 109 of Rising Out of the Darkness
She shook her head, turning her gaze back towards Will. Boredom had begun to encroach as Will’s flames turned into two flaming ropes of fire.
“Yeah, it’s pretty incredible, isn’t it,” she hummed, observing my startled expression.
“I don’t know if ‘incredible’ is the word I would use.”
Ropes of fire twisted and turned as he wrapped them around a few of the practice dummies, scorching the hay within them until they split in the middle.
“You know, it doesn’t have to be this hard, Declan. We grew up together, played together just fine. Even once we were older I wasn’t too horrible to be around, was I?”
When I allowed myself to shift my glance towards her, her normally impassive face had cracked. It was slight, but there was a wobble to her bottom lip and her fingers twisted the material of her pants.
Guilt washed over me as the realization left my stomach in unease. Adara was just another tool for political manipulation, as I was. Deep down, I knew she was different from her father, something I’d always admired. However, there were several reasons this marriage would never take place. One being the fact that I’d fallen in love with the Light Phoenix.
“No, you weren’t that bad to be around, Adara.” My words were gentle. “But I will not marry you, and you know why this can never happen.”
Hurt flashed through her eyes, but she blinked with silent understanding.
“I’ve got to meet with your father and the council. We’ll discuss this when you all come for the ball at the end of the month.”
With a nod, she dismissed me, and I took my time walking through the villa towards Edan’s council room. After this meeting, Brand would be my next stop. Instead of sending a raven with the intel, this time I would meet Warren in person.
Especially now that I had a very important question to ask him.
Chapter 43
Elena
The itchy tulle of my dress suffocated me, encasing me in a violet tomb as I sat in the armchair in my room. Too exhausted to rip it from my body, I instead tore off the long white gloves that went along with it and threw them onto the floor.
Between breakfasts and luncheons with the king, rigorous training of my physical strength and dynamis with the captains, and nights of researching in the library for more information about the Light Phoenix, my candle was almost depleted.
It was becoming harder to mask indifference during these events, especially after all that had happened a week and half ago. I’d learned how truly evil Alaric and Alastor were and how long Declan had been suffering under the curse.
All I wanted to do was sleep, but I needed to meet Nayla in the queen’s garden to work on my Terran dynamis. Groaning, I pulled myself out of the chair and peeled off the endless layers of the atrocious dress. As I laced up my boots, my mind stewed over today’s luncheon.
Alaric had pushed for updates on my Light Phoenix dynamis. Truthfully, I hadn’t asked to train that part of my dynamis because it still terrified me.
Today, I could tell he had finally met his breaking point. If I hadn’t produced some showing of progress, I’d feared he would start to become curious. That curiosity could lead him towards discovering what we were really doing. Like controlling multiple forms of elemental dynamis, which was a truth that needed to remain hidden.
To appease the king and perhaps show myself that I still had a sliver of control over it, I’d made my hand glow just as I had in the library. Several guests stood in awe at the sight, but Alaric just growled and walked away. Alastor, on the other hand, seemed to be eerily fascinated.
Chills spread through my back at the thought of him. Every time we met, his gray eyes followed me like snakes studied their prey before they struck. The strange thing about it was that something about him was beginning to feel familiar. Not in the same way that it felt when I was around Declan, but a strong feeling like we had disliked each other for longer than a few weeks. Resentment so strong, it lingered between us like a cobweb we couldn’t break free from.
Lacing a knot on the top of my boot, I shook the thoughts from my head. If I was going to access my Terran dynamis today, I needed to be as calm as possible.
Last night, Nayla had told me to meet her in the garden, underneath the tree of the gods. The wooden door creaked beneath my fingertips as I pressed it open. As always, the aroma of flowers and herbs wafted throughout my senses, each time reminding me of home. Meandering through the maze of flora and trees, I finally spotted Nayla lost in thought sitting on one of the five roots of the gods tree.
So as to not interrupt her thoughts, I lowered myself next to her. Her eyes remained closed as she lifted a stem of lavender to her nose. Inhaling deeply, she sighed, tossing the stem behind her.
“Evening, Light Phoenix.” She smiled towards me.
“Good evening, Nayla.” I smiled back. “Where were your thoughts wandering just now?”
Her eyes lowered to her palms, and I wondered if maybe I had intruded too much.
“Today is my little sister’s birthday,” she said. “It’s days like this that I’m reminded of the heavy weight of my choice to leave and join the guard.”
“I’m so sorry, Nayla. I know my situation is entirely different, but I understand the pain of not being around family.”
