Page 84 of The Eye of the Fifth
Perhaps it had been a step too far.
But the hurt disappeared as quickly as it had come. ‘I suppose I did promise you the truth, didn’t I?’
Kyra merely waited, brows slightly lifted.
Naal released a breath, as though steeling herself for the impending conversation. ‘Winvara is my mate, Kyra.’
Kyra blinked stupidly. ‘Your…’
‘My mate,’ Naal repeated, her silver eyes soft. ‘When the Earthling War was in its infancy, I travelled with Maida and Orro to Vrethian, to learn with my own eyes and ears of the politics behind the growing tension in the earth-capital. Before the revolution, there was an even balance of human and fae on Vrethian’s council. Your great-grandfather being one of the governors representing his kin. When civil war inevitably broke out amongst the divided council, it was byhisrequest that I stayed in Avaldale.
‘In the midst of preparing for the onslaught of war, he introduced me to his daughter. You know her as your grandmother. But I knew her as the fiercest warrior the Vrethan fae have ever seen. As soon as Winvara and I met, I knew my life would never be the same. It was not love at first sight. In fact, Win was extremely hesitant of me in the beginning. We both felt that tug between us, and I think the bond scared her. I will admit… it scared me too. But as the war dragged on and the years passed, we could no longer fight what we felt for one another. Finally, we admitted our love, and the bond was solidified. We were mated, and it was the happiest moment of my life.
‘But it was both a blessing and a curse,’ Naal continued sadly. ‘We were infatuated by one another. And I loved her daughter, your motherEirinna, like she was my own. I would not see my new family dead before we had already begun, and I decided I would do whatever it took to help them win the war. So, I drafted the entire Eternal Order to Vrethian. It was supposed to turn the tides in favour of the earthlings, supposed to swiftly put an end to the chaos so peace could finally ensue. But the opposite transpired. My Order was targeted. Empress Azar’s foreign army and the earthling humans stopped fighting the fae altogether and focused all their energy on bringing the Eternals down. For they knew that without us, victory would favour the humans.
‘I had an impossible choice to make. Be the protector I had been trusted by Gallena to be, or stay with my mate and fight for her people. With over half of my Order already shot down from the sky, I chose to leave. To save what was left of us. I chose to be the Air Warden.
Naal looked at her, grief pooling in her eyes. ‘There was a time I would have done anything for her, Kyra. Anything. She was, and still remains to be, the only being to have ever made me wish I was not the Air Warden. And in the moment before I made my choice, I selfishlywishedI had no obligation to my own people. I wished I had nothing to do but love her and have her love me too, and that be enough. But it was a wish that was never to be granted. And the duty I had to Gallena, to the people of Nythanor, to my Eternal family, could not be ignored any longer.
‘I realised who I was. What I had done. I was the Air Warden and I had led my own people to their doom to fight in a war that was not ours. I do not regret leaving the war. I cannot regret it for it is my past and cannot be changed. But Winvara… she never understood my reasons and blamed me for the fall of the fae, for the bargain she had to make in order to save her people. She blamed me… because I did not stay.’
Kyra felt a sudden and surprising rush of compassion for her grandmother, for the love she had never known she’d had. Yet she could not help the judgement that arose at her grandmother’s stubborn heart. ‘How could she blame you? It wasn’t your fault.’
‘Just as my love for her blinded me to my duty, her love for me blinded her to reason. She believed, and still does, that I betrayed her in retreating. I have never been able to convince her otherwise.’
‘But you still love her?’ Kyra asked, unable to hide the scepticism in her voice.
‘I do.’
‘Why?’ Kyra pushed. ‘She neglected you as much as you did her. How can you still love her?’
‘Because Ichooseto, Kyra.’ Naal’s expression was no longer withdrawn with memory. Instead, she exuded tranquillity. As though simply loving Win from afar was enough, however unrequited it might be. ‘I will always choose her because she saw the Naal beneath the Air Warden armour and loved her without question. A thousand more years could pass and I will still love her, I will still choose her. My heart can never belong to anyone else.’
Through all her misgivings about her grandmother, the past ten years of battling disagreements, Kyra regretted that she had not bid her goodbye. Win had had a life, a love, long before Kyra had even been born. She wished she had learned of it throughher,and not Naal.
‘Do you think she still loves you?’ Kyra asked, her voice quiet.
Naal’s answering smile could have lit up the night sky. ‘I know she does.’
Chapter Twenty Four
A Prince Scorned
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Dracyg Dominion, Zarynth.
Gedeon.
Sunsi’s hammering heart had betrayed her.
Gedeon could hear it. Knew that Sekun could too. His brother had picked up his own scent on her like a trained hound, and that, mixed with that terrified pounding in her chest, was enough for him to know she was guilty.
Sekun was right. She could not lie to him.
‘Let go of me,’ Sunsi hissed, attempting to wriggle out of his grip.
It was futile.
