Chapter Sixteen

C HAPTER S IXTEEN

‘Are you going to stand there and watch me all day, Goldie?’ Darius sits opposite me inside the cell, munching down on a piece of bread and mutton I fetched earlier today from the kitchen. I don’t like the idea he is in here; everyone knows that. The least I can do is feed him properly, something the phoenixes didn’t want after Darius tried attacking them.

‘ Goldie ,’ I repeat, and Darius stops chewing. ‘That is what you always used to call me from the moment we first met.’

He stares at me, and I don’t think he realises how his gaze drops to my lips. When he finally notices, he clears his throat and resumes eating away. I watch as he carefully swallows, his throat bobbing. ‘I take it that it means something to you.’

‘To the both of us,’ I say.

He doesn’t like that response. His jawline tenses and he drops his food onto the plate, rubbing his hands together to brush the crumbs away. Pressing his palms against the ground, he leans back. ‘Why are you here, Nara?’ He releases a stiff laugh when I don’t answer and motions his head towards the plate. ‘Other than to bring me food and attempt to get me to remember you.’

I want to look away from his scrutinising stare, but it is impossible to do so. His eyes are honey, and all I want is to drink them in. ‘A few months ago,’ I start, ‘I found out that you had erased my memory of when we were children. I spent over half my life not knowing who you were, yet you remembered everything . And the other times we saw each other as adults, you did not tell me because you thought you were not worthy of me.’ The tragic beat of my heart pounds with the memory of that day. ‘But you are . That is why I will do anything I can to make you remember.’

I can feel him pulling away from me again, and he looks at me like he is so conflicted.

‘We need you to come back to us, Darius,’ I whisper. ‘ I need you to; Tibith needs you—’

‘Tibith?’

I nod. ‘A Tibithian. You befriended him and taught him how to speak years ago.’ His head slants and I grow desperate once again. ‘He is your best friend.’ And he misses you.

Darius mulls over my words and, almost as if he is curious, he goes to speak, but the words never fall from his lips as he looks over my shoulder.

‘Nara?’ The small female voice has me standing up and turning to see Freya there with an apologetic grimace on her face. ‘The Elven princesses are here to see you.’

My lips part in shock. I didn’t think they would appear here this soon. ‘What? How—’

‘Do you really want to question why they are here after the whole world is in a mess because of Aurum?’ The sassy response elicits a chuckle from Darius, and I glance behind me, noting how he is watching us both.

Sighing, I tell Freya, ‘You make a good point.’ As I offer her the keys to the cells, she touches my shoulder, and suddenly I find it difficult to move.

‘ Go ,’ she says. ‘I will keep an eye on him; don’t worry.’ She shoots me a look when I seem reluctant to leave her here. ‘I’m a witch connected to his dragon side, Nara. Maybe I can help in some way.’

She’s right, but with Darius’s state of mind, I can’t stop being concerned for everyone.

Dusting the dirt off my tunic, I nod to Freya and leave the cells, but not without hearing Darius say to her, ‘Hello, witchy.’

‘Arlayna,’ I breathe in relief as I spot her in the foyer beside Faye and Aeron. Both princesses are dressed in casual Elven travel attire, with their dark hair in carefully crown-braided updos. They look no different from when I last saw them, except now their expressions seem more worn down, and the glow in Faye’s usually mischievous face looks dull compared to how I had seen it months ago.

‘It is so good to see you, Nara.’ Arlayna wraps an arm around me, squeezing me gently as she takes in the different colours of the Aerian Palace. ‘After you wrote to us, we didn’t know whether it was a good time to visit you now or—’

‘Never,’ Faye cuts in, earning herself a quick scolding from Arlayna.

Aeron acknowledges me with a nod before walking towards the large panel windows and staring outside at the approaching sunset. I notice his armour is still the same as before: emerald armour plates and a carved crown made of branches and stars. The only noticeable change is that his once cheekbone-length blond hair is now well past his chin.

I wait until he is at a safe distance from hearing us. ‘How come he is not with Aurum?’

Arlayna’s gaze keeps flitting back and forth between me and Aeron. ‘When Thallan took over, half the Elven army stayed with him while the others went with Aurum. Luckily, Faye convinced Thallan that Aeron should stay with us as he is her personal guard.’

‘I’m quite good with my words.’ Faye grins.

A soft chuckle leaves me, but Arlayna doesn’t seem to be in the right mood to joke with her sister as she clears her throat and says, ‘We read in your letter that you managed to get Darius back.’

My smile falls from my lips. I try to get it back, but it just does not feel sincere any more. ‘Yes,’ I say. ‘I imagined the news would have travelled fast regardless of whether or not you had read my letter, although I’m surprised Thallan hasn’t tried to attack us, considering he and Aurum are allies now.’ I lead the three into one of the palace’s spare chambers.

‘That is what we wanted to talk to you about,’ Arlayna says behind me as I close the doors and urge the princesses to sit on a sofa by the open windows. ‘Thallan is too busy making personal changes to Terranos to fight side by side with Aurum—’

‘Which includes trying to infiltrate Thalore, where the Dark Elves are,’ Faye adds as I sit opposite them.

‘Kirian,’ I find myself voicing aloud.

Faye nods. ‘Last we heard was that Thallan is trying to strike deals with him.’

I shake my head, thinking how unlikely that is. I have met Kirian, and despite it not being for long, his actions gave me the impression he would never listen to someone from Olcar, let alone the new ruler of Terranos. ‘I doubt Kirian is stupid enough to trust in Thallan.’

‘No, but he is a nightmare to deal with,’ Arlayna grumbles and my eyes widen with intrigue as I look towards Faye for an answer.

Faye leans forward, giving me a secretive wink. ‘They write each other strongly worded letters.’

That annoys Arlayna as stormy grey eyes fire daggers in her sister’s direction. ‘The point is , he seems to trust only two people.’ She turns to me. ‘You and Darius.’

The thought baffles me. ‘Us? The same people who snuck into his place to retrieve one of the stones?’

Arlayna chuckles softly. ‘It looks as if he admired you both for going to the extreme of gathering the stones.’

‘And now that the treaty is broken, everyone and everything is in a mess,’ Faye agrees with a nod. ‘The merfolk of Undarion are not delighted to hear about any of this and have even taken to blaming you for what has occurred.’

The heaviness of the situation pushes against my chest. Of course, the last thing I need is for the people of Undarion to despise me for what happened.

‘We know this is all a lot, Nara,’ Arlayna tries to sympathise, ‘given what has gone on in the past few months, and believe me, we want to help you, but—’

‘It is not your fight,’ I tell them, my eyes darting back and forth. ‘You are both already dealing with the aftermath of your uncle’s death, and Thallan, I—’ I glance at my hands which are joined together in front of my lap. ‘I wouldn’t want to drag you into this.’ Into any of it.

Arlayna nods solemnly, her gaze drifting to the floor. ‘We have brought over what you asked for.’

I perk up despite the atmosphere of the room. ‘A Galgr?’

‘Yes. She was hard to capture, but—’ She clears her throat. ‘We kept her hidden from the sun.’

‘Thank you—’

‘We should warn you, though,’ she cuts me off. ‘Despite a Galgr’s ability to restore memories, we don’t know to what extent Aurum has messed with Darius’s mind. This isn’t just about remembering, Nara. You mentioned he believes he has lived a different life. This could make things worse.’

‘And you should also know that Aurum’s intentions are not to just take over kingdoms.’

The male voice startles me into snapping my head up at Aeron, now standing at the edge of my settee. He was so stealthy in coming over that I had not even heard him.

‘During his visit to Olcar a few weeks ago, he spoke to Thallan about why he needed to return to the Isle of Elements.’ He looks at Arlayna and lingering passion ripples from their pores and I wonder if anyone else has discovered their connection. ‘He is slowly decaying.’

My brows scrunch into a frown as Aeron’s hazel eyes meet mine.

‘I believe the consequence of what the Isle gave him were that his youth would be taken away,’ he says. ‘It won’t kill him, but one day, sooner or later, he will look like death itself.’

My vision goes in and out of focus, and I glance down at my hands like that will help me regain control. If Aurum returns to the Isle of Elements, I am certain the world will suffer gravely, more so than it is right now.

‘Why did you not inform me of this?’ Arlayna sounds betrayed.

Aeron whispers, ‘I did not wish to worry you, princess.’

It goes quiet until I manage to push out a breath from my lungs and drag my gaze back up to Aeron. ‘Then why didn’t he go back?’

‘I’m not sure.’ His nostrils flare as he thinks about it. ‘I believe he is waiting for something – something that doesn’t just involve reversing his decaying looks.’

That puts a bitter taste in my mouth, but at least now I know. It means I am prepared to face Aurum again. ‘Thank you, Aeron.’ A tight-lipped smile. ‘For telling me this.’

With his hands clasped behind his back, he bows his head at me, but the doors suddenly burst open and I jump from my seat, already sensing something is wrong.

Freya has her arms out wide as she holds on to the wooden double doors. All she manages to say is ‘Nara,’ before I sprint out of the chamber without saying a word to Arlayna, Faye or Aeron.

I rush down to the prison cells, my heart beating louder than the stomps of my feet against the ground.

I skid to a halt outside Darius’s cell and go completely still.

He’s curled up on the floor, sweat glistening on his brow as he clenches the sides of his head. And through chafing gasps, he mutters, ‘Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three—’

Freya finally reaches the cells, her ringlets tousled from running.

She throws me the keys and I yell, ‘What happened?’ as I burst through the cell door and throw myself on the floor in front of Darius.

‘He—’ Freya stumbles on her words, panicked. ‘He was fine, but then—I—I felt this pain come from him and—’

‘. . . forty-four, forty-five, forty-six—’ Darius continues counting, and dread stabs at my stomach, seeing him in this state.

‘Go get Gus.’ I look over my shoulder, and when Freya doesn’t budge, I shout, ‘Now!’