Chapter Two

C HAPTER T WO

‘Why do you look so sad, Miss Nara?’ Tibith sits upon my knee, his paws patting the tears that are running down my cheeks. I’m leaning against the window ledge, my legs raised to my chest, a melancholy smile creeping across my lips. I’ve worked hard to maintain a cheerful attitude for Tibith all these months. I guess today is just one of those days where even carving into the wooden window frame does nothing to calm me.

‘Would you believe me if I said these were happy tears?’ I cough out a laugh, wishing it were true, as I fiddle with the coin necklace Darius gave me.

Tibith shakes his head, and his fur tickles my fingers when I run them through the sides of his face. ‘Y-you don’t need to lie to me, Miss Nara. Those are tears for Darry, aren’t they?’

I stroke his stomach to get a giggle out of him. ‘Have you always been this smart?’

He grins. ‘Darry has told many that I am a genius!’

A fist clenches around my heart, and I almost let out a whimper before I tamp it down.

Tibith notices the anguish in my expression and pouts. ‘He will come back, right, Miss Nara?’

That has been my only hope since I woke up here in Aeris.

‘When has he not?’ I whisper, smiling, before the door to my room opens, and I wipe my eyes with the sleeves of my tunic. My smile disappears, and I look over my shoulder at Freya. She walks up to the ledge, bunching her violet dress in her hands, and sits down. Tibith glances at her with a thrilled squeak and slides off my knee. We watch as he clambers onto the single bed and positions himself against the pillow, falling asleep within seconds.

‘I apologise for what happened during the meeting with Hira,’ Freya says. ‘We really have tried everything, Nara.’

I slowly turn my head to look at her, and though the corners of my lips lift, the smile feels broken. ‘I know that.’

Freya tilts her head, curls dangling from her updo as she stares at me like she understands that nothing is fine with me. We have spoken less since I arrived here. She busied herself with finding a way to help Darius while I occupied myself training with Gus. I have rarely seen Freya except when she showed me her new-found powers as a witch. Telekinesis comes naturally to her, like many of her kind. I suppose it goes hand in hand with other mind magic for witches and how in tune she is with my emotions.

I confess with a shaky breath, ‘I am just frustrated with it all. I mean, here I am, supposed to be this deity reincarnation who will bring life back to Zerathion, yet I am limited in what powers I have. The man who I am annoyingly in love with is locked away and . . . and I am letting him down each day I spend here without figuring out a way to get him out.’

‘Maybe this is how it had to be.’

Her response makes my lips fall and I frown.

‘They always say Solaris and Crello shared the skies,’ she explains. ‘But they were also separated until they were finally able to reunite. It sounds like you are living through that right now with Darius.’

‘But I didn’t ask for this.’

‘Then what did you ask for?’ The intensity of her gaze burrows deep into my soul. ‘The Nara I met would have told me that she is confident she is far better than Solaris.’

I stare back in silence and almost chuckle.

‘Let’s not forget you’ve broken hands, killed, talked back to my father when he was the General, and helped a dragon thief steal a pendant from the palace.’

My eyes suddenly sting with her words.

‘What happened, Nara? Because I know you and I know that all you have done these months is either act all tough just to torture yourself or busy yourself with writing who will be the first to die on your kill list.’ She raises her brows. ‘Aurum being number one.’ With a sigh, she says softly, ‘What would Darius say if he were here?’

I blink, looking at her like a child missing their mother. Images float inside my head. Darius’s golden eyes, his mischievous smile, and that stare he would hold me with that spoke a thousand love letters.

I am here .

I have a purpose .

I cannot and never will be daunted .

I press three fingers against my heart and whisper, ‘That it is okay to be vulnerable.’

Freya nods with vehemence and smiles. I shake my head and slide my legs off the ledge as I wrap my arms around Freya. ‘Solaris, how I have missed your encouraging words.’ I close my eyes as she rubs my back. ‘Every moment I was in Terranos, all I could think of was how wonderful you would find it. You don’t understand how much I needed you there with me.’

She separates from our embrace, clutching my face in her hands. ‘And I needed you at the den with me.’ She sighs, letting go and looking away briefly. ‘So much happened while you were gone. I—’

‘I know,’ I say to reassure her. ‘You don’t need to tell me—’

‘I kissed your brother,’ she blurts out, snapping her head back at me. ‘Idris.’

My eyes widen and, almost comically, all I can say is, ‘Oh.’

‘It’s been killing me not to be able to tell you all this time. I am so sorry, Nara. I mean, it didn’t mean anything. He can hardly look at me now and—’

I grab her hand before she can spiral into one of her panicked monologues. She looks at me grimly as if I am irritated with what she has done. She could not be more wrong. ‘Idris . . . is the hardest person someone can get through to. Trust me, I have had to live with it for twenty-two years of my life. But I have seen how he looks at you now for a long while, and if he is avoiding you right now, then he clearly does not realise how lucky he would be to have you, so don’t apologise. There is no need.’

A reflection of the moon shines in her hazel eyes as she takes in my words. A smile almost touches her lips, but it falters, and I wonder if there is more to it. Lately, I feel that something is on her mind, and she doesn’t want to let me know what it is, or maybe she can’t.

‘Nara, I—’ she starts, but the door to my room creaks open and Iker’s head pops through.

‘Oh, uh, I didn’t realise Freya was here. I’ll just leave—’

‘No, stay.’ Freya stands up, darting her gaze from Iker to me. ‘I need to go find Leira. She and Aelle wanted to teach me the differences between certain herbs. Apparently, star anise doesn’t help our psychic visions, although I have yet to have one.’ She laughs, and I want to tell her not to go, but she doesn’t give me a chance as she hurries past Iker and leaves the room.

Iker keeps glancing back at the door as if hoping Freya will reappear.

My brows draw into a frown, seeing how restless he is as he paces around and runs a hand through his short curls. ‘You never come into my room unless you want something, so what is it?’

He halts, turning to me with a bemused look. He lets out an incredulous laugh. ‘What if I wished to spend quality time with my little sister? We were apart for months—’ One raised-eyebrow look from me, and he sighs, dropping onto the edge of my bed. ‘Fine, you got me.’ A pause. ‘I need your help in ridding someone.’

Well, that is not what I expected, and by my reaction, Iker can also see the sudden worry.

‘Not in that sense,’ he amends quickly, and the rise in his voice has me shush him before he can wake Tibith up. ‘It is more of a forgetting your feelings situation.’

That does not make it any better.

Puffing my cheeks, I blow out a breath and lean forward. ‘Iker, I can’t even command any creatures as of lately. Solaris, it feels like I’ve lost everything! What makes you think I have the power to do something like that? And besides, making you forget someone isn’t exactly part of Solaris’s magic. You would likely have more luck with a witch or shifter than me.’

Iker inhales. Something is clearly bothering him.

‘Why do you want to forget your feelings towards someone?’ I wonder as to why, of all things, he desires this. For the entirety of my life, I have seen Iker only care for three things: writing, his siblings and using his trickster mind to outsmart villagers. This . . . This is different.

He looks at the palms of his hands and frowns like he wishes to devise a solution to the state he has found himself in lately. ‘It . . .’ He expels a restless breath, and his eyes snap to mine. ‘It would be easier that way.’

I have no response except to feel the same ache he must feel. Knowing I cannot help him the way he wants to be helped unravels a cord of devastation inside me. Iker may not have the same pride as Idris or the kindness Illias emits, but he does care. More often than not.

‘Look, forget I asked. It was stupid of me,’ he mutters as he gets up to leave, but I can’t help thinking I might know who this someone he wants to forget is.

‘Iker,’ I say before he can leave my chamber. Almost like he does not want to look my way, he hangs his head and takes a deep breath. ‘Does this person happen to be one of my friends?’

He hesitates for a moment. ‘Yes,’ he whispers before shutting the door behind him.

I sit back with the heaviness of that answer. I do not know every detail of what happened while I was away from my brothers, but if I am sure of one thing, it is that something must have occurred for Iker to desperately want to erase Freya from his mind.