Page 13 of Winds of Ruin
I hadn’t considered that.
And it didn’t make me feel better or worse.
“You didn’t used to sound so cynical about love,” I challenged her.
“Tides shift. And here we are,” she said, with a playful roll of her eyes.
I laughed and shook my head, glad she had been the one to discover the mirror’s power.
Elsedora crept up on you like a cool breeze on a sweltering day. She could make light of even the heaviest moments. Beneath that facade of levity, I guessed Caym had laid scars on her too.
I’d seen her posture change the day we left the amphitheater without the Moon-wielder who she’d loved. I’d walked away without a part of me, too. My relationship with the disreputable enchantress Firose had been both fleeting and confusing. She’d been my captor, my friend, my savior, my Source Match.
Elsedora cut through my racing reflections. “I don’t know exactly how this works, but I’m going to go bring your parents here. No one else, I promise. Stay, puppy.”
“Where else in the realms would I go?” I huffed, chuckling at the absurdity of my luck. She’d made such a miraculous discovery, and despite it changing nothing about the curse, themirror gave me a connection to the world that was not grim or coated with regret.
She smirked, her sun-kissed, freckled cheeks dimpling as she said, “Fair point. But try to stay… here.” She motioned in a circle at my reflection.
After setting the mirror down, she disappeared. I waited in the void for my loved ones.
To my surprise, I didn’t get pulled into the amber depths. My body sang with relief. For the first time in three years, Caym could not reach me to drag me to my next torment. I couldn’t feel his claws sinking into my mind or the heavy tug of his anger.
I held onto that state of being by thinking of all the questions I’d ask when she returned with my parents. I would do as she told me; I’d stay right here.
“Look for the brightest sides of your darkest days,” I whispered my mother’s favorite quip.
Today, that bright side came in the shape of a pretty, wild redhead willing to guard a secret.
Chapter 4
Elsedora
Itook the palace stairs in a bounding stride. My spirits lifted to the ceiling and built with each step.
I could give Emmerick his family back.
No tomb-raiding rush had ever lit my hopes this way. How many dreams had I had as a younger immortal about speaking with my mama or papa again?Countless.
I’d never deny someone such a chance, even if it meant withholding the truth from my friends. I burst through the doors into the rose garden; its abundant blooms filled the air with sweetness.
Emmerick’s adoptive parents visited him often. I’d run into them a few times—kind, hardworking, and loyal folk. They lived in one of the few cottages that stood within the palace walls. His father was the palace’s longest tenured groundskeeper, and his mother the head baker.
Sybilla had shared that Emmerick’s father had refused to retire, even after his son had worked his way to the rank ofConstable. Knowing that Emmerick inherited the riches of Helos had changed nothing. Leo still maintained his position and kept the gardens manicured to perfection.
I smiled, thinking about bringing them to the King’s bedchamber to speak with their son.
Rounding the path toward the east gates, I nearly slammed into Krait. He held a nowveryawake Lark, who grasped onto the flowers of an unruly lilac bush with a hearty giggle.
“Whoah,” he said as I steadied myself. “You’re on a mission. Where are you going?”
My cheeks heated. “Oh. Well…”
Krait’s brow furrowed.
A glow of pink, red, and deep burgundy roses adorned the walkway, and I watched a bee nestle into delicate petals.
What to tell him… what to tell him.
