Page 129 of This Shattered Star

“Explain the rest. The whole truth. And help me get my supposed magic back. What is rightfullymine.Teach me to wield it, to hone it better than any blade or weapon. Only then do I want to go back.”

I spun in a slow demi-circle, ensuring to meet each of their gazes. Blazing fury and stony determination stared back. Mirroring what boiled in my blood.

“I want to end every last person responsible for who did this to me.”

“Maverick will never allow us to run rampant around his kingdom. He will fight back,”Theia warned.

“Then we bring him to his knees. And raze his kingdom to the ground.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

It took all but a minute for Kodhan to help me find a seat in the spot right above Theia’s wings.

Herwings.It still felt like I was dreaming. Like my mind still could not grasp what was right in front of me.

And then we were airborne. Though my stomach remained far below, buried in the ground after jumping up and out of my throat.

Kodhan bore no signs of wings of his own. Instead, he claimed the same spot by Brannon’s wings, the duo gliding next to us as we covered miles of nothing but trees, hills, and mountains that bent and sloped the further we flew.

The four of us travelled in silence, which proved to be a small mercy. I needed the quiet, and the time to sort out my thoughts.

To sort out where the truth lay in so many masterfully woven lies and secrets.

I was so engrossed in the chaos churning in my head that I failed to notice the twinkling stars above dimming into inexistence, giving way to hues of persimmon and periwinkle lining the northern horizon like spilled paint.

A bright orb emerged moments later, stealing my attention at last.

It appeared as a mere sliver at first. But continued to rise until I could no longer look at it, its shape engrained behind my eyelids while tears leaked down my face.

“What is that,” I gasped, trying and failing to keep my eyes open. Between each blink, color—vivid unlike any I’d ever seen—consumed my entire vision. “Ithurts.”

Theia roared underneath me, her entire body vibrating with the sound. Brannon immediately followed suit. But it was joyous. Celebratory.

“That, my darling, is the sun,” Kodhan beamed. “Or theSunstaras you call it. And you will go blind if you keep trying to look at it like that.” His laugh was almost as warm as the bright rays pouring over my face. A melody I still could never get enough of.

“How is this possible? Orthil, he—”

“Fought Maverick, yes. But that is the extent of it. The sun has remained in the sky, untouched and forever burning bright.”

Another piece of information that wrought an ache between my temples. And I was getting a sinking feeling that it would not be the last.

I swiped at the tears that continuously spilled down my cheeks. “Then if Orthil never absorbed its power like they say, why does Aedreath live in darkness?”

“Because Maverick wanted it to be that way.”

The remaining contents in my gut turned to lead.

“The Veil does act as a wall between Aedreath and what lay beyond, but it remains a figment made purely of his magic. He can pick and choose how it appears. What it lets through. Even sunlight.”

This time I let the tears run freely. “For the entirety of his reign, since the creation of the Veil… it was his doing?” Kodhan nodded once. “But for what reason would he plague his own kingdom with eternal night?”

His expression sobered, the lines around his mouth going taught. “We have guesses, but we don’t know for certain. It islikely a permanent form of punishment for those residing in Aedreath.”

“Or he might’ve thought the sun too harsh on the leather of his shoes,” Brannon mused.

“Either way, he’s never seemed inclined to change his mind.”

“And the flashing colors? Are they not residual traces of the Sunstar—thesun’spower?”