Page 98 of The Last Guardian

“We’d been tricked,” Zaidkiel seethed. “A few corrupted Oralys had helped my father escape decades before. My father took his time to gather power and soldiers to take the throne from us. And this time, my mother wasn’t strong enough to stop him. When I arrived, she was already dead. Soldiers hanged her on the castle gates, naked, lacerations carved on every inch of her flesh.”

A cold shudder swept through my body as I watched Zaidkiel. His eyes darkened with a mix of emotions I knew too well: anger, guilt, sorrow. An urge to reach for him tickled my fingers—yet I didn’t. Instead, I curled my hand against my chest.

“I had no choice but to find Nefeli and escape as soon as possible.” Zaidkiel paused for a moment. His nostrils flared; his hand tightened so hard around his glass. “I found her in her bedroom surrounded by soldiers I knew too well. Surani soldiers who had been at my father’s side for decades. They had beaten and raped her in turn, so violently that she lost consciousness.”

I flinched at his words. Zaidkiel’s jaw tightened, and he sipped his wine; his knuckles turned white.

What they had done to his mother, his sister, to their home. The atrocity they witnessed and lived. How could they still have the will to live, to laugh?

My mouth talked before I could control it, my voice cold as stone. “I hope they suffered.”

Zaidkiel’s eyes darkened when they met mine. His voice carried vengeance and wrath as he said with a cold smile. “I burned them all.”

He said the words with a sort of control only retaliation could bring. And I didn’t need to ask. Zaidkiel had taken his time and real pleasure burning them to ashes.

Zaidkiel breathed loudly and said, “Eirlys helped us flee a second time, but this time, she stayed in Keraneeth. She gave us an amulet imbued with her power for us to pass through the border unnoticed. We returned to Lys and lived under the protection of the new lord of Kaenington, who had been a child when we last saw him. They all knew who and what we were, but they always treated us like family, and we took their names. One of his descendants named me commander of the Southern Legion twenty years ago. To justify my presence for the cause to save the Guardians.”

A silence fell.

My heart broke for them, for all they had lost. For all they had endured to get here. Chased from their homeland by their own father.

“Your father, is he still the emperor now?”

Zaidkiel nodded. “I learned that night that he had orchestrated everything the moment he met my mother, with the Oralys. To marry my mother, to become emperor. To control more lands and people.” An icy rage flashed through his green eyes. “He’s unaware of our presence here now. It’s been almost a century since we’ve been here.”

Lost Heir, Kraktos had said.

A little spark lit up in his eyes, and I added, “Do you want to take back the throne?”

“I want to shatter the Empire—all of them—and let the rightful heirs rule their kingdoms as they shall,” he said. “But, no, I don’t want to take back the throne. My home is no longer here.”

I added, “But you are the rightful heir of Evadrith.”

Zaidkiel’s eyes darkened. “The crown of Evadrith was never meant for me; it was supposed to belong to my brother. My father must fall, but not so that I may reign.”

Another bolt of lightning flashed in the black sky.

“If not you, then who’s going to take the throne once you shatter the empires?” I asked in a low voice.

“My mother’s oldest brother will be a fine king; this place deserves better than another ruler like my father.”

“Because you think you’ll be like him?” I snorted.

He didn’t answer my question, though. Instead, Zaidkiel said, “Being king is not one of my desired accomplishments, Princess. I have fought for peace my entire life and still do today.” He leaned against the table, his forearm against the wood, and whispered, “If I am lucky to live long enough to know peace, it will not be to spend it ruling.”

THE RAIN HAD finally stopped beating down when we finished our dinner; our conversation had been less animated after Zaidkiel finished his story. He left the room shortly afterward to give me privacy to freshen up, change my clothes, and get into bed.

It was only a couple of hours later that he returned. I was already beneath the sheets, feigning sleep and trying my best not to move, when I felt his weight on the other side of the bed.

The moon was high in the sky, its rays the only light in the room. The stars shimmered like diamonds on a black canvas, filled with serene darkness.

My thoughts swirled around in my head, trying my best to think about everything except the fact that he was sleeping inches away from me.

Zaidkiel’s breath shuddered through the mattress, my blood begging me to gaze in his direction for a second—I didn’t.

With a soft exhale, I reached for the relic in my pocket—the tiny relic cold against my palm, flipping it with my fingers, turning it over and over, as if it could reveal the answers to all my questions.

If the relic could help me master the Void and pass the Threshold more easily, maybe I would recover from my memory loss soon. The hope escalating inside me coursed as violently as a thunderstorm lashing everything in its path.