Page 30 of The Starlight Savior

The facts of her childhood had been so concrete. She was the daughter of Oscar and Emery Nerestel, an accustomed blacksmith and seamstress from Oswan. She spent most of her early childhood outdoors. Pulling weeds in her mother’s garden. Striding through the meadows with her hand tightly grasped in her father’s. It was unimaginable that magic could live in one or either of their veins. Her mother made offerings to the Earth God, carving sigils into doorways for bountiful health and safety. But the majority of Brevillians worshipped Terrus and Silva, the God of Animals.

No strand of memory led to this conclusion. All the evidence seemed to live here. The woman sitting next to her, the king glowering down at her, the enchanting man who would not stop staring. They all seemed to be proof of her naiveness.

“Saige.”

Eva stood beside her now. People had begun to leave the dining hall, the king’s court already gone to their quarters. She hadn’t noticed the shift around her, too absorbed by the smothering feeling of all she never knew.

“It’s time to return to your quarters.”

She mustered a nod. Standing slowly, she gripped the edge of the wooden table. It was carefully crafted and stained, a work of art. Judith would’ve appreciated it.

She wondered what her caregiver was doing now. Anytime she or Althea popped in her mind, she’d drive the thoughts away. No use in worrying about what she couldn’t control. But the memories of Brevil were the only thing keeping her tethered now.

Eva led her from the dining hall onto the main floor. A witch in armor trailed behind them, hand lingering on her blades. The wielder’s stares burned holes into her skin, whispers straining her ears. The whole capital would now know of Saige Nerestel, the girl from Brevil who knew nothing of her family, of her lineage, of the power that possessed her.

When they approached the familiar door of her confinement, she reached for the knob.

“We must speak.” Eva grabbed hold of Saige’s arm.

She flinched at the sudden touch, tugging her arm against her chest. “There is nothing to speak about,” Saige said, despite all the answers she longed for. If her mother and father were here, they’d be the ones explaining what her life had meant. Who she’d grown up with.

Not this witch.

“Gods,” Eva breathed out, “Your father was right. You are quite stubborn.”

“How am I supposed to trust you? A stranger that has walked into my life claiming that my father was a warlock? That he lied about every sliver of our life? You expect me to let my walls down when they have been up since his throat was cut.”

Eva stumbled back, her cheeks losing the rosy color that had lit up her face. She took a step back and then another. “W-What did you just say?” she whispered.

Saige’s shoulders collapsed as she took in the defeated look on Eva’s face. “I’m sorry…I-I didn’t know you didn’t…”

Eva shook her head. “I knew something happened to him…but it hurts to hear the truth of it all. His letters stopped coming, and we finally found you in Denholm, the daughter he had always written about. The glimpses of power he had seen in you, but clearly didn’t teach.” Eva laughed under her breath, gaze fixed on the floor. Her hands were shaking at her side. “I didn’t know he had been…Gods, we all knew how much he loved you and Emery. It was what kept him in Brevil, despite the danger—”

“Stop,” Saige choked out. Tears spilled onto her cheeks. She could not hear any more of the man who Eva knew. They were separate from the father who had raised her, keeping her safe and healthy.

Eva finally looked up. “You have his eyes.”

“So do you,” Saige admitted.

Eva began to cry softly, her irises turning a deeper shade of blue. “Please,” she begged, “let me tell you everything. It would make so much sense if you knew.”

Saige sighed. Her heart felt like it was going to split open, all the aching love and pain spilling out onto the floor. The question was not if she wanted to know everything. Of course she did. But could she handle it?

“If you put the cuffs back on, then yes.” Saige’s fingernails dug into her palm. “If not, then I don’t think I’d be able to…control myself.”

Eva smiled through the tears splattering her lips and pulled Saige into her quarters.

Chapter 15

Silence lingered between Saige and Eva as they sat by the window, gazing at the stars. The twinkle in the sky was brighter than she had ever seen. It was alluring to observe magic intertwining with the simple wonders of the world. The flow of a river, the brightness of the moon, the crackle of wildfires. It was difficult to understand how Brevil could close their borders to such beauty. But the cool cuffs confining her were a harsh reminder.

“Where should we begin?” Eva said to herself. Her knee bounced furiously between them, fingers trembling in her lap. The buzz of anger had simmered down to a dull throb. Saige was ready to hear everything.

“Well,” Saige said, heart beating fast, “w-who truly was my father?”

Eva’s glassy eyes swelled at her question. Her frown deepened as her gaze fell back to her shaking hands. “I’m sorry.” She sighed. “It’s quite strange to hear you speak of him, my brother, in past tense. He left Athalos many moons ago, and yet we speak of Oscar as if his lungs still draw breath.”

“I understand,” Saige said. In the crevices of her mind, her father and mother’s hearts beat strong. Anytime she awoke to the glow of the rising sun, the stomp of her father’s soot covered boots and her mother’s hums echoed around her. Reminiscences of her dreams.