Crown of Flames and Ash (Courts of Aetheria #2)

Chapter 51

Chapter Fifty-One

A elia

Drawing in slow, deep breaths I focused on the shifting clouds in the sky, anything but the dreaded words I’d just spoken or the male sitting in front of me. I had barely begun to process the spectral sight of my mother, but the moment I breathed the words aloud it made them real. Reign eyed me warily, as if I’d left behind my senses in that dreaded forest.

“Aelia, you know that was part of the challenge… voices from the past meant to deceive.”

“Or guide.” I stood in front of Reign who still reclined against the grassy knoll. “The headmaster clearly said guide or deceive.”

His shadows curled around the back of my legs, drawing me closer. Their icy touch awakened every nerve ending in their wake. “But they aren’t real. They are mere hallucinations created by the brightest minds at the Conservatory.”

“How do you know?” I bit out, ignoring the influx of sensations from those ghostly little fingers. “Can you say with absolute certainty that the shadowed, spectral form I saw wasn’t my mother?”

Those dark tentacles wrapped around my legs, moving higher, urging me ever closer. I wasn’t even certain Reign realized he was doing it. “Shadowed?” he blurted.

I nodded, begrudgingly.

“It’s true, then, your mother was Shadow Fae just like—” His jaw slammed shut, the crack reverberating across the quiet clearing.

“Just like what?”

“Just like I am…” His aura darkened, those shadows slithering across his form in a weak attempt to conceal the obvious. “Which explains the cuorem bond.”

“You’re lying to me again, Reign,” I hissed and staggered back.

He leapt up and curled his fingers around my wrist before I could get away. “I am not lying, I am Shadow Fae, am I not?”

“But that wasn’t what you were going to say.” I rose onto my tiptoes, glaring up at him. “You swore to me you’d never lie again.”

“What does it matter now?” His jaw tensed, his eyes, dark as midnight, ablaze with a tumultuous storm. “You’ve made your choice, clear as daybreak. You chose the fate of the entire gods’ forsaken realm over us, over me .” Reign’s voice was a serrated whisper, slicing through the tense air between us. “You rejected me as your mate, so why must I uphold my end of the bargain?”

“That’s not what happened!” The words tore from me, raw and desperate, as emotions roiled between us, stealing the very breath from my lungs. “You asked me to run, Reign, to abandon all. That was the one thing I couldn’t do. My heart never swayed; I never stopped wanting you, loving you with every part of my soul. You are my everything—my heart’s only choice.”

Gods, how did we always end up here?

I pressed my lips into a firm line, gritting my teeth to prevent further spillage of monumental declarations.

“I went to see Aidan after we returned from Mysthallia.” Reign’s voice was a harsh whisper, laced with the same emotion constricting my airways. “I made a vow not to repeat what he told me; not to you, not to anyone.”

“He told you ?”

“Only after he rais ed the truth out of me about the cuorem bond.”

I swallowed down the lump growing in my throat. “Oh, stars, he knows about us?”

“Yes, which is why he rewarded me with the knowledge of your mysterious origins. He claimed that, as your cuoré, it was my turn to bear the burden of truth.”

“Tell me!”

“I cannot, and before you ask, you know why. I am blood bound. I physically cannot tell you what he said.”

“But he told you my mother was Shadow Fae?”

A barely perceptible nod, so faint I could have imagined it, except the sweat beading on his brow confirmed the strength it took for him to defy the vow, even in such a minimal way.

“So that means my father was Light Fae.” A child of twilight, born from the dance of light and dark . I paced a quick circle, my mind buzzing in time with my footfalls. “And what of the zar ?”

“I know nothing of zar .”

At least I knew that part had to be true if he spoke it out loud, otherwise the vow would have forbidden it.

“Do you know anything else?”

The tendon in his jaw flickered but his lips remained still. There had to be more, but the damned vow was prohibiting him from speaking it. And without knowing what to ask, I would be going in blind. There was also the possibility that Aidan hadn’t imparted all the information he knew, only bits and pieces to quell Reign’s suspicions. My adoptive father was a wise old Fae, and he’d keep my family’s secret to heart if he’d gone to such lengths for all these years to protect it.

I glanced across the hills to the east where our old cottage stood, not more than a half-day’s journey on foot. I needed to talk to Aidan, to finally discover the truth. If he’d told Reign, then why didn’t I deserve to know?

“You cannot go now,” Reign murmured. “We are in the middle of the Umbral Trials.”

“Can’t you give me a special dispensation as my mentor?”

He slowly shook his head, something like regret in the rounding of his broad shoulders. “I am certain Aidan will tell you when the time is right.”

I hissed out a curse, blaming all the gods and fates. I’d had enough of the lies, of the males in my life trying to protect me. It was time to ensure my own safety.

A loud boom to the south spun my head over the grassy peaks to the border of the Wilds. Reign’s dark gaze followed mine, eyes intent on the hills and sparse forest that created a natural boundary between the two regions. Then another explosion and another, rapid fire. The ground trembled beneath my feet, sending my arms shooting out for balance.

A prickle of energy surged across my skin, the likes of which I’d never encountered. It wasn’t the bright sunshine of rais , nor the dark void of nox , or even the smokey signature of lys I’d experienced in Mysthallia. But whatever it was had every tiny hair on my body standing at attention. “What was that ?” I whisper-hissed.

“I’m not certain, princess, but we will not stand here waiting to find out.” Reign’s hand settled on the small of my back. “Come, it’s time to go, surely all the initiates must have returned by now.” He nudged me in the direction of the forest where the rest of the first-years were still gathered.

As we hurried across the clearing, my thoughts flew to Heaton and the other fourth-years deployed to the conflict along the border. Was Heaton out there fighting? Was he okay? And more importantly, would he return before the end of the term as promised?

Please, Raysa, keep him safe.

A desperate swirl of misgivings wrestled in my core as we strode toward the remainder of Flare team. From the looks of it, everyone had made it out, thank the gods. Rue and Symon encircled me, their beaming smiles settling some of the unease swirling inside me.

Had they not felt the quake? Apparently not, as everyone milled around the edge of the forest as if nothing had happened, including the two kings. There was no point in worrying Rue right now. Perhaps, I’d ask one of the professors about it later.

When Liora crept closer to join the circle, I offered a faint smile, her presence not as bothersome now. Belmore cast a glance in my direction as my friends gushed about the trial, and instead of the typical hateful sneer, a faint smile lingered on his lips. Ariadne followed his line of sight, a confused expression pinching her heart-shaped face, but Belmore’s smile only grew wider.

And gods, it felt good.

For the first time in a while, I’d done something I was truly proud of. I’d taken the first step in bridging the divide within Flare Squad. I only hoped the truce wouldn’t prove temporary, and with Lucian and Kian gone, it felt like a very real possibility. With unequivocal certainty, I knew that whatever was unfolding across the border would demand a joint effort. Our success would hinge upon not only a unified Light Fae contingency, but also an alliance with our Shadow Fae counterparts.

I could almost feel a shift, the wheels of fate spinning and grinding forward, an inexorable force altering our future.