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Ronan stops, leaving a decent amount of distance between our entourage and the king. I'm not sure if it's due to protocol or because like me, Ronan doesn't trust Armas Basilius nearly enough to go a step further. He bows at his hip, showing the wrinkled Frost Elf respect. "Tronovia thanks you for your generous hospitality and long-standing friendship." Ronan's voice has changed in cadence, and I recognize his casual versus formal tones mirror my own. "We are honored to spend Levanora with you."
Armas' icy gaze brushes over Ronan's sling before taking in each member of our group. When his sights finally settle on me, a dark eyebrow raises. "Kin of yours, Prince Ronan?"
"My cousins have travelled with me," Ronan motions toward our group with his one uninjured arm. "Atlas, Finn, Nyx and Freya Harland, and my dear friend – "
"Aurelia?"
A woman seated beside the disinterested male Frost Elf stands from her seat. When I turn to observe her, I realize her grey eyes are pinned to mine and the air seems to have been sucked out of the room entirely. The other Frost Elves tense and even the lazy one beside her sits up straight, his attention now fixed on me with keen interest.
"Pardon?" I respond when she takes a step toward me.
"Aurelia." Tears glisten in her hopeful gaze, "Is it really you?"
"I'm sorry," I shake my head. "My name isn't Aurelia, it's Shaye. Ilaria Shaye Kitarni."
A few gasps and hushed whispers circulate around the room. Feeling as if someone is glaring at me, I dare a glance at the Frost King who stiffens when our eyes meet. He pales, looking as if he's just seen a ghost. As the woman approaches me, the brothers close in around me, cutting off any direct access. There's something that seems oddly familiar about her, and Enver Sol's presence propels me to go to her.
"I will never stop looking for you." The voice from my dreams echoes in my head, and it finally clicks that she's the woman who has plagued my sleep for weeks.
"You," I whisper, circumventing my protectors.
"You were taken when you were just a few months old," she says. "I've spent the last twenty years searching for you. I never gave up the hope that one day, I would find you, and here you are."
"That's not possible…"
"There's a connection between us. Surely, you've felt it, too." The woman stands a few feet from me and by the twitching of her hands, I know she's restraining herself from touching me. "My Aurelia had a red birthmark. It's small and would go unnoticed by most people. It was on the back of her neck and looked like a cluster of stars."
I stop at that. Most of my life, I've looked like a Midorian, but even then, I wouldn't be able to tell on my own if I have such a birthmark. "Freya," I call for Eris, and with just mentioning her name, my request is made known. She quickly makes her way to me, throws my hair over my shoulder and checks the back of my neck. I feel her hands still and before she can verbally confirm or deny the woman's claims, I already know it's true.
Eris steps beside me and nods. "It's there," she whispers.
My attention snaps back to the woman and I watch a tear slip down her cheek. "Who are you?"
"My name is Sylvane Basilius-Sol." She smiles and my heart beats faster. "I'm your mother."
Basilius is the ruling house of the Frost Elves, meaning if she's my mother, I'm not only a Frost Elf, but of royal blood. It's then I register how she identified herself.
"Sol? As in Enver Sol?" The question comes out shaky, and when she nods, my stomach flips.
Sylvane rolls her shoulders back and stands straighter. With pride beaming in her eyes, she says, "You are Aurelia Basilius-Sol. You are the daughter of Sylvane Basilius and Enver Sol, and you've finally come home."
Thirty
Shaye
Idon't remember passing out, but from what Finn tells me while he patches up the bump on my head, after Sylvane told me my true name, I squeaked softly before falling flat on my face. A great first impression for sure, especially knowing House Basilius is known for being of strong mind and in control of their emotions.
Under Finn's strict orders, I am to be left undisturbed so I can rest and let the pain medicine kick in, supplanting the splitting headache launching an unrelenting assault on me.
I welcome the privacy to take in the gorgeous bedroom I was assigned for the duration of our stay here in Elowen. Set before a large glass window that takes up the entire back wall, my room has a round bed with a golden headboard and a beautiful view of the kingdom below. Two nightstands with lamps are positioned on either side of the mattress and a star-shaped chandelier dangles above me, illuminating the spacious chambers. The walls and ceiling are painted a deep blue that reminds me of the starry night sky. There are white tufted sheets, a mountain of blue pillows varying in shapes and sizes, and a velvet throw blanket draped over the bed. Gold trim on the walls reflect light, giving me the feeling of being trapped inside a flickering star. It's cozy and otherworldly, and it's a place I could find myself staying, not wishing to be disturbed by the outside world. Along one wall, there's a four-draw dresser and giant gold framed mirror flanking the archway into a luxurious bathroom that houses a deep porcelain bathtub, which I foresee myself soaking in nightly before bed.
Not thirty minutes after Finn leaves me to rest, there's a knock on the door to my right leading to the main hallway.
"Come in," I say, but no one enters. Instead, the knocking commences once more in the same rhythmic pattern.
"I said, come in," I say louder, thinking the visitor just didn't hear my first greeting.
But a third round of knocking persists, forcing me to drag my weary body from the soft bed and shuffle to the door. I swing it open, expecting to see one of my friends – or my birthmother – but it's none of them. It's the male Frost Elf I saw in the throne room, the one seated closest to the Frost King. He is much taller than I anticipated him being, easily towering over Nyx by two or three inches. He flicks his gaze up and down my body with no shame for the intrusion.
