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“Who would you trust? Those who told you of the sister, or of the princess?”
I didn’t even have to think of the answer. That, I knew.
Even now I could see my Da’s sun-battered face as he whispered the story to Lily and I. I could see Lily’s smile as she thought of the princess who was to rescue us from the frightening world that we were trapped in.
In the end no one saved her. No one but me.
The image of her happiness blended with the pain of her sinking into the waves, the joy mixing with the pain in a terrible knot that made my magic scream and roar beneath my skin. I swallowed, tightening my jaw as I pushed it all back in that dark pit where it belonged.
“You shouldn’t do that, you know.” Ryndle whispered as though he was afraid to be overheard. Something about the tone put me on high alert and I turned.
“Do what?” I was snarling, even the lilies flickered at the tone of my voice.
“Push them away.” Ryndle didn’t flinch, even as I growled and took a step closer. “Your sister, your mother, they want to be with you. Let them be. Pain and loss can be scary, but hiding from it never helped anyone. You are brave enough to face the end of the world, Caspyn. You are brave enough to take them with you on the journey.”
He clapped his hand on my arm, and for once I didn’t move away. I didn’t growl as the forest fell away. The Lightens camp fell back into place, a different meadow appearing around them.
“Let them be there when you take that step on your journey to avenge them. Let them be there to help,” Ryndle continued as we stood amidst the camp, everyone unpacking wagons and setting the camp the same as they had every night. Ziah waved from the other side of the circle of wagons, Lyani stopping to stare.
“They cannot help,” I said, that snarl of pain seeping through my voice. “They are dead.”
“They can help, but that depends on how you take them with you,” Ryndle’s hand was warm on my shoulder as he turned me, both of us facing toward the gap in the wagons, to a large ornate camp that was popping up on the far side of the meadow that we were camped in.
The Queen’s caravan, and beyond that, the bulbous tops of the white stone barely visible in the trees, The Temple of the Sister.
“Find the princess, but be sure of which one you seek before you act. Your path is waiting, Caspyn Light Bringer.”
I didn’t even correct him that time, I just stood, staring at the wagons that even from there glittered in a sparkling glow that I could feel in my skin. The glow of a dozen different powers.
“You promised me answers, Ryndle,” I growled, looking away from that pull to snarl at him.
“I did, but I fear that for many answers you will need to see for yourself. They are hidden in all the magic that you feel thrumming through you. Go. See what is hidden there, use that magic that has been hidden in your blood this whole time. Your magic, Sypher.” He said the word as though it was powerful, instead of the disgust I had heard before. The strength of it rumbled through me as he stepped away, smaller, lighter footsteps coming up after him.
“Welcome back, Caspyn.” There wasn’t a hint of Lyani’s usual sass in her voice. I turned, her and Ziah standing there, a large wrapped bundle perched in her arms.
“Welcome home.” Ziah was beaming as he folded back the fabric on top of the parcel, revealing the black fabric and leathers folded there. The belt and sheathes for my blades were folded around the clothes, waiting for me.
“Come back in one piece, this time.” Lyani whispered as Ziah turned to run after Ryndle, her own steps faltering as though she was to follow.
“Don’t say it like that, Lyani, or one might start to think that you care about me.” I stopped her with a smile and a wink. She looked as though she was one breath away from hitting me.
“Don’t let that big head of yours get too inflated, Caspyn.” She fixed me with that no nonsense stare of hers as she backed away. She was clearly trying to hide that smile that I saw peeking its way out of the corner of her mouth. A hidden grin, more beautiful than any I had seen.
“I don’t want to waste my time putting you back together, Caspyn.” The tiny pull of a grin widened, her face lighting up as the air fled from my lungs, the warmth I usually felt from her bathing the air around me. Bathing me.
“If that’s what you have to tell yourself, Lyani,” I whispered, forcing the words out through the tightness in my chest, well aware I wasn’t the only one lying to myself in that moment.
Chapter 42
Caspyn
It felt good to be in my leathers again, to be clad in the heavy fabrics of my tunic and breeches, for the long cape to be flowing behind me. I was little more than a shadow as I stalked through the meadow, growing closer and closer to the camp where all of that warm heat and tingling sensations were pulling me forward, where the tents were popping in jewel bright color against the pitch.
The magic of fíra. Or so I had been told when I was a boy working in the Runturin a lifetime ago, training my magic in secret and preparing to end the queen. My fire had never acted the way those who held fíra had, however. Fíra wielders could be destructive, yes, but when I saw fíra used by a Requisite, through a Catalyst, it was always muted, slower. My fire had never been the calm that so many fíra welders in the Ramal’s army had.
Possibly because I used mine for more than lighting lanterns and the occasional sparring match.
Those bright pops of colors grew more vibrant the closer I stalked toward the camp, the voices from the army that had been stationed at intervals around the camp carrying over to me.
