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“What is this?” he asked, his brow dipping in a frown.
I searched his clear blue eyes, wanting approval and not knowing if I would receive any. “Ruslan asked if I would spend the rest of my life with him, and I accepted.”
“Do you think he is your mate now?” Zuriel inquired.
“I don’t know.” I whispered the thought I was afraid to share with the world. “What is it supposed to feel like? Does my Angel blood make it different?”
“Sit with me, and I will tell you everything you need to know.”
We sat cross-legged in front of each other in the center of the training ring. I chewed my lip, waiting for Zuriel to begin. He pulled a chain from an inner pocket of his jacket, a small amethyst pendant dangling from the necklace. “Your motherknew she would die after you were born after what she witnessed with Ithuriel. She came to me the night before she departed, asking me if there was a way to leave a message for you. With the help of one of the Mages, we cast her memories and thoughts into this stone. I have been waiting to give this to you until the moment you began leaning firmly one way or the other with your decision.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, freezing as butterflies filled my chest at the promise of hearing from my mother, even if it was only her memory.
What would she have to say?
My mind began spinning over all the endless possibilities, lifted on the wings of excitement and curiosity. Without thought, I reached for the stone, but Zuriel’s hand wavered, and I paused.
“There is something else I must tell you.” My cousin glanced away from me, shaking his head slightly, then returned his attention to me. Zuriel had always had this air of knowing about him, as if he’d seen more than anyone else could possibly imagine and he knew more than he was willing to reveal, and this moment felt like it was poised on the precipice of life and death itself, though I couldn’t discern why.
“I was there when the Goddess’s Prophecy was spoken.”
My jaw went slack at his revelation.
“You know from our lessons and your books that our continents used to be one, millennia ago. The Angels have always held the closest ties to the Goddess, the Crystal Fae second. That time in our history, the Age of Prophecy, was violent, turbulent, and chaotic as the continents drifted apart, and language has changed since then. In the original prophecy, the language spoke of not one, but two mates.”
I could not breathe.
“The Fates are fickle, and the future is always uncertain, butwe are at a pivotal moment in the history of our world – one you will play a major part in. Yourchoicein mate will determine the outcome.”
“But how do I know who to choose?” My eyes and chest burned as air became trapped in my lungs. Suddenly the space was far too small, my body far too numb, my breath far too fast. My head spun in the opposite direction of the room, and I flattened myself on the floor, hoping for a reprieve from the spinning.
“Breathe with me.” Zuriel’s blurred form appeared above me, grasping my hand and squeezing to ground me. His nostrils flared, and I mimicked his motion, bringing air into my lungs, then releasing it through my mouth at the same time he did.
“There you go, follow me.” We inhaled longer, then hummed together as we exhaled, and the room spun less. We repeated the breath five more times before all was still. With my free hand, I wiped the wetness from my face and Zuriel hauled me upright, sitting in front of me with his hands on my knees. “Are you alright now?”
He enveloped me in a hug after I nodded, and I buried my face in his heavenly scent. Zuriel was my teacher, my cousin, and my friend, and I’d grown to trust the male over our weeks spent together. “Zuriel, I’m scared. It’s all too much…”
“I know you are. But you are strong, stronger than you know – stronger than me. You are brave to fight for yourself each and every day, even when it is hard. You are bold, and you want to make the world a better place, despite the world’s cruelty to you. Take your fear and harness it into doing what you think is right. You know your heart, and you stick to your values – almost to a fault. Whatever choice you make will be the right one.”
I climbed from his embrace to cross my legs in front of him once more. “Does Ruslan know?”
The Angel shook his head, his white hair falling in front of his face. “I have held this secret since I was brought to this continent and realized what their intentions were.” He held the necklace out to me, a little piece of the mother I never knew, and my heart panged as I accepted it, brushing a thumb over the purple stone. “Once you put this on, you will fall into her memories. If you want to do it now, I will watch over you.”
I wanted it more than anything. With a shaky breath, I grasped either side of the chain, pulling it over my head, and the amethyst settled against my breastbone. Zuriel faded from view, and suddenly, I was standing in the courtyard of Ryza Citadel.
“Queen Liessa!”A white-haired male shouted for me over the buzz of activity in the courtyard, a horse nearly crushing him as he glided to my side. I looked around for my husband, but he was thankfully absent. He would not take kindly to another male speaking to me unchaperoned.
“Yes?” I responded when the male stood in front of me, breathless and wide-eyed. His long white hair was pulled firmly atop his head, the tautness revealing sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw. He was built like a warrior, strong and lean, so unlike my overindulgent husband.
“It’s you…” he murmured, taking a tentative step toward me. His hand stretched over the space between us, seemingly of its own accord. The smooth palm found my face, but I did not flinch as I stared into his gemstone-like eyes, sparkling and captivating in their ethereal beauty.
An invisible thread pulled us together, and I found myself dismounting and staring up at the male, as if the hands of the Goddess pushed us toward each other and the whims of the Fates determined this moment. “Who are you?”
“I am Ithuriel.” His voice was like honey drizzled over a warm spring day.
We were a breath from each other. A small part of the back of my mind reminded me of the consequences of being seen, but my entire focus was on Ithuriel. He consumed me, body, mind, and soul in that moment.
“What is this?” I whispered, unable to break his gaze.
