Page 151 of Blood of Ancients

Chapter 41

Ravinica

LADY ELAYINA BEGANher slow walk out of the Runesphere room, leaving the rest of us lost and gawking.

I hurried after her, my wings nearly pulling me back to the ground. “Wait—what?!”

My mates were close behind, Corym the most distraught at this abrupt news. “Anvari,what is the meaning of this? We’ve only just returned you to Alfheim!”

She waved us off like we were nagging children, the short elf sighing to herself. “It is what must come next, I’m afraid. I have spoken withMaltorVaalnath already, and they understand. The odyssey-grounds have already been prepared, visitor.”

“You look and act perfectly hale!” Corym argued, throwing up his arms. Outside the corridor, once we were back in the larger hall and Elayina had locked the door behind us with her magic, Corym put a hand on her shoulder. “Please, reconsider,Anvari.This is madness.”

Elayina stopped, glancing at Corym’s hand on her shoulder with a scowl. He removed it, and she turned to us, craning her neck to look at everyone in their eyes, finishing with me and then Corym. “Appearances are deceiving, Corym E’tar. These bones are brittle. This vessel is old. Much too old to still be walkingamong the waken—even for an elf. I require rest.Premanentrest, so I may continue my journey to the golden shores.”

I bit back a retort, opening and closing my mouth fruitlessly. There was determination on her face. It was something I couldn’t argue with. I knew that look.

She sighed at Corym’s sad, handsome face. “I am grateful for your assistance in breaking me out of my prison. I was never meant to die in Midgard, visitor. But I was also not meant to live here any longer than necessary.”

She turned to walk away, and then scoffed at her own words, waving a hand. “Oh, don’t look so dour. The discovery of Ravinica’s origins has been revealed. The Lightbearer is among us. This is a great day, friends.”

I shook my head, sidling up next to her. “But . . . I still have so many questions.”

She looked over with an impish wink. “Then you’d better hurry, lass.”

With my mind spinning all over again, I tried to find the most pertinent inquiries in my mind, among the fog of confusion and dismay.

I started with, “How will I find my father?”

“If he is still alive, I have a sneaking suspicionhewill findyou, now that you’ve unveiled yourself. If he doesn’t”—she scoffed again, derisively—“then he was never that important after all, now was he?”

She made a good point. Would he be able tofeelthis change in me? How did that work? Did it even matter? There was always the chance my father, whoever he was, was inconsequential to everything going on. After all, the bastard had abandoned me and my mother.

Elayina’s answer only opened up more questions.

She added, “I daresay there is a finer source than any other in that regard.”

I quirked an eyebrow, forcing my thoughts silent and my racing heart to mellow.

“Your mother. Have you not asked her?”

“Of course I have!” It had been years since the last time I’d brought up my father. “She refuses to answer, shutting down.”

“Almost like she, herself, doesn’t know, hmm?”

My head shot back, shocked. “What?”

I’d never thought of that before.

Perhaps Elayina was right and I needed to dig deeper to discover what Lindi knew. Especially considering this new turn of events and the wings now pulling me down.

Which brought me to my next question.

“Are these things stuck with me forever? Can I, uh, retract them?”

Elayina chuckled. “I believe you can hide your true nature, lass. Focus, use your magic, listen to your body. It will tell you what to do.” Then she shrugged, in her infuriating way, so lax about everything. “Or I could be wrong. Would it be such a bad thing to show people your truth? Your power?”

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