Page 89 of A Touch of Gold and Madness

“Wait,” he called out. “I want to see.”

I stopped. Slowly, I turned my head to meet his kind, teal eyes. A warm smile spread, emitting a sense of comfort. Pride—that was pride on his face. “Beautiful. Just like her.”

I shifted my gaze around the wooden hallway, hoping to make a quick escape. “Are you all right?” he asked, brows dipping low in concern, wiping away that beaming smile of a proud father.

I shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“Of course, it does.”

I snorted and ran my fingers through my hair, trying hard to find anything else to look at but him.

“Walk with me, Gray. There’s still much I want to discuss with you.”

It wasn’t a request.

I debated telling him to fuck off, but something in those gentle eyes told me it was worth putting off my escapism for a bit longer. I sighed, dropping my shoulders. They ached from the tension. The betrayal in my heart didn’t recede, though. “Okay.”

Orion offered a small smile and a nod of his head. “I just have to make a quick stop by my office to grab something. Follow me?”

Orion led me to the bank of the glistening blue lake that bordered the left side of the Hollow. Deep blue, calm water reflected the sun’s dying light. The temperature dipped as evening approached.

How long had I been in the training fields with Chrome? It had felt like maybe half an hour at the most. Perhaps I’d been bonding—as Chrome called it—with my element longer than I realized.

Orion swept a hand toward the grass. “Sit with me,” he said with an inviting smile. How someone who could look so young and feel so wise confused me.

He hitched his knee-length, black cloak before sitting cross-legged on the grass. He gazed out at the lake with a peaceful smile, resting his forearms gently on his knees.

I followed him and sank beside him in the grass. Silence sat between us for several moments as we took in the beauty and peace before us. It wasn’t uncomfortable. It was nice not needing to fill the space with awkward words just for the sake of doing so.

“I come here to meditate often. It’s such a great place to ground myself and be with my element,” Orion said. He shuttered his eyes as a kiss of wind breezed between us softly.

I nodded. The scenery was indeed peaceful. Trees draped around the edges of the lake, serving as a small canopy.

“Your mother was the most beautiful woman I’d known. Not just on the outside but truly on the inside. She was light and strength embodied in a single person,” Orion said softly. A glazed look encompassed his distant gaze. “She was my closest friend.” He dropped his head with a heavy sigh, his chin resting on his chest.

“I wish I could’ve met her.” I found a stick and began digging the dirt from under my nails. “She sounds like she would’ve been a wonderful mother.”

“Indeed. She loved you long before you were born despite how you were conceived. She told me as much in the letter she’d snuck out while in captivity.” Orion looked at me, grief burrowed in his eyes.

I looked over the water, watching the small swells as they lapped over one another. “What was her element?” I asked, feeling the answer before he gave it.

Orion joined me in my lake gazing. “Water,” he said, smiling at the body before us as if it contained my birth mother herself. “Such a perfect fit for her.”

I tried to imagine a world where I grew up with this woman as my mother. A life where I hadn’t been raised by Forest Monroe. How different would I be? Would I be happy?

“I assume you discovered your element today?” Orion asked, casting a sideways glance at me over his shoulder.

I nodded, and a genuine—albeit small—smile crept up my cheeks. “Air,” I whispered.

Orion perked up. “Yeah? Well, you know….” he said, dragging out the last word and giving me an innocent shrug. “I happen to be a very skilled air-wielder myself. If you’d like some help mastering it…”

“Yes,” I said quickly. For multiple reasons, but the main one being… “You think you could replace Chrome with those sessions?”

Orion frowned in confusion. “I mean, Icould, I suppose. Although, only he can help you master the use of both your forms simultaneously. But I’d be happy to join your sessions.”

I blew out a breath, deflated by his answer. But I’d settle for having him there as a buffer.

“What happened today? You seemed quite upset when you ran into me.” It was genuine concern, and something about Orion made me feel safe, comfortable. There was no judgment.

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