Page 6 of Steeling Light
Kieran takes the bowl from me and nods. “We’ll see that it’s done, sir.”
Without another word, I walk out of the room and prepare for a trip. I gather my rations and go to the ramparts to look out over Draenyth one last time. I have no idea how long it will be before I see my home again.
And I don’t care one bit.
I leap off the ramparts, my wings growing as I fall, and then I’m soaring over the rooftops toward Selithar.
Chapter 5
Each Count and Countess shall rule their own House, but Selithar shall be ruled by a council made up of a chosen leader from each Lesser House and each Lesser Fae species. We must be unified. We must work for the good of everyone, not just our own Houses.
Adelynne Emlyn, Edicts of Selithar
Ainslee
The Keep of Light is gorgeous. Unlike the Great Houses, the Lesser Houses are in the smaller cities—Selithar, Myrrhaen, and Elaris. Each of those cities has four Lesser Houses, but they’re…lesser. The size and grandeur difference is as significant as the difference in our power.
Where the Keep of Flames was larger than the entire city of Stormhaven, the Keep of Light is slightly smaller than Stormhaven’s castle, and it’s the largest in Selithar.
This place is supposed to be my home. It’s where I was born, but I’ve never felt even the slightest connection to it. The walls, on first glance, look like clear quartz, but the facets that make them opaque are impossible to cut onto a quartz. The slight rise and fall of the textured zircon walls create the perfect canvas to cut the stone, leaving it beautiful, sparkling, and utterly opaque even though the stone is crystal clear.
It's like living inside a diamond, and everything is a glowing sunburst. Unlike the Great Keeps, the Keep of Light’s walls and floors are covered in tapestries and rugs. Even the Countess of Light, the leader of the House, knows we’d all be blinded without some walls being covered.
“Good evening,” the phantari says from under a white cloak. Every House has its Guardians, and the phantari are the House of Light’s. The creatures stand unnervingly still, their entire bodies covered in white fabric with their faces covered by their hoods. Slightly taller than me, this one stands between me and the guest rooms. No one has ever seen the skin, much less the face, of a phantari. They are as unforgettable as any other piece of art in the Keep, and just as impersonal.
The nameless Guardian says, “Ainslee Emlyn, it has been many years since you have been back to the City of Moonlight. I will inform your mother that you’ve returned and have a room…”
“I just need a place to sleep. Don’t worry about telling my mother I’m here.” I try to stop the phantari, but it ignores me completely.
“Enjoy your stay, Ainslee. It’s good that you’ve come home.”
This is not home.It never has been and never will be.
I walk up the stairs towards the area of the Keep where the guest rooms are located. The walls become darker as I go deeper into the Keep as we get farther away from the sunlight outside. The path is winding, but I haven’t forgotten my way. My eyes take in the once familiar sights, reminding me of my world a lifetime ago.
Then, when I’m only a hallway away from the guest rooms, I hear a voice.I’d told the phantari not to inform my mother…“Lee… You’ve come home.”
I turn to look at the woman who is so starkly different from Darian and me. Blonde, so thin you’d think she was a willow branch, and glowing constantly, my mother stands in the hallway I’d just left. She’s beautiful in a way that I could never imagine myself. Her body looks like she was created rather than born.
Her cheeks are sharp, yet the faint laugh-lines are the only wrinkles on her face, making her seem strong and easy to talk to at the same time. Her golden hair has been braided into a crown perfectly where the Crystal Crown rests.
The silver dress looks like it’s made of crystals, all of which catch the light she radiates and flash in the dim hallway. Yet, it’s the way the dress clings to her that truly draws the eye. Her body isn’t meant to hold a sword, nor is it capable of running or flying for hours at a time.
It’s meant to be looked at, to be seen as a piece of art. Every curve is clearly outlined, and they’re perfect. There’s no question why my mother is the Countess of Light.
She’d had to hurry to catch up, and I can see her chest rising and falling ever so slightly faster than normal. She knew that once I made it to my room, she wouldn’t be able to talk to me.
“Mother,” I say and stand tall. My mother and I haven’t always had the best relationship, but she’s not a terrible person. She’s just… not me or Darian. She belongs here in the Keep of Light, and her time in Draenyth was a price she paid to achieve her goals.
Namely, the thin band of crystal that rests on her forehead.
She crosses the hallway, and her hand brushes my cheek with a familiarity I don’t agree with. I step back. “I’m not here for long, Mother. I’m only passing through and need a place to sleep for the night.”
“You didn’t think I’d want to see my only daughter? Where’s Darian? Should I expect him and Cole to arrive in a few moments?”
My mother has done three things that I will always be thankful for. She gave birth to me and Darian. She introduced me to Cole when she became his tutor, and she managed to convince Casimir to allow Darian and me to spend most days with him. That’s it.
Every mother wants her children to be well-connected, and Cole Cyrus is as high of a connection as any House of Light Immortal could hope for, so it makes sense why she did it. I try not to think about it like that. I have to believe that she saw how happy Darian and I were when we were playing with Cole, and she stood up for our happiness.
