Page 14 of Steeling Light
Chapter 9
Every High Fae is loyalty-bound to their parents when they are born. It is as instinctive as the urge to suckle. Their parents’ commands are painful to refuse, and the stronger the need for that parent’s approval, the worse the punishment.
~Daegon Rahn, personal journals
Rhion
The skewers at the Maze and Marrow are delicious, but they lay on my plate untouched as I stare at the entrance to the Labyrinth. Twilight hangs low, the red and orange rays of sunlight streaming just over the top of the twisting hedges that encircle the secret pathways leading to the center of the Labyrinth.
I’d hoped… No, that’s the wrong word. I hadn’t hoped. I’d desperately wished Ainslee would come back today, and now, as the last rays of the day wane, my stomach twists. She refused me. She ran. I stare at the silver band encircling my wrist. I swore a magical oath never to let her come to harm. There’s no taking it back, but it’s the most unnecessary bit of magic that I’ve ever done. Even now, as I recognize how she’s abandoned the thin tie of our past that I’ve clung to so tightly. There’s nothing on Nyth or elsewhere that could have forced me to hurt her.
Her loyalty is to her friends, not to her memories. Then again, why would she choose me when there are so many people who care about her?
I stand up as the leaves of the hedges change from orange to silver as the last light of the sun fades. The bench groans as my weight leaves it, and I have to steel my heart not to let the pain in my breast show. I’ll go back to Draenyth, back to my father, and tell him a truth that is anything other than the one that matters. Even with my heart in pieces, I won’t give my father a chance to hurt Ainslee.
A soft wind blows through the Labyrinth from behind me, and a magical scent wafts past me. It’s one I could never forget. Wisteria and veilwood smoke. I turn to see Ainslee standing behind me. Not her in a different form. No, it’s her in all her glory, with a smirk on her face and her hand on her hip.
“You’re not the only one who can surprise someone,” she says. “You’re losing your touch.”
I don’t know how to respond to seeing her. I’d given in to despair, and right now I can barely believe she’s real. Yet, my heart races as I look at her, at those beautiful dark green eyes sparkling with a life that no one else has ever had.
Ainslee takes a few steps toward me, and my gaze never strays from her eyes. “The Prince of Steel, caught unaware by a woman from a Lesser House. What would the nobility think?”
“You came.” It’s all I can manage to say as the smile on my face replaces the pain in my chest.
“I did. I have bad news, though. I don’t get to leave Selithar for quite some time. I’m stuck here for an entire month. Are you sure you want to spend the next month doing absolutely nothing important at all? It’s going to be dreadfully boring. No adventures. No new sights to see. Just… Selithar.”
The laughter that rises in my throat isn’t purposeful or even reasonable for a response to her words, but I can’t help it.
“What? I didn’t say anything funny.” She looks confused, and that only makes me laugh harder.
She takes a few steps closer to me, and I don’t need the wind to catch her scent now. It stops the laughter abruptly. The smile doesn’t leave, though. “Ainslee, I don’t care what we do. I just… I want to spend time with you. I’ve missed you, and hearing you have an entire month with nothing to do sounds like the best news I could have heard.”
Her smile isn’t what I’d expected. It’s soft and almost bashful. A touch of blush colors her cheeks, and I’m a little surprised at her response. I’ve been open about my feelings. I had to put on a diplomatic mask in public, but even then, I haven’t been very discreet about them.
“Plus, I’ve spent no time in Selithar. Maybe it will be fun to explore the city as nobodies. They say Selithar has some of the most beautiful places in Nyth. It has to be called the City of Moonlight for a good reason.”
Her smile breaks, leaving a wistful look behind. “I hate this place, Rhion. I dread the thought of it. Nothing good has ever happened here. I told you once that this wasn’t my home, and those feelings haven’t changed. I doubt I’ll ever think of it as a beautiful place.”
I reach out and take her hands as I have done so many times. “You were born here, so at least one wonderful thing happened here. I think we can make this place less dreadful together. You might not remember this, but I do. When you first came to Draenyth, you hated it just as much. You told me you hated all the Great Houses. They scared you because of how powerful everyone in them was. Youespeciallyhated the House of Steel. But we made Draenyth a happy place together. We walked through the Keeps. We explored the Keep of Flames and Steel together. We danced at the Keep of Shadows during the winter solstice ball. We made Draenyth your home. Together. We can make Selithar just as fun, just as happy.”
I can see her remembering the time we spent together as children, and she smiles. “We did make Draenyth fun, didn’t we?”
I nod to her. “We’ll do it again. I know there are terrible things coming in the future, but there were always terrible things on the horizon. Casimir and my father have always been at odds. Cole and I were born with tension between us. Power surrounds us all, and that won’t change, but we found happy moments. Now we have a month of happy moments before we have to think about the rest of the world. We just have to reach out and take them.”
Ainslee squeezes my hands. “I think I could do with a month of happy moments, Rhion. I don’t know if I believe they’ll be as wonderful as our childhood was, but maybe they’ll be better than what I’m used to.”
“You know, I remember a girl who let Cole do the worrying. I remember a girl who snuck out of Draenyth with me at night to watch the fireflies.”
Her laughter sings to my heart, and instead of the ache in my chest that I’d felt earlier, I feel full. Happy.Alive.“The fireflies,” she says. “I can’t believe we never got caught. What would your father have done if he’d found out you’d snuck out of Draenyth with me, a girl from the House of Light?”
I don’t have to question it. I know exactly what he’d do. He did nothing. His captain of the guard had beaten me senseless, though. I’d had to stay home for three days while the bones healed. I’d been small enough that my magical healing was still slow. My father hadn’t said a single word to me. The captain had read me the charges and punishment my father had assigned me. He’d tied my arms to a pole, and while I could have escaped with Steel powers, it wouldn’t have done any good. He’d used a mace to shatter my shins. He’d moved upward to my hips, to my ribs, and finally to my arms.
The captain told me afterward that my father had only prescribed the punishment when he’d found out who I’d gone with. If I’d snuck out, I’d have had my rations cut, but sneaking out with a girl from a Lesser House had put him into a rage.
“It would have been bad,” is all I say. “But it still would have been worth it. Seeing you laugh like that is one of my favorite memories. Plus, no one else could convince quite so many fireflies to come. Your Light powers made them think you were one of them. When else would I have been able to watch you dancing with a thousand fireflies on that riverbank?”
“It was fun,” she says softly. “Though, it would’ve been better if you’d danced, too. Why didn’t you?”
