Page 90 of A Song of Shadow and Starlight

"I have great respect for Garren Kitarni. He saved my life more than once in The Great War. If the ancient grudge between our people hadn't influenced our young minds twenty years ago, I think we would be friends today." He shrugs, clicking his teeth. "If only Enver Sol had been able to stay with us a little longer, maybe he could have helped bridge the gap between Tronovia and Midori, as your father and I couldn't."

"Wait!" I gasp when I put the pieces together, "You knew Enver Sol?"

"Oh yes, I knew him. Your father and I fought alongside him. Enver Sol was a great man, or I suppose I should say Celestial. But he never carried himself in a manner that made us mortals feel lesser. He was truly one of us and used his power to turn the tide for our world's survival."

This is a lot of new information to take in. I have even more questions swimming inside my head, and I want to blurt them all out in rapid succession.

What was Enver Sol like?

Did you see his magic in action?

What was my father like all those years ago?

Do you know where the destroyed portals are?

But instead of asking one of those questions, I let the skeptical side of me win, and settle on, "Why are you telling me this?"

Soren exhales a deep sigh before setting his empty wine glass on the stone railing and motioning me to follow him to a stone staircase leading to a garden. Silently, I walk with him, admiring the perfectly sculpted hedges that resemble different animals like foxes, birds, horses, and bears. The gravel pathway crunches beneath our feet as we pass dozens of rose bushes in full bloom, a lotus pond, and an alabaster fountain, before making our way to one of the black iron benches facing the Crescent Bay. When King Soren gestures for me to sit, I glide into my spot and wait for him to join me.

He still hasn't answered my question. I'm about to repeat myself, to remind him I haven't been distracted by this wondrous garden, when he clears his throat.

"Twenty years ago, I felt a calm before the storm. Over the last year, I have had a similar feeling." He meets my gaze and holds my stare. "War is coming, Shaye, of this I have no doubt. Drogon may have been defeated, but he was not vanquished. He certainly hasn't been resting these past twenty years and he surely hasn't abandoned his quest to enslave mankind and rule over the mortal realm. Enver Sol sealed the portals, eliminating his connection with our world, but if Bastian succeeds in finding and opening the portal to the Underworld, Enver Sol won't be able to save us, and without his light magic I'm afraid that the age of mortals will be over. If we are not prepared, if we remain divided, we will all fall to the demon king."

"But if the portal to the Underworld is opened, wouldn't it open the one to Orabelle?"

He shakes his head sadly. "It would, if Enver Sol hadn't destroyed them."

"Then how would one open a portal, if they found it?"

King Soren rests his arms in his lap and twiddles his thumbs like a nervous schoolboy. "If Bastian finds the pieces and reconstructs the portal, in theory, he could reopen it and unleash Drogon and his army, without disturbing the portal to Orabelle. Since they were demolished, they no longer hold a connection."

I rub my forehead, feeling a splitting headache coming on. "But to open one of the portals would require Enver Sol's blood."

"Or the blood of his descendant." The way he's looking at me is unnerving.

"I'm not – "

"Do you know that for a fact?" He interrupts me, not unkindly, but with a hard-set determination in his gaze. "You have Enver Sol's magic."

"That doesn't mean I have his blood," I say defiantly, and despise that I sound like a child stomping her foot.

He nods his head. "Perhaps not. But you possess rare magic. Magic reserved for the Celestials. You may be Dalerin's only hope at stopping Drogon, should he be released. We cannot count on Enver Sol coming to our defense this time."

"So, when you ask me to form an alliance with you, you want me to use my magic to protect you from a demon king that was defeated twenty years ago?"

"Well, when you put it like that," he smirks, "yes."

I scoff, kicking one of my legs over the other. "Forgive me, but I find all of this hard to believe."

"It seemed impossible twenty years ago, but it happened."

I meet his awaiting, hopeful gaze. "I'm not Enver Sol," I whisper, and part of me is disappointed.

"No, you are not." He slides his arm along the back of the bench and leans closer. "Who do you want to be, Princess?"

His question catches me off guard. Who do I want to be? Not, who am I or who do I think I am? Who do I want to be? As if the choice is entirely in my hands.

And maybe it is. I've lived a lie my entire life. Perhaps this is the time I take control of my fate and determine my own destiny. The king is right. I have Enver Sol's magic for a reason. I might not be his descendant, but I can use his magic to protect Dalerin, should they need me to. But first, I'll need to train and understand the lengths my magic can go to. I'm not sure I'm ready for this responsibility, but it doesn't seem like I have a lot of time to wrestle with the decision.

---