𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕎𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙 (Book 2)

Sixty-one

"And do you hate me for it?" I asked the spymaster, my eyes peering at him hopefully.

He looked at me, his face going back to the irreverent void that it always was. "No." he said. Nothing more. Just that one word. He didn't hate me.

I closed my eyes for a moment. "Do you think they will?" I questioned, my voice soft. Broken. He knew who I was talking about. The only people I could be talking about.

He raised his chin just slightly, "They'll feel...sorry. They'll think it's because didn't trust them." Azriel replied. But I'd already known that. But it wasn't them. It was me. What was being asked of me. I just hoped I could get them to understand when I told them...someday.

Azriel looked to me, his hazel eyes stark in the night. "You have to tell them, Danika." It was as if he'd known where my thoughts had deviated to.

I sighed. Putting it off and pushing it away. Honestly, they should just name me the procrastination Queen.

"And I will...eventually."

He gave me a knowing look. The most I'd get from the spymaster. "The longer you keep it from them, the more they'll feel terrible." his voice was quiet and yet strong.

"I know." I said hesitantly. I knew I should tell them, but I had just come to terms with my fate in my own mind. The fact that yet another thing had been decided for me. And I just didn't know if I was ready for other people to know. They'd expect things from me that, something would always be expected of me.

"You should hate me." I said to Azriel, "You all should." It would be better for them in the long run. I was destined to be the savior of Prythian, to free its people. I'd never forgive myself if they were to be caught in the crossfire.

He was quiet for a long moment. The two of us sat in silence. "You showed me your scars." he said, and I looked up, "When I first met you." he looked at me with a rare look of determination, "You're one of us, Danika. You have been for a while."

One of them.

A part of something that wasn't forced upon me. Something I chose...

Azriel spoke again before I could respond, "You have to tell them, Danika." he repeated.

I looked him straight in the eye as I nodded.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The clouds of Velaris were almost relaxing. My nerves felt like they might actually explode as I flew around the wards, circling the beautiful city from above. It seemed like a painting this high up.

Unease had been a permanent presence in my body since I'd agreed to do this. I knew I'd have to tell them eventually. Rhys had opened his arms and welcomed me into his court, and I'd betrayed that. I'd kept who I was a secret. It was wrong, and I knew it.

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the peace that the sky brought me win for only a moment. I opened my eyes, the worry coming back in full.

A soft tickle on my arm drew my eyes there, I watched as tendril of shadow snaked around me. It was time. They were all going to know now.

I guided Azail to the left, creating a swift turn as the House of Wind came into view on the mountain. It would all happen there. My hands shook in front of me as fear laced through me like a web.

Azriel had called a meeting asking each of them to meet at the training ring of the House of Wind. He'd talk to them first, and ask them to keep an open mind. Nothing big. Nothing revealing. I didn't doubt that they would. I knew they wouldn't judge who I was. But I knew they'd question why I'd hidden it.

We approached. The house's walls becoming clearer as we were only moments away. Gods, this felt like it was happening in hyper speed.

The training ring came into view, the large structure doing nothing to ease my worries. I watched in a cruel silence as each of their heads looked up at the great shadow above them. I watched as their faces contorted into a mix of so many different things that I couldn't decipher.

Azail and I circled the ring, getting rid of the momentum that would've sent us pummeling into the ground. We glided. I knew they had yet to see me on the creature. I stayed low to his back, hiding myself as well as I could as I just sat and observed.

I felt as we landed on the ground,  Azail dipping as he absorbed the fall. I practically molded myself to the wyvern's back, my eyes closing as I took a breath.

No matter what they thought, I would be okay. If they sent me away...I'd be okay then too.

I sat straight, my white hair shining in the stark light of the sunset. Azail kneeled to the ground, allowing me off his back. I climbed down, my face void of anything but sheer will. A mask.

I looked at them. My chin raised as I stared each of them in the eye. "We need to talk." I finally said.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

We sat in the dining room of the House of Wind, the silence near overwhelming. I had no idea where to start. Did I just plain say what I was? Did I say how it all began? There was no right way to go about this.

I sat straight in my chair, "It started in Spring Court." I blurted, and each of their heads turned to me. Why was it that all my secrets got spilled at this very table? "We'd crossed the wards that held the house, and I felt this...pull somewhere. I didn't follow it until that night when I snuck out." It was as though the scene was replaying in my mind.

"I wandered through the woods at midnight, just following that tug. I stopped when I'd found a wall made of this thick layer of branches." I paused for a moment, gathering the right words, "I reached out a hand to touch it, and the wood just... separated, revealing a tunnel dark enough that I could barely see the inside. Of course, me being me, I went inside almost immediatly." I stopped, recalling it in perfect detail, "There was a small door at the end. I pushed it open and found some sort of sanctuary. A field with mountains that hadn't been there five minutes ago. I was so enraptured with the scene, It took me a moment to see the wyverns in front of me."

They listened. Each and every one of them. Their faces void of anything they felt. But I didn't see anything bad, so I'd take that as a small victory.

I smiled a little, "There was this large black wyvern that pretty much pulled me along through the hills, leading me to a cave. It looked like there was nothing inside, just pure inky blackness. It walked in, and I followed." I looked down again, "The cave was etched in carvings. Stories in an ancient language." I smirked a little, "Thankfully. I was fluent."

"The carvings told a different version of a legend I'd heard as a child." I gulped, knowing this was the part I was dreading. "The story of Domina Lux Alba and how her legend came to exist." I knew they'd be familiar with the tale. It was widespread. Even those in Spring Court knew of the woman who wielded starlight and her consort of darkness.

I looked up, my eyes catching Amren's, who looked at me with cool amusement.

Like she already knew.

"At the end of the writings, it said that the godess who had spread the tale created that cave as a failsafe. A story to be told and to hold hope..." my breath caught. "And it also said that the only other person who could enter that cave without certain death was the Lady of White Light herself."

I watched as each of their eyes lit with understanding. As each, their faces contorted with something akin to shock.

I had to face what I was. Had to let it be known and not a deep secret in my heart. They needed to know. I took a breath, speaking for the last time. "I am the Lady of White Light."

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N: Aghhhh, so sorry I haven't posted in forever. I just lost motivation. I hate asking things like this, but your comments really help and motivate me to write more, so if you guys could do your thing?