Flames And Starlight

Chapter 38

"What's wrong?" I asked and my dad and Azriel turned their attention to us. Lyria looked up at me with eyes that showed she was just about to ask that same question. She had noticed too.

Rhys cleared his throat, looking at Azriel for a moment. "Azriel was searching for your attacker and came across a portal."

"I was just walking through the forest and it popped up out of nowhere. I walked close to it and saw a world with forests, vast green hills and valleys and even mountains off in the distance." He spoke up.

Lyria stilled beside me. "Terrasen!" Her face lit up. "That's my home." Her excitement was cut short and her face fell. "But why would a portal open up? There's only few beings in my world powerful enough to portal to other worlds. My mother, myself, and my brother."

She was beyond powerful. I almost shivered at the thought of two other beings having that same power. Although I know her mother only had fire and her younger brother didn't nearly have the same amount of abilities as Lyria.

She could open portals to entire other worlds with nothing more than her own willpower. It was amazing and almost impossible to think about. If Lyria hadn't been born with that power then I would never have met her. I guess I owe a certain Queen Aelin a thank you.

I often think about how different my life could have been if she hadn't stumbled upon my path  those few months ago. What if I hadn't saved her life? What if I hadn't walked into that cave to find a young silver haired girl unconscious with a naga about to kill her?

I never would have found my mate.

Maybe it was fate. And maybe it was destiny. My parents had always said that everything they did in their lives had been bringing them together. That they were meant to be. I never really believed in that. Until now.

"We were hoping you would know the answer to that." Rhys said with a sigh. He rubbed his temple, feeling the headache we all were expecting this situation to be.

"I'll go home." Lyria said, her voice firm. "I'll ask my mom and see if anyone can figure it out."

I knew she would probably get in trouble for staying so long in another world. Lyria has told me her mother always warned her to be cautious of other world and here she was living with us. Her younger brother Sam was covering for her but her parents would be mad that she had deceived them for so long.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She stood up a bit taller, raising her chin. "These unmonitored portals are not only dangerous for your world, but mine as well. Who knows what creatures are climbing through them that are unknown to my people. I owe this to your world and my own."

"Thank you, Lyria." My mother smiled.

She nodded, a soldier given a mission. "I'll figure this out and come back."

Cassian rubbed the top of her head like he always did and she furiously combed her hair back to normal from the frizzy mess he had left it. "We know you will."

"I'll go pack my stuff." She left the room with a final nod and I followed after her. She had a bag set on her bed and was pulling clothes out of her drawers to put into it. She grabbed Goldryn from beside her bed and placed it on the bed as well.

"Lyria," I said and she spun to look at me. I took her hand in mine. "Let me come with you. I can meet your parents and your brother and your cousin and I can take care of you."

She laughed. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can but..." Ugh. I'm not good with words and I was always jealous of people that were. "I'm going to miss you."

The corner of her mouth picked up at that and a light filled her eyes. "I'll miss you too." She held her hand out to cup my cheek and ran her thumb over my cheek bones. "But you need to stay here."

"Hiding me? I see." I couldn't help the malice that laced my words. She furrowed her brows at that and looked at me sadly. She held my hands between us.

"I'm not hiding you, Kyan. I want my parents to meet you and I want my brother to meet you and I want the rest of my family to meet you too."

I knew she was telling the truth. I could see it in her eyes. She wanted me to meet her family.

"But your family needs you. And my family needs me. And we need each other. In order for everyone to be safe we are needed in our own worlds for now. We can figure out what's going on and we can stop it. I know we will." She went on her tippy toes and planted a kiss on my forehead. "I'll be back before you even have time to miss me."

A portal opened up behind her with nothing more than a thought by the petite girl in front of me. She could create a bridge between worlds by her mere willpower. She was incredible.

The portal had opened up to a dark room, the only source of light being the flickering candles that decorated the room. The entire room was stone, cold and lifeless. Shelves of books and medical supplies covered the wall. A metal table lay in the middle and it was then that I realized where she had portaled to.

She was now standing in the catacombs of her castle. Her laboratory. The room where she conducted experiments and did all of her research. I had heard so many stories of that room.

It really struck me that thought. There was so much about her life that I knew and yet had never seen. I had never stepped foot into her world. All these places she talked about were actually real. And of course I knew they were real but until lately, the thought of ever possibly seeing them was insanity. Maybe one day I would. Maybe one day she could show me her whole world like I had shown her mine.

With one last wave to me, the portal closed between us.

I felt it again.

Our bond not breaking, but being twisted, and stretched between space. Between one world and the next. I was still connected to her yet she was so far. Where her thoughts used to echo in my mind, they now only whispered. Like her voice was nothing more than a memory.

I decided then that she better come back to me soon. Because if she was gone too long, I might go get her. I don't know how, but I would.

She would do what needed to be done. There wasn't a doubt of that in my mind. She had taken that responsibility with power and grace.

I know she will be a great queen one day. And an even better High Lady of the Night Court. If she would only let me make her one.
——————————————————————-

Hey y'all! Sorry for the late update I've been getting back into the swing of things with college! For those of you starting school up again, please stay safe!!

Hopefully I'll feel inspired (and want to procrastinate my assignments) and can get you and update very soon! I'm super excited for the next parts of this story.

Love, Rosie 🥀