Hirovale shakes his head, his gaze turning tormented, “a daughter should not have to see her father laying like that, covered in so much blood. I felt your heart stop in that moment. It stopped mine. I felt the fire within you build again, not in anger this time, but in unbridled anguish. You fell to your father, and I knew then, in that moment, that it would be a long while before another one of your smiles ever graced my dreams again.”
“I pulled and held onto the visions of you arriving in Bardot, though I don’t think my sister intended for me to do that. I had to make sure that you that were okay, that you would live through the traumatic event and come out stronger…”
“But your anger was too much. I watched as you let the fire of it consume you until it burned through every part of your being, leaving you as nothing but a hollow shell. Gone was the young and happy girl from Etter and gone was the new and reborn girl who let her own fire consume her too quickly that it turned her to ash. I do not blame the King and his son for the decision they placed on you. There was nothing more agonizing then seeing you then. You werethere, yet you were completely and utterly gone.”
My breathing is so shallow that it’s taking every force of my being to stand upright. I knew Hiro had been watching me, he admitted to it the first night I met him in Fumagalli… but hearing his own emotions that came from watching those visions grips me deep to my core. He’s been surrounded in his sleep by his own feelings, watching my happiness, causing him happiness. Watching my pain and agony, causing him twice as much.
“Yes,” Hirovale grimaces, “my sleep was haunted by those visions…”
“But then I felt myself stir for the first time in thousands of years, watching as you picked yourself back up in your life with just ahintof a smile. The event had not broken you, and instead the fire within you nestled itself deep away, sitting ready to spark to flame again. I knew it would taketime, knew that you would have to find yourself all over again, so I smiled in the knowledge that you would and let myself rest peacefully once more, watching you grow up in my dreams.”
Hirovale takes a step forward as his chest comes so close to brushing against mine and Keane’s.
“The woman that you became in Knowledge isyou, Alexis. Don’t ever doubt that.”
I take a deep breath and grip Keane’s hand tight, the two of us watching the Ancient together.
“Even if you were right in your thoughts when you noted how simple and content your life was, that was okay,” Hiro continues, “the ignorance that you did not know surrounded you gave you a beautiful upbringing, calling back the young girl from Etter who had a happiness about her that caused everyone to beam just as openly in return. Your time in Bardot did what it intended…”
“So I continued to watch you in my sleep and grinned as you became bored with life at court, at playing the simple lady for the Queen. You began to question more, to explore. You made friends with the magical beings who not years before you wanted to take down so violently. I watched as that fire caught the smallest of flames over those years, your curiosity taking hold and challenging the simple ways of the Old World around you. You were so nearly there, Alexis, almost ready to take on your mantle as my Human Reborn, but you were also still held back from the Prince’s summoning, and I knew then that it was time to get involved.”
“I had Sianoa send Elena a vision of where I left my words, of your hands holding my Bird of Ash’s resting place. It was time to get you back on track, back to the mixture of the girl you were, the woman you embraced, and the woman you were to become.”
“Your fire took to a heavier flame in the last two years of your traveling. You enjoyed the new experiences, relished in the adventures and still let your curiousness question the ways of the Old World. Though that fire never burned so brightly until you met your King…”
My heart completely stops as Hirovale slowly turns his gaze to Keane, looking over him proudly. “I am forever grateful for you, Keane Zander Bardot, for seeing Alexis for everything that she is worth. You saw that fire in her so soon, and I’ll always be in your debt for helping her find that missing piece of herself.”
Both men bow their heads, recognizing the weight of the words spoken.
“I need to tell you now,” Hirovale smiles softly at Keane, “and am grateful to Alex that she chose for me to speak this next part with you here. You need to know that she asked that the three of us stand together while you listen to these words, words that you already suspect, already know…”
My body begins to tremble as Keane grips my hand in comfort, nodding to the Ancient again with a small smile on his lips.
“She is in love with you, King,” Hirovale says steadily, “and I am in love with her.”
My heart tugs violently in my chest, leaping for the Ancient who is now turning his golden gaze on me. My breathing becomes ragged, my hand in Keane’s gripping hard, my eyes still looking at Hiro for clarity.
Why?
“You are my Human Reborn, Alex,” Hiro answers, staring at me with a deep longing, “I chose you before I knew you. But I stand with honor before you now when I tell you that I am proud of the woman I have watched you become. I amin lovewith the woman that you have become, as well as the woman you will grow to be.”
“I am in love with her,” Hirovale repeats again, this time directing his gaze to Keane, “and I will have her.”
“You will,” Keane replies without hesitation, mirroring the same words that I’ve always said to him.
My mouth nearly drops in a stutter.
“Wewill have her,” Hiro continues steadily, “together.”
“Yes,” Keane nods as I stand completely dumbstruck, watching the two men interact as if they’re brothers.
Have me?
As his Human Reborn? His Champion?
“Yes, Alexis,” Hirovale turns me pointedly, golden eyes flaring brilliantly, “and more. It will be the three of us, together. We will remake this Old World and allow magic to be restored to humansif they so choose.I will do everything in my power to ensure your wishes on that sentiment.”
I nod in small recognition but am still too caught up in the previous understanding that seemed to pass between the two men.
