“How can we heal a divide we continually name?”
He was right.
We couldn’t.
Our gazes held, the captain no doubt watching our every move. This wasn’t the time. Or place. But with the Aetherian coast fast approaching, it would be soon.
The thought was both thrilling, and terrifying.
“If the wind holds, we will be there by morn,” I said, stating the obvious.
“If it holds?” There was laughter behind his eyes. Terran in this state was without doubt the most attractive man I’d ever encountered.
“You should smile more,” I said softly.
“Continue to give me reasons to,” he answered, breaking eye contact and looking out to where the ships had been, “and I just may.”
23
LYRA
Our journey to the Aetherian shores, after initially being followed, was uneventful. Terran’s first use of the Ascension Gate, unimpressive… according to him. I almost could have fooled myself into believing the reunion between brothers would go smoothly.
The others were gathered, we were told, in the Celestial Hall, waiting for us. Even though he’d never been inside said hall before with its ceiling that fooled most into believing it was truly an open-aired sky, Terran hadn’t seemed to see anything around him.
Not the palace. Not the king. Or even Mev, who most people were enthralled to meet for the first time.
He marched directly up to Kael and, without a word, punched him in the face. Chaos erupted as Mev rushed forward, bending down to Kael, who was kneeled over. The king hadn’t reacted, aside from a set of raised bushy white eyebrows, but I certainly did.
“What in the skies was that?” I yelled, running forward.
Terran looked at me as if he’d merely said hello to his brother.
Kael stood up, assuring Mev he was fine.
“I deserved that for not sending word to you before changing course. But not for anything else. So that shot will be your last.”
Although they were twins, Kael and Terran were easy to tell apart, at least for me. Terran was slightly bigger, though most might miss that detail. It was his expression, perpetually scowling, that differentiated them. Kael was no ray of sunshine, but compared to his brother…
“You abandoned us.”
“I did what was necessary.”
For the first time since we entered the chamber, Terran seemed to realize we weren’t alone. He glanced from his brother, to Mev, and then the king.
“I must say.” Galfrid glided toward us. Both commanding and elegant, his white hair matching his robes, the Aetherian king looked like a cross between a grandfather who’d taken hundreds of years to age and the most powerful person in Elydor, as most believed him to be. “I never expected you to come here, Prince Terran. But you are most welcome.”
“Not at all the greeting I received,” Kael mumbled.
King Galfrid smiled kindly. “You’ve done much to change my thinking, and for that, I’m grateful,” he said, defusing Kael’s words effectively.
“I’m here to speak to my brother,” Terran said as gruffly as when I’d first come to Gyoria.
“You’ve not met the princess,” I reminded him.
Mev was glaring at Terran. He obviously hadn’t ingrained himself to her by punching her partner, Kael’s left cheek showing the evidence of the strike already.
“That wasn’t nice.”
