Von took a breath. “I … sometimes dream of what their lives should have been like. Geon, somewhere discovering the world, with Dalton as a free mage. ButItook that from them. Take what is left of my life in service to you so I can repay my sins.”
She glowered at him, wiping her wet cheek. “I am not your master, Von.”
“You’re the Maiden, and I’m one of your Guardians.”
“That does not make you my slave.” Dyna sighed heavily. “Von, it wasn’t your fault they were killed. You do not owe me a debt nor to anyone else. I know you also blame yourself for Azurite, but the viceroy opened the gates and let the trolls in at the Azure King’s command. Tarn let you believe it was your fault to control you. I will not do the same.”
Von sat back on his heels, feeling his body go numb. For years, he had carried that suffocating guilt. Tarn used it to enslave him. Knowing that made him feel so empty, adrift in a sea of purposelessness.
“You told me to keep going,” he said with a shaky breath. “But my Yavi is gone. I can’t keep waking up day by day without a reason. If serving you is not my purpose, what is?”
Dyna’s eyes softened, and she laid a hand on his shaking shoulder. “I think we both know what your purpose is, Von.”
His chest tightened at the sound of his nephew’s voice calling for him in the hall, and his vision blurred.
“Tavin carries Jökull’s magic in his blood. It’s dormant now, but if it ever surfaces … if Tarn ever learns that his son is alive, he will come after Tavin as the Azure King came after him. To keep his power, he would never let him live.”
Von’s fists shook on the cold floor at that appalling thought. The boy may even become the sacrifice for his very own mother. His stomach rolled. “What if … the worst happens to him because of me?”
“It won’t, because this time you will not fail,” Dyna said firmly.
Maybe this was why he wasn’t finished with this world yet. There had to be a reason why he continued to survive against all odds. It was for this.
When he rose to his feet, Dyna reminded him of something he had forgotten. “You are my Guardian of Vengeance, Von. But it wasn’t Tarn who threw that lantern.”
Sai-chuen’s face surfaced in his mind, along with the proverb on how to strike his enemies.
Now there were two names on his list.
Exchanging a nod with Dyna, Von left the quiet library and went out into the hall.
Tavin spun around. “There you are, Commander. I was looking for you.”
“What for?”
The boy grabbed Von’s arm and pulled him through another set of glass doors that led out into the courtyard.
“Look!” Tavin took out two throwing knives from his blue coat, whirling them in his palms and threw them one after the other at a tree. They perfectly hit their mark with soft thuds. He grinned at him. “I did it.”
Von crossed his arms. “Are those my knives?”
Tavin gave him a sheepish smile, scratching the back of his neck. “Ah, I borrowed them.”
“Hmm. Show me again. This time, hit that other tree.”
An excited grin returned to the boy's face, and he snatched up the knives again. With perfect form, the knives flew and landed.
Von chuckled. “Well done. You must get it from your uncle.”
“I do …” Tavin’s pale blue eyes met his. “I get it from you.”
The air left Von’s lungs for a moment, stealing his voice.
“I wondered why Klyde wanted me to stay away from you, but it was plain to see. You look like my mum. Well, my grandmother, but she raised me. Her name is Edyth, and she also had a son … named Von.”
The boy had known all along.
Tavin gave him a timid smile. “Hello, uncle.”
