“We need to talk first,” I said. “There's so much I need to tell you.”
Aras grabbed my face with one hand and pulled me into a kiss. It was warm and tender and everything I needed it to be. A reassurance that was unnecessary now but still treasured. Everykiss would be treasured from that day forward. But I eased out of this one.
“Aras, I have to tell you something important,” I said.
“Why don't you start with the Eye,” Aras suggested as he sat down. “How long has it been talking to you?”
I sighed and sat down beside him. This wasn't what I intended to begin with, but maybe it was best to get it over with. “The day we met, when you told me about the Eye, do you remember me behaving oddly?”
Aras frowned, his stare going distant. “Yes, you were a little strange. You kept gazing off, distracted. You have always been like that with me. I thought it was your responsibilities weighing on your mind.”
“In a way, it was.” My hands shook, so I pressed them to my thighs. The eagerness to tell Aras that he was my mate was nearly too much to bear. If I wasn't careful, I'd shout it at him, and that wasn't the way I wanted this to go. Romance. I wanted this to be the most romantic moment of our lives. To do that, I'd have to clear away the crap first. So, I took a deep breath and started from the beginning. “I am not a man easily distracted. Especially around you, Aras. You hold my attention like no other.”
Aras smirked. “You've been playing with me, Your Majesty. And that's going to end. It ends right now.”
“Did I not make myself clear in all my declarations? Was the offer of the moon not enough to make you understand? I love you, Aras. No other. It's been you from the moment we met. Yes, I incited your jealousy, but only because you drew forth mine.”I grimaced. “And the Eye encouraged my bad behavior when it suited her.”
“Wait.” He leaned back. “The Eye told you to make me jealous?”
“The Eye led me astray in many ways. I honestly can't tell you exactly what she said with any veracity. Her advice and influence shifted depending on the moment. It's all become a jumble to me. She would hold me back, making me believe she was trying to help me with you, then turn around and encourage me to keep you afraid. Looking back, I should have seen how she prevaricated and wavered. I should have picked apart her reasoning. But she kept me so confused. Mainly, she wanted me to remain silent about something I've longed to tell you—something that would have united us and given me the strength to deny her.”
“Well, you've told me now.” Aras took my hand. “And hearing you say you love me was worth the wait, Ly. Fuck that manipulating jewel. We won. It's at the bottom of the Morilren by now, and we are together.”
“There's more, Aras, but first, let me finish telling you about the Eye. You need to know how it proved itself to me. Please, understand that it wormed its way into my mind with precision and then tangled my wits. I believed it. Trusted it. It said it had chosen me, Aras. It said it saw my future, and it predicted my nobles betraying me. It predicted that from the very start.”
“The Eye predicted their betrayal?” he asked. “Ly, what is this entity exactly? Is it a being trapped in the Eye?”
“No, it's pure energy. Ensarena's Eye is a piece of the Goddess's Fire Magic, and that kind of divine power can birth things we can only dream of. It gathered its energy and became conscious of itself.” I shook my head. “I know how this sounds, but the Dragon Gods are—”
“I believe you,” Aras interrupted, laying his hand over mine. “As I said earlier, it explains a lot. All this time. All those strange expressions on your face. The way you would gaze off in the middle of a conversation or mutter something under your breath. It was as if you were listening to someone else. Arguing with them. And you were, weren't you?”
“Yes,” I said. “She has been yammering inside my head ever since I met you, Aras. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I was afraid of what you'd think. A woman's voice in my head telling me about the future? It was insane. It nearly drove me insane.”
“But you're better now? The . . . consciousness is gone? Is it gone for good?”
“Yes.” I cupped his cheek and brushed my lips over his. “You helped me drive it away. Because of you, I conquered it.”
“For fuck's sake, Ly!” Aras grabbed my hand suddenly, his expression going horrified with epiphany. “You faced this alone when you didn't have to. I could have helped you. At the very least, you could have talked to me about it, and I would have kept you sane.”
“Would you have believed me? If I told you back then that I was hearing the voice of Ensarena's Eye, would you have believed me?”
“I might have.” Aras scowled, his gaze shifting to the side. “The way you stormed into that room when I returned withoutthe Eye.” He refocused on me. “You knew before I told you that the Eye was taken and you knew who took it. You implied you had spies, but I've always wondered about that. The only ones who knew about the theft were the men on my ship and none of them would betray me like that. Plus, I came straight to the castle when we docked that day. There was no way for a spy to discover the theft and report it to you before I did. It was the Eye who told you.”
“Yes,” I said.
“That day that you were attacked in here—was that the Eye? Did it hurt you?”
I grimaced. “I didn't know how to explain my outburst and weakness. I felt terrible about making my guards search for someone who wasn't there.”
“Itwasthe Eye,” he whispered. “What did it do to you?”
“It took my mind,” I said grimly. “I was desperate to find her.” I rolled my eyes and corrected myself, “It. The Eye told me that without its help, I would lose this war. And the battle is imminent. But tracking Zixin wasn't working as I'd planned. He wasn't surfacing. So, the Eye convinced me to let it take full control of my mind. With my Water Magic aiding it, it was able to find where it was being held. But even though its invasion was short-lived, it injured me. It nearly broke my mind.” I swallowed roughly, remembering the confusion and pain. “That's why I screamed and why I was so weak afterward.”
“You were recovering from the Eye tearing through your mind,” Aras concluded.
“Yes. I'm sorry I didn't tell you then. I should have. There's so much the Eye convinced me not to tell you. Aras, you—”
“Do you think it was telling the truth?” Aras interrupted me. “About the war, I mean. Can we win without it?”
