Should I let her go and cling to the memory of the love we shared?
Or should I keep her—and start a new war when war was already on my doorstep?
What was the right choice when the fate of kingdoms hung in the balance?
One option would damn me. The other was selfish and would still damn me.
And deep down I knew I was pissed Thayden was in love with my girl.
“Every choice feels like the wrong one.”
“A king’s greatest strength is what he’s willing to protect. Take that to mean whatever you want, for better or for worse.”
I stared into the dark waters below, where shadows danced like the choices that would define us all.
Chapter 18
Elariya
“Back To Galaythia”
The twin suns hung low on the horizon like dying embers, their pale light barely strong enough to chase away the night. I gripped the ship's railing, watching as the first sun—a muted gold—crept higher while its companion, tinged with deep amber, followed in its shadow. It was brightening, but stars still pierced the indigo sky above, refusing to yield to the approaching dawn.
This had to be what passed for twilight in this realm. Within the liminal space between night and day, neither light nor dark claimed dominance.
The world seemed suspended in perpetual dusk, caught between sleeping and waking, like everything else about this place that defied the natural order I knew.
I couldn’t sleep anymore. Couldn’t rest either.
Every time I closed my eyes, I kept thinking about everything that had happened.
I saw the faces of all those who depended on me. Then I thought of Wolfe, Thayden, and all the difficult choices that lay ahead.
I came out here before the suns rose. I thought perhaps the air would give me some clarity.
It hadn’t. Of course, because there wasn’t exactly air here as such. Just enough to keep you from dying.
I didn’t feel any worse for being out here, so that was a plus.
Beneath me, the ship groaned as waves slapped against the hull with increasing force. The gentle rocking motion I'd grown accustomed to had given way to something more insistent, more alive. Whatever magic had been guiding our passage through these dark waters had clearly abandoned us to the whims of wind and tide.
But that wasn’t a bad thing. It meant we were drawing close to the world of the living.
Arielle told me I’d begin to notice slight differences. Signs of life, especially in the water. The air would follow. Life would bleed into death until the unnatural sensation that shrouded us would pass.
I hoped it would come soon.
I pulled my cloak tighter around my shoulders and gazed ahead at the horizon. Apart from the twin suns, it looked like I could be back in Stormfell.
There was so much beyond the Veil I didn’t know about. People in the mortal lands grew up thinking the world was simply divided in two—humans and magical beings. But beyond the Veil, there were limitless places. Like this one.
Although I hoped to never cross this way again, I would’ve loved to see the magical realm.
I wished I could spend time exploring it and all the wondrous creatures. All the things I’d written about in my journal. But I needed to get home.
The first chance I got, I needed to return to Stormfell.
I didn’t want to take any more risks. I’d taken enough already, and something worse could have happened at every turn.
