“Like your older siblings, your twin’s soul was greedy for the power. In fact, as the stardust waited for you to take your first breath, she’d tried to cleave it from you. And so, I was forced to claim her.”
“You killed my twin?” I asked in disbelief.
He shook his head. “No. Iclaimedher. There’s a difference. She chose death over a life where the power was just within her grasp, but never within reach.”
My mind reeled to comprehend what he he’d just explained. “Why are you telling me all of this?” I asked, my voice soft.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he said with a smile. “You need to understand just how important you are, little one. To understand that the fates themselves whispered to me many moons ago that I shall not claim the one who is worthy of this power.”
“But I thought you said I was born worthy?”
“To be born worthy, and to prove yourself worthy, are much different things.”
“And you think me worthy now?”
“I do, yes. More importantly,theydo.”
“The fates?” I asked, surprised.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His features lit up as a full smile graced his aged face, and there was no mistaking his pride. “Little one,” he said reverently, “you’ve never asked what is in it for you. Not once. You’ve never sought to use your powers for your own gain. If those things weren’t enough, you chose to rid Lumnara of the source power over it being perverted by those whowoulduse it to serve their own machinations. You made a clever bargain to ensure it. All to save those you love. There was no hesitation. You knew the right thing to do, and you didn’t flinch at the personal cost. And in those last moments, your only thought was of the pain your loved ones would carry.”
“And others,” I said, cocking my head, “they wouldn’t do the same?”
He softened. “No. They wouldn’t.”
“I don’t understand. Surely if someone else was in my shoes, they would’ve chosen the same path. It was the only option.”
He gave me a knowing smile. “And that right there, little one, is why you’re worthy. It’s that exact deep-rooted truth within you that madeyouthe only choice.”
The axis of my world seemed to shift. If what he was saying was true, then the spark had chosen me with the same conviction that I’d chosen to die over granting Wymond what he wanted. I hadn’t known what would happen to the spark after I died, but I knew on a soul level that she wouldn’t be destroyed. That she’d find another way to incarnate—or I guess, reincarnate.
Clearing my throat, I said, “When I asked if you were here to claim me, you said yes and no. What does that mean?”
“This is where it gets complicated, little one.” I raised a brow but kept the quip bubbling on my tongue to myself. “Your inability to believe that you were chosen is misguided, but there’s no inherent risk. However, believing yourself unworthy of life—that, little one, is more dangerous than you could possibly know.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You have to start fighting to live instead of looking for ways to escape. Allow me to be blunt with you as Lady Time is knocking at my door. Your path has been hard—there is no denying that. But if I spare you, I need you to understand that it’s not likely to get easier.
“If you can’t fight to live now, then I shall claim you, for it will be the same ending either way. So, I’ll ask you, little one—will you walk the Fates’ tightrope or shall you become mine?”
My answer wasn’t immediate, and his brows furrowed.
The truth was that I didn’t know.
Closing my eyes, I searched for my truth. It would be so, very easy to become his. To make it all stop. To drift back to the painless ether.
But what about those that loved me and that I loved?
I could see Rackna looking up at me with hopeful eyes in front of the library.“It’s great honor.”
Kai’s soft smile through the mirror.“Come back home to us.”
Caius’ words before I left.“Nyleeria, I need you to hear me when I say you must come home. Please know that I don’t say this as a High Lord, or even as a fae. I say it as a son who sacrificed everything because I believed that you existed.”
