Airess searched his face, as if trying to sense an untruth. She clasped her hands together, and looked away.
“Did you know about this–this prophecy?”
“No,” Taryn confirmed. “That is news to me. Though, I’m not sure I believe it.”
Airess pushed up from her chair abruptly, the harsh scraping of the chair legs causing Taryn to flinch. “I don’t understand,” she said, pacing. “I mean, this is almost laughable. Why is it that everyone in my life is okay withlyingto me?” Her voice cracked, and Taryn shot to his feet immediately and seized her wrist. She spun around, the lines between her brows heavily creased as she looked at his hand.
“Listen to me. I would never lie to you,” he said, eyes pleading. “You have to understand.”
Slowly, Airess lifted her gaze to his. Her eyes gleamed–not with anger, but hurt. “You knew your name this entire time, knew the truth about mylineage, and didn’t think to tell me? I showed you my home,Taryn. You let me believe–” pain etched itself across her features. She stepped back, Taryn’s hand falling limp next to his side.
Tears welled in her eyes as she spoke, “My–myfather. Ismene said Haeleth isn’t my real name. So who’s–” Airess shook her head, as if the motion would dispel the truth. “How can it be true?Who is my father?Whoreally was my mother?”
Taryn’s heart cracked. He finally realized the weight of what she was going through. It was more than him withholding information. It was the fact that everything about her life was a lie.
“Airess,” Taryn whispered. He stepped closer, but this time she didn’t back away. He grabbed one of her hands and caressed her jaw with the other, tilting her head so she would look up at him.
“I should have told you the truth. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I–I wasn’t thinking about your family or what that would mean for you. Please, I’m an idiot. I’ve made a mistake. I am so sorry.”
Airess studied him before closing her eyes and breathing out. She grabbed his wrist, the one caressing her chin, and let her hold linger. He was grateful for her touch, it was the only thing keeping him from trembling with fear. Fear that she would never speak to him again, that she would leave.
Airess pulled away and walked to the railing, turning her back to him. Her shoulders sank as she looked out at the sky. Taryn waited for her to say something.Anything.
Finally, she spoke. “If this is all true, then wehave families out there somewhere that want us dead. That threatened ourmothers.”
Taryn approached the banister and stood beside her. She kept her eyes forward, refusing to look at him.
“We don’t know if what they were saying is true,” Taryn reasoned. “There could be more they aren’t telling us.”
“Youwouldsay that.”
She cut her eyes to him. The anger within them was gone, replaced with an emotion he couldn’t name.
“I know they were telling the truth. I saw it with my Sight.” Then as if realizing something for the first time, her eyes widened. She pivoted to face him.
“If what they say is true, that makes you aprince, Taryn.”
Taryn recoiled at the reminder. It didn’t seem real. Taryn didn’t think he would ever truly accept it unless he saw his supposedHouseand the land of Tevye for himself. In truth, he hadn’t thought about those words in years–had buried them so deep in his mind he had almost forgotten.
Almost.
He couldn’t help but smile bitterly. It sounded insane. “Sweetheart, I am the furthest thing from royalty.”
Airess searched his face. There was still a subtle hurt present, but also a new understanding. As if learning this information finally gave Airess the permission to be who she was. Who she was meant to be. She certainly was taking this much better than he had. Airess almost seemed comfortable–dare he sayoptimisticabout this bomb shell of a revelation.
Taryn’s fingers grazed her hand, feeling the warm tingle spread throughout his entire body. “It all makes sense now,” he whispered, turning his gaze out to the ocean beyond.
“What?”
“That you belong to a sacred house–that you are royalty.”
Airess said nothing for a time. In the corner of his eye, he saw her look up at him. “This changes everything,” she said, then frowned as she looked at her shoes. “And at the same time, it changes nothing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Somewhere out there, we have a claim to power that was stolen from us. And there’s nothing that can be done about it. Tevye exists in a dimension inaccessible to us.”
Taryn’s brows furrowed as he turned to look down at her. He was surprised to see… disappointment in her eyes.
