“Airess, this news doesn't change anything,” Taryn stepped forward and cupped her face. “We made it to Rune. We accomplished our goal. We don’t have to claim that life. We came here to start over.”
“Is that whatyouhave done? Ignored your claim–ignored who you truly are?”
Taryn flinched at her words, hearing them out loud for the first time. That’s when he saw it. He saw something brewing within Airess that he was afraid to accept. To acknowledge. But it was there. The desire to experience more. Tobemore.
A part of him had always known.
Slowly, he replied, “I have never lived thinking I have a claim to anything. I have been abandoned, orphaned, and left behind as a child to live homeless in the streets. I don’t care if I have a family out there who doesn’t want me. And you shouldn’t either. They are dead to me.”
Airess’ eyes flashed with a hardness, only for a second, before she looked out to the ocean beyond. He studied her features, the way her lips pursed in thought. They way her brows creased, before they softened as she met his gaze.
“You’re right,” she said stiffly as she shifted on her feet.
The energy surrounding them was still tense, so Taryn inhaled and plastered a sarcastic grin on his face. He cupped a hand behind his ear. “Wait, what was that? Did you say I’m right?”
Airess’ lips twitched, as if trying to resist a smile, before her slight laugh broke through. “Don’t get too cocky, Tar.”
“I’m going to need those words in writing.”
“You’re insufferable.”
They stared at one another for a moment before Taryn chuckled and slipped an arm around her shoulders.
“Let’s get out of here. We need to find Ismene.”
Airess looked like she was going to refuse, but then nodded.
As they walked out, he couldn’t help but hear Airess’ words ringing in his mind.
That makes you a prince, Taryn.
And, for one moment, he allowed himself to imagine what his life would have looked like if he had never been taken from his homeland. Would he have been a king? Did he have other family members? Would he have ended up a good person if he was never brought here?
Taryn frowned. He hoped he would never find out.
Chapter 31
There is no winning in playing fair.
— Evyen Deyanira
Taryn
Later that evening, Taryn and Airess were escorted to meet Ismene at the Temple. Their conversation sure as hell wasn’t over, and they both needed to get to the bottom of what this prophecy was.
They walked into the temple room where he had almost died just a day ago. It was beautiful, even more so than he remembered, since he was here last in Rune. He had gone to the Temple occasionally when he lived with Ima, but after Ima’s death and his troubled adolescent years, he never bothered to go back.
The arched doors to the sanctuary were intricately painted with the colors of the elements: blue, red, green and white. The depiction told the story of the elemental God, how she harnessed control of all four elements and created the world. It was a story he could recite with ease, even after being away from Rune so long.
As they walked through the doors, they were immediately greeted by the rosy flames within the hearth–so pink they looked otherworldly, as if they were crafted from the Gods themselves.
And now he knew they were.
The Soulfyre. The flames that restored his spirit.
Ismene sat in the corner at her cramped desk, smiling as they walked in. The Priestess waved a hand for them to sit in front of the desk, a book open in her lap.
“Back so soon?” Ismene asked.
