“There already is one, Ezra. Quinn loves you dearly, butshe’sgoing about this the wrong way. And like you said, this should beyourdecision to make. If youtruly wantto pick up where you left off,there’sno reason for me not to fill you in.”
At that, he looked down at the tattoo on his left arm. It appeared as a crystal wrapped in flames—Quinn’s family crest, and the tattoo that tied his entire being to his wife’s, just as my tattoo tied my soul to Byn’s.
Slowly, he raised his gaze to look me in the eye as he made his next request.
“Tell meeverything.”
And so, I obliged.
***
The sunwasnearingthe horizon by the timeI’dcaught Ezra up on everythinghe’dmissed. What I had thought would take no more than an hour ended up being multipleas he pulled out maps and books, wanting to know the exact details of what hadtranspiredin his forced absence.
It was like he was working to make up for lost time, and while my heart still hurt to see it, a spark had re-entered his eyes.It was as though he had a purpose again.And it brought megreat joyto know thatI’dbeen able to give that to him.
Ezra had been the driving force that made me feel welcome during the beginning of my time here in the South. If itweren’tfor him, Iwasn’tsureI’dbe where I was today.I was indebted to him, whether or not he knew it.
“And after that, we all rushed to get back here, toCairnyl, so we could plan our next moves.That’severything,” I concluded as I placed my finger overCairnylon the map before us, after pointing out the end of the routewe’dtaken to get back.
Ezra whistled as he stared at the map of the continent, and I imagined his mind was moving faster than he could talk.I’dtaken the time to answer each in-depth questionhe’dasked, so I knew he was processing a lot.
“Alright,” he said after a few beats of silence. “What can I do?”
My eyebrows raised at the question. I knew hewasn’tthe type to back down, even if fightingwasn’this forte, but I was still a bit surprised he wanted to jump right back in like that.
“After everything I just told you, you still want to be a part of this?” Iinquired.
He nodded. “If my friends, myfamily, are facing all of this, then there’s no reason for me to stay on the sidelines when I have the ability to help.”
My admiration for the male before me only grew with that statement.
“Ifyou’resure… Our next move is traveling to theOcreinIsles. Wecan’ttake on the North by ourselves when they have something that steals ourziriliumfrom us.We’rehoping that with help from Callum and Caelia, the king and queen of the Isles will come to our aid,” I explained.
Ezra sucked his teeth,then added, “And I’m sure the asking price will be as steep as they come.”
I nodded my agreement, then we lapsed into a moment of comfortable quiet.
After some seconds of building up courage, I asked, “Besides everything Dimi did… how was he?” Then, realizing that might be a horrible thing to ask, I began apologizing profusely.
“It’salright. I understand that you still care for him. Our hearts are tricky like that,”He smiled slightly. “He seemed… lonely. Lost. As though hecouldn’tfind his way back to whatever or whoever he was before.”
Tears prickled at my eyes, but I forced myself to hold them back, taking slow and deep breaths until they subsided.
“One more question, if you’re up for it,” I said.
“M’lady?”
“Why? What’s driving you to keep going, even after the horror you’ve been through?” I asked gently. I couldn’t quite understand it.
And for some reason, I realized Ireallywanted to.
He sighed lightly. “It’sa mixture of things, really. Besides wanting to be content with myself and how I decide to live my life, I also want to make those I hold dearproud. Quinn, Robyn, even my parents—despite them having returned to the Stars already. I wantto follow their lead—and I know this is somethingthey’ddo.”He lookedtoward his desk. Icouldn’tsee exactly what he was looking at, but something over there must have reminded him of somebody he loved.
I tilted my head.“Your parents? I thought you were orphaned.”
“Robyn never told you?” he asked, surprise written all over his face as his jaw dropped.
I shook my head, motioning for him to carry on.
