Ella“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” Cora grouses, shooting me a death glare as we gather at the Royal docks. Vanarium-hulled ships fitted with cutting edge defense and weaponry systems are moored along the wharf, their crews flitting around like hundreds of tiny ants as they prepare the vesse
I can hear the words he’s leaving unsaid, his hope that he lives long enough to see these gifts manifest, and to see our son come into the world. Oh Goddess, I think as his mood grows heavy. It’s getting close to our departure time, but I’m not ready to say goodbye, not yet. I’ll never be ready.I n
EllaThe floor of the ship’s afterdeck bucks and reels on the rolling ocean waves, the deck surging up and falling beneath my feet. I grip the railing and try to breathe in the fresh sea air, keeping my eyes locked on the distant horizon. Cora appears by my side with a bottle of water. “How’s the na
I blink the tears from my eyes to study Cora’s countenance, which remains drawn and sober. There’s something so lost in her deep brown eyes, and I realize she’s probably feeling about as raw as I am right now. I may be vulnerable and on-edge, but she sounds so disconsolate that I simply can’t bear i
EllaOf all the things I expected to hear when I met my long-lost mother for the first time, it certainly wasn’t, “You’re too late.”I stop dead in my tracks, glancing nervously at Cora, Roger and Philippe. We’re barely out of the transport boats, and my bare feet are sinking into the dense black sa
“No.” The first priest concedes, bowing his head. “It isn’t.”“Will you at least tell me your names?” I inquire, feeling far more bold than I did a few minutes ago, “I keep calling you one and two in my head and it’s confusing.”“I’m Silas.” The second priest offers me something akin to a smile, “an
Ella“You’re not my mother?” I whisper, my voice positively tiny. Looking at Reina, it makes sense. She’s tall and willowy, with black hair, olive skin and dark eyes – just about my polar opposite. I’m recalling Henry telling me that I don’t resemble her or Xavier, so I must take after the Goddess,
“She appeared to me as if she’d been there all along – one moment I was alone and weeping, the next I was awake with this glowing being before me. It physically hurt to look at her, as if I knew I was gazing upon something I was never meant to see.” Reina’s attention turns back to me, and I’m surpri