Page 39 of Shadow Wings
Kamoi took a step forward on the path leading to the house, but I left him there and went to the ash tree, drawn once more. There was no wave of emotion calling me, except the unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach left from receiving snatches of the previous queen’s life only moments before. I was tired of non-answers, hints, avoidance, and most of all manipulation. The trees wanted me to know something. I felt a duty tothem.
I was tired of missing out. Of making my decisions based on the information others fed me. The trees held memories, and in my heart, I knew they spoke truth. To know that, when truth seemed so hard to come by these days, made me eager to obligethem.
Placing my hands on the grayish bark, I closed my eyes and waited. The trees didn’t take long to answer mycall.
A stunning woman with wavy silver hair appeared, laughing and smiling, the joy in her eyes breathtaking. Next to her was a man, a Phaetyn, the same Phaetyn who was mated to the previous queen. He had slanting brows, high cheekbones, and fulllips.
Was this Kamoi's father? There was a strong resemblance to the prince. Kamoi’s story of his parents and his childhood came back to me, and I knew I’d guessed correctly. Was this stunning woman hismother?
The image dissolved, and another took its place.The beautiful lady now wept, and the Phaetyn man pulled her into his arms. Another vision took hold, and this time, the same woman sat on a throne, rocking a tiny infant in her arms. The image faded, and then the woman knelt on the floor, alone in a dark room, holding a drawing of the previous queen, Queen Luna, while she wept. Her anguish was echoed by the tree, and my heart ached for hersorrow.
“Can you see her? How she used to be?” Kamoi asked in a roughwhisper.
His warm hands covered mine, and I opened my eyes to see his violet eyes glistening with unshedtears.
“Did you see my mother?” He choked on the last word, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Kamoi gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, breathinghard.
I took the opportunity to study him. This close, I noticed his lower lip was fuller than his upper, and the definition of his chest muscles peeked out from the dip in his aketon. His fists were clenched, accentuating his corded arms; his chest was broader, and instead of being lean like Tyrrik, the Phaetyn prince was much more muscular and thick, like a treetrunk.
There was something about Kamoi: his kindness, his patience, and the fact that he made me feel like I belonged with just a small touch, which spoke to me on some level. My blood knew hisblood.
I reached forward and rested my palm on his cheek. He gasped and pulled me to him, wrapping me in a warm embrace. He smelled like spring, like fresh rain and herbs with an undertone of smokypine.
His hands gripped my back, pushing into my skin. Energy pulsed between us, and I could feel his eagerness for my touch. But a memory of the torture room slammed into my mind, the feeling of being confined and trapped and out of control. Something deep insidescreamed.
I pulled back from the Phaetyn prince, stepping out of hisreach.
“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” I said, face heating.Jotun’s face, slamming doors, rows ofscalpels.
I squeezed the memories away, locking them deep inside. I choked out, “I-I I did see your mother; she's beautiful. She sick, isn'tshe?”
“Let’s go meet her. You can see for yourself.” He held out his hand ininvitation.
I looked at Kamoi’s hand, willing the shivering remnants of my panicked moment away, telling myself I was being ridiculous. He’d been nothing but nice to me, and I’d never had that response with his previous touches. But then, what we’d just shared was more than a simple hand hold. I was absolutely certain whatever just happened, the panic was dregs of darkness from inside of me, left over from the castle. I looked at Dyter watching our exchange with a furrowedbrow.
There with him was Tyrrik, still unconscious and draped over the horse like a sack of potatoes. As I looked at the Drae, my heart tripped, skipping a few beats. Swift anger followed the light sensation.Mistress moons.There was something so not right in my head. Tyrrik had lied to me from day one; I wasn’t okay with feeling anything for him. Iwouldn’tfeel anything forhim.
Kamoi stood waiting, his hand still extended, although as he turned to follow my gaze, his hand sunk back toward his side. Before he could completely withdraw it, I resolutely reached forward and grabbed his hand and stepped closer. The way Kamoi treated me was normal. The way Tyrrik had treated me was anythingbut.
Kamoi's eyes lit, and he offered a tentativesmile.
Dyter glared at me from behind the prince. Whatever. Dyter could be mad. He hadn't been in prison with Irrik, Ty, and Tyr. The old man had no room tojudge.
But the rolling of my stomach didn't quite agree with the rationale in my head because, despite everything, my mind was churning out on repeat that my stupid heart knew what my heartknew.
And after only a couple of steps, I withdrew my hand fromKamoi's.
16
As we approachedthe rose quartz house, the filtered light it refracted cast rainbows into the meadow. The building was not created exclusively of stone. The double doors were made of wood that had been polished until itshonelike the stone, but the wood was palegray.
We got closer, and the door was flung open, and a young Phaetyn girl of no more than eight ran out to meet us, screaming in Phaetyn language. The only word I understood was Kamoi's name. Judging by her wide smile and bounding enthusiasm, she was ecstatic to see herbrother.
I slowed my steps and watched as the girl crashed into her brother, wrapping her arms around his narrowwaist.
“Uso ua ou misea, Kamoi, fea na eiai.”
“Kamini, you must speak in the language of man. We have guests, and we would not want to excludethem.”