Page 86 of Daughter of the Serpent

"The forest has its own kind of magic," Axel explained, his voice carrying a note of reverence. "When the mind is troubled, its embrace offers solace. I sense you are in need of it."

“I have missed the trees.” She admitted. “I have been kept too long within the temple walls.”

“There's only so much you can learn in books and scroll, one needs to experience the earth to learn its magic.”

She nodded. “It appears you know much of it.”

A corner smile pulled his left cheek. “The Hazier cultivated an innate knowledge of nature. It is needed for life. Without earth, without nature - we would be nothing. She deserves our reverence.”

As the forest thinned, it gave birth to a rocky cliffside, where the sea greeted them like a welcome friend. Waves crashed against the rocks below with relentless force, while white seagulls soared overhead, their calls echoing sorrowfully along the shore. The air carried the brine of salt and the brace of the wind, invigorating her senses with renewed freshness. In this moment, everything seemed to lift, the weight of the world dissipating with each sway of the sea, and each gust of the howling wind - a certain longing igniting in her chest. Though Sylvie had grown up by the sea, it was a welcome reprieve, and her soul seemed to be at rest here by its waters.

“I remembered your chosen place was by the water.” He said after a moment, referring to their time within the dreamspace. Her eyes lit as the realization took hold.

"It is," she murmured, a soft smile tugging at her lips.

He nodded in response, his demeanor still stern yet somehow softened. As she studied him, she could feel the wisps of magic gather between them, twining in an elegant dance, threading together.

"Don't you have family, friends, somewhere?"

There was a pause, a moment that hung between them.

"I had a woman once," Axel finally confessed, his voice weighted.

"What happened to her?" Sylvie asked softly,

His eyes stayed on the horizon. "She was lost."

A moment passed of silence, and she felt the undeniable need toclose the distance between them. To ebb his pain, the ever apparent hurt that started to ripple in waves, tangible and true.

“I too have lost those I have loved,” she said shifting uncomfortably, “perhaps not in death, but through my dedication to the temple. We aren't allowed family outside the temple walls.”

“I am sorry for that.”

He cleared his throat then, looking back up to her. Their eyes locked, but Sylvie was quick to look away.

“Why do you look away?” He asked.

Instinctively she reached toward her eye, her fingers grazing her cheek. “People find my presence uncomfortable.” She said flatley, a breath escaping. “I’m surprised Godvik didn’t tell you that.”

“He did.” He said, seemingly unphased. “He said that you were a child of Lafar.”

“Do you believe that?” She asked, her heart beginning to pound. She searched his face, waiting for any trace of his opinion to come through.

“I think the more important question is, do you?”

Surprised at his response, she took a breath. “I don’t know what I believe.”

“Does it matter?” He asked inquisitively. “All that matters is you're here now. All that matters is your own heart and will - your heritage does not define you.”

“But the people care.” She sighed. “It’s not that easy. They think of me as wicked and false, like him. They do not trust me, nor will they.”

“They’re afraid of what they do not understand.”

“They see me - my face, my eye - and all they see is his legacy.” She confided. “They look at me, and see a monster. That is why I hide, that is why I try to conceal what I am.”

“That is not what I see.” His voice seemed to reverberate along her skin like a soft caress.

She looked up then, lips parting as she really allowed him to look at her. She watched as his eyes traced the planes of herface, every curve, every dip, and then her eye - her biggest insecurity.