Page 120 of In The Dark
Milena glances over her shoulder with raised brows, glasses halfway down her nose, hair messily gathered into a loose bun. With a huff and a glare, she returns to the Howler as if this was any other day.
“I wasn’t expecting you,” she says.
The female Howler opens her eyes, lifting them to mine as if she just realized my presence, and growls. I step back, my eyes darting back to Milena, who’s focused on Grim, tilting her head as if having a silent conversation.
“You have a crystal, and you’re here to see if it’s yours?” Milena asks me.
I swallow and nod. “I also have a few other questions to ask you, if you have time.”
She shoots a glance down, furrowing her brows. “Well, Nisha just informed me that she birthed her last pup a few minutes ago. I guess I’ll leave the new parents to tend to their pups.”
Straightening, she grabs a linen cloth. She wipes her hands and ushers me out of the den as Grim settles himself next to Nisha.
“I didn’t know there were more Howlers nearby. I’ve never seen something so beautiful. Seven pups?” I ask as Milena pushes her glasses up her nose, then lays the rag over her shoulder.
“Yes, and I’m shocked Grim allowed you in the den. That’s his mate,” she says, and we reach the door to her cottage. “I suspect he trusts you, and that says a lot. With new pups, Howlers are incredibly territorial. And with the female being in such a vulnerable position, the males become quite aggressive.”
She opens her door, urging me to sit at the table, and washes her hands. The fire from the mantel floods my senses and I sit, shrugging off my cloak. She brings two mugs of tea to the table.
“Nisha has been his mate for twenty years now. It’s still considered a new pairing,” Milena says.
“And they’re born in the winter?” Most animals would have a litter in the spring or summer when it’s warm.
She hums, nodding. “They’re the only kind to have litters in the middle of winter. A survival test. Pups who survive winter are privileged enough to live, forged in the harshest conditions. By the time spring arrives, they are no longer pups but survivors.”
“Have they lost any?”
“They’re the first pairing to have every pup survive winter, making them the strongest living pair for the last 200 years. Howlers have pups once every two, but this is the fourth litterI’ve helped them birth. It’s a privilege to be accepted as one of their own. I’ve been in these woods long enough, I guess.” She chuckles quietly.
I find myself wondering what it’s like for Milena to be isolated from others for so long—to live in solitude with only the Howlers for company, the loneliness stretching over the years.
I wonder how she met them and if she ever longs for something more. Does she ache for the people she’s lost? Does she ever wonder if the world has forgotten her as much as she was forced to forget it? The thought unsettles me, and for a moment, I understand a fraction of what it means to truly be alone.
Yet… a part of me envies her. The quiet—the freedom.
A life untethered from the expectations that come with being part of a realm that demands too much from me. And out here, in the silence, there are no lies to unravel, no hidden secrets, no duty to fulfill.Could I live like this? Would I want to?
“Don’t worry, I like being out here, and they make my time in the woods much more manageable,” she says as if sensing the question on my face. “Show me what you have.”
I glance down and huff. “First, I have a question about my father.” She eyes me warily, but I force myself to hold her gaze. “Is King Elion my father?”
She’s silent as she sets her mug down with a soft thud against the table, rubbing her thumb over the curve of the handle before looking at me.
My eyes narrow. “My mother was in contact with you all those years, and she didn’t tell you? Please, I need to know because the power surging through me isn’t just from Aurelia, and I need to figure out how to control it before it gets out of hand. How can I talk to animals if I’m from Aurelia? How can Grim communicate with me? It doesn’t make sense.”
She takes a long sip, eyeing me over the rim. “I’ve been waiting for that question since you arrived. King Elion is yourfather, but I was sworn to secrecy by Elynor, and with me being out here alone in the woods, who am I to tell?” She chuckles again, but then her face falls at my reaction.
I fucking knew it.A laugh of disbelief brushes the air as I stand to pace, tears threatening to fall. All this time, I’ve been living in the castle with my father. Myrealfather. I’m not a priority because I’m a female or skilled—I’m hisdaughter.
A daughter he’s trying to punish for what my mother did to him. Yet every mission I received wasn’t because of my potential, it was to take outhisenemies as I killed off my own kind.
Bitterness threatens to consume me, rising in my chest. For years I served King Elion without questioning the missions he gave me, yet he said nothing. Instead, he was stealing my memories and forcing me to believe the lie he’s spun.
Milena’s brows pinch. “You carry the royal essence of both bloodlines, Isa.”
My stomach drops. “How? What does that mean?”
“Truthfully, I don’t know,” she mumbles, but my heart skips with dread. “Your mother didn’t tell King Andre about the pregnancy until after they had already completed the marriage ritual for her to become queen of Aurelia. Until she herself had the royal essence, which means you carry the royal essence of the Vaelborne bloodline.” But also the royal Aethralis bloodline.