Page 74 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

She clicked her tongue, finally unpacking the bag of food.

Razik had been using his magic to keep everything warm, and she devoured the roast and bread before pulling out what was indeed a slice of chocolate cake.

She hadn’t even noticed the small cheese tray that Razik was eating cubes off of.

She took her cake out onto the balcony. The sun was dipping low, and she knew the fires would start any moment.

Leaning on the balcony railing, she was halfway through her cake when the sizzling rush of the wildfires reached her moments before the flames zipped along the surface of the water.

The Tana seals leapt among them, and the wildfires bathed the land around it in a soft glow she had missed.

It was odd. She’d seen these fires nearly every day for decades, had taken them for granted.

But watching them now made her think of the first time she’d seen them.

Alone and scared out of her godsdamn mind before Sorin’s people found her.

She watched the wildfires until her cake was gone. She knew it was a risk to spend too much time out here, and she turned to head back in, only to find Razik leaning in the doorway, his wine glass dangling in his fingers.

“Your homeland is beautiful,” he said softly, the wildfires reflecting in his sapphire eyes.

“Do you remember much of Noidrir?”

He beckoned for her to come through the doorway, and he closed the doors behind her, drawing the curtains closed. He’d poured the other glass of wine and left it sitting on the table, and she swiped it up. One glass wouldn’t hurt.

Plopping down into a chair, she sipped on the wine as Razik took the other chair. He’d cleaned up the rest of the table, because of course he had. The only thing remaining out was the small platter of cheeses.

“I only remember small details of Noidrir. I was only a few years old when we left, and considering my age now …” He shrugged. “It is just glimpses of things.”

“The book with the weapons?”

“Came from Noidrir.”

“Do you have other books from there?”

“Not many, but a few, yes.”

She took another sip of wine, her nail tapping on the glass a few times. “The Fire Court is not my homeland.”

Razik’s glass paused for the briefest of moments as he raised it to his lips before he said, “Oh?”

Her nail tapped again. “I was born in the Earth Court. My mother had Earth gifts.”

“Cross-breeding is frowned upon among the Fae here,” Razik said in confusion.

“Indeed. It will be interesting to see how the Courts react to the news of Ashtine and Briar.”

Razik hummed an acknowledgment.

“Anyway, I was supposed to marry the Earth Prince. The pairing had been arranged before either of us were born,” she went on.

“Prince Azrael?”

She nodded. “My mother and her husband were both powerful Earth Court Fae. I got that power, but it was fire.”

“Her husband was not your father,” he said quietly in understanding.

Eliza nodded, draining the glass of wine. Razik was already reaching with the bottle to fill her glass, emptying the last of the wine.

“He forced you to leave?”

She huffed a harsh laugh. “Something like that, yeah.”

Neither of them said anything for several minutes, and she was reaching for a cheese cube when she said, “If your …father?” She glanced up at him. “Is that what you want me to call him?”

“I don’t want you to call him anything,” he said, settling back deeper into his chair.

His brown hair curled around his ears, a few stray strands hanging forward and brushing along his face.

He seemed relaxed, despite the topic she’d just brought up.

His legs were spread, arm resting casually atop the table, and his fingers were loosely curled around the stem of his glass.

“Okay, well, if he is Temural’s Guardian, why did he come here? Why wasn’t he with Temural?”

“I already told you. One of the reasons he came here was to leave me with Tybalt.”

“But …why?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

She didn’t know. She didn’t know why she cared or why she was asking. So she said, “Because I’d like to think that if I wasn’t who I was, hadn’t experienced what I have, that this would be different. That you wouldn’t need to be questioning why I care enough to ask.”

His sapphire eyes held hers, and she saw it in the depths of them. Saw what should have been. Saw what he wanted. Saw what she couldn’t give him.

He didn’t say anything, and she couldn’t blame him.

He owed her nothing. If he didn’t want to tell her about his father or why he’d been left behind, that was fine.

She finally broke his stare and stood, using the bathing room once more before she climbed into the bed.

Razik hadn’t moved. Was still sitting at the table, his eyes tracking her every move.

She was opening her mouth to bid him good night when he spoke first.

“He came here for several reasons, but they all revolved around me.”

Eliza rolled onto her side, tucking a hand beneath her cheek so she could see him. He seemed to be searching her face, looking for something. Apparently, he found it because he continued speaking.

“He brought me to Tybalt. To keep me hidden. That’s what he said anyway, but I’d heard them one night. Him and Tybalt arguing. Tybalt wanted them to take me with them so that I could stay with them until Cethin was of age.”

“Of age? For what?” Eliza asked.

“I was brought here to be his Guardian.”

Eliza tensed. “You were forced to become his Guardian?”

She remembered Tybalt speaking of the Guardian Bond at dinner one night in Aimonway. He’d said it wasn’t a burden, and that no one selected as a Guardian was against it.

“I eventually chose it on my own, but not when they wanted me to. I was supposed to become bonded to him when his power was awakened. I refused. For decades. Centuries. Tybalt tried to persuade me. Saylah threatened me numerous times. But Tybalt would not allow it to be forced. Repeatedly argued with her that forcing a bond would work against what it was meant to be.”

“Why did you eventually choose it?” she asked quietly.

“I hated Cethin. For decades. I hated being around him. Hated being in Avonleya. Hated being in Halaya.”

“Halaya?”

“That is what this world is called in other realms,” Razik said.

“You read so much to escape,” she said in realization.

“No,” he countered. “I read so much because I believed that someday Saylah truly would force me into a Guardian Bond. I wanted to find a way to break it. So I studied magic and bonds. I studied beings in this world and others. I read any book I could on the subjects. I read any book I could get because you never know when or how such knowledge might be useful.”

“Did you ever find a way?”

“No.”

“But you still chose it?”

He shifted. The first time he’d moved the entire conversation.

“Cethin and I eventually realized we are soulmates. That as much as I resented him, we got along remarkably well when I wasn’t being a prick, and he wasn’t being an entitled ass.

As much as I hated being left here for such a purpose, it appeared fate had other plans. ”

“Do you regret it? Fighting it? Accepting it?”

His sapphire gaze came back to hers. “No, mai dragocen . But I know what it is to have a bond forced on you, to be pressured into accepting something you do not want.”

Her stomach twisted at what he was implying.

“You think I am being foolish? To fight what fate has destined for me?” she asked.

“No, Eliza. It takes a special kind of strength to fight fate. Even if you eventually accept it, it will be on your terms, and I am okay with that. Because I know that forcing fate would work against what it was meant to be.”

Eliza swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. She shifted, rolling away from the intensity of his stare, but not before she said, “Good night, Raz.”

“Shit,” Eliza muttered, tugging on Razik’s arm.

“What’s wrong?”

His arm slid around her, pulling her in close.

Instinct or because he could, she didn’t know.

She’d woken curled into him again this morning, and when she had stirred, his arm had wound tighter around her.

He’d still been sleeping. She could tell by his breathing, and it was foolish of her, but she stole a few more minutes of what could have been if she had been a different person.

She’d nudged him awake a few minutes later, and they’d grabbed some pastries from a street vendor before boarding the ferry to take them to Solembra.

Now they were nearing the docks, and Eliza realized they were checking papers.

Sorin had randomly ordered the same, usually when they were needing information or trying to track someone down.

She didn’t know if this was standard practice with Bastien or not, but the fact remained that they didn’t have identification papers on them.

Furthermore, she wouldn’t need them. The moment they saw her face, she’d be reported to Bastien.

“Travel us to shore. Now,” she hissed.

Razik didn’t question her, and a moment later, they were standing on a rocky ledge, partially hidden but still able to see the docks. She explained what was happening, and Razik crossed his arms, monitoring the scene below.

“I can see the city proper from here,” he said. “We could Travel in.”

“There are wards around the city. Bound to the city guards. Few can Travel here. In fact, until Scarlett, there were only two known Travelers—Talwyn and Azrael. Until recently, they were not people we wanted in Solembra unannounced,” Eliza explained, hands on her hips as she tried to come up with a plan.

“There must be other entry points besides the docks,” Razik said.

“Of course there are. But what if they are requiring papers at those points as well?” She looked at the surrounding mountains. “What we need is a place to lie low for a few hours so I can work out a plan.”

“Like a cave?”

“Oh my gods,” she moaned, swiping a hand down her face, but … “Yes, like a cave,” she sighed.