Page 76 of Stormvein (The Veinbound Trilogy #2)

Chapter Thirty-Three

SACHA

The Authority requires silence not for order, but for forgetting.

Authority Codes

I watch her carefully as she wrestles with revelations about her identity that would shatter most. There’s a strength in her that continues to surprise me.

I find myself constantly recalibrating my perception of her, each new facet of her character forcing me to discard old assumptions.

The strategist in me warns against growing too attached.

The man I am no longer cares. She’s under my skin, and I have no desire to expel her.

“We start with what we know. Miradel recognized your name in connection with a child the Authority sought.”

“Which happened when you were still imprisoned in the tower.”

“Yes. Much happened during those years that I only have second-hand knowledge of. We need to seek out anyone here who survived those years, and might have information about this child.”

Her brow furrows as she looks at me. I can almost hear the thoughts building in her mind.

“Varam might know who we should speak to. He will be discreet.” I cross to the door and instruct the guard outside to send for my second in command. When I turn back, Ellie is studying one of the maps.

“Do you really think I could have been born here? That I’m not from Chicago at all?” She doesn’t look up. “That somehow I’m the child they were transporting?”

“I don’t know, but the timing aligns too perfectly to dismiss it.” I study the tension in her shoulders, the slight tremor in her hands that she’s trying to hide.

“If it’s true, if I was born here, then sent to my …

to Earth somehow … why? Who would do that?

And how? If it is true, then nothing I believed about myself is real.

” The anguish in her voice makes me move before I really think about it—an instinct that would have been foreign to me once. Before her touch remade me.

I step closer to her, resting my palm against her back, and turn her to face me. The silver in her eyes has brightened, tears threatening to spill. Pressing two fingers beneath her chin, I tilt her head up. The gesture feels both protective and possessive.

“Everything you are is real.” My voice is firm.

“Where you came from? That’s just origin.

Who you became, the choices you’ve made, the strength you’ve shown.

That’s what makes you who you are.” I understand displacement better than most, having lost so many years of my life inside that tower.

Different circumstances, but the same sense of being ripped from one’s proper place.

A small smile touches her lips. “When did you become an optimist?”

“I’m not an optimist. I’m someone who recognizes when facts support a particular conclusion.”

Her laugh is brief but soft, the sound drawing me closer like a shadow seeks darkness. My thumb brushes over her lips, and I’m lowering my mouth to hers when the door opens. Varam pauses, taking in our proximity before speaking. The interruption irritates me more than it should.

“You sent for me?”

“Yes.” My hand drops away and I take a step back, putting a more respectable distance between us. “We need to locate anyone who might know more about the prisoner transport Miradel mentioned.”

Varam rubs his jaw. “Most operations from that time weren’t well documented. It was too dangerous to keep records. But there are a couple of people who might remember … Jaris was actively involved in raids on prisoner convoys for many years.”

“Can you find him and bring him here … and anyone else who might remember details about this mission?”

After Varam leaves, Ellie turns to me.

“What about Telren? He was helping me with my powers while you were … when you were taken after River Crossing.”

“He never mentioned anything at the meeting.”

“No, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t know where to look, especially about the crystal.”

She has a point. Telren was already a historian before I was imprisoned. If anyone can search quickly through the archives we do have, then it will be him.

“Good idea. I’ll send someone to find him.”

I move to the door again to give further instructions to the guard. When I return, Ellie is pacing, fingers twisting together.

“Are you all right?”

She stops. “I … I don’t know. Everything feels off-balance. Like I’m standing on the edge of something I can’t see.”

The admission, the vulnerability in it, stirs something in me that I’ve kept buried for too long. I cross the space between us and cup her face between my palms.

“We’ll find the answers, Mel’shira.”

“What if I don’t like what we find?”

“Then we’ll deal with it. Together.”

She blinks, then nods, stepping forward so she can wrap her arms around my waist, and bury her face into the front of my shirt.

Standing here with her in my arms feels right, natural, and I’m not entirely sure what that means, but if it’s what she needs, then I find myself willing to give it to her.

I fought alongside many during my years as leader of the Veinwardens, but there was always a necessary distance kept between me and everyone else, even Varam.

Legacy, position, power—all things that make it difficult to maintain normal relationships.

But with Ellie, it’s different. What began in the tower has evolved into something far beyond anything I expected.

We remain that way until there’s a quiet knock on the door. Ellie sucks in a breath and moves back, putting some space between us as the door swings open to allow Varam and another man to enter.

“Lord Torran,” he says. “This is Jaris.”

The fighter who enters has a scar running from eye to jaw. He limps toward me, one hand pressed to his heart.

“My Lord, Hi?—”

“Please, sit. There is no need for formality here.”

He settles onto a chair with a slight grimace, the movement clearly aggravating old wounds.

“Varam says you are looking for information about Silvermist Pass.”

“Yes. What can you remember about that raid?”

“I remember it was strange. Not like our usual ambushes.”

“How so?”

“We typically hit Authority convoys moving prisoners to Blackvault when we had the numbers. You know this. You led many of them yourself before—” His teeth snap together, tactfully avoiding mention of Sereven’s betrayal and my capture.

“Continue.”

“Rumors reached us about a special prisoner. A child the Authority was keeping separate from the other captives.”

“How young?” The question comes from Ellie before I can say anything.

He hesitates, looking at me. I nod, telling him to answer her.

“No more than three, I’d say. Still small enough to be carried. Normally, we wouldn’t commit resources to a single prisoner, but this was different. We’d ambush, free who we could, and get out. But there were more than thirty fighters organized for this one.”

“That would have been risky. Harder to hide that large a group. Who arranged it?”

“That’s what made it different. The four remaining Veinblood masters came together for it. Kalliss, Meren, Nyassa, and Vorith.” He shakes his head. “I’d never seen them all in one place before.”

“All four? Together?” With the focus on purging all those with Veinblood powers, for all four masters to unite behind a single cause means the mission was urgent.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Earthvein, Flamevein, Tidevein, and Windvein powers working in concert.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“We ambushed the convoy at Silvermist Pass. The Authority had more guards than we expected.” His expression darkens. “We lost good people that day. But the masters … they cut through the lines like they weren’t even there, and reached the child.”

“Did you see the child? Female or male?”

“Only from a distance. A little girl.”

“After the rescue, where did they take her?”

Jaris shakes his head. “That’s where things took an even stranger turn.

They didn’t return to any stronghold. They just …

vanished. The Authority searched for months afterward, raiding villages, torturing people for answers.

More resources and patrols than I’ve ever seen committed to a single search, but they found nothing. ”

“None of the masters ever returned?”

“No. All four disappeared.” His gaze moves between us. “There were whispers that they’d sacrificed themselves to protect the girl.”

“Is there anyone else who might know more about what happened after Silvermist Pass? Someone who might have been close to one of the Veinbloods?”

He thinks for a moment. “Forsala might know more. She and Nyassa were close … well, as close as anyone without power can be to a Veinblood … no offense meant, my Lord. If anyone would have more insight, it would be her.”

“Thank you, Jaris. Your information has been invaluable.” I help him to his feet and walk him to the door. “You’ll understand when I say I would prefer you not to speak of this to anyone else.”

“Of course, my Lord.” His hand touches his heart again, and he dips his head.

Once he’s gone, I ask Varam to find Forsala. Ellie moves to the far side of the chamber, arms wrapped around herself.

“Veinblood masters … that means they were strong, like you, doesn’t it?”

“It does. They were the last of the Veinblood Varels.”

“Varels? What is that?” She frowns. “People here keep calling me Varel et’Arvath.”

“It means Prince or Princess. Varel et’Arvath is calling you Princess of the Storm.”

“But I’m not a princess.”

“The power you wield suggests otherwise.”

She frowns. “But I’ve never heard you called Varel et’ anything . They call you Vareth’el.”

“My title is different.”

“Because you’re the High Prince.”

“Among other things.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we’re moving far away from what we should be focusing on.”

Her eyes narrow. “You’re avoiding answering me again.”

“Only for the moment.” I walk across the chamber until I’m in front of her. “I promise, Mel’shira, I will answer all of your questions, but for now, we need to concentrate on this.”