Page 13 of Wrath Of Suns And Shadows (The Osparia #2)

Chapter Seven

Emelyn

S weat trailed down my back as I dropped to a knee from exhaustion. Shay had refused to take no for an answer regarding training any longer after we’d taken a few days off to dedicate to my studies.

Her being pregnant didn’t slow her down. Her skills with her weapons were immaculate. I noticed I was getting better—stronger the more we practiced together.

“Again,” Shay commanded as I got back to my feet.

She twisted her wrist, making her blade swing around her body as she got into position.

I stood and readied. She came for me full force, and I swung my axe to block her, shoving her a few feet back.

She stumbled, and I got my opening. I swung out my leg, causing her to fall flat on her back.

Before she could lift her sword, my axe was at her throat, and she smiled at me.

“You’re getting better, Em. That’s the third time today you got me, and the seventh time all week,” she praised, but it had truly been a team effort.

I smiled victoriously as I offered her a hand.

It was late evening. The sun hadn’t started going down yet, but it soon would.

A part of me wanted to take the rest of the day after the progress I’d made this past week.

Shay must’ve felt the same way because as she took my hand, she sheathed her blade.

“Come on, let’s grab dinner early tonight,” she said as another voice whispered on the wind. Shay and I shared a look as we both turned toward where it was coming from.

There was a woman lying on the beach down the shoreline. I began walking toward the body, and Shay unsheathed her sword. She looked so familiar, too familiar. No, it couldn’t be. I sucked in a breath at what I was seeing.

“Willow?” I gasped out as I crouched down and turned the woman over on her back to get a better look at her.

I couldn’t breathe. My heart pounded in my chest as tears pricked behind my eyes.

She looked exactly like her. But as I examined her closer, I noticed slight differences.

This woman had a freckle, similar to a beauty mark, next to her lips, and she had piercings similar to mine and Ace’s running up the points of her ears. Willow had never had that.

“No, child.” She coughed, choking on water.

Her clothes were soaking wet, and she was trembling—cold.

I bent the water out of her clothes, leaving her dry as I tried to help her to her feet.

I naturally wanted to help her. She looked so much like Willow, my heart almost wanted to believe it was her.

“Who are you?” I whispered, and Shay lifted her sword.

“How did you find this place?” Shay’s question came out harshly, untrusting. The woman raised her trembling hands, and a part of me wanted to stand in front of her, protect her. Everything in my mind was telling me this woman was Willow and I needed to stop it.

She’s not Willow .

I tried to tell myself the truth repeatedly to stop myself from attacking Shay for holding a blade in her direction. I couldn’t stop the blade last time, and I’d be damned if I let it happen again.

“Enough. She’s scared and alone, put the blade down,” I demanded of Shay, and she wagged her head.

“This woman found Magni without a dragon. I don’t trust her,” Shay said. “Who’s Willow. Do you know this woman?” Shay asked, and I looked at the woman again.

“Someone dear that I lost to Ember. This woman looks almost identical to her,” I explained, and Shay’s brow furrowed.

“That’s impossible,” she murmured.

“Willow was my sister.” The woman spoke up, and it was like being struck with a fist to the gut. “My twin, actually.”

“Willow never told me she had a sister,” I said. My mind began racing.

The woman smiled. “I’m sure there are a lot of things Willow never told you. She always wanted to run away from her powers and the past,” she added.

“Willow was a water bender. What powers are you talking about?” I asked.

“Oh, child, there truly is a lot you don’t know,” she whispered, and Shay slowly lowered her sword.

She tried to take a step but stumbled and almost fell.

I wrapped my arm around her and held her steady as I began walking us back to camp.

Shay went to her other side to help her along, but I could feel her hesitance.

Hopefully, once we got her a meal and some water, we could get our answers.

We made it back quickly. Draken was in his dragon form, standing like a statue of gold in front of the library. He was ready to pounce if he needed to. Everyone was on edge.

Draken growled, and the woman looked at her feet in fear.

“It’s alright. He won’t hurt you,” I vowed, giving him a look, and he puffed a plume of smoke at me before trudging away and climbing to the top of the library.

We sat at camp, and the fire had already been started.

Fish and fresh fruit were waiting for us.

Draken and the other dragons must have gone and gathered dinner while we’d trained.

The elderly woman took a bite of the fruit and her eyes lit up.

The food of Osparia was delicious, but everything on this island seemed to taste better, richer, untainted. I’d miss it once we left.

“This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” she said, taking another large bite.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Marlena.”

“Now, how did you get here?” Shay asked, taking a bite of her fish. She was growing impatient.

“Years ago, Valos snatched Willow and me. He wanted to use us for our abilities.”

“What abilities? Many fae can water bend. What makes you so special?” Shay asked, her words sharp and precise. I shot her a look. I didn’t know what Marlena had been through, but if it involved Ember, it couldn’t have been pleasant.

“Willow and I could do more than water bend. We are Soothsayers. We can see things before they happen. Sometimes its only bits and pieces, but there were times Willow told me she could see years at a time flash before her eyes.” As she spoke, I shifted uncomfortably.

“Prove it,” Shay said, and Marlena stared at her a moment. Her brown eyes slowly shifted to a milky white that made me lean away from her. My nerves racked through me.

“Shay, from the Islands of Ash, you have a bond with a dragon named Emeris. Your mate’s name is Baron, and you’re expecting a baby—”

“Stop,” Shay interrupted. “I don’t want to know what it is.” At her words, Marlena’s eyes shifted back to brown.

“Why not? Most do. I can’t count how many times women have come to me wanting to know.”

“I want it to be a surprise,” Shay admitted, and Marlena cocked her head.

“Why haven’t you told your mate? He worships the ground you walk on. His love was one of the strongest things I felt as I sifted through your fate.”

“I will tell him when we return. Emelyn was my priority.”

“I want to hear the rest of your story,” I whispered, my mind reeling with how little I knew about one of the people I cared for the most.

“Valos took us and gave us refuge for our compliance. Eventually, Willow ran. I stayed behind because I was scared. I didn’t want to face Valos’s wrath if he ever found me.

Willow was always the brave one, always did what was right regardless of the consequences.

She tried to convince me to go with her, but I didn’t.

All this time, I remained trapped in Ember.

I finally worked up the courage and planned to flee.

In my sleep, I had a dream, or perhaps a vision, of this place.

I didn’t care. When the opportunity arose, I left with the clothes on my back, stowed away on a ship, and once I was close enough, I bent across Draynua the rest of the way to find this place.

The journey was hard and long, but I didn’t stop.

My fear of Ember kept me going,” she explained before taking the last bite of her fruit and moving on to a prepared fish.

“You know Willow is—”

“I know, child, I felt it the moment it happened.” Her voice came out softly. I could almost hear the regret radiating through her words. All the what-ifs came to the forefront of my mind. I was sure Marlena felt the same.

“Why did Willow hide her abilities?” I asked. “I knew her for over a century and never knew of them.”

“Willow used herbs and witches’ spells to keep her abilities at bay.

It didn’t always work, but it helped. She used to always say knowing what was going to happen next was a curse.

In some ways, she was right, but back then, I took her knowledge for granted.

I viewed our powers as a gift, and it is sometimes, but knowing what horrors await you or the outcomes of those you love most were sometimes better left unknown.

Especially after Valos took the throne,” Marlena said as I thought back to every instance Willow sent me to get herbs from Lyn’s.

Had my suspicions been right all along? Was Lyn a witch and I just never knew about it?

Never put it together that Willow could use her herbs to cast spells to mask her abilities all those years?

I blew out a shocked breath. Memories flooded my mind of all the moments we’d believed Willow had eyes in the back of her head, but in reality, she’d probably seen every little thing Ace and I were doing before we ever did them.

That sneaky old woman. Remembering her brought a smile to my face and sent a pang of pain through my heart.

She’d known . . .

She’d known I was the Peacebringer . . . Had she known her death was coming? Was that why she’d done all the things she had? I couldn’t bear the thought.

I glanced over at Marlena, and tears pricked behind my eyes because of how similar she looked to Willow. They were no doubt sisters.

“I read in a book here that there was only one Soothsayer. How did you both have those abilities?”

“We always assumed it was because we were twins, like a loophole of sorts,” she responded, and we ate in silence for a few moments before Shay cut in.

“I’ll talk to Draken to see if you can refuge here until we leave.”

“Leave?” Marlena’s voice cut in with panic evident in her tone. “Where would we go? I can’t leave this place. It’s protected.”

“We’ll have to go back to the rebellion at some point, and I doubt Draken will let you overstay your welcome.”

“Why not?” Marlena asked.

“Because you’re a stranger, regardless of your circumstances,” Shay said, as she went to stand. Emeris swooped down from the trees. She landed with a thud, and the dirt and debris on the ground shifted from the powerful wind that came from her wings.

“Where are you running off to?” I asked as I stood and walked over to her.

“I’m going for a ride before bed. Keep your guard up.

I don’t trust her.” Shay murmured the last part only loud enough for us to hear, giving me a stern look before she climbed on top of Emeris.

I nodded, and she took off into the sea of stars and moonlight above my head.

I bet it was even more beautiful riding at night.

I shifted, turning back to the campfire where my bedroll was waiting for me, and I plopped down with a sigh.

“Long day, child?” Marlena asked, and I looked away from her.

The sound of her voice, the way she looked, there were minor differences, but it was all too much.

I was overwhelmed. “I know this is probably hard for you. I’m sure you and Willow were close.

Is there anything I can do to help ease your mind? ”

“No, I’ll be alright, thank you. Get some sleep,” I dismissed, not wanting to think about this anymore as I turned over. A few moments of tense silence stretched between us as I kept shifting in my bedroll.

“When Willow and I were just young girls, she used to tell me stories before bed to ease my mind. Would you like to hear a story? Maybe it’ll help you fall asleep,” she whispered, and it sent me over the edge. A single tear slipped from my eye and trickled down my nose.

“Sure,” I whispered, and as she began, I pretended.

I pretended everything was sound with the world, that Ace and I were kids again and Willow was just telling us a bedtime story about life and lessons.