Chapter 38

Cleo couldn't help but feel...off. Something was nagging her at the back of her mind, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It wasn't because she'd spent two weeks more than anticipated in Ayveri. Not because she was missing her grandmother, Janan, Urell, and everyone else back home. Not even because she wanted to see Kav again or even Malik.

Having been away from Arloerin for so long, she knew it was time to head back. Those weeks she'd spent with Lyv, Jai, Dessa, Elys, and the rest of her family had done so much good for her, even if the questions that made her come hadn't been answered.

"I'm sorry," Elys told her just a few night before as the two of them sat out on the patio just outside the kitchen doors. He'd brought out two tankards of Torrent, one for each of them.

"For what?" Cleo had asked, mostly because he hadn't said anything to apologize for.

Everyone was finishing up with dinner, the conversation and laughter floating outside. Even though she loved being with her family, she was starting to miss Arloerin more and more with each passing day. She could only hide away from her problems back home for so long and it was past time for her to face them head on.

Elys took a sip from his tankard before going on. "For not giving you answers you were wanting, which was the main reason you came."

She shrugged one shoulder, giving him a small smile. "For not getting my answers, my other reasons were well worth the trip. I've been away longer than I intended and yet now..."

"Now, you're being pulled home."

Something...no, someone was pulling her back. The very someone Elys couldn't give her any information on because he couldn't see her properly – the Lady in White. Maybe Kav had better luck trying to get information out of Malik and she'd have a letter waiting for her at home when she returned. Maybe it'd even have her true name and identity.

Cleo took a long sip from her tankard before looking back at him, knowing he hated not having answers without him saying as much. "You're not used to being blind, are you?"

He scoffed, grimacing. "No, I'm not."

"Do you have any idea as to why?"

"None. But all those years ago when it came to you and your existence, I couldn't see much then either. This is kind of the same. It's not only the matter of the Lady in White and what Sophea's planning, but it was also with Des's magic and what would happen."

Gods, was she happy she'd been here when it finally did. Not just because she wanted to see it for herself, but she knew she would need to be there for her in helping to learn it. Lyv and Jai could only do so much, having known the darkness also, but Dessa's was different than theirs had been. That was something only Cleo alone could teach her.

"And then there's that nightmare she's had since she was little..."

That was the first she'd heard of it. "Nightmare?"

He gulped down the rest of his tankard, wiping the back of his hand across his lips when he finished. "Nightmare. The three of us are in it, along with another female I can't seem to see clearly either. The way my visions are all but blocking her out, I'm starting to wonder if she's the Lady."

But that would mean... "You think she's a friend and not a foe?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "Right now? I have no clue. Maybe once we know who she is and her past, present, and future isn't shrouded in darkness like it is for me right now." He paused, staring ahead of him at nothing at all before continuing. "We're fighting some unknown entity, a male who is nothing but shadows and darkness. Different than what happened with Lyv and Jai and the Dark Wars two decades ago. Because we're not here. Not in this world or in Laria. Not in any world I've ever had a vision about and I know of quite a few from focusing and just watching Dessa."

Cleo couldn't help but crack a smile, one she hid as she tucked her chin and looked down.

Elys continued on, hands tightening around his tankard so much his knuckles turned white. "The other female has dark magic mixed with her light just as you two do. You're all trying everything to stop him. Even I am with my own brand of magic. But from what I've seen, we're unable to even touch him. That's what always wakes both Dessa and I up from it, knowing the end is coming and yet all we can do is stare at one another...and then just as I'm reaching for her, there's nothing but darkness."

"You can't see anything past that?" Cleo asked in a whisper.

"No...and that's what's scaring me. But just like Lyv and her dream with Jai about Des, I have another way of knowing I'll have a future past it."

Elys turned his hand over, fingers running along the empty space along the inside of his forearm just below Dessa's name. There was a reason for it, one he hadn't outright said and yet everyone knew. In all the millennia since the first Seer of Ikreus, not only was Elys the first to be broken from the chains of slavery, but he was also going to be the first with a future that lasted well past the others age that never went past thirty-five years. For Elys, though...well, he already knew he would hold the title and the magic of the Seer for much, much longer, allowing for him to have the life none of his predecessors did...including children.

He shifted, looking back toward the open doors leading into the kitchen where everyone was. His eyes were only on one person just as they always were – Dessa. The female who was the light of everyone's lives was holding her little sister, talking to the little girl about their day training together. Lenora was absolutely beaming as her pixie Silas fluttered around her before landing on her shoulder. But even as the three-year-old rambled on, Dessa must have felt someone watching her, meeting Elys's stare. Her lips curled up into a smile as she winked at him, then turned her attention back to Len.

Cleo couldn't help her smile at she looked at Elys, bumping her shoulder to his. "In all these weeks you've been home and completely entranced by a certain princess since that first look at her, especially when you've given any excuse to touch her or even just be near, why haven't you said anything to her?"

Even in the dim lighting of the palace behind them, Elys's face flushed bright red. "I wish I didn't drink the rest of my tankard if this is the topic of discussion now."

"Oh, please," she snorted. "You love talking about her. You always have."

"That was before, but this...this is different. You understand, especially when it comes to you and Kav."

"Trust me, it's so much better when you give into it."

"And you trust me when I say Kav likes to talk about giving in a little too much, especially when I was the only one who knew about you two."

"At least you have to suffer no longer now that everyone important knows."

At that, Elys's laugh rang out, especially when Cleo pulled him closer, ruffled his hair, and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Too true," he told her. "I wish I was there to see what happened when he finally let it slip to Malik, though."

Cleo froze. "He told Malik?"

Elys nodded, eyes flashing white just as they always did when he wanted to see something. "He did...though I can't tell when. The vision is hazy, but maybe..."

"Maybe what?"

He tried again, only for it to last a split second. "It's not just Kav. It's Malik, too. And it's not just because of what I'm trying to see. It's the who that's making it difficult."

Cleo didn't need to ask him just who it was either.

Elys dropped his chin, eyes growing distant as his thoughts ran away with him. Having watched the male grow up from seven years old to now almost two decades later, she knew all of his expressions. She especially knew the one where he was thinking back to every terrifying thing that happened during the war. All of the fighting and destruction and death. Everyone who lived through it had the same one.

"Are you all right?" she asked softly, reaching over to grab his hand and hold it tight.

A few moments past before Elys pulled himself out. Covering her hand with his own, he nodded. "Do you ever...?" Another pause, eyes closed. "I don't know if I'm the only one who feels this way given what happened before Lyv rescued me, but do you ever feel like you deserve none of what you've been granted with in life? Because sometimes I catch myself thinking I'm not worthy enough for everything I have. The Seer has always lived a short life of servitude and hardship, but by whose hand was I dealt this life I've been given?"

Cleo opened her mouth to say something, but then slowly closed it. Of course, she felt the same sometimes, especially when it came to Arloerin. She would have given her life for her home and her people, but the praise and revelry...sometimes she didn't understand why she deserved it.

"You gave them everything," her grandmother would tell her when she knew she was struggling. "You gave them life, love, and protection. You gave them a home and a purpose. Everyone will forever be grateful for you, including myself. You deserve it all and so much more."

"I do sometimes," Cleo told Elys then. "Especially when it comes to Arloerin. But I fought for my home, my family, and my people and will continue to do so until the day I go to the land of light and shadows. I know what path your mind takes when you have the same thoughts. You wonder if the only reason you have everything you do now is because Lyv rescued you in Filwey. In a way, yes. But even you said you saw her coming for you in your visions. You knew she would take you out of slavery and raise you in a home filled with love and light and laughter, but you've made this life she allowed you to have everything you've wanted it to be. You deserve everything you've ever worked toward and everything you have...including that mate of yours who's still in oblivion and yet still can't keep her eyes off you at the moment."

Once more, Elys's face flamed but a flicker of a smile lifted the corners of his lips.

As the lamps began to flicker to life and darkening sky glittered with moon- and starlight, they were joined by another who thought she could be sneaky and tiptoe up behind Elys without him knowing. Since Cleo was the only one to see his face, Dessa didn't see him rolling his eyes just before she secured her arms around his neck from behind, leaning her head against the side of his.

"If you think I didn't know what you were about to do, you're sorely mistaken," Elys told her, reaching up to touch her arm.

Dessa tightened her hold on him, just enough to give him warning. "You ever think to turn that Seer magic off?"

"If only I could," he said, turning so he could look at her, then grabbed to hand to kiss her palm.

Grinning, Dessa let go of him, then rounded his chair so she could sit in front of him, using his knees as a headrest. "What are you two talking about out here."

Just to make him a little bit embarrassed, Cleo answered, "You."

Elys cut a narrowed gaze to her as Dessa burst out laughing.

"What?" Cleo asked oh so innocently. "It's true. Plus, I was just thinking about how I'm extremely happy I was here when you finally got your magic. You've been doing wonderful trying to learn it all."

She hummed, holding out her hand as her shadowflames flickered to life in her palm, flecked with silver. "I guess I'm getting better at it. My portals still need work, though. I was doing well there for a little while, but now I'm struggling with closing them again."

Elys playfully tugged at her hair. "You'll get there. I know it."

"Of course, you know it," she said, heaving a sigh. "And yet you won't even tell me when I'll get there. Stupid Seer."

"Spoiled princess."

Dessa reached back to blindly swat him with her hand, managing to hit his chin. Elys caught that hand and kissed her palm before letting go, both of them smiling widely.

And Cleo...well, she was just watching the two of them, especially since like this, they were so much like Lyv and Jai.

"What were you really talking about?" Dessa asked.

Cleo grinned before sipping her tankard. "You," she repeated, and Elys coughed. "You and your magic, that is. I was saying how well you're doing with it, though you're not giving yourself too much credit for how far you've come."

She shifted to look over her shoulder at Elys.

"She's right, you know," he told her.

"But there's still so much I have to master and..."

"And you'll get there with time and practice," Cleo cut in. "You've had your magic for a few weeks, Des. You'll get there."

"You're starting to sound like Momma and Daddy."

"Because your parents know what they're talking about and you need to listen to them."

"Too bad they're now even more overprotective than they were before," she sighed, then nodded her head backward toward Elys. "This one's even worse."

"There's a reason for that, you know," Cleo winked. She didn't have to make eye contact with the male to know he was glaring again.

Dessa leaned her head back against Elys's knees again as he played with the ends of her hair. "Momma said you were probably going to head home soon. I don't want you to go, especially when you're really the only one who can help me with the darker parts of my magic, but I know you can't stay here forever."

"I am, but you know you can always come to Arloerin whenever you want to."

"When do you think you'll go?"

"A few days, so you'll get to keep me around for a least a little while longer."

***

Lyv sniffled as she held onto Cleo tightly. She was the last of her goodbyes before she would be leaving with Ollyn to head back to Arloerin and even she didn't want to let go just yet.

"Don't wait so long to come back to visit, all right?" Lyv told her. "Or maybe we'll come to you. You know Len loves going to see Renna and Janan and especially Shamira. Plus, I want Kav there just so I can see you two together."

Cleo laughed, pulling back to look at her cousin and roll her eyes. "I don't even know when he'll be back, but you know he always loves when you all are there."

After going in for another hug, Cleo stepped back and looked at everyone one last time. Just like every time they parted, tears stung in her eyes, though she knew it wouldn't be too long before she saw them again. But now...now, she needed to get home. Home to Arloerin. Home to whatever awaited her.