Enoria is preparing for war with Irithara, and the team sans Kaleth are doing the best they can to put a stop to it before it progresses even further.
Their plan? Find Mereria, get her help with killing Relioth, and save Kaleth in the process. They...
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"So you knew about all of this stuff and you never told me?" Nira asked her father, folding her arms over her chest.
It was the next day, and he already looked much better. He was still much too thin, but at least he didn't look like he had nothing to live for anymore. He smiled more often, and he carried himself a little differently. As if a huge weight had left his shoulders.
Nira doubted it was her presence that had done this, though, at least not only that. No doubt it had something to do with whatever arrangement he'd had with Irif. Nira already had a few ideas as to what that entailed, but she'd been too afraid to ask.
They were sitting in the huge garden behind the palace, drinking tea of all things. The garden was just like she remembered it—since flowers bloomed only during the summer it usually consisted of many types of pine trees. Still, it was very nice to look at, even if most of the garden was just green. It was even unusually warm outside today, so as long as they sat in direct sunlight, they didn't even need coats.
Nira had kept hers on anyway, though. She'd been given new clothes almost immediately—a pair of ridiculously comfortable jeans, a really fluffy sweater, leather boots, and a black coat. The coat was very similar to the one she'd worn during her first month back in Irithara, but this one was much warmer. It was clear that every single one of these items cost more than what an average Iritharian made in a month, but Nira couldn't really bring herself to care about that.
What she did care about, though, was that by wearing these clothes, she'd distanced herself from Enoria a little more once again.
"I only learned about the Eternals a year or so before you went to Enoria," Nira's father replied, drinking his tea. Nira had a sneaking suspicion there was something other than tea in his cup with how at ease and talkative he suddenly was, but she didn't say anything. It was good seeing her father content. And, like many Iritharians, he'd always enjoyed drinking, especially mead, so if he really had put some in his tea, it wouldn't surprise her. "And how could I tell you, anyway? What would I say?"
Nira looked down at her cup of tea. He was right, of course, what had he been supposed to say? 'By the way, your mother is actually this homicidal entity from before the dawn of civilization, love you'?
"And besides, what would me telling you give you? It would just make your life more difficult."
"How come?" Nira asked, her eyebrows forming a frown. Her father blinked at her in confusion, as if he had no idea what Nira didn't understand.
"Don't you ever look at the people around you and wonder if there is more to them than meets the eye?"
Nira stared at him, suddenly feeling very disturbed because, no, she hadn't thought of that before. "No, but now I sure will."
Her father grimaced guiltily. "Sorry, Nira, I didn't mean to—"
"No, no, it's fine," she quickly stopped him, brushing a hand through her hair and sighing. Irif had said that there weren't many Eternals left in Irithara, which wasn't surprising. According to their mythology, Relioth had murdered quite a lot of them, so she doubted she'd meet some randomly on the streets. However, the same couldn't be said for Enoria.
