Land of Light and Shadows

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Jai couldn't help but stare at the sorceress before them.

The Queen of Arloerin.

Cleo.

The resemblance between her and Lyv was uncanny, even though Cleo's hair was silvery blonde – something she must have inherited from her father – and the left side of her face was covered in scars that disappeared into the collar of her red jacket. Cleo looked exactly like Corliss, her one emerald eye he could see was the same color as Lyv's, the one locked on her then. She was only an inch or two taller than her, too, though her heeled boots gave her a little more height now.

As soon as she did, Lyv froze. A well-guarded thought flited through her head, one she even kept from Jai. There was something about her she'd recognized, not only because they looked so similar. Shock made her mind go fuzzy, making it hard for Jai to figure out what she was thinking. There was only a flash of another blonde female and...Destan. Gods, Destan...

Kalla stepped forward between the two groups, her grin flashing. "Quite the entrance, sweet girl. As always."

Cleo's answering smile once more sent shock through Jai, seeing it on Corliss before. "What can I say? You taught me well, Auntie Kalla."

A few more silent moments passed, the tension between both groups still charging through the air, but it was broken as soon as Kalla and Cleo rushed forward to hug, both of them laughing. Even as they asked each other how they were doing, everyone else was watching the movements of the other, hands still on hilts, magic still flickering around them.

The green-skinned, fanged male Jai had no name for yet was staring at him and Lyv, watching and waiting for them to do something that would make him grab for his sword and battle axe. As soon as Jai looked down at his own hands, though, he understood why. Both his shadows and Lyv's were curling themselves around their wrists, flickering with their light magic as well. It took a moment of concentration before Jai could reign his in, but Lyv was so focused on Cleo she didn't even realize her own.

He placed a hand on the small of her back, breaking her free of her shielded train of thought. "Lyv...your shadows," he whispered in her ear.

It only took her a moment before blinking up at him to pull them back in, something she made look so simple, so effortless. She shook her head as her hand reached to grab onto his and she stepped closer to his side.

"That's Cleo," she whispered, still staring at the cousin with wide eyes.

"I know," he nodded as he looked back at her, too.

Gods, the clothes, the golden eyepatch, the crown...why didn't Kalla tell them more about her? That she was the female she spoke of, the one who won the war with Krahzara eighty years ago, and built up Arloerin from complete ruins only to become its queen the people chose and supported?

Elys tugged on the bottom of Jai's jacket, making his attention shift downward. Those mismatched blue eyes sparkled with knowing as he shot him a secret smile yet didn't say a word.

Jai leaned down to pick him up, setting him on his right hip with Lyv stepping closer to his left. Soon, though, he wouldn't be able to carry the boy as he was, a thought that made his face drop as he looked at him and fix Elys's jacket and the tunic beneath it.

It was a look that the green-skinned male caught, plus all of the other guardsmen around him. They eased their defensive stances just a little bit more seeing Elys. Even the onyx dragons behind them stared at the little Seer curiously...and were apparently the same as Roshan and Erly in absolutely loving children.