A Court of Shadows and Lightening

Chapter Twenty

"But you aren't going by that now are you Adalin?"

I don't react. I keep Cyra aimed at his chest. Not giving him the satisfaction of a response.

Auren

My name is like a punch to the gut. It's been so long since anyone, even Helion called me it.

"You'd be surprised at how that little detail made it that much harder to track you down."

I bite the snark that, that was was the whole point of it. Tavian had no want of my sister. Didn't even like her persay, information he didnt hide from me during our courting.

That was the plan all along, When news spread of the fire at Fenik manor, it was the whispers in the wind that said it was the youngest of the mysterious Fenik twins who perished.

I bare my teeth at him, snarling.

He begins to walk around me, pcircling. I follow his movement, even as my hands tremble.

"Here I thought your poor big sister had escaped. Adalin wasn't the one to make it out of here now, was she?"

I don't glance to the corner of the room, where I know she took her last breath.

"Aletheia was always so smart about the protection of her daughters. I'm guessing only Helion knows the truth."

Tavian puts his hands behind his back, clasping them. He leans his head back as he pauses looking at the ceiling.

"Helion must have trained you, I couldn't fathom delicate little Auren, the romantic, gentle little girl commanding the Legere! What a tale!" He laughed like it was some dark joke, but it was true.

Adalin, the real Adalin, my sister older by mere minutes had loved training. Had been born a warrior. It was in her blood. My strong and brave older sister. A prodigy in her own right, before even she bled and her powers burned in the sky like a comet.

My eyes burned as I continued this dance with Tavian.

His smile is cruel as he watches me.
I had always preferred the political and social landscape of Court.

I preferred to read and perfect my dances. I wanted to fall in love, find my mate and run a home.

To be a mother, I never wanted to raise a sword.

Those desires had only broken me. Cut me to the point that I couldn't even desire for those things anymore, could not picture a future involving any of stupid wishes I had as a little girl.

"The only detail that could ever give you away was those eyes of yours." Tavian continues, His eyes meet mine again.

"So beautiful but so your father. Aletheia must have hated them."

My hands tremble visibly, Cyra now wavering in them.

"What is it you want Tavian." I spit out, I don't want to listen to his monologue anymore.

He's figured it out, he now has me. I just want him to kill me.

Tavian goes silent at that. Turning his large frame towards me, he regards me openly. Eyes dragging down from my face to my body even as it was hidden in its cloak.

"You. With me, forever."

The words chill me to my core, and I take a shuddering breath. Wishing and praying to wake up, that this had all been a dream.

"Well," I murmur, "You won't get me alive."

I lunge, aiming straight for his chest. He pulls a dagger from his sheath and blocks easily.