When Ice Breaks, When Gold Cracks

3 ~ Whispers Overheard

As soon as Selini was out of earshot, Ignis threw back her head and groaned. The red scales that dotted her cheeks and nose glowed with hot flames that even Unda could feel from several paces away. "Catch a unicorn? We can't even kill it? Not to mention we have to take Unda with us. This is the worst punishment I've heard of!"

Her words cut Unda, but he kept his face blank—though the sharp pull in his chest suggested his magic gave him away, changing his sandy hair to a pained, delicate blue as frost crystallized on his scales. It was nothing new. She's just frustrated. She doesn't mean it. Still, it flattened what little excitement had grown at the prospect of finally leaving the temple.

"You should have thought of that before you decided to steal and break my jewelry," Foliis sniffed, jerking her chin up. She set her jaw and stood, fists clenched and back straight. Righteous indignation oozed from her clipped steps as she picked her way around the broken mosaic image of Selini and knelt beside her necklace—or what was left of it. A shaky sigh escaped her, and she quietly began to scoop up the emerald fragments.

Unda's ears twitched. Her back was turned to him, but he thought he could detect a muffled sob and the salty scent of tears barely withheld. His heart twisted. He got down on his knees beside her and picked up the pieces of the gold chain. "I'm sorry," he whispered. The shards were cold as they settled in his palm.

When she turned to him, her lips wore a smile—warm and comforting as ever. There was no hint of tears nor the sadness he expected to see, only the strong and confident face of his sister. "It's not your fault."

The flecks of green in her palms sparkled with a myriad of colors, reflecting the light that bounced off the uneven cracks and breaks in the crystal. Unda tipped his handful of gold and green into hers. The pieces clinked against each other in a gentle melody.

"It was a beautiful necklace," he said. "Do you think you can fix it?"

Her smile faltered. He caught Stellae watching them over her shoulder. His eyes, silver on endless black, were cold as they narrowed. Even Ignis and Aurum had stopped to watch, waiting for her response.

"It was a gift from a friend," she murmured. She tucked her chin in, letting her golden curls fall forward to frame her soft features. "I received it before I became a Head Dragonborn. It's best if I get rid of it now, I suppose—I left that life behind, and him along with it." When she had finished, she sighed and crushed the shards in her hands. A flash of magic lit up her palms. Only dust remained when she opened her hands again, which she scattered in the breeze that flowed between the pillars.

"Do you think this makes you high and mighty?" Stellae's deep voice rumbled, a gravelly scrape that raised the hair on the back of Unda's neck. His corpse-like complexion was waxen where the sun touched him, and it heightened the shadows that fell over his eyes—flashing silver on deep black. "I know you, and you'll never be able to let him go that easily. You have only yourself to blame for this."

"Who was he?" Unda interrupted, quickly jumping in before Foliis could spit her venom at the Black Head Dragonborn. Their bickering had caused enough damage for one day.

Stellae sniffed, and his black scales turned darker. "You just missed him."

Before Unda could ask more, Stellae melted into the shadows and disappeared, no doubt off to begrudgingly prepare for the journey. It was only after he had gone that the silver dragonborn who paused as the generals were leaving flashed through Unda's memory, and a small gasp slipped from him. He smothered it quickly and turned to spare another glance at Foliis, but she would no longer meet his eye. There were rumors that whispered through the temple, claims that Foliis had abandoned her love with a young dragonborn man when she came to the temple. Unda had never paid it any mind, but he couldn't help but look to Aurum who was watching with calculating gleam in his gold eyes.