Nura finds herself by the Dunlow river once again, her face tilted to the sun, each breath refreshing with its iciness.
It's been a quiet couple of days as they wait. Wait for anyone to come to aid in this impossible mission. Wait for a miracle that Nura doesn't believe in. She's been told little else of what she'll be facing. She knows hardly anything about Rólin or the people who are now her allies, but still she refuses to run away. Maybe her foolishness will get her killed, but at least she can go into the next life knowing she at least tried.
Footsteps crunching through the thin layer of snow interrupt her silence. Nura glances over her shoulder as Talon approaches, a crease between his light brows that makes Nura instantly wary.
"Nura, there's something I need to tell you," he says as he stands by the river's edge, his arms crossed over his chest.
She resists sighing. "Isn't there always?"
"Elice has arrived."
Nura tilts her head to look up at him. "That's good news."
He presses his lips together.
"Isn't it?"
Talon blows out a breath that fogs the air and crouches to dip his fingers into the icy water. "I should warn you that Elice..." He pauses, watching the water swirl around his fingers.
"Just say it, Talon."
He meets her eye, a muscle in his jaw fluttering. "Twenty-seven years ago, while Elice was in service to Rólin during the war, she found her etnevu. Not long after, she formed the bond with him that severed her connection with Rólin."
Nura nods, somewhat familiar with the story from what he's already told her. "And Rólin took her etnevu from her to remake that tie between them, like he did your sister."
"What I didn't tell you is that before she tried to kill Rólin, Elice went into hiding in the cave." He looks down at his hand again, lifting it from the water to watch the droplets fall. "Because she was pregnant. With you."
Nura blinks, not fully registering his words or their meaning. She stares at his profile, hoping she heard him wrong. The words hang in the air like thick smoke, and they're just as suffocating at she finally hears them.
Her mother. Her mother is an Elven woman who abandoned her in the war, who left her in the care of a priestess that hardly had a kind bone in her body. After her father died, Nura considered herself an orphan.
Nura doesn't have a mother, not one that matters in her life.
"Why am I only just learning this?" she manages through the rope tightening around her throat, making it difficult to breathe.
"You were never supposed to meet. That was the plan. You would be safer if Rólin didn't know you existed."
"So, that's why she abandoned me." Nura stares out at the flowing river, feeling no inclination to go to that cave and meet the woman. "Working for Rólin put mine and my father's lives in danger."
"Working for Rólin isn't a choice," Talon argues.
Nura's jaw clenches so tightly she fears her teeth may crack. "Maybe not anymore." She glances up at Talon as his features twist and his eyes become distant. Nura's anger drains away as quickly as it had surfaced and her words leave a bad taste in her mouth. "I'm sorry, Talon. I shouldn't have said that."
"No, you're right." He lowers his head, curls of white hair draping onto his forehead. "For some of us the allure of fame and glory was too great to resist."
"Even you?"
A wry smile stretches his lips. "I've had my fame and glory. I wouldn't wish my legend upon anyone."
Nura draws in a breath. "Your legend?" Words rush back to her, words that were buried beneath the hardships of the last few days. Aurmir warned her of the White Dragon, even Knight-Captain Tiran seemed convinced Talon was that fabled warrior. She scoffed at such words, but that was before Talon displayed his considerable power. Is there validity in their claims?
"We should get back to the cave," Talon replies, standing. "Before Elice takes too much of her anger out on Canaan."
Nura gets up and follows him through the snow, wrapping her arms around herself. She allows him the change in topic, but only because it clearly causes him discomfort to voice the things he's trying to keep from her. "Why is she angry?"
"As I said, she never intended for you to be a part of this. But..." Talon glances at her. "Fate clearly had other plans, and Elice can do nothing against fate."
"So, it was fate that kidnapped my husband?" Nura resists rolling her eyes. Blaming fate has never aided anyone. Blaming fate for the Dark King's rise to power didn't stop the war from raging, and it certainly won't bring her husband back.
"It was fate that insisted you be part of this," he murmurs as they enter the mouth of the cave.
"If that's what you call being married to a man with secrets, then very well." They slip into the cavern as Talon lets out a sigh but says nothing more.
Walking through the cave, Nura tries not to let her simmering nerves boil over. She never expected to meet her mother and a part of her hasn't wanted to. She faced ridicule all her life for the blood in her veins—for her mother's blood—so much so that she never wanted to put herself in a situation where she'd have to come face to face with it.
She's always played both sides of this feud, but never has she dared to cross so far over into her Elven side. Will she be able to find her way back to neutral ground once she meets her mother? She'll have to find a way, because she'll never leave Rephas behind and he can't possibly follow her.
It's with those thoughts swirling around her head that she hears the yelling before entering the chamber.
"—wasn't just Talon who made that vow, you all did!" a woman shouts, her voice sharp and icy, making even Canaan flinch beneath her wrath. "And now you've dragged her into a fight none of us can possibly survive."
"It was my choice," Nura speaks from the cave opening as her eyes fall on the woman who leans heavily on a cane. Her shoulders stiffen and her fingers tighten around the wood of the cane. "Coming here was my choice. Talon advised against it. Adamantly."
"Nura," Talon murmurs from her side, brushing his fingers against her elbow, but Nura shakes her head and steps forward.
"Don't blame them for my actions."
Elice turns, brushing tight blonde curls from eyes that are a light blue reflection of Nura's own.
Nura tries not to crumble as she's faced with the hard gaze of her mother, a woman who's haunted her in the corners of her mind all her life.
"Why did you come?" Elice asks, lines forming around her eyes as they rake over Nura, looking older than an immortal Elf should.
Glancing at Talon beside her, Nura tries not to show her frustration on her face. She doesn't need another person in her life trying to dictate her actions. She's made her choice, she's not going back, even if there was something to go back to. "Talon didn't tell you?"
"He told me that Rólin had discovered his betrayal, and that you were in danger, but not why."
Nura straightens her spine, hoping to appear more confident in the face of the Elven woman than she actually is. "I came for my husband."
"Your husband?" she questions, her eyes widening as they flick to Talon.
Scowling, Nura looks between them for a moment before answering. "Rephas. Rólin took him."
After a moment of tense stillness, Elice draws in a sharp breath. "You married Rephas Wolfire?"
Nura can only nod as she recognises a storm brewing behind the woman's eyes.
"That fool," she hisses, cracking her cane against the stone. "That damned fool."
Talon steps forward. "He didn't know your relation to Nura."
Elice grumbles something under her breath before turning away and limping towards the fireplace.
Nura looks at Talon, trying to silently beg him to tell her what to do. She doesn't know enough about the situation to possibly placate the woman, but she also can't stomach this tension for much longer.
"I'm going to chop some wood," Canaan mutters, hunching his shoulders and making a hasty retreat. Nura almost follows him.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she approaches her mother who sits on one of the wooden chairs by the fire and stretches out her leg. She rubs her thigh with a wince and Nura takes a moment to wonder what happened to her.
"Sit," Elice commands, tapping her cane against the other chair by the fire. Nura doesn't argue. With her arms crossed tightly over her chest, she sits, angling her body towards the fire. "How much have you told her?" Elice looks up at Talon who leans against the wall beside the fireplace, a muscle in his jaw flexing.
"Not much."
"Have you told her about the bond?"
"Between us and Rólin? Yes."
Elice's eyes narrow a fraction before she blows out a breath. "Very well. You know the dangers then." She looks to Nura.
"I know that you're all vulnerable and that I have no idea how to get Rephas back without risking people's lives."
Leaning back in her chair, Elice stares at the fire with cold eyes. "Tearing Rólin apart was never going to be a simple or easy ordeal." Her gaze flicks to Nura. "How much are you willing to sacrifice to save your husband?"
Nura swallows the bile that stings her throat in response to the question. She presses her hands to her stomach as queasiness bubbles inside her. How far is she willing to go?
She can't help but think of her life, everything she's lost recently. Her home, her reputation, the semblance of peace she'd managed to grasp since the war. She doesn't have anything anymore, crushed beneath the boot of a golden-eyed monster.
All she has left anymore is a man she loves beyond anything else. And he needs her help.
"Everything," she whispers. "I'd sacrifice everything to get him back."
Elice is silent, rubbing her thumb over the smoothed head of her cane. She dips her chin and purses her lips. "You may have to."
"Is there a plan?"
"We go to Giem."
"Giem?" Nura repeats, her eyes widening. "Hold Giem? Why would we go there? Rólin is in Kepfew."
"Because," Talon replies, tugging his fingers through his hair, "Rólin wanted the inner circle together again for a reason. He's planning something, and it's happening soon."
"That still doesn't answer my question."
"We don't know what he's planning," Elice elaborates. "But there's someone in Giem who does. And there's also someone there who might have the power to stop him."
"Who?"
"Empress Lila Avarae."