[Book Two] After facing the truth and accepting her new life, Milaia must embark on a dangerous quest to reach the Tree of Life to save her former kingdom and her true love, with the help of a ruthless ally who may be more important than she realize...
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It was the same place that had once shone in all its splendor, that was now a mere memory trapped in a cave, ruins in a distant and unknown Kingdom.
King Gelon, my father, stood before me.
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He looked strong and bright. His eyes focused on me, his arms outstretched.
He offered me his hand and I took it.
'Daughter,' he said and hugged me.
His arms felt like a great breath of warmth. As if I had been lost in the cold world and finally arrived at a warm, shining home.
'Father,' I dared to say for the first time. I didn't know if this was real or not, but I wasn't going to miss the chance to tell him to his face who he was to me.
My father.
He took my face in his hands and placed a kiss on my forehead.
'Where are we?' I asked and then went deeper into my doubt. 'Am I dead?'
My father watched me tenderly, as if I were a little girl asking him about life's big questions.
'You are in the in-between. This is a place where time does not exist, where you only arrive when your soul overcomes what the body forbids it to do. When it is freed, but not free enough.'
'Then I am dead.'
'No daughter, you are not.'
I didn't know how to feel about it.
I remembered sinking into the depths of the River.
Was I still there? Had I answered the question or had I gone down with the mermaids?
Caelus.
What was going on with Caelus?
What would he do now without me?
He would surely hate me forever.
'I'm sorry father, I have so many things to tell you, but my thoughts don't let me concentrate on what's important. I want to tell you that I love you, I love you and mother, even though I never got to meet you, I thank the both of you for what you did for me.'
