The Light Within Her - Book Nine

Ch. 7- New Friendships

"The chains are broken, but are you truly free?"

***

There was something about high places that made the anxieties in my body calm down a little. Maybe it was the wind in my hair or the rush of adrenaline pounding my heart. Or maybe I just wanted to be on top of the world. I have no idea. But I am here, sitting at the edge of the cliff I jumped only a few days ago. Looking down, I was not afraid of falling because I would survive. If I was a mortal, I wouldn't have lasted ten seconds in the ocean. Maybe that was it. The superiority complex driving me to do these dangerous activities every chance I got. It was worse for immortal, I suppose. I was staring at the sunset that I did not realize that someone sat next to me and not saying a word. Blinking, I turned and Amias had his hands in his lap and staring at the pink and purple sky that the sun created as it was going down. "What are you thinking about, Sorari?"

I sighed, gazing back at the sunset. "Lots of things," I whispered. "From the day I was born, the Kingdom expected me to strong like my sister and cunning like my brother, but I turned out to be neither of those things. My mother always said that my power made her shine as I was growing inside her, that I never hurt her like Kalama and Aeson. It was a miracle. A relief to not only my parents but the whole Kingdom." I locked eyes with Amias now, frowning. "How do you know I am strong enough to defeat this enemy? How can you be so sure of my abilities?"

He blinked once then placed his hand on top of mine. "When you killed that creature, Luc and I felt the sensation in our bones. Your sunlight breached into all of us that the Goddess of Death even felt it. That is how she found you so quickly." He curled his lips into a smile, which made me do the same thing. "I do not bet on a lot of people, Soari. A lot have disappointed me throughout the years. But you, I will bet on you every chance I get. I believe you will achieve great things that not even your siblings will accomplish. So stop comparing yourself to them. Each one of you are powerful in your own way."

Without thinking, I leaned my head on his shoulder as we watched the sun go down. "They may lead armies, but do you know what I have?" I laughed softly. "Something so great that they would be so jealous of me?"

The rumble of his chuckle went through me like a shockwave. "What is it?"

"You, dummy. I have you and Luc by my side. Not only that, but I have my best friend and cousins." I confessed. "And I don't care what anyone says, that is all I need." It was true, after all. I did not care if I had money or the greatest jewels and gowns in the world or even a crown sitting on my head, the only thing I need are my friends. "So how did you and your charming brother meet the great Sebastian Breevort?"

Amias Guinivere chuckled again and I know for certain that I would gladly want to hear it again and again. "I met him under a more difficult circumstance than we are right now. It was the time where Segovia betrayed Sebastian and he was in a bad place because of it. For years, he was traveling to different countries leaving a trail of bodies behind him." Amias sighed. "Like many of us Vampires, we traveled with him like a groupie. But Luc and I weren't there because we worshipped Sebastian Breevort. We followed him because we needed to make sure he wasn't going to do something that would make him unsuited to be a King."

I frowned. "Leaving a trail of bodies didn't make him unsuited?"

"C'mon," he smirked. "We lust for blood, Soari. Vampires kill humans. That is the way it works and him doing that wasn't out of the normal." Amias paused for a moment, then continued on his story. "What I meant was things that would kill him or injure himself enough that he would have to pass his title off to Ellie. In a sense, Luc and I were his personal bodyguards even when he didn't want us to be." I nodded, understanding what he meant. When my Father was in a dark place all those years ago, he wanted to kill himself. And Luc and Amias made sure he didn't do any of that. "Until something happened. Many of us didn't understand until years later but he woke up with life in his eyes again. It was only a spring morning but and the house we were living at was so eerily quiet. But th only sound was Sebastian's heart beating for the first time in five centuries."

"It was Elora."

"Your Mother was born that day," Amias said. "And then he finally came home to his Kingdom."

I pulled away from him and frowned again. "Is that what you and Luc are doing to me? You think I am trying to kill myself that I need protection?" I breathed heavily, trying to control my nerves.

Amias shook his head. "No, no." He made me look at him and that made a tear leave my eye. "Soari, I do not believe that you intend on doing that ever. You are the happiest woman I have ever met in the years I've been alive and I know that sometimes you don't feel that way. But when you do, you can always talk to me." Then he winked and a blush formed on my cheeks. How dare he? "And I can make you all the tacos you want."

My eyes widened at the mention of food. "Wow, I really must be special."

His phone buzzed and he took it out, reading the message that popped on the screen. Amias' eyebrows scrunched together in a frown, which made me wonder what the text message said. "We have to go," he said. "There's been another murder." A lot of people say that being on top of the world is exciting. But when you come back down to reality, you realize that they are right. At some point, the reality of your life is worse than the fantasies in your head. I like to think my life is going that way right now.