Denial of the Whisper

Chapter Fifty.

Chapter Fifty.

"If you go now, you'll only be in danger"

"I'm sick of hearing that.", I murmured.

"Do you want to go back to High Ilryn? You fled from there, right?", Phylon said, and I stayed – once again – silent.

"Where do you want to go, where did you live?"

When he noticed, that I was still silent, he nodded, sighing.

"You are not really a trusty person, am I right?"

I shook my head "Why should I?"

Phylon nodded, as if he understood my situation "Okay. So, from what I assume... Gravyn and Kisandi had a child. Kisandi fled, and from what I know, she did so with the help of Nyshard. I don't know why Gravyn entrusted him with that task, but he did. And I assume that Nyshard knew that Kisandi was pregnant when he brought her to safety. To High Ilryn perhaps?", he lightly shook his head, sat down again and said softly "Please sit down."

He looked at me, and I tightened my grip around the knife, but sat down. I was still hungry and somehow, leaving the table without a proper breakfast was no option for me. Not after the last days. If I wanted to flee, I needed my strength. And I needed to flee.

I didn't expect him to let me go.

"What do you want from me?", I finally asked. "Why will you not let me go?"

"Because you are the heiress of the Isle of Gnys. And that alone makes you kind of an important person."
"I am not."

"The heiress? Of course, you are."

I narrowed my eyes and looked at him, and my voice was a bit unsteady, when I said "I am a bastard."

"That doesn't matter, Mellai. You are the daughter of Gravyn. And your brothers are dead. That makes you the heiress, the rightful ruler of the Isle of Gnys. I wrote to my father yesterday, that I am going to offer you to stay in Assdirn Flenn for as long as you want."

I couldn't be. Why...

Nyshard hadn't told me. With no word had he told me that I was the heir, that I could be the heir... that was just another thing that he had kept a secret from me. I hadn't known that as a woman – and a bastard, I could possibly be the heires..

"Didn't you know?", Phylon asked surprised. "Well, I had expected Nyshard to lie to you, but... not telling you?"

I bit hard on my lower lip.

"But... ", Phylon began and combed his golden blonde hair back, his grey eyes fixed on me "I was wondering about your name, though. Kisandi knew that you would be the heir, normally royals choose names with an 'y' in it on purpose. Or... when did she die? You haven't told me... I mean, did she give you the name or...?"

He stopped, when he saw a tear slide down my cheek.

I couldn't hold it back anymore.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry that I mentioned her death, I...", Phylon mumbled, stood up and walked over to me, but just as he was about to give me a cloth to dry my tears, I shook my head. "Mellai is my middle name... I believe... I... Nyshard said it is. I don't know... if it is.", I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand, and looked at Phylon.

"Adriyele. She... she named me Adriyele"

"Adrina Yele", he whispered "healing light."

Taking a deep breath, I nodded.

"What happened?"

"I...", I began, but fresh tears ran down my cheeks.

"My mother... Kisandi died almost a year ago. She... her powers were drained because she had protected me with a shield. I didn't know of the seal until Nyshard told me what I was, until then, I didn't know that I had any powers. I had always thought, that I was half human..."
More tears followed. I had wanted to keep it together. But now... There was so much more Nyshard hadn't told me. Or even had lied about. Maybe, deep inside, I had hoped that it had just been about how they had trapped me. Maybe, I had still hoped that it was because he had wanted to protect me. But it had been all on purpose "Why didn't he tell me...?" I whispered more to myself than to Phylon.