Queen of Summer's Ice (Book 2)

Chapter 13

     "Formalities now out of the way, let's find out how we're related," he said with a smirk on his face, "And remember Evie, no lying."

     "Yes Alagan, I know the rules. You don't have to remind me every time I'm going to talk." We stayed right where we were, next to the ocean and on top of the cooled lava. And I sighed, realizing that Alagan was older than me, much older, that anyone he would have mentioned, I wouldn't even know what relative they were to me. "My father is the current Summer King, Slator. And my mother was the only remaining winter, up until I was born, since she killed the rest of her family. Her name was Glacia. And any history- family and information- of winter was destroyed by her."

     "Your mother is Glacia?" It wasn't much of a question. And when I opened my mouth to confirm it, he started chuckling quietly to himself. He brought his hand to his face and rubbed his clean jaw line. He took a not so subtle step back to examine me, to really get a good look at my face. His green blue eyes searching across my features.

     "This shouldn't surprise me, Glacia has always been...ambitious."

     Hearing him say my mothers name in such a way sent bells ringing in my head from when I first saw his face. He was familiar somehow, and now I know why. He was a winter. But how close were we in bloodlines?

     "Did you...did you know Glacia?" I asked cautiously.

     "Why are you using past tense when referring to her?" He paused all of a sudden. And I can see it on his face that he wanted to tell me "no lying."

     "Because she's dead."

     "How?" there wasn't really concern in his voice, it was more like he needed to hear that she was finally gone. A confirmation that she was truly never coming back. 

     "How do you know her," I pushed. I was going to give him answers, but only if he gave them back.

     "Because she was my mother too." 

     Those five words numbed me. Because she was my mother too. Alagan wasn't just old, he was ancient. There were no kids that she ever spoke to me about that had the lands power, let alone two, except for me. There was tension in the air all of a sudden. Apparently our blood lines ran closer than we thought. But my thoughts were jumbled into a mess, I couldn't think straight. 

      "I killed her. Burned her until there was nothing but ashes," I breathed out.

     I know why his face was familiar now. It was a face I haven't seen in five years, but I had seen for a century straight. His skin was the color of a spring citizen, but the features of his face, they were the male version on her. Sharp and poise.

      Nazim's feet shuffled across the rocks, he could have been silent and stealthy like he's trained his whole life to be, but he wanted to be heard. 

     "Well," Alagan said, snapping out of whatever thoughts were running in his head, "If we were on the main land, I would buy you a drink. But there's no currency here on my island. Nevertheless, to your luck I have plenty of wine to give, and a lot to catch up on, sister."

---

     We walked three miles deep into the islands tangled trees and plants the size of our body. And through it all, none of us said a word. Nazim was to busy acting as if he wasn't watching Alagan's every move, along with the surroundings of the jungle.

     While I was still trying to let everything process. And Alagan was right, we did have much to talk about, this day was only getting started. Although, some silver linings about how this day ended up turning out to be, was that Nazim and I didn't have to be stranded out on the ocean again.