The Raven and the Wraith Book 2 (Completed!)

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 24

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 24

I felt my mouth go dry. This was the mother of my other half. The Cha'el boy who I had watched die when he had faced the Fenray four years ago.

The same day I had faced the Draelkin in Possum Hollow.

I understood then, why he had died. In a white-hot flash, the realization hit me that when I had chosen to abandon my human side, when I had fully accepted the sheer predator inside of me, in order to fight the Draelkin, I had basically sentenced my other, inverse half to die.

I had killed Kavik, the Cha'el version of me.

The Cha'el queen must have read the horror on my face, and the haughty ice in her eyes melted into compassion.

"Do you blame yourself for his death? His blood is not on your hands, do not take that pain into yourself."

I shook my head, hating how everything around me had somehow gotten painfully clear, yet layered in cloaking, confusing fog. My memory was flashing thousands of poignant, precise moments of Kaviks final fight before my minds eye, and it was tearing down my defenses.

Staring at this lady who was like my mother, radiant with love and concern for me, even though she had only just met me, was tearing down my defenses. Tearing them apart in ways I didn't know were possible.

"I didn't..I never knew this opposite world existed. I didn't..." I couldn't finish, my thoughts and words tangling up.

She reached out, placing her hands on either side of my face, forcing me to meet her eyes.

"I am Talia, Queen of all Cha'el, and I do not hold you responsible for Kaviks death. Do you hear me, boy?"

I could hear her direct authority and power, but while she spoke her face was shining with warmth. In that moment I felt the first part of my memories begin to lose their guilty burn.

"Yes." I whispered.

Chan stepped close to Talia, and my ever-keen ears heard them talking about me, but I wasn't listening. I was lost in thought. Lost in what-ifs, in regrets, in pain. And beginning to wonder if Kiera and Talia were right. Was there still hope for me?

Kiera and Chan guided me over to the Queens Kahlraugh, helping me to climb up behind her.

"Hold on to me. The Kahlraugh are not gentle."

I obeyed her, wrapping my hands tight around her midsection. I was amazed at how the thousands of razor-edged, dark orange scales and spikes seemed to shift aside, forming comfortable seats for us. And I could feel the seething ferocious power barely held in check inside the creature underneath me.

The wonder of that mind-bending experience was blasted away when I leaned forward and the scent of the queens hair flooded into my nose. Blasted away by a towering wave of memories.

She smelled exactly like my mother. I opened my mouth, not even sure what I was going to say, but then the Kahlraugh moved. It didn't begin to run, it didn't leap forward. It simply went from sitting still, to blurring forward like a snaking, liquid piece of the wind itself, silently flashing down the street.

We arrived at the palace in a few minutes. Minutes where I simply held on and enjoyed the incredible speed. When we leapt down from the Kahlraugh in the inner courtyard the queen saw me grinning like an idiot, and she smiled back.

"You enjoyed that."

"That was incredibly awesome!"

She grinned wider at my reaction, and then, in a flash, I saw a cloak of crushing pain sweep across her face. She turned away from me, but I could still hear the way her breath caught in her throat.

After a few moments, she turned back to me, her eyes still shining with repressed tears.

"I'm sorry...you just remind me of my son so much..."

I was unprepared for this candid, raw emotion, unprepared to be hit with true, consuming grief by someone I had just met. It was not how things were done, as far as I knew. Especially not how a noble should act, when out in public. 

"Ah...sorry." I mumbled, looking away from her.

From her mannerisms, to her scent, she reminded me of my mother. And it hurt far more than I was ready to face just yet. It gave me insight to how seeing me must remind her of her lost son, of the pain she must feel when looking at me.

"My Queen. Your dinner is ready. And shall I prepare a seat for your guest?"

I twitched in shock, my hands flying to my knives, as I had not heard the Cha'el servant approach behind us. My senses were so keen that I was almost never surprised by someone's approach. What was this servant doing, creeping about like a stalking cat or something?!

Talia lifted an eyebrow at my hands on my blades and I sheepishly let them go. I was clearly not in any danger.

"Ah, sorry, got a bit surprised there. Didn't hear him come up behind me."

The servant was fighting back a grin, which made me smile. I immediately liked him, and wondered if he had intentionally snuck up on me.

"Yes, please prepare a plate for Rahvin. The two of us will eat in the library."