The Raven and the Wraith Book 2 (Completed!)

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 26

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 26

"I'm not angry with her. Or you. I only just met you."

"And I only just met you. Yet I still feel like I've known you your entire life. That I really am your mother."

I shrugged. She didn't just remind me of my mother, she seemed like she really was my mother. It was strange enough that I preferred we just talk about something else.

"So why did everyone scream and bow to me back there? Something about how you're related to your Kahlraugh?"

Talia was quiet for a bit, considering me. I watched her back, trying to understand what might be going on behind her animal eyes. Then her face lit up in a bright smile and she shook her head at me.

"You really are just like Kavik!"

"Not going to answer my question, hm?"

For some reason that made her smile all the wider.

"Kavik is my only child. And my husband is long dead. So with Kavik dead, the fate of the kingdom is...uncertain. The entire Cha'el race has been gripped in the same despair as me. Because without one with royal blood to hold tight to the Kahlraugh, we will go to war with them. And then you come along and, in your first meeting with my Kahlraugh, you prove to the city that you're of royal blood. You restored hope here, Rahvin."

I blinked at her. I could feel my mouth go dry and my heartbeat slowly begin to ramp up as all she had said sank in.

"Ah...you're saying you, and everyone else, sees me as some kind of prince?"

Talia nodded. "Yes. Not just some kind of prince. My son. The future heir to the throne, and the one to keep our bond with the Kahlraugh strong. To hold back certain devastation."

"That's...that won't work. I don't belong here, I'm not even Cha'el!"

"That doesn't matter. You have the strength, the ferocity, to make my Kahlraugh submit to you. That's all that matters. You will take Kaviks place as Prince."

I stared at her like she had just grown horns and scales. I wasn't just bewildered, I felt an old, ugly familiar memory clamoring to take over my thoughts.

That time when the Council had tried to force me to their path, their will. And just like then, I had absolutely zero intentions of obeying now.

The door to the library opened and a teenage Cha'el girl came through holding a huge, covered platter.

"My Queen. Your meal." Her voice was soft, but there was an interesting pattern to her words, like she carefully sounded out each word before speaking.

I looked at her, wondering why her voice seemed familiar. And my jaw dropped and a line of ice tracked down my spine. She looked over to me, and her expression immediately mimicked mine.

"Kavik...?" She breathed hesitantly, holding herself as still as a statue.

From her lithe form to her shining silver hair and slanted eyes she was stunningly beautiful. But that wasn't what had made me gape at her like a fish out of water. My memories were no longer clamoring in the background of my running thoughts. They were screaming.

"Genevieve?"

Talia looked between us, her sharp eyes cataloguing everything. She nodded, seeming very satisfied.

"Rahvin, this is Luna. Luna meet Rahvin."

I barely heard her. I was still trying to separate my memories of Genevieve with this Cha'el girl, who was something more than a twin. I knew this realm was an inverse version of mine, so it made sense that I would meet those who I knew in my realm. But seeing her was more dreamlike than I was prepared for.

"Well, are you two going to greet each other, or are you going to just stand there and stare at each other?"

Luna's shocked expression immediately shifted to embarrassment, and she smiled sheepishly at me.

"Hi Rahvin."

That smile was free. Open. It was not caged by the pain of old memories, regrets, and the coldness of duty. It was Genevieve's smile, before I had fled the Council.

It twisted an old, sour blade right into my heart.

"Hi Luna." I was quite pleased with the way I managed to keep my voice from sounding like I was being tortured with boiling oil.

Luna's smile faltered and she searched my eyes carefully. Apparently I hadn't hid the pain as well as I had thought.

"Luna's father is my advisor and magician. And also a close friend. Luna is like a daughter to me." Talia was also examining me closely, and I cursed myself for not keeping my emotions under wrap.

"The royal magicians daughter. Of course."

Luna looked quizzical. "Of course?"

I wondered how to explain that I kind of already knew her. It didn't seem like a conversation path I would want to go down.

"Sorry. You just seem to carry an aura of magic, so it makes sense that your father is a magician." I improvised quickly.

"Luna and Kavik were close friends. Doesn't he seem just like Kavik to you?"

Luna nodded to Talia, still not taking her eyes off me. She hadn't looked away from me once since she walked in and it was beginning to unnerve me.

"You're like...like Kaviks ghost or something."

I glanced at Talia. "Yeah, I've heard that."

Talia opened the platter of food and motioned for us to sit. "Let's eat together. It would be good for you and Luna to get to know each other."

Luna pulled another chair over to the small table and sat down, her motions carefully controlled. There was a new tension in her, and I saw her cast a curious, and irritated, glance at Talia.

The meal was a bit awkward at first, but both Talia and Luna quickly relaxed and chatted freely with each other, both of them seeming to enjoy answering my many questions about this world and this Cha'el kingdom. I finally asked the one question that I needed to know the most.

"So...who controls the magic here? Do you have a Council?"

Talia looked perplexed. "Controls the magic? This is like asking who controls the weather."