I wanted to smile at how familiar he was. I wanted to laugh and drink the Black Water, but I couldn’t, so I sat still, my smile fading somewhat as I looked into him. The question I knew I needed to ask felt like lead on my tongue.
“Are you mad at me?”
“I could never question your choices, child,” he said as he patted his hand against my arm, his motions slow and controlled. I raised my head to look at his green eyes that matched my father’s, and had matched mine many years ago, smiling brightly at me. “I might be very mad, however, if you don’t actually drink what I have given you.”
I smiled at Dramin and placed my hands over the rim of the cup, the warm steam of the liquid heating the palm of my hand as it filled. The warm aroma of honey drifted through the air, and I sighed, letting the scent warm me before the water did. I had just pressed the rim of my mug to my lips when Ryland yelled out, making my body jump and tense at the sound. I cringed and grabbed hold of the table, my knuckles turning white in expectation of him lunging across the room toward me.
Ryland hadn’t moved, however, he only sat, crying into Ilyan’s shoulder. Ilyan held his brother as he calmed him, his voice soft as he soothed him. Even though I could feel Ilyan’s anticipation of battle and the tense nature of his emotions, his demeanor remained calm as he held Ryland, working to soothe him. Wyn and Thom dutifully helped Ilyan as he pacified his brother while Sain… Sain stared at me.
My father’s eyes bored into me with a painful pressure that made me uncomfortable, his forehead wrinkled and I looked away, not really wanting to see the disappointment that would be there.
“Do not let him under your skin, Siln?,” Dramin said, the tone making it obvious he had witnessed the quick exchange between myself and Sain. “He is not ‘mad’ at you, as you say. Father just expects more from his children than most.”
I tried not to bristle at his words, but emotions pulsed and my head shot up, my eyes narrowing dangerously.
“Ha!” I said, the humor that I didn’t feel pushing itself into my voice. “I don’t see him telling you to buck up and go save the world.”
“And yet, here I sit.”
I jolted a bit at his words, the meaning as clear as day. Dramin had woken only last night, yet he sat before me, ready to run into the forest, ready to face what might be his certain death as well. While I knew Dramin was stubborn, I was aware that he wasn’t that stubborn. He probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Sain.
I didn’t know how to react to that. Heck, I didn’t even know what to expect from a father. I had memories of scraped knees and bedtime stories, not of an immortal who would do anything to push his children toward their true potential.
I sighed and smoothed the lines that had taken up residence on my forehead, trying to ignore the truth that lay behind Dramin’s words.
“Trust your heart, Siln?. Your magic will guide you. Whether it be to heal me, to run from a fight, or to learn underwater basket weaving. Trust in who you really are. Tatínek will, too.”
I nodded once at his words, desperately wanting him to be right. This was not just about my father coming to accept me; I wanted him to be right about trusting myself and trusting my magic.
Silence stretched between us as Ryland’s whimpers increased, the sound of his pain as heart-wrenching as the nervous fear that lay heavy in the air. I took another deep drink of Black Water, attempting to drain the mug and push away the fear.
“How does it feel to be a married woman?” Dramin asked out of nowhere, his voice conspiratorially low as he leaned toward me. His voice had been soft, but to me it was like the boom of a cannon, and I jumped, the Black Water trickling down my hands and over the table.
I knew I hadn’t heard him wrong. I was certain because I could still hear it echo in my mind over and over. The world felt twice as heavy as I turned toward him, shock lining my face. He didn’t seem deterred, however. He just smiled wider, chuckling deeply as if he had found a great joke.
“Is that not what they call it amongst the humans? Marriage?”
Joclyn? Ilyan’s voice rumbled through my head, his distress peaking as the fear that gripped me moved right into him.
Dramin knows. About our bonding, I returned, my eyes still glued to the man in question, my face a mask of shock that I knew gave me away.
My eyes darted to where Ilyan sat with Ryland. Ilyan’s face and body were calm even though I could feel the pulse of worry in him, but he showed no outward signs of the silent conversation he was absorbed in with me.
Of course he does, Ilyan sent back to me, his voice lined with such a heavy joy I was surprised it wasn’t plastered on his face. Instead, he stayed still, his hands wrapped around Ryland’s as he whispered to him.
“How did you know?” My tongue stumbled though the words as my heart moved into my throat, the sensation making it hard to breathe, let alone swallow.
“I know everything,”