Veronyka’s legs went wobbly beneath her, and Alexiya guided her over to a barrel. She plunked on top of it, staring up at Alexiya, who smiled a bit sadly.
“I haven’t spoken to my brother in over seventeen years. Not since he started an affair with a princess and chose the wrong side.” She shook her head. “He was a fighter too—but a soldier. He was not an animage. In truth, we had been separated long before then, since my father and I left Arboria so I could train to be a Phoenix Rider and Theryn stayed behind with our mother.”
Veronyka recalled Alexiya mentioning the fact that she’d left her mother and her brother behind.
“Theryn?” she repeated breathlessly, savoring the word. “Is that…?”
“Yes, your father’s name is Theryn. I don’t know where he is, Veronyka, but I plan to find him. He deserves to know about you—he deserves to know his daughter is alive.”
Alexiya’s gaze was cast southward, and Veronyka’s thumping heart sputtered with sudden anxiety.
“Are you…? Do you have to go now?” she asked. There were a million questions she wanted to ask, and she’d need days and weeks to process the answers.
Alexiya looked pained. “The sooner the better, I think, with war on the horizon.”
Veronyka bobbed her head but kept her face downcast, not wanting Alexiya to see the stinging tears that had sprung up in her eyes.
She gathered herself and got to her feet. Alexiya wore a knowing look, and her own eyes were a bit glassy and bright.
Alexiya cleared her throat. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Avalkyra’s put you off the whole idea,” she said, going for lightness, “but I’d very much like to be your aunt, if you’ll have me.”
Veronyka stared up at the woman, at a loss for what to say. Alexiya was a gift, a piece of her family she hadn’t expected to find or dreamed of having. Overwhelmed, all she could do was step forward and hug her.
Alexiya obviously wasn’t the overly affectionate type, and she seemed startled at first, patting Veronyka awkwardly on the head before she laughed and gave Veronyka’s body a tight squeeze.
“You know, the Pyraean word for aunt is tiya,” Alexiya said, drawing back.
“Tiya Alexiya?” Veronyka said, beaming. “I like it.”
* * *
Despite Veronyka’s exhaustion, sleep eluded her. It was well past midnight when she left Rex and Xephyra together in the Eyrie and wandered the darkened stronghold. Her feet carried her out the gate, through the village, and into the open field where she and Tristan had spent so many nights training.
To her surprise, she wasn’t out there alone.
Sparrow was perched atop a cluster of rocks near the edge of the field. Ever since the girl had lost Chirp, Veronyka had failed to see her without at least a few animal companions perched on her shoulders or winding between her ankles.
But tonight she was entirely alone.
“Sparrow?” Veronyka asked, afraid to startle her as she approached. Sparrow whipped around, and Veronyka could’ve sworn she’d looked hopeful for a moment until Veronyka spoke again. “It’s me. Veronyka.”
Sparrow deflated. Had she been waiting for someone else?
Before Veronyka could ask, a gust of wind rippled the grass around them—the only warning as a phoenix descended soundlessly from the sky above, obliterating the stars and soaring low on silent wings.
Veronyka’s breath caught in her throat, and she stumbled back, alarm coursing through her veins. The phoenix didn’t belong to any of the Riders at the Eyrie, which meant it was probably wild.
Wild and dangerous.
As the phoenix landed on the ground before them, something in Veronyka’s heart clenched, some unknown dread—then it hit her. This was Val’s phoenix. Well, not actually Val’s, but the phoenix Val had tried to control. Veronyka sensed it with her animal magic, felt the familiar coldness swirling within. Her shadow magic tingled as well, recognizing the bind Val had placed within.
Though she bore no Rider, Veronyka had the horrible idea that Val had sent her here.
That she’d come for revenge.
“Sparrow!” Veronyka cried out, reaching for the girl, refusing to take her eyes from the perceived threat.
The phoenix before them jerked upright and lifted her head, and then suddenly Xephyra was there, leaping forward with a screech and several powerful pumps of her wings. Had Veronyka called her? She couldn’t be certain, but the other phoenix flew back several feet in response to Xephyra’s challenge.
“No, wait!” Sparrow said, her brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to understand what was happening around them. “Don’t fight, please.”