The Marenon Chronicles Collection - By Jason D. Morrow Page 0,290

hair fell wildly past her shoulders, and her full lips remained half-opened as though she wanted to say something more, but her voice just wouldn’t let out any sound. Her green eyes bore into him as though she were studying some rare artifact unseen by anyone before.

Silas walked to her slowly and held both her arms with his hands. He could feel her start to tremble.

A single tear rolled down the side of her face. Then another, and another. Silas pressed her against him and held his left arm around her waist while his other hand held her head as she whimpered softly on his shoulder.

No words were needed. Both of them had been through so much, yet they had been afforded little time to let their emotions show. Now Inga finally had the chance to break down.

Not only had she nearly been killed on several occasions, but she had also ultimately lost the one parent-figure she had known for most of her life. Silandrin had been more than a father to her. He was a mentor, a teacher, and a friend. They had both seen him sacrifice himself to destroy the Sleeper, Theron. As much as they hated to see him gone, they knew it was a sacrifice that he had to make. Silandrin had to die before Silas could carry on with his mission.

Inga wrapped her arms firmly around Silas’ waist and didn’t let go. He had only known her for three months, but he loved her so much. He felt closer to her than anyone he had ever known. But she had never told him the same. She had never uttered the words ‘I love you’ to Silas.

They sat on the bed and Silas wiped the tears from her face, only to find them quickly replaced by more.

“Silandrin said you could die too,” she said.

This was a haunting revelation that had not escaped Silas’ mind since their conversation with Silandrin. But they could not let it dictate their actions.

“Inga, I’m not going to die. There’s too much for me to do.”

“Anithistor is very powerful.”

“And so am I, now.”

“Yes, but you haven’t had your abilities for thousands of years. Just because you have been given great power doesn’t mean you are the master of it.”

“Sounds like you’re predicting who’s going to win.” Silas knew he shouldn’t have said the words as soon as they came out, but Inga accepted them with grace.

“You just have to be careful. You may be the Gatekeeper now, but I’ve seen what can happen when people receive a lot of power without training. The magic can consume your mind. Bad things can happen.”

“And that’s why Silandrin told us that I’ll need you. You’re here to help me keep it under control.”

Inga nodded and pulled her legs onto the bed and drew Silas in behind her as she lay on her side facing the fire. His hand rested on her waist as they lay close to one another, content to stay in that position forever.

He lifted his hand and the flame in the fireplace dimmed to an even deeper red hue.

“For some reason, green is the hottest,” she said. “Silandrin could melt rock with green fire.”

Silas wasn’t sure when he closed his eyes, but the two of them didn’t stir until nearly an hour after daybreak.

When they climbed off the bed, Inga reached to the ground, took her cloak and kissed Silas softly on the cheek before they left.

There was much to be done now, but Silas had no idea where to start. After wandering through the stronghold for a few minutes, Dublin had found them and made them sit down for a large breakfast. Midway through the meal, Kaden approached the table to let them know of something happening at the north end of the city. Everyone was gathering to hear from the Meshulan.

“They all want to hear from the man that saved them,” Kaden said.

“And that man sits in a Dunarian prison cell,” Silas answered back.

Kaden nodded. “I know. But my hands are tied. He’s responsible for killing most of the council. What can I do?”

“Would the situation be dealt with differently if this had been done by any king other than Julian?” Silas asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Simply that if he were Morgan or Ruben Hobbes, would he have been treated differently? I feel like there is a deeper animosity here that goes beyond what Julian did. Perhaps Darius and Julian didn’t get along when he was on the council?”

Kaden shrugged. “Julian