else, your voice is yours again.”
“That is a neat trick!” Acheron replied. “I would have liked to have that handy during my days in court. More than once I yearned to listen to silence instead of the constant whining of councilors and overprivileged nobles…”
“Dad.”
He looked at me, serene as a summer’s morning. “Yes, son?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said. “And looking at you now, I understand how much I miss you. But I do not regret how things worked out. You have found happiness, have you not?”
Smiling, I decided to tell him about the people who had saved me. “Do you remember Derek and Sofia, by any chance? I know it was so long ago, and I’m not sure what rings familiar and what doesn’t.”
“Derek and Sofia Novak. Yes. I remember them.” My father sighed. “I hope they survived that nightmare.”
“They did. And they adopted me. I’ve been living in The Shade for two decades now,” I said, then told him about the Aeternae losing their immortality and the preservation of vampirism. I didn’t go into too many details, unsure of how much time I had with him, but I wanted him to know that things had turned out well in the end. “I’m okay, Dad. I’ve been lucky.”
“You deserve every bit of good fortune that comes your way, my son,” he replied. “I only wish I could’ve been there to watch you grow up and become the man that you are today.”
“Me too,” I murmured.
Myst cleared her throat quietly and gave me a weary look. “I cannot hold him here for much longer,” she said, the glow in her sword weakening. “It’s best if you say your farewells. I’m sorry.”
“There is nothing to be sorry about,” my father interjected. His spirit shimmered softly in the semi-darkness of the clearing, the white and silver of his garments a little brighter than everything else. But it was his love for me that seemed brightest, pouring from his kaleidoscopic eyes as he looked at me and smiled. “You have an incredible life ahead of you, my son. And there aren’t enough words in this world to properly convey how proud I am of who you are, of who you’ve become.”
“I’m just thankful I got to see you one more time.” Tears stung in my eyes, but I held them back, unwilling to break down. Not now, not when I couldn’t even hug my father. I had to stay strong and keep a straight face. I had to do him proud. “Perhaps we shall see each other again someday.”
“Well, I hope so. Just remember, Thayen—every step you take, every mistake, every good or bad or utterly terrible choice you make in this life… it becomes experience, and it teaches you to do better. Remember that, and you will be fine. I’m sure of it.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Myst, if you’d be so kind, I would like to return to wherever you plucked me from before I start weeping like a little girl,” my father said, his voice shaking slightly. Myst smiled, and the glow in her sword vanished altogether.
The spirit of the great Acheron Nasani went with it, and I was the orphan prince once more. I knew it wasn’t a perfectly accurate description, but I couldn’t stop myself from feeling that way in my father’s immediate absence. I realized I’d had no idea how much I’d really missed him all this time. My heart ached on a deeper level now, and I knew the pain would never really go away. I would have to live with it.
But it seemed a small price to pay for seeing him again.
The silence settled over the clearing like a heavy quilt of darkness and lost memories. I turned slowly to face Myst as she looked my way. “When you told me your real parents’ names and bits about your life on Visio, I remembered I had guided your father into the afterlife. Of course, I’m not normally allowed to say such things, but I suppose this entire situation calls for an exception or two. I would have held him for longer, but I’m tired. My energy levels are not what they used to be. Not in this place, at least. I believe the false island is affecting my kind as well, though not as acutely as the living.”
My arms moved before I could say anything. I wrapped them around Myst and pulled her into a tight embrace. My very soul sang in that moment, the close proximity