“Very well, let’s begin.” Louisa sat and unfurled a long scroll. “First to my sisters —” She rattled off another long list of names for both of them. “I leave my collection of potions.”
My mind drifted away as Louisa prattled on about different items.
I knew this would be boring but why couldn’t they get straight to the part where Freya had mentioned me? Why not mention the less important stuff first just to get it over with?
“Lucas Melrose.” The sound of his name brought me out of my drifting thoughts. “To you, I ask you to become a mentor to Silvana Eldry. Guide her so she may control her powers.”
Great, now even Forrest couldn’t dispute that. I didn’t know how to feel about that.
Forrest grumbled something behind us — I hadn’t noticed him come in. I shouldn’t have been surprised he was there. He had been Freya’s boss, so maybe he was named in the statement too.
“Forrest Malvolio Thornwood.” Louisa turned her attention to him.
Where did the fae come up with these awful names? They must keep a thousand-year-old list and still use it. Even though the name sounded ridiculous. Why not adopt more modern names that were easily pronounceable? At least then they could blend in with humans more.
“First, I ask you to allow Silvana Eldry to graduate from the academy and not to expel her over any mishaps caused by her powers,” Louisa read out. “Her powers are strong and unpredictable due to them being blocked at birth. She needs to be given the chance to control that power and nurture it. She is one of the most gifted students at the academy.”
Forrest glowered at me. I turned away and bit back a smile. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. That sounded so like Freya. It was typical of her to think of me.
Good, that must mean this was over with. I’d been mentioned, which meant I could leave. Why I had needed to be here for that part I had no idea, but I was glad it was done. Jumping up from my seat, I made for the door.
Tris, I’ve been mentioned. We can leave now. I couldn’t keep the excitement out of my voice. Maybe we can head to Colchester before we go back to the academy and hang out like we planned. We had both been excused from classes for the day due to the legacy reading. I’d been surprised when they had agreed to let Tristen come along, but him being the prince meant he often got special treatment, especially from his uncle.
Really? Great, I didn’t expect it to be over with that quick. Tristen sounded excited too.
“Where are you going, Miss Eldry?” Louisa’s voice interrupted my joy. “The reading is not yet over with.”
I frowned. “I thought I only had to be here until my name was mentioned?”
Elsa motioned for me to come back.
“Yes, but I hadn’t got to that part yet. The part I just read was for Mr. Thornwood, not you.”
Heat flushed my cheeks. Great way to go, Silvy. You made an idiot of yourself already.
Never mind, apparently, I haven’t been mentioned yet.
I sighed and stormed back to my seat. Lucas and Forrest sent curious glances my way.
Elsa patted my hand. Don’t worry, I know how boring this must be. But it will be worth it. You’ll see.
Worth it? I wouldn’t be surprised if she left me the grimoire. But they seemed to imply it might be more than that. If so, what else could it be? Money? Or something else?
No way. I couldn’t accept that. Freya might have felt sorry for me, but that didn’t mean she would do that. Nor did I want anything from her either. I’d rather have her back more than anything else offered to me.
Silvy, I’m sorry, Freya’s words drifted to my mind. I only wanted —
The desk in front of us rattled from the vibration of my powers.
Oh crap, not again! Why, out of all the times that I could lose control of my powers, did it have to be now? And in front of Forrest, no less.
Elsa gripped my hand, and the power settled again.
Silvy, are you okay? Tristen asked, worry in his mind voice. I can sense your panic.
I’m fine. Freya — she demanded Forrest to let me stay at the academy until graduation. She also asked Lucas to be my mentor. Weird. I frowned. Unless she knew something would happen to her?
I don’t know. Maybe. There’s no way to tell. I tried snooping around, but the butler is refusing to let me leave this room. I even tried playing the prince card, but that didn’t do any good either.
I bit back a laugh at him being scared of a butler. Since he was training to be a tracker and often went out with Nick and Zoe hunting bad things, I couldn’t imagine him being afraid of anything.
My thoughts drifted back to the night I’d found Freya. I found myself back in her chambers the night of her death. This time she stood by the fireplace. I must’ve replayed this image a thousand times; even more in my dreams and it always ended the same. If she knew about the poison, why hadn’t she called out for help? She must have had time just before I got there.
Instead, she wasted it by talking to me and healing my stupid wings.
“To Silvana Eldry,” Louisa’s voice brought me back to reality. “I leave to you the entire Goodwin estate —”
My mouth fell open. What? There had to be some kind of mistake. Why the hell would Freya do that?
“What?” Forrest demanded. He echoed my thoughts.
Louisa must have got that wrong. There was no way that could be true.
“I leave the entire Goodwin estate, the Goodwin family grimoire, along with my lands, title, and fortune.”
Holy crackers, I must have hallucinated or something. Or maybe I had drunk too much of that fancy tea and it was messing with my mind.
Elsa and Zinea didn’t look surprised.
Forrest shot to his feet. “That’s impossible! Such things are only left to an heir. Freya might have tried to adopt this girl but only a blood heir could —”
“Stop interrupting, or this reading will be invalidated and have to be read again on a different day.” Louisa glowered at him and continued reading. “I name Silvana Eldry, my daughter of blood and magic, as my sole heir,” Louisa resumed reading. “So none can dispute her parentage or her birthright as my daughter. The custodian agreement was just a formality, and I admit my mistake now. I should have revealed Silvana’s true parentage much sooner. Signed and sealed by Freya Goodwin.”
All colour drained out of my face. My daughter…
My heart stopped then restarted, but the sound around me was drowned out as Forrest disputed the claim. Blood roared in my ears.
My daughter of blood and magic — that meant biological daughter in fae terms. Holy flipping crackers, that meant Freya was my…
“My mum,” I whispered.
Elsa and Zinea were arguing with Forrest and Louisa.
Only Lucas sat there in stunned silence, and I looked just as stunned as I felt. Nick and Zoe didn’t look surprised.
“This is all impossible,” Forrest snapped. “Why would Freya lie about such a thing? She never had a child. I should know. I dated her after we graduated from the academy.”
“Yes, she did. I was there when she gave birth,” Elsa retorted and shot to her feet. “We were both witnesses to it seventeen years ago.”
My mind reeled. Freya was…
Silvy, are you okay? Tristen asked. I can feel your panic.
“Then you’re both lying. How can that girl have Goodwin blood? She is a human half-breed. She is nothing more than —”
I couldn’t deal with this any longer. I bolted from the room. To hell with the stupid reading. How could Freya have done this to me? How could she not have told me the truth before she died?
“Silvy?” Elsa called after me.
I ignored her and ran through the hall.
I smacked right into Tristen.
“What’s wrong?” He put his hands on my shoulders.
I shook my head as I blinked back tears. Then I pushed past him.
Cold
air hit me as I fled outside. I wanted to shout, to scream. Freya had lied to me. She had been my mother all along, and she had never once said anything.
Wind whipped around me as my magic roared to life. It reacted along with my chaotic emotions. I made my way through the grounds and had no idea where the hell I was going.
It didn’t matter. I had to get away from that castle, from everyone. I couldn’t deal with them. I couldn’t even bring myself to talk to Tristen.
I finally let the tears fall. Giant drops of rain pelted down on me. Lightning flashed. The more the tears fell, the more the rain fell. My magic had caused it.
That should have bothered me, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
The transport circle gleamed up ahead. I ran straight for it. No way would I stay here any longer.
Chapter 14
I reappeared in Eldry Woods, where I’d gone the night Freya had died. I had never thought I would come back to this place. This had been where I was dumped on the day I was born. No, Freya had dumped me here. To my relief, the rain and storm hadn’t followed me. I sank to my knees and all the grief I’d repressed came flooding out.
I cried for Freya, for the life I could have had.
Isla, the dryad crept down from her tree and approached me. She looked the same as the last time I had seen her the night Freya had died. With her brown bark-like skin, her dress made from brown leaves, and her black beady eyes. She said something, but I didn’t hear her words. I was too consumed by my grief.
I rested my head on the ground - too exhausted to do anything - the ground hard and rough against my face.
Isla had disappeared. She had probably given up trying to talk to me in my grief-induced haze.
Freya had lied to me. That was all that kept running through my head. We had worked together for months and known each other for a year before I’d even gone to the academy. Not once had she come out and told me who she was. She’d been there at the library whilst I had spent hours searching for clues about my birth mum. When I had searched through those newspaper articles every day. She had seen me, had known how desperate I had been for answers, and yet she had said nothing.
Light flashed as Tristen appeared. “Silvy?” He came over and pulled me into his arms.
I clung to him and buried my face against his chest. “Freya…” I choked out her name.
“It’s alright, I know. I heard them arguing with my bastard uncle before I left.” He ran a hand through my hair.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
Tristen shook his head. “I don’t know — we may never know. At least you know the truth now.”
I sniffed. “You’re not surprised.”
“I always thought you had to be royal. That’s the only way you explain how powerful you are,” Tristen admitted. “I thought you and Freya might be related — it makes sense.”
I pulled away. “She named me her heir.”
“Yes, she gave you her seat on the council too.”
I buried my head in my hands. “This is a bloody nightmare!” Thunder roared in the distance and panic jolted through me. I didn’t want to conjure another storm. I wanted it to all stop.
“I know this is a lot to take, but you can’t run away from this.” Tristen caressed my cheek. “You’ve always wanted to know who you are. Now you know. I know it’s hard, but I know you can get through this.”
I groaned. “I can’t deal with this. I’m not a royal!” Thunder boomed again and lightning flashed above us.
“Let’s get away for a while. Go somewhere.”
I frowned and lowered my hands. “Where?”
“Colchester. No one will find us there.”
Something popped and my long wings unfurled out behind me. Guess I wasn’t repressing anything anymore.
“They’re beautiful, just like you.” Tristen ran his fingers along my wings. His own silver and black wings came out. They shimmered like midnight. “Ready to go?”
I hesitated and bit my lip. “I’ve never flown before — not even before my foster dad cut through my wings.” My wings were out now. All shiny and new. After everything that had happened, I couldn’t bring myself to feel any joy over that. “I don’t think I can fly.”
“It’s easy. Just move your wings, feel the air around you.”
Move my wings? The only thing my wings had ever been good for was for keeping me warm. I had no clue how to use them.
Air fluttered around me and I rose off the ground. Part of me wanted to cry out in alarm. Another part of me whooped with exhilaration. I was flying. Really flying.
“See.” Tristen grinned. “Just let your wings do what they’re meant to.”
It took a few more attempts, but I finally moved around and flew in a circle around him. I laughed. “Damn, this feels good.”
I needed a distraction. I didn’t want to think about Freya or the legacy statement — or anything to do with them. I took off, and the ground disappeared as I zoomed higher. I might not have flown before, but I had been born for this. My wings had always been something disdainful growing up, but this felt so good. Flying was pure freedom. Something I needed more than anything.
“Sure you’ve never done this?” Tris circled around me.
“Bet I can get there before you.” I zoomed off in the opposite direction.
Everything looked so different from up here. Trees and houses looked like tiny dots in a riot of colour.
Tristen caught up with me a few seconds later and reached out to take my hand. “We’ll get through this, I promise.”
I shook my head. “I don’t wanna talk about that.” I squeezed his hand. “You never told me how good flying feels like.”
He chuckled. “Would you have believed me?”
I furrowed my brow, thoughtful. “Good point. I probably wouldn’t have. If I had, I would have felt bad because I doubted I could ever experience it.”
The huge buildings of Colchester, Britain’s oldest recorded town, loomed ahead in the distance. It felt odd seeing it from up here. I’d seen these buildings every day back before I joined the academy several months ago.
My life had changed so much. Back then, I’d been a starving outcast living in poverty. Now, well, the outcast part was probably still true on some level. But I had magic, friends, a boyfriend, and strange new-fangled wings.
“Wait, how do we land?” Panic surged through my chest. I dropped as my wings lost some of their momentum. I screamed. “Holy crackers!”
Tristen swooped down and caught hold of me. “Silvy, relax. Flying is controlled by thought too.”
Realisation dawned on me. It was a long way down. I grabbed hold of Tristen. “Okay, looking down is not good.”
“Relax, remember how you felt earlier.”
My wings beat back and forth frantically. Blood pounded in my ears. I took a deep breath and let it out. My wings slowed, and I let go of him. To my relief, I didn’t fall out of the sky as I had expected to.
“Good, now landing is easy. Just follow me.” Tristen descended, his massive wings flapping behind him.
I swooped to keep up, my wings moving against the air. Okay, I can do this. I am fae too.
Tristen took hold of my hand again as we descended together. The buildings and ground edged ever closer.
“Wait, won’t someone see us?” I gasped.
“No, I cast a glamour spell over us earlier.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Good, the last thing I wanted was for reports to circulate about two teenage fae flying around. Sure, humans knew about us, but magickind kept to themselves here.
Tris and I flew close to a large building, then dropped down into an alleyway. One I’d probably been past numerous times in my previous life.
Tristen furled his wings and pulled them back into his body.
My wings were still out and vibrating with energy. After being locked away for so long, they wanted to be out.
“I don
’t know how to pull them back in.” Panic washed over me again. I did not want to wander around with these on display. Someone would recognise me. In my old life, I’d stuck out, wandering around in a dirty uniform and mangled wings hanging out of my back. Everyone in the town had known of me and given me a wide berth. Some shops had even refused to serve me in the past because of what I was.
Wings in, I thought.
To my amazement, the wings furled up, then vanished back inside me. I breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there, I had been worried I would never be able to pull my wings back in again. Although I couldn’t say I hated them anymore. Not after the exhilaration, I had experienced flying here. It was a feeling I never wanted to lose. But that didn’t mean I wanted my wings on display all the time, especially not here.
“Where do you want to go?” Tris took my hand, and we wandered out into the street.
Shops lined the cobblestone high street, and the stench of street food felt familiar. How many times had I wandered up and down here on my way to school? I had always hated the place back then. But now I didn’t mind it so much. It no longer felt like the prison I had been trapped in before when I had been stuck with my abusive foster parents. Now I just felt like an onlooker looking in.
Tristen’s skin shimmered with a glamour. I pulled one over myself too.
We moved through the streets and past different shops. Somehow, I found myself back at my old street — somewhere I’d never meant to show Tristen. I let go of his hand and walked up to the overgrown path. The front door had been left wide open. Judging by the debris, no one had been here since my foster parents had been arrested.
“This is where you lived?” Tris frowned.
I was surprised he didn’t know that, given how he had followed me around and watched me before I joined the academy. I had thought he’d been a stalker at first. Later, I had found out Freya had asked him and some of the other trackers to watch over me in case I ever got in trouble.
I nodded. “Yeah, me and my former fosters. I spent most of the time getting Dust for them.”
He shuddered. “I remember. I never understood why Freya didn’t drag you out of it. Why didn’t the authorities do anything?”
Everlight Academy Book 2 Page 11