Heir To The Iron Crown: Dyrith

19 - Nítjánda

My eyes shot wide open, but I didn't scream.

The lights in the plane were dimmed, and I knew half the passengers were asleep. I felt tremors in my fingers and feet, and I couldn't bring myself to move.

I sat still, waiting for the tremors to pass.

I felt a hand on my chest, the touch emanating a calm through contact, reaching all the way to my fingertips.

I turned to look at him, and he looked back at me with concern.

"Bad dream?" Valente asked through the link.

"Umm, I don't really know," I replied, breaking into a smile.

I couldn't move my arms yet, but I reached out and kissed him softly.

He smiled through the kiss and held me close, placing his hands around my neck, his thumbs rubbing his mark there.

I'd realized he loved doing that. Perhaps it brought him more comfort than it did to me.

But that simple touch was enough. The tremors were gone, and I was okay again.

"What was that for?" he whispered.

"For finding me," I said. He'd promised many years ago, that he always would.

And he kept that promise.

The fact that I was one step closer to finding out more about my parents had me excited.

"Carson was right. We'll find answers at home," I said. "Buri's cottage is the key."

"Buri's cottage?" he asked.

I nodded my head.

"The one near the stream. The marker in the North," I told him.

"I know which cottage Rayne. But how do you know that's where we'll find answers?" he asked me.

"I just do," I told him. I wanted to spare him the details of how the cottage had always taken over my dreams.

He didn't ask too many questions unlike I always did.

Valente ordered some food from the on-flight menu as we continued talking.

The sandwiches and strong coffee really woke me up.

"Has Sven found any leads? On his mate?" I asked him as we ate.

Valente shook his head.

"Not really. And he won't come home before he finds her," he said.

"What if she is home?" I asked him. "What if he's looking everywhere but the one place she could actually be?"

"You think we didn't consider that?" he said, taking a big bite out of his sandwich.

"Even a picture can invoke a sense of belonging when it comes to mates. I occasionally show him class photos from the school yearbook, to see if Svartur says anything, but he never felt that connection to anyone," he said.

"He hasn't given up hope though. Although he's covered a lot of ground, he feels that she wouldn't be too far off. We'll just have to wait and see," he continued.

I knew how Sven would be feeling right now. I too was looking for my mate everywhere, and never even got close. It was a terrible feeling.

"Every time you traveled, you went to see Sven?" I asked him.

"No. Not always," he replied. "But I met him a lot more frequently after you left," he said.

I nodded at this.

After a quiet pause, I asked him something that had been on my mind.

"What happened? After I left?" I asked him. I knew it was a touchy subject, for both of us, but I needed to know before I went back.

Valente instantly stiffened.

"We did our best to recover, get back on our feet. And eventually got back to normal," he said.

"What will happen when I go back? What will Sylv-"

"You don't have to worry about that. Once I announce you my Luna they'll have no choice but to accept you. Even Sylvia," he said in a tone of finality.

"They must think I was the reason for the attacks now more than ever," I said, sighing. My anxiety was slowly coming back. "I wish I could do something to change their minds."

"You don't have to do anything. Even if you did, what can you possibly do?" he asked me.

I thought about that. Unless an opportunity showed itself for me to show heroism, there really was nothing I could do to gain the support of the pack.

And even during the fight five years ago, when I did have the opportunity, I ran away.

I didn't do anything.

Valente held my hands in his.

"Rayne, Fathilagt won't have anything against you because everyone witnessed the traitor in our midst. Even Eidis didn't dwell too long on Kristján's death," he said.

Just their names were enough to bring back unpleasant memories.

"And also, Fathilagt is at peace now because I kept my promise to them. I took our revenge that night.

"Sgriosaire may have taken our warriors but we took from them a lot more. Barely any of them made it back. And," he said. "We also took Alfie's most prized fighter, and the closest thing he had to a son."

I looked up at him, not sure if I liked the sound of that.

"An eye for an eye Rayne.
He killed my father.
And I killed Femi."