A Sprinkle of Stardust

Chapter 29 - Confession

Lyrani took a deep breath. "I dreamt about the day my mother died."

She didn't recall this happening before, and she had preferred it that way.

The lines between fact and fiction weren't as clear as they seemed in theory. Dreams defied the laws that the waking world obeyed. Time didn't matter, and people Lyrani no longer spoke to could still love her.

Had she really seen the dark figure on the balcony her mother had fallen from? She couldn't remember. Was it her overactive imagination or was there any meaning to it?

"Oh, Lyrani." Trelle wrapped her arms around Lyrani. "That must've been awful."

Lyrani's instinct was to wriggle away, but the other agent's embrace was strangely comforting. She stayed as she was, leaning her head against Trelle's shoulder.

"There's more."

She told Trelle what she had stumbled upon in the crystal cave earlier that day, leaving out the details about who had asked her to meet him near there in the first place. She'd get to that later.

Trelle's grey eyes narrowed. "So, you're saying that your mother was the ECISI agent who exposed Queen Rayn and led to her execution?"

Lyrani nodded. "I know it's hard to believe—"

"And you think it got her killed?" Trelle interrupted.

"Yes."

As crazy as it sounded, Lyrani knew what she saw. Nash had said the cave contained the palace's memories. Veyali had been here, and she had unleashed Queen Rayn's vengeance.

Even if Lyrani hadn't really seen the darkness on the balcony the day her mother died, its presence in her dream was trying to tell her something. It taking the shape of the shadow Dessie saw in the burning forest market implied a conclusion Lyrani didn't want to think about.

But truths always had to be faced. One couldn't outrun them forever. Lyrani's gut was putting together the picture her mind had yet to comprehend, and there was no escaping it.

"That's...wow." Trelle exhaled after a long silence. "Why didn't we know that it was her?"

People at ECISI still talked about Veyali, but nobody said her name. She was a legend, inspiring agents to make a difference and stand up for justice. Perhaps that was the point of her story—she could be anybody. Anyone could be a hero.

"Her identity must've been kept secret," said Lyrani.

Everyone at ECISI was too busy with their own work to pay much attention to other agents and their assignments. If anyone knew Veyali's identity, it would be Lord Dundor and his secretary.

Lord Dundor.

He had kept this from Lyrani. He had let her join ECISI knowing what it would do to her father. It made sense now—why her father had tried to force her into a marriage that would've meant she couldn't be an agent.

He must've had some inkling of the truth Lyrani was only now uncovering. Veyali's work had gotten her killed.

Lyrani's father had only been trying to protect her from a fate that would devastate him as it had the first time he endured it. Perhaps he had even cut her out of his life to protect himself from the news of her injury or demise, keeping his distance from it and her so that they couldn't hurt him.

The bitterness Lyrani had carried with her all these years dissolved, leaving only a residue behind.

Perhaps she didn't agree with her father's approach to the situation, but she couldn't hate him for what he did now that she knew his reasons.