The Art of Blood and Power (Book 2 in The Gifted Trilogy)

32- A Desperate Plea for a Truce

While I had seen my fair share of gore, none of the horrors of my past nightmares could have prepared me to find myself face-to-face with Lux Helios.

The contrast of Lux's clean black clothing against the bright white nothingness of the room around us struck me. I had never seen him in anything other than pure white. His skin still held the luminescent tint it always had, and even now, the warm green of his eyes seemed to calm my subconscious.

"Wren, it is good to see you again" He spoke with his hands clasped casually in front of him. I looked around my surroundings but there was nothing but bright white in every direction. Somehow, it unnerved me more than if we were surrounded by pitch black darkness.

"I know this is a dream but this is really you, isn't it?" I guessed. This was far more civil than my usual nightmares, and not even my subconscious was twisted enough to manifest this perfect image of the king I had barely ever spoken to before. Honestly, I hardly ever thought about Lux, despite what he was to Nox.

Despite the fact that he was the one who saved him.

"It is real," Lux confirmed. "Although I had to journey close enough to the Ember Castle so that I was capable of connecting our subconscious. I hope you'll excuse the unexpected intrusion."

I studied Lux, not sure if he was mocking me, yet I noted nothing but sincerity and respect in his voice. I shrugged. "It beats having another dream where Nox kills me" I replied dryly.

Lux tilted his head and all at once, his heir of control and composure slipped as desperation took its place. "Is it true?" He asked me, lips wobbling through the words. "Is it true that I have a niece?"

I took a step back as the sudden thought that this was a trap seized me. I had to get out of here. He could be attacking the castle as we spoke. He could be capturing Tessa, taking her away from me.

"Please, this is no trap! I know you have no reason to trust me but you must believe me when I say I loved my brother," he rushed through his explanation, desperate to keep me here. "I would never take your sister from you. I know the love siblings share for each other. Please, just tell me if it's true."

Something in his face made me falter. It was a desperation I knew all too well. The relenting need to protect a loved one. A brother's desperation for any sign that there was a piece of his dead brother that still lived.

"I don't know," I answered, lying. "But you saw the shield of light she created during the final trial." Lux already knew this, yet my confirmation somehow made it all the more real for him. He crumbled to his knees, shoulder shaking. "Luan, you have a daughter" he spoke through a combination of laughter and sobs. Looking up, his eyes pleaded with me. "What's her name?"

I wanted to hold that secret to my chest, to refuse his simple request, but there was something about seeing a king as powerful as Lux so vulnerable that I was able to empathize with. "Her name is Tessa," I answered. "And she has the purest heart of anyone I've ever met."

Lux smiled at that, wiping the tears off his face as he stood again, fixing his ruffled tunic. "Tessa," he repeated. On his lips, her name sounded regal and cherished. He said it with the honor meant for a royal.

The honor meant for Tessa Helios.

"You didn't come all this way for a name, did you?" I questioned, snapping Lux out of his trance.

"No," he confessed. "I came to speak to you about other things. I've come to ask you to end this war."

I snorted. "Nox doesn't know you're here, does he?"