"Are you sure Sverik can be trusted, since Arid is under Azazel's command now?" I asked.
"I don't trust him at all, but he's a risk we have to take, given how little support we've managed to gather so far from the remaining peoples of Eritopia. If we're to make any progress against Azazel, we must take a leap of faith," he said, then turned to look at me. "After all, I'm already risking everything by opening my soul to you, Serena."
I stilled, and my gaze found his. For a moment, I lost myself in his gray eyes, feeling the absence of the wall between us and relieved to be able to sense him entirely. Warmth emanated from him in ribbons of gold that twined around my heart.
"I've never allowed myself to get so close to anyone," he added. "And mind you, we're in the middle of a war. I'm no longer merely taking risks with you; I'm downright reckless."
I couldn't think of anything to say. All I wanted was for him to not push me away again. I wasn't sure I'd make it without him, and it scared the hell out of me. Yet I wouldn't have it any other way.
"Though I wouldn't have it any other way." He smiled, and my heart fluttered.
I nodded, delighted by how our minds worked in perfect unison, and resumed my search. I flipped through another book and found three graphite portraits on loose pieces of paper. They all depicted the same woman, a beautiful creature with familiar features. The cupid's bow mouth, the light-colored hair flowing loosely over one shoulder, the slim nose and soft lines-I'd seen her before, perhaps, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"Draven, who is this?" I showed him one of the portraits.
His expression changed, a shadow passing over his face as he recognized the figure. His brow furrowed as he looked up at me.
"My mother, Genevieve," he replied.
I was surprised, but, a few seconds later, it began to make sense. I looked at the drawing, then at Draven, then back at her. I noticed the similarities. The softness in his cheekbone lines, the shape of his lips, even a little around the eyes. Yes, she was definitely his mother. I admired her beautiful face and couldn't help but wonder about her. There was something there in her eyes, a certain gravitas that the artist had captured perfectly, a flicker I'd noticed in Draven when he spoke about Azazel and the Druids.
He noticed my curiosity and came up to me, taking one of the portraits in his hand to get a better look. I noticed affection lighting his face up, and I instantly fought back the urge to hold him. I could only imagine what growing up without her must have been like for him.
"She was a Druid of great skill, a mistress of natural sciences," Draven said, his voice low. "She died giving birth to me. It was a great loss to Eritopia and the beginning of the end, in a way."
I could feel his pain freely pouring into me. Whether it was my sentry nature or just perception, it didn't matter. I placed my hand on his chest, and looked up at him, the question floating in my mind. He understood somehow and nodded slowly. With deep breaths I syphoned the grief, a deep shade of ice blue. Sharing his feelings felt more intimate than anything else that had happened between us.
///
"Tell me more." I beckoned him to open up, so I could syphon more and ease his suffering as best I could.
"She was one of the leaders of our kind. She controlled one of the richest parts of Eritopia, a vast land ripe with valuable resources, one of twenty planets, or kingdoms, as they were officially referred to. Most of her kingdom's income came from trade, and her revolutionary advances in science made production processes easier and more cost-effective. Azazel ruled over another region which, funnily enough, subsisted mostly from the imports from my mother's land. Her influence reached across all of Eritopia's planets, and she held great power over Azazel at the time. He didn't dare make a move against her or anyone else, for that matter, since she supplied all of Eritopia with precious metals and ore, not to mention grains and other goods."
"And your father?"
"He held control over the neighboring planet. It's how they met, actually." A smile passed over his face. "It was love at first sight, he once told me. By then, there were already rumors that Azazel was getting too ambitious for his own good. He went after the swamp witches first, killing them off one by one, using paid assassins that were never traced back to him. He'd been constantly reprimanded for his territorially aggressive actions, but my mother was held back by the council. She would have done more to punish him for the way in which he annexed strategically important strips of land, using his armed forces, but the Druids persisted in their peaceful, diplomatic ways, unwilling to accept that the world as they knew it was coming to an end. And there could be no reasoning with the likes of Azazel."