Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2)(58)

I looked toward the bunk where Ilyan laid, his body still, only his head visible from underneath the large amounts of furs. I went to move, but one grunt from Thom stopped my progression.

“He’s fine. You can go fawn over him after your feet are better.” I turned hastily toward Thom, my forehead furled in a scowl.

“I wasn’t going to fawn over him,” I said a little too acidly, Thom only snorted at me.

“You sure she doesn’t know, Dramin?” Thom asked, his eyes still closed.

“I’m sure.” Dramin smiled and refilled his mug with a wave of his hand. “Now, where were we? Oh yes, Ovailia broke the bond.”

“How could they survive?” I asked the question more to myself, than to him. I still remembered the pain, the way my body attempted to rot from inside out after my bond with Ryland was cracked, and the way it would now protest every time I stayed to long from the T?uha.

“It is the one who breaks the bond that walks away unscathed, while the one who is broken will suffer and die. It was Sain who suffered to the point that he appeared dead. Ovailia was unscathed because she broke the bond, because she no longer loved him.”

I looked down into my glass, hurting for my Father, although I still struggled to think of Sain in that way. He had waited all his life to love, and the person he chose had somehow chosen not to love him back. I exhaled and drank deeply. At least my Mother loved him until the day she had been killed.

“In his anger Edmund massacred all of my posterity, my sons and daughters, thousands of my grandchildren and beyond, all murdered. All while Edmund kept Sain imprisoned, hidden from Ovailia, trying to glean more information about the sight. But Sain never gave it to him no matter how much he was tortured. They never found out more than what Ovailia had told them. Which is why they never identified you until Ryland found your mark. For centuries Edmund used Sain’s abilities for his profit. He kept him under a Vym?zat so strict that while it never completed, it was enough to keep control over him. He wouldn’t let him near the Black Water that the Drak rely on, and so he weakened further.” Dramin spoke quietly and I could tell how much he was affected by what he had said. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the chair, his hands still grasping his mug.

“For centuries he was only given an opportunity to drink the Black Water when Edmund needed the use of his sight. He was as weak as a human, his ability becoming so reliant on the Black Water that he could no longer control the visions or interpret what he would see. Edmund had learned to do all that for him. Sain’s body slowly learned to rely more on human food than his own resources. In many ways, the Drak in him died.” Dramin spoke into his mug heavily, his knuckles white against the pottery in his hands. I couldn’t help but feel sick to my stomach at this new bit of information.

“How did he get out?” I asked quietly, my voice awed like I was being told a bedtime story and not the history of my father.

“I got him out,” Thom said from across the fire, though his body did not deviate from its relaxed position. “I grabbed him, knocked my Father unconscious, broke Timothy’s arm, and made a run for it. It took me quite some time to get any information out of Sain as to where we were supposed to go.”

Thom scowled darkly and moved his hands behind his head, his eyes moving to look at me.

“Worst mistake of my life.” Thom said, “I should have left him there. Having to spend the next three hundred years in hiding, trying to get your best friend back from the mess your Father had created of him, only to see him end up captured with no memory, is not something I would like to repeat.”

“Tell me about it,” I groaned unhappily. I wound my hands together in my lap, wishing that everyone would be okay. Wyn, Talon, Ryland, and now Ilyan were on top of that list. I sighed and slammed my back into the chair. Dramin reached over and patted my leg like a comforting grandfather, the action awakening something in me as I forced back a smile.

“So you were in hiding?” I asked. After all, I could relate.

“I’m still in hiding,” Thom grumbled, “My existence, and Sain’s, had to be kept as much of a secret as possible. If Ovailia found out about us, there is no telling what she would do. And while Ilyan has his suspicions, none of us want to find out what Edmund would do with us.”

“How did they find you?” I asked, not wanting to dwell on all the negative that had happened in the past few hours.

“We were in college, pretending to be Seniors. And we were bored out of our minds. And then, one day, we saw him – Cail.” I visibly froze and Thom stopped briefly. He turned toward me, his eyes narrowing a bit. “I hid Sain with a human family and erased his memory in case he was found. I pulled Cail off his trail. I was only able to return when I knew it was safe, about ten years later, but without a true memory of his past, he had married. I stayed nearby, but I couldn’t see any signs of magic from you, so I left. Content to give him a normal life and return when the time was right.”

I was not sure what to say. I ran through the story, the fact that my life had been a giant sham becoming more of an irritating reality. I shook my head and tried to bring forward any amount of strength or confidence I could find. It wasn’t much.

“How did you know Edmund had found you simply because you saw Cail?” I asked.

“When you see Cail, Edmund and Timothy are not far behind. Even if you don’t see them, they are always there.”