“Then take us to them, Arnold,” Orion said impatiently, no hint of friendliness in his voice.
Arnold pretended he wasn’t there, looking to me for direction and I huffed in frustration.
“Take us to them,” I said firmly and he snorted happily before turning and guiding us away into the dark caverns once more.
We followed at a fierce pace, jogging to keep up with him as Orion kept hold of my hand in case we had to speed forward to catch up.
We wound deeper into the labyrinth, and even as I tried to count the turns, something about this place had my mind completely in a haze, like it was designed not to let me remember the way.
A lurch of panic rose in me at the idea of being lost down here with no way out. And I trotted faster at Arnold’s heels.
He turned into another cavern and the flare of a fire brushed against my cheeks as I took in a huge stone goblet at the heart of the room burning with a bright red and blue fire.
Arnold turn to me with a bright smile pulling at his lips. “A thousand ago, the Phoenixes visited here. They set this fire burning in the Goblet of Eternal Flames and it has never died. Your ancestors, Princess Vega, they are the ones who set it alight.” He pointed to it grandly and I stepped closer to it, feeling my magic reserves swell under its immense power.
Orion remained behind me as I reached out, pushing my hands into the flame and feeling the kiss of the past against my skin, part of me wishing I could reach right through these flames and touch the ones who’d lit it. Some piece of me belonged within this fire, and I felt the most aching sense of belonging as I stood in its rays of heat.
I glanced back at Orion, finding him standing at the entrance to the cave, begging him to come closer with my eyes, but he didn’t move, as if he didn’t feel he should step further into this sacred place of my ancestors. But he belonged anywhere that I was, including right here.
Beyond the rising flames which licked the high ceiling were wooden bookcases, reaching up above me with ladders that climbed the stacks.
“These books belonged to the Phoenixes of old,” Arnold explained. They can only be touched by a Phoenix, so they have not been read in many centuries, my lady. The secrets found within them belong to you and your sister.”
My lips opened and awe fell over me as I strode towards the books, my head tipping back as I took in the endless knowledge sitting there before me, a gift from my ancestors. And I wished that Tory was here to share it with me.
“The answer is here,” I said to no one in particular. “It has to be.” I turned my head, looking to Arnold. “I wish for Orion to read these books too. Can I let him touch them somehow?”
“M-My lady,” he stammered in horror. “Allowing a Power Shamed Fae to do something such as that would be an abomination.”
“But can I do it, Arnold?” I asked angrily and he bowed his head once more, nodding quickly.
“Yes, it can be done. You must simply take a book from the shelves and hand it to him, then the spell will release it.”
“Thank you.” I nodded to him in dismissal and he trotted away out into the tunnel muttering something about Power Shamed scum touching ancient and priceless books, making my hackles rise.
If these books were for me and my sister, I’d put them in the hands of whoever I damn well liked.
And there was no one I wanted to read them more than Orion.
“Are you sure, beautiful?” he asked as I walked straight towards the shelves.
“Of course I’m sure.” I glanced back at him, arching an eyebrow. “Do you really think I’d keep them from you?”
“I am owed nothing from you and yet you have given me everything. I am always surprised at what you hand me so willingly.”
“You are the most valuable man in the world to me, Lance, I wish that you’d see it the same way. Now come here, I’m going to hand you a book. Please don’t get a hard on.”
He smirked as he approached, moving out of the shadows as the flames danced over him, casting him in gold and red light.
They seemed to twist and move, almost bending towards him as he stepped around them and approached me.
“I think your ancestors are judging me,” Orion said and I laughed lightly.
“Are you afraid they’ll come back from the dead and teach you a lesson?” I jibed.
“I’m not afraid of anything when it comes to you.”
I smiled, stepping onto a ladder at the base of the huge stacks and starting to climb, my eyes gliding over the old tomes all around me. I tried to read as many of the names on the spines as I could, not sure exactly what I was looking for but still climbing higher and higher as I searched, some strange stirring inside me guiding me onward.