Responding with a gaping mouth probably wasn’t the most princess-like thing she could do, but she couldn’t help it. The question had left her speechless. Did he think it would be impossible to get her army back? Did he think they should give up now?
As if guessing her thoughts had turned sour, his head dipped down. A gentle expression filled his normally rigid features. “You need to build a new army with people from the Storm. You know you need to, but you’ve been putting it off, and I don’t understand why.”
Something in his eyes shimmered as he spoke. She turned away just so she wouldn’t have to face him. That same terror laced with longing filled her, but it didn’t seem as frightening this time. “Everyone in the Storm has already been through so much. How can I ask them to risk their lives when they’re the victims of the horrible system of marking ID cards? I don’t want them to fight for me. I want to save them.”
It only took a single step for Aaden to return his position in front of her. It seemed she could never escape him, even when she wanted to.
His head tilted. “But if they fight for you, they’ll have a chance to destroy the system that has hurt them. You can stop the system of marking ID cards. Don’t you think they deserve the chance to make things better for themselves?”
A growl threatened to erupt from the back of her throat, but she managed to only let out a huff instead. Why did he have to say such logical things all the time?
The growing tension inside sent her mind searching for another topic to discuss. Any at all.
A new thought came without hesitation. She caught hold of it, eager to let it turn their conversation. But bringing it up would take some finesse.
Hoping her movements didn’t seem too suspicious, Talise began walking toward the path that would lead them back to camp with the others. Aaden followed immediately, still unaware of how the conversation was about to change.
Biting her bottom lip, she glanced toward him. She tried to don the most innocent face she could manage. “Aaden.”
His shoulders tensed at once. So much for an attempt at innocence.
The veins in his hands pulsed as he tried to keep from balling his hands into fists. She had observed the same mannerism from him so many times, it was easy to sense his discomfort. Did he know what was coming?
With a light touch, she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “You mentioned the other day how your father and mother took forever to find you in your Water Festival costume one year.”
Now his hands did form fists. Even his gulp was audible. He definitely knew what was coming. It was probably best to just get it over with.
Her words came out in a rush. “The whole time I’ve known you, you’ve never once mentioned your mother. Not until you talked about that costume the other day. I remember seeing her once when I was a child, but she’s obviously not around anymore. I always assumed she died when Kessoku attacked the palace and killed my family. Lots of people died in that attack.
Another audible gulp escaped from Aaden’s mouth. His hands had relaxed, but he stomped forward with his eyes studiously looking ahead.
Talise sucked in a quick breath before she spoke again. “I only assumed she died because I thought your father gave up palace secrets on accident. But it wasn’t an accident. He was Kessoku, and we never knew.” Her throat ached more with each of the words. “But if he was Kessoku, he never would have let his wife die in an attack he knew was coming. He would have protected her.”
Aaden’s face offered no reaction. His steps had become even and measured, giving no indication to his emotion.
The nonreaction made it more difficult to continue, but it was too late to stop now. Talise froze in place. Her feet stood firm, waiting until his followed suit. A charge buzzed through her when her lips parted again. “Aaden, where is your mother?”
He let out a sigh when his own feet stopped. His body moved toward Talise, but he didn’t look her in the eye. One hand casually disappeared inside his tunic pocket. When he pulled it out again, he held a folded card covered in wax between two fingers.
Even without seeing it clearly, Talise recognized it as Aaden’s ID card. When he offered it, she took it without hesitation. The light wax coating rubbed against her fingers as she opened the card.
Though her fingers moved easily, she couldn’t imagine how this was supposed to answer her question. But then her eyes landed on the family tree painted on the back of the card. A calligrapher had delicately painted Aaden’s name over the tree trunk. On the left side, she recognized several names: Lucian Sato, Blaise Sato, Seraphina, his grandmother. The names continued for four generations back. But on the right side.
It was blank.
Talise’s breath stilled as she rubbed a finger over the spot where the name of Aaden’s mother should have been. An empty box stared back instead. No grandparents sat above the blank space, no great-grandparents. Just empty boxes, as if Aaden’s mother had never existed.
Only one thing could explain the half-empty family tree, and it was a far greater shame than having an ID card that bore a black X.
Forcing herself to look up, Talise desperately tried to control the emotion tugging through her throat. “She disinherited you?”
When Aaden nodded, it felt like a punch to the gut.
Talise’s voice came out tighter than before. “After your father’s trial when they condemned you to the Storm?”
Red colored his irises when he shook his head. “It happened a few years before that.” The faintest puddle of tears gathered, but he quickly blinked them away.
Never before had she been so overcome with the urge to embrace him. Her lip trembled, but it was pointless to try and stop it. An ache squeezed through her chest, reaching out along every limb.
Maybe it didn’t make any sense, but his hand seemed like the best place to look while she spoke. “I know it’s supposed to be shameful, but your mother is the one who should be ashamed. You were only a child, and she left you. That’s…”
At some point, her feet had moved her closer to him. Now his hand was nearly close enough to brush. She reached out for him.
“I’m so sorry.” Her words came out barely above a whisper.
When they touched, their hands fell into a natural hold without any hesitation from either of them. She gave his hand the tiniest squeeze. He responded with the most tender touch.
“Thank you.” He choked over the words, which only twisted her already fragile heart into something that hurt, but in the best possible way.
Looking him in the eye would surely break her completely. But she couldn’t just stand there holding his hand. He needed more. She needed more.
Her head dropped against his chest, which made the icy air feel like a distant memory. Another moment, and she would have wrapped her arms around him.
He stepped away first.
It was probably for the best. They both knew where it would have headed, and they probably weren’t quite ready for it. Still, when icy wind whipped in the space between them, Talise felt a sting in her heart.
To distract herself, she glanced down at the ID card in her hand. Her thumb ran over the blank boxes on the family tree before she turned it over.
On the inside of the card, Aaden’s name, primary element, and residence had all been filled in by a calligrapher. Aaden Blaise Sato, Master Shaper, Ridgerock Palace. A large box filled the bottom half of the card. It said Deeds above the box. Inside, two distinct stamps could be seen. First, a large black X. Then, a shimmery, silver crescent moon had been stamped on top.