Aligning the Forgotten ✓

Chapter 28: Silas

The plan is in place. It has taken all of their strength, especially Silas's, not to jump at the chance to get this moving along faster. Despite the wait time and the never-ending wonder of whether this will work, it's finally in play.

Silas can't be happier. After hours of deliberation, creating scenarios and finding ways around them, or going over faults—they finally have what they need to retrieve the descendant from Lona. It's a risky game, one they'll never discover the true extent of until they're actually there, but Silas can do nothing other than put his trust in the two witches departing for the castle.

For the second time in her life, Celestine is leaving a place she's called home for some time now. Down in her chambers, in a dark hallway with hardly any torches lit, she's comfortable. She drowns the days away by working in the gardens and filling journals with stories that had once been about young girls falling in love with princes. Now they're about battle armor and knives, women that stand up to the test of war and show that through no mercy will they give their lives.

She's grown since arriving at the castle, Silas realizes. When she arrived, one tap on the fragility of her exterior and she'd break into pieces, shattering like glass on the inside from the death of her parents. Another fault Silas will never forgive himself for—he couldn't save his mother and he couldn't stop his father from killing two innocent witches with plenty of life left to live.

Celestine, like her sister, has adapted to life outside of Arego. The village was perfect for her; it was simple, her own garden within itself. In the castle courtyard, she doesn't have more than a flowerbed for growing colorful tulips and keeping down the weeds with her power. She hasn't been able to do as much as she wants, the crown prince recognizes that when he finds her in the library during most evenings or strolling through the gallery and staring at the pieces of previous kings, wondering where they went wrong.

The only hope he can have for her is this new mission will allow her the chance to blossom even more than she already has. Her sister, given the spotlight from the beginning, left Celestine in the dark with little to no chance at living. No one has sought her out, she hasn't desired training with anything other than a bow, hasn't wanted to step outside her comfort zone and find where exploration begins and life ends.

At one point, Silas thought about nothing but her. As soon as he saw her, he realized that through no way was he going to control himself enough to ignore her. She was beautifully innocent, the auburn strands of her hair hanging so delicately across her shoulders in perfect waves. Walking Roux into the castle that day hadn't been what the crown prince wanted; the sister behind her was. The young witch that shut down in the throne room, turning to ice, until a fire ignited in her soul at the loss of her father's head.

It still makes Silas sick to watch both women crumble under the weight of their loss, noticing the light drain from Celestine's eyes in the days after. If it hadn't been for that, her wallowing, he would've made a stronger effort to get her to notice him. But watching her plaster on a smile that didn't belong to her, as if she had drawn it on, wasn't what Silas wanted.

Priorities were...different. Hallie was coming back, and he had to make a statement about his future queen. They'd always had an open relationship, aren't afraid to divulge in others, but there has always been an unspoken thread between them that means Celestine is off-limits. Her vulnerability, perhaps.

Silas won't let that happen. If the king ever decides the young witch of the gardens is no longer useful, he'll fix what his brother couldn't and get her out of there. He's tired of watching his loved ones die, doesn't want to watch Celestine's head roll. Therefore, under no way is he allowing his father to find out about her departure.