Lack of Trust

While Dak was accompanying Maya on her stroll through the garden, not far from there, Ian and Iris were working on what they should do next to end the fight against the witch finally.

" Seth was right about one thing. We need to take the fight to the witch!"Iris murmured while sitting at the table in the room facing Ian with a bunch of parchments on the table containing the plans for Redkyte citadel and Somkethren castle.

" I think that's what she wants! She has failed every single time she had set foot into this forest, and us going to her doorstep will not end well for us! We would be serving ourselves to her on a silver plate!" he reasoned while rubbing his temples, frustrated that Iris wanted to leave the forest and fight the witch on her territory that they had no control over.

Iris sighed " We won't know until we try. If we stay in the forest, she will not stop coming after us! And you heard Dak, soon the land will be invaded by some creatures!" she countered, feeling frustrated with Ian's stubbornness. He wasn't wrong, but she wasn't either. Now they had to find a way to make that happen.

" Ughh!" she hit the table in frustration, a crackling sound echoed through the air and the large windows crumpled to the floor, making Ian let a hearty chuckle.

" I guess we can consider that you have fully recovered now!" Ian commented, a little amused while looking at the glass on the floor.

" It looks that way!" she absently replied while looking at the shattered glass on the floor.

Ian softly scoffed " It makes me wonder, though, the others have lost their powers. How come the three of us still have them?" he voiced his thoughts, making Iris turn her attention to him; she had been thinking about it for some time now, trying to find an explanation as she discovered that the library contained little to nothing about it.

She had always put it on the account that she was different from her kind and stopped thinking about it. But Ian was just like the others, so why did he still retain his abilities? She found it quite strange.

She took a deep breath " Since Seth, and I spoke, I thought it was because I was different from other sithrians, but you are just like the others, and it does make me wonder why you still have them?" she finally said in a pensive tone while turning around to leave the room.

Ian hummed " Maybe so. We will have to wait for Seth to find the answer to that question if he is willing to grace us with his presence!" Ian shared his thoughts on the matter while standing up from the chair and following Iris.

" We still have to come up with a plan on how to deal with the witch, or she will send more innocent people to their death the longer we delay taking action!" Iris returned to their initial conversation. She wasn't willing to let it go.

She was determined to end the witch, but with the new incoming threat, she feared that the witch would take advantage of that, and she would get what she wanted.

" We will think of something. There has to be a way to deal with all of this! We just haven't thought of it yet!" he calmly stated while stepping into the castle's garden along with Iris.

" Mirin is one of them!" Ian added in a pensive tone without even releasing what he had just said, making Iris halt her steps and stare at him in disbelief at what just came off his lips.

" Have you lost your mind!" she scowled angrily and hit his shoulder. She couldn't believe how he could utter such a stupid thing, knowing how she felt about it.

Ian frowned and looked at a displeased Iris; he knew she wouldn't like the idea, but that was what he could come up with at that moment, and it was their best chance to finish this.

" Is there anything else in that armory that has the same power as Mirin?" he curiously asked, trying to shift the subject before it turned to something else, more dangerous than the sword he had brought into the conversation. He couldn't believe that such a foolish thing slipped off his tongue, knowing how she felt about it.

" We would have to go through the inventory. I don't remember all the deadly weapons we keep!" she casually replied, as if deadly weapons were just day-to-day objects that one would use.

Ian chuckled " Hmm, we can go through it later. I'm sure we will find something useful in there!" he suggested as they stepped into the garden. Their eyes fell on Dak, who supported Maya as she walked through the garden.

Iris couldn't help but smile when she saw Maya awake and already on a walk, albeit a prolonged one, and Dak seemed to be in pain since he held a tortured expression.

" She is doing well!" Iris murmured while she squinted to focus her vision on Maya, but it was blocked by Dak's massive build that shadowed Maya, making it unable to see more than her hair.

" Rhya said that her wounds are healing well, and there are no signs of infection! They gave her the potions I made to help with that and the pain!" Ian praised himself with his head held up high, a hint of arrogance in his voice.

Iris smiled " You must be so proud of yourself!" Iris sarcastically replied, her eyes holding a hint of amusement and mischief.

Ian frowned " What can I say? I'm one of a kind!" he praised himself again while peering at Iris with a naughty smile about to break on his lips but quickly schooled his expression and cleared his throat.

" That you are!" she agreed with a chuckle, thinking that it had been a while since she had had a chance to poke at him like that, and she had forgotten how much she missed that feeling of being carefree, even if it was just for a few moments.

Ian gave her a warm smile, took her hand in his, and kissed the back of her hand, peeking from behind his lashes at her expression that suddenly turned flustered at such a small gesture.

" What would you like to do now, my Queen?" he asked in a low unwavering voice, studying her expression and wondering why she was suddenly flustered.

Iris cleared her throat " We can stay in the garden for a while more and visit the armory after! I was hoping to speak with Maya and see how she feels!" Iris truthfully replied while slowly pulling Ian through the garden, hoping that Maya was well enough to have a small conversation.

" I've been meaning to ask you about Azra. Haven't I seen him in a while now? Do you know where he is?" Iris carefully touched the subject of their son, knowing that Ian wasn't very fond of him since he had almost drained the life out of her.

Ian frowned " No, and I don't want to know! He is probably sulking in some corner of the castle!" Ian resentfully replied while looking ahead; his expression turned sour at the mention of his name.

" You should try and make a mence! He is our son, after all, and I think we should try to make him feel loved and that he belongs!" Iris reasoned while Ian took a deep breath to calm himself " Trust is the foundation of everything, and I do not trust him!" he deadpanned while turning to look at Iris with a pleading look" Let things run their course. Forcing things won't do any of us any good!" he advised while reprising his steps.