Chapter 2949 Future Struggles (Part 1)
Morok's powers and his alliance with the monsters of Zelex would have been a fine addition to the forces at Jirni's command, but there was no way that Morok would be able to keep the secret from Quylla.
Jirni had no intention to involve any of her children in the battle ahead. It was Jirni's mess, something born out her grief from Phloria's death. The thought of losing another precious member of her family, and because of her at that, was unacceptable.
Morok sat down fiddling with his fingers. It was his turn to feel embarrassed after being read like an open book.
"I agree with Mom." Gunyin said, surprising no one. "Morok is not and will never be Royal Court material. Yet knowing that you have at least one honest friend in a world of lies and deceit is of great comfort to me, dear sister."
"What about Nalrond?" Friya asked.
"This is not for me to say." Jirni turned toward the Rezar. "Go, dear. You two have much to talk about and you've waited too long already."
Nalrond had been a true surprise to Jirni.
Since she was already aware of Friya's Awakening, Lith's and Morok's past hybrid nature, and Nalrond skills as a Light Master, the Rezar had decided that disclosing his past wasn't a big deal after all.
Also, in his naivety, he believed that by being honest with Jirni she could later better help Friya in making up her mind about their relationship after he informed her about his plans.
Instead, Jirni used the garnered information to further her own. Nalrond had gone through a lot of suffering. He had lost his entire village and his first fiancée. He knew grief even better than Jirni and would have been a priceless asset to her.
Yet before involving him in her schemes, Jirni needed him to go on with his experiments and clear things with Friya. As he was, Nalrond's only worth was his Light Mastery and the fact that Friya loved him.
There was no point pitting him against Awakened. If he succeeded in fusing his life forces, however, after Awakening he would reach the bright blue, if not even the violet.
Being already a true mage, Nalrond would quickly get used to his newfound condition and his powers would play a key role in Jirni's strategies. Before deciding how to use him, however, she needed to hear Friya's answer.
"I missed you." He said.
"I missed you too." Friya looked him in the eyes, reading in them how glad he was of their reunion and how nervous he was.
"I guess that the magic lecture can wait."
"Yeah." Nalrond nodded.
"And that you brought me here to talk about something important you've already discussed with my mother." Asking the mother's blessing instead of the father's before proposing was unusual, but Jirni was the one available during Friya's absence.
"You're on fire today, babe." He replied, taking a few steps back and flexing his fingers to relieve their tension. "There's something that I need to tell you and I can't wait any longer."
Friya expected him to get on one knee and pull out a betrothal gift from his dimensional amulet. Instead, Nalrond kept standing and told her about his plan to fuse his life forces and how Quylla had refused to help him until he discussed everything with Friya.
"What do you mean, almost die? Are you insane?" The missed proposal hurt but the ease with which he spoke about endangering his own life was even worse.
"I'm not insane. This is the path werepeople sought for millennia." Nalrond shook his head. "The path that I was already walking before meeting you. Now that I've finally found a solution, I need to put it into practice."
"No, you think to have found a solution." Friya clenched her fist, needing sheer willpower to not yell. "And you have no need to put it into practice. It's just something you want to do. There's a difference."
"And what would that be?" Nalrond narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
"That you are obsessing about one thing you don't have and ignoring everything and everyone else." Friya replied. "What if you are wrong? What if you die? Why can't you just pass this knowledge to a tribe of werepeople and see how it goes?"
"Are you seriously asking me this?" He was flabbergasted.
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