The moment Isabella told him off and marched into the stone hut, Osiris stood outside like a kicked puppy who did not understand why lightning had struck him specifically.
She had insulted him many times, but hearing her realize he liked her cooking had done something strange to him. Something warm. Something embarrassing. Something he immediately pretended he did not feel.
And yet, instead of following her inside to continue annoying her like usual, he turned away.
He had someone he needed to find.
The spirit man.
The one who called him Prince.
Prince of the Phoenix Clan.
Those words had been echoing in his skull like distant thunder.
So Osiris walked through the village, past the glowing stones and floating lantern-bugs, until he reached the clearing where the spirit man had been earlier.
