Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
One would assume that being a son of the Lions would make it easy enough to visit their chambers.
Not so much. Every year, the Lions met with the council representing the various guilds that made up the floating continent.
And during that time, they did not allow for distractions—not even from their sons.
The guards were under orders to turn them away unless, as Lion Magnar so eloquently put it, they were maimed or in mortal danger.
Which was why Lia and Kayce now dangled precariously from the balcony outside the royal suite.
The kingdom sprawled out below them, a network of cobblestoned roads and buildings carved from the ravine walls, their roofs of copper muted green like the castle turrets.
Mist kissed Lia’s cheeks, making the limestone slick under her palms. The stone was carved with a lattice up the towers, including the one housing the royal suites.
“Remind me again why flying was out of the question?” Lia grunted, her leather gloves slipping as she pulled herself up.
Kayce looked down over his shoulder at her. “Because the guards would have spotted us a mile away, obviously.” With a shake of his head, he resumed his climb until he could swing himself over the balcony’s railing.
“And none of them have spotted two figures climbing this tower?” Praise the skies they were at the top. Her arms were quivering.
A gloved hand appeared before her. She took it, Kayce hoisting her up and over. “It’s more inconspicuous.”
“It’s nearly dusk.”
“We’re wearing gray cloaks. You covered your hair. We blend in!”
Lia checked the scarf tied around her head to be sure it was secure. “Sometimes I wonder if half the luck we had with these disguises is because I was too charitable a writer.”
“Don’t make me question my abilities with some existential nonsense,” he said, picking the lock on the balcony doors. “We’ve moved past that.”
“Just be grateful your scars haven’t ripped open.”
“With your leg, I could say the same about you.”
Lia didn’t want to be reminded how much it sucked hiking with an injured leg, healing tonic or not. At least the limp was gone.
The gilded glass doors clicked before Kayce eased them open.
Gauzy white curtains fluttered as the pair slipped inside.
The royal chambers were outfitted in Norenthian colors.
Lion sigil emblazoned in copper and gold, banners of navy blue hung over silk-lined walls.
The bed dwarfed a platform, sky-blue sheets folded neatly across its expanse.
Armchairs faced a fireplace, flames flickering to chase the damp of the mist.
Lioness Silva’s voice filtered through the open doors that led to their sitting room. “Honestly, Magnar. If Luddeck continues to air his grievances about tariffs on fishing, we are going to have some serious issues on our hands.”
Kayce and Lia clung to the bedroom perimeter as they drew closer.
The Lion sighed. “Not much can be done. More ships are drawing fewer fish.”
“Why?”
“I know not. Our scholars and builders are working out the kinks of these underwater ships.”
“Well, they need to move faster. For the past couple of years, catches have been steadily declining. We cannot avoid raising the prices any longer. The people will know. Start worrying.”
“They already are, Silva.”
Lia stopped short of the door. The fish were disappearing?
Kayce shot her a questioning look, to which she could only shrug her shoulders.
Norenth had grown beyond her. Many spheres did at a certain point, according to the Order and her conversations with Fee.
But a pit grew in Lia’s stomach. This had been going on for years, and they didn’t know?
In all their adventures and crosshairs with Captain Luddeck, they didn’t once stumble upon this?
It unnerved her. And the timing lined up with the increased activity in the rifts. With the owl she had seen.
But a phrase nagged at Lia’s attention more. Underwater ships.
She had mentioned submarines to Kayce at the mall and he’d been impressed by the idea, thinking it all to be a dream of another world. Lia had thought so as well. The only other person she’d mused with about exploring Norenth’s seas was…
Her papa.
He must have given the Lions this idea. Meaning he’d also known about the fishing issue. Why hadn’t he told her, in all their writing conversations?
Lia was so wrapped up in her head that she didn’t notice silence fell in the sitting room. When she did, all she had time for was an exchange of panicked glances with Kayce before a feminine sigh of exasperation sounded. “Come out, you two.”
Should we hide? Kayce mouthed.
Rolling her eyes, Lia grabbed his arm and stepped into the sitting room.
Lion Magnar sat before the second fireplace, his brocade tunic silver over blue.
The top two buttons were undone, the scarf untucked.
The Lioness held herself at the elbows, her gown liquid mercury and pristine.
Even her circlet was in place, albeit a simpler one than she’d worn at the inaugural ball.
When Lia and Kayce inched before them, both dipped their heads in respect. Despite the total lack of such in their entry and eavesdropping.
“Kacerion, do not slouch, if you please,” the Lioness said. “And Aurelia, take that rag off your head or you will ruin those lovely curls.”
Both instantly did as they were told. From the queen’s tone, now wasn’t the time to argue, nor get indignant that they were both closer to eighteen than eight.
“Who is bleeding?” Magnar asked, rubbing his brow.
“No one,” the teens muttered in unison. Their recent wounds were intact.
“Is anyone dying?” Silva prompted.
“Technically…” Kayce started, but Lia glared at him. While she hadn’t exactly envisioned how she’d wanted this conversation to go, “technically” was certainly not it.
The Lion and Lioness exchanged a glance. The latter dropped her shoulders a fraction before lowering herself to the settee across from her husband.
“We were wondering when you would pluck up the nerve to approach us,” the king said with a tired smile. “Julian said it may take some time, given the circumstances with Aurelia’s mother.”
“You didn’t exactly make it easy,” Lia said with a frown, forgetting for a moment to whom she spoke. “And your lack of surprise isn’t comforting.”
“We have a kingdom to run,” Silva said. “And Julian gave us explicit instructions that you were to approach us.”
“Why?”
“Because then you would be ready. And you must be, for what is coming.”
Lia’s chest tightened, but she fought against the urge to fidget. Instead, she took off her cloak, already overheating with her coat on underneath. She would not bend to her fears and uncertainties, not when she was so close to finding out the truth.
“What happened to my grandfather?” Lia asked the royals. “What information did he find that got him killed?”
The Lioness studied her before looking at her youngest son.
As though coming to some shared conclusion, the king and queen nodded at one another.
Then she said, “We know Julian was a Flameheart. We know how Norenth came to be, how our world stands as a sphere in the Emperium.” A small smile graced her red-painted lips.
“For that, we will always be grateful to you, Aurelia. You and Julian both.”
A blush crept up Lia’s neck. Never had she been thanked for this, and she wasn’t sure what to do with the pride that filled her.
“But we are also aware of dangers outside our world,” Magnar said. “That dark forces gather to break down the borders between us and others. Our world and yours. And those far more sinister.”
“The Devourer,” Kayce clarified, stepping closer to Lia. “And the ones who seek him.”
His mother nodded. “Precisely. Julian came across various beings in his mapping of the Emperium. Several were injured and in desperate need of intervention due to the deterioration of their home spheres. It is through them that he discovered a Flameheart was working against the Order, helping Seekers in their quest for power.”
There it was again, the aiding of injured creations. How did he get them off-world? What sphere was capable of acting like some infirmary? The questions bounced in Lia’s mind, but there was one far more pressing than the rest.
“Who is it?” Lia asked. She couldn’t hold it back anymore. “The traitor killed my papa for what he knew.”
“All he told us was that it was someone in his chapter.”
Kayce glowered, the leather glove groaning as he fisted his hand. “Leo.”
Lia spun, her thick braid flinging over her shoulder with the force of it. “What makes you so certain?”
“Think about it,” he said, warm amber eyes cold.
“He was there when we first found Julian’s study—very inquisitive on how you pulled me through to Earth.
He was there at the mall when the dragon appeared.
Not to mention, he has your mother’s confidence.
He knew she would be poking around Julian’s death.
A wise person would stay a step ahead. What better way than to befriend the investigator and embed himself in the search? ”
She shook her head. Leo had been so kind, helpful even, as she adjusted into her new life.
He’d always answered her questions and was honest when he couldn’t.
But she couldn’t deny that Kayce’s speculations made a lot of sense.
Maybe she had been blinded by the similarities to the one she missed most. “But he advocated for you to stay with me. He wanted us to work together to fix the barriers.”
“And has he actually told us, or anyone for that matter, how to do it?” Kayce retorted. “Because all there has been is talk and no action.”
“Of course you would say that! Need I remind you I’ve been in basic Flameheart training?” Her mind raced faster than her pounding heart. “Mirel was also there that day the gremlin attacked me. She’s close to my mom. And let’s not forget how charming Mikayla is—”
“Enough!” the Lion boomed, his voice causing both teens to lower their heads.
He studied them, nostrils flaring. “This is exactly why Julian kept the knowledge to himself. Accusation is deadly when misfired. It is a weapon that must be handled with care, used only at the right time and place with proper support. You of all people, Kayce, should know this.” A muscle feathered in his jaw, an exact mirror to the one in Kayce’s.
Silence fell, the fire crackling softly to fill it.
Lia didn’t want it to be Leo. He believed in her, thought she was one to trust. But then, there was the truth about how long these barriers had been thinning and new ones appearing. Fifty years, at least. Leo had to have known that, old as he was. And he’d kept it from her.
Doubt wormed through Lia’s mind. “Did Papa mention anything about a Book of Beginnings? The Initiis?” Lia asked. “Something powerful enough to fix rifts and mend what binds the worlds?”
Magnar nodded. “He did. And he said you have everything you need to find it.”
No way had Lia heard him right. “I’m sorry—find it? The Seekers already have one piece, at least. It’s how they’re getting creations through, causing the tears in other spheres—”
“You have,” Magnar interrupted, enunciating each word carefully as he leveled his gaze at Lia, “everything you need to find it.”
Lia focused. Her papa chose his words carefully. If she had everything she needed…
“Aurelia,” Kayce broke through her thoughts, gripping her shoulder. “The Initiis was broken into three. That means he found at least one of them.”
Understanding dawned, Lia’s jaw slackening. “This research isn’t just on the Seekers’ piece—”
“—but on one Julian found,” Kayce finished, “and left for you.”
A tool so powerful, one would kill for it.
The Lioness observed Lia, her features softening. “Aurelia—”
“I’m sorry,” Lia interrupted breathlessly, “you all need to know—”
Bells clanged in the distance as the doors were shoved open with a bang, ricocheting off the walls as Kristof rushed in, eyes like a darkening sky. “We’re under attack.”