Chapter 40
Iyana
Anger ran through Iyana’s veins like wildfire. She found herself pacing, again, in the room she shared with Altair while the star sat in a chair watching her. Again.
Setting something on fire would be a fantastic way to relieve some stress, but Altair had already shot down the idea three times. Something about everything in the library being flammable, don’t want to be responsible for the destruction of an ancient wonder of the world… Iyana needed to get some of the tension out. Punching Emmeric seemed like a good idea. She stopped her pacing to think on that option more.
“No, astalle,” Altair said, chuckling. “Punching him is not going to solve your problem.”
She glared at him. “Get out of my head.”
Altair held up his hands. “Again, I’m not in your head. You’re just projecting your thoughts extremely loudly.”
“As Aztia, can I force him to come with me?” Iyana sat on the edge of the bed, facing Altair. She hated the idea of Emmeric staying behind. Not only did their bond balk at the prospect but, as loathe as she was to admit it, she was stronger when he was around. But she also hated the idea of being forced to be close to him. The journey to the Dead Lands was a long one, including several days on a ship, and she didn’t know if she could bear the proximity. Was it because she was angry with him or because she was worried he meant more to her than she wanted him to?
Nope.
Iyana knew she shouldn’t walk down that road. She had to remind herself the bond was the only reason she felt any type of connection with Emmeric outside of friendship. Besides, she had Altair. He’d told her he loved her, and she returned the sentiment.
“I don’t think you should try to force him, love,” Altair said, snapping her out of her spiraling thoughts. His golden eyes were warm and gentle, and she wanted to fall into them.
“You don’t think he should come?”
Altair frowned. “As much as I dislike him, I would feel better if you had your Kanaliza nearby because you’d be safer. That being said, he could be a liability if he doesn’t want to be there, and we do need information on the astmina. Plus, you’ll have me, a powerful shifter, and two highly trained swordsmen at your side.”
Iyana sighed, sitting in a chair and looking away from Altair. “I hate fighting with him. It always gives me an ache in my chest. And I know we need to get along. I still need to practice, and he should really practice fighting while I’m pulling from him. It’s just this fucking bond—it won’t let me be.”
“Iyana…” Altair stood from the chair and knelt between her legs, taking her face in his hands. He used her real name too, so whatever he was going to say must be serious. Iyana braced herself. “He’s in love with you.”
She drew herself out of his grip, an incredulous laugh bursting from her. “What? No. Attracted to me, maybe, but in love with me?”
“Astalle, he said ‘I want you’ during your argument today. Or did you not hear that?”
Iyana shook her head. She didn’t remember that exact line in their conversation; she’d been fixated more on the fact that Emmeric didn’t trust Altair. “No…” she whispered.
Altair raised an eyebrow. “Ask anyone, my star. They’ll tell you the same.”
“I’m sure you’re all mistaken.” She waved her hand in dismissal. “Besides, does it matter if he does? Other than making working with him more awkward?”
The star’s eyes flashed. “Depends. Hypothetically, if he loved you, would you return those feelings?”
“No,” Iyana said without pause. But something inside her whispered, maybe. She shoved it down. “I love you, Altair.”
“I love you too, astalle. Never forget it.” He placed a gentle kiss on her lips before pulling her to the bed and curling around her body. They needed to get some rest and take advantage of the warmth of indoors before leaving. Gods only knew when they would next sleep in an actual bed.
Iyana had worried that Kaz or Talon would choose to stay behind with Emmeric, even though Altair was convinced the shifter was coming with them. But the next morning she found both of them and Zane packing their belongings and readying their horses. Kaz was going to ride with Talon, so Emmeric had his horse at the library in case he needed to leave for any reason.
Without speaking directly to Emmeric, Iyana and the group planned to converge at the small winter town, meeting up with Geoff and Gordon after two weeks had elapsed. If there was an emergency at the library, Emmeric was to ride hard for the Dead Lands, leave a message at the dock, and then head into Istora. If the rest ran into trouble, they would return to the library.
Once they were ready to depart, Iyana climbed atop Pryn in front of Altair. Emmeric approached them.
“Please be careful, Mouse,” he said softly.
Iyana wouldn’t even spare a glance at him. Altair kicked the flanks of the horse, spurring him into movement. She didn’t look back.
Emmeric
He tried to let Iyana’s dismissal roll off his back. But after their first fight, their second fight, and her complete, unfaltering trust in Altair, and then for her to not even acknowledge him when she left? It stung. Not to mention he’d now opened his heart and spilled his emotions at her feet twice, only to be rejected.
Twice.
His best friend and his…whatever Kaz was to him had elected to go to with Iyana. A woman they had only met a few weeks back. Granted, he and Iyana had known Kaz the same amount of time, and he understood her reasons for wanting to continue her adventure. Talon, though? That one hurt.
Emmeric trudged back through the snow to the gigantic library doors after watching his friends (and Altair) until they were out of sight. Tal and Kaz had turned to wave, but he kept his gaze on Iyana, willing her to look back; one glance to tell him he meant something to her. But she never did. He glanced up at the larger-than-life statues of Imera and Elena, a sensation of goosebumps skittering over his body. Making sure nobody was lurking behind him, he reentered the warm library foyer and closed the door behind him.
Hours later, he was dozing on a sofa with a book face-down on his chest. He knew he had promised to find information on the astmina—and he meant to keep that promise—but Emmeric was never one for academic pursuits, and the studying always put him to sleep. He rubbed a tickle on his nose, then settled back into the soft cushions. Less than a minute later, the tickle came again, and he waved his hand, thinking it was a fly. Then something hard rapped against his forehead.
“What the fuck?” he yelled, bolting upright on the couch, the book tumbling to the floor. The owl that had been harassing him flapped its wings in annoyance but didn’t move from its perch. Emmeric raised his brows at the bold animal. Flicking his hands at it in a shooing motion did nothing. In fact, the owl hopped closer. That was faintly disconcerting, and Emmeric shifted away from the bird. Maybe it was sick. Oh gods, could humans catch an illness from a bird? He really didn’t want to find out. Moving to his room and closing the doors was the safest course of action, so Emmeric stood to do just that, but the owl hopped closer still. He walked backwards keeping the owl in his sights, and it continued to follow him—fluttering from couch to chair to table. Emmeric stopped moving and so did the bird, cocking its head and staring at him with large yellow eyes which appeared more intelligent than they should be. It really was a beautiful animal, with a speckled brown and white body, tufts of feathers extending from its ears, and a vicious-looking beak.
“Hello?” Emmeric said hesitantly, feeling foolish. The owl clacked its beak, turning its head until it was almost completely upside down without moving its body at all. It flew up to the seventh floor, perched on the railing for a moment, then returned to its place in front of Emmeric. He frowned, it seemed like…
“Are you trying to tell me something?”
It clacked its beak again.
“Can you understand me?” Emmeric swore the owl rolled its eyes. “Okay, let’s try this. Snap your beak once for yes, twice for no.” It only blinked at him with its third eyelid; the semi-transparent one that still allowed him to see the yellow coloring.
“Are you trying to tell me something?” Clack. “Do you want me to find something that would be helpful for me?” Clack. “You know what my friends and I are searching for, correct?” Clack. Gods, he hoped he wasn’t going crazy and talking to a normal bird. “Does it involve the astmina?” Clack clack. Emmeric perked up. “Okay, no, then. Does it involve the Aztia andKanaliza?” The owl turned its head to the side and clacked once. “Is that supposed to mean sort of?” Clack. “Does it involve the gods?” Clack clack. “The stars?”
Clack.
The stars.
This might be his chance to learn why Altair was always so cagey with his own history, and the ‘conflict’ the original Aztia and Kanaliza had faced. Hopefully, for Iyana’s sake, it showed the stars were trustworthy beings who decided to go into the sky on their own, same as the gods chose to sleep. A small part of him hoped he found something to convince Iyana that Altair wasn’t who she thought he was. Gods, that made him feel guilty. Emmeric rubbed at his chest, the bond already stretching as Iyana moved further away. He wondered if, at a certain distance, the bond would forcefully draw them to each other despite their opinions on the matter.
Meanwhile, the owl had flown back up to the seventh floor and hooted at Emmeric. To him, it sounded like hurry your ass up. He ran up those seven flights of stairs, taking the steps two at a time. As soon as he caught up, the owl began to glide on silent wings through the stacks of books. The group hadn’t made it up to this floor before everyone left. For a group of people supposedly dedicated to the Goddess of Knowledge, they’d had an abhorrent organizational system. The owl eventually landed on top of a bookcase. It was nothing special, nothing to make it stand out from the rest of the library. The bird clacked its beak three times, which Emmeric took to mean he was supposed to search the third shelf. Starting at his left, he ran his finger over the books until the owl hooted. The large tome under his finger read The Great Conflict on the spine.
Emmeric’s heart raced, and a tingle went down his spine. This book would change things. He could feel it.
Unlike before, this book captured Emmeric’s full attention, and he didn’t so much as yawn while he read. He allowed himself bathroom and food breaks, but the book was lengthy and most of it was long-winded and irrelevant. Still, he persevered, reading through the night despite the increasing ache of the bond. As his candle melted down to a stub and the early morning sun shone through the glass ceiling, Emmeric sat up straighter.
His eyes sped over the pages. He reread it to make sure he was understanding the words correctly.
“Oh, fuck,” he whispered. Iyana. He needed to find Iyana. Grabbing the book, he flew down the stairs, snatched up his cloak, and ran out the doors.
Iyana
Iyana tried to ignore the stretching ache in her chest.
As they rode through the snow and winds towards the Dead Lands, Talon and Kaz kept up most of the conversation, talking and laughing with each other, but Iyana knew they were wearing joviality as a mask to hide their pain at leaving Emmeric behind. Zane would partake in the conversations by occasionally speaking up, but he mostly remained silent, sneaking glances at Talon. Iyana smiled to herself. While she hated to admit it, the crown prince was growing on her. Especially seeing him so vulnerable around Tal. She was pleasantly surprised that the reputation she’d always heard of the womanizing, aloof prince was false. Instead, it seemed like an act he put on in order to spend his time pursuing his own interests without his terror of a father breathing down his neck. Iyana couldn’t fault him for that.
Iyana and Altair rode quietly, only speaking if a question was directly addressed to them. It was late into the afternoon when Altair finally murmured in her ear, “Do you want to talk about it?”
She nodded meekly and Altair slowed the horse down so the others wouldn’t overhear. “It just…doesn’t feel right.”
“The bond?” he asked.
Iyana rubbed her chest. “The bond is telling me it’s unhappy, yes, but…” Altair ran a comforting hand down her arm, resting it on her hip and giving a light squeeze. She took a deep breath. “But he should be here, regardless of the bond. Regardless even of the arguments we’ve had. He’s as much a part of this little family as I am, and he shouldn’t be left alone.”
She twisted in the saddle to look Altair in the eye. “We need to turn around,” she said.
Altair’s brow raised. “There’s a storm coming in. We should stop and ride it out.”
Iyana shook her head. “No, we need to go now. If you and the others want to continue towards the Dead Lands, you can, and I’ll go back on my own.”
“There’s no way in the nine hells I’m letting you go back by yourself.”
“Then let’s go see what the others want to do.”
Altair groaned, scrubbing down his face with a hand. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re incredibly stubborn?”
Iyana beamed at him. “Only all the time.”
The star chuckled and nudged Pryn into a trot. Once they caught up, Kaz twisted around in front of Talon to address them. “So we’re headed back?” she asked. She must have seen Iyana’s shocked expression, because she grinned and pointed to her ears. “I’m a cat, remember? My hearing is better than yours.”
“I’m going to keep that in mind…” Iyana said, glancing back at Altair.
“Oh, don’t quiet down on my account,” Kaz said happily. “In fact, please raise the volume so I can hear even better.” Iyana only shook her head, laughing at the shifter.
“But, yes,” Iyana said, regaining her serious composure, “I want to head back. Altair said he’d come with me, but you three can continue on if you want and we’ll catch up.”
“Don’t be absurd,” Zane said. “Where you go, we all go.” Iyana smiled at the prince. He really was winning her over. Zane tipped his head back to study the sky, wavy black hair falling onto his shoulders. Iyana didn’t miss the way Talon stared at the prince’s neck. “We should get going now, though. There’s a storm coming in.”
The three horses did an about face, and they cantered back towards the library.
Emmeric
He was so preoccupied with readying Ciri, shoving the tome into the saddlebag hanging off his shoulder and going over all the information he’d just found, that Emmeric didn’t hear the boots crunching in the snow until they were right behind him.
They came back.He turned, his heart pounding in his chest at the prospect of Iyana returning to him.
But then a large hand holding a cloth covered his face. The cloying smell of ether filled his nose. Emmeric held his breath, attempting to fight off his attacker. But the ether worked rapidly and soon his movements were lagging—arms swinging in slow motion like he was trying to punch underwater. He dropped to his knees; the darkness consumed him.