Suncursed

1. Raithe

Raithe

It was a bitter irony to hold unmatched strength in a dungeon and yet be shackled by the absence of autonomy. I wasn’t the one in chains, but as a guardian, my ordered presence rivaled that of the prisoner before me.

I was one of the strongest beings in the queendom. Only Felaf—Scorpio’s other guardian—equaled my strength. Twenty-four of us guardians existed throughout Gaianos, two belonging to each of the twelve territories. Despite my power, my voice didn’t matter.

If it did, I wouldn’t be standing in this decrepit cell beneath Scorpio’s royal palace.

“He’s the one responsible for yesterday?” I nudged the unconscious man with my boot. From his shallow breathing and weak heartbeat, my heightened hearing told me he was still alive.

Alekko, commander of Scorpio’s Royal Guard, secured the wooden door behind him. “Won’t know for sure until we question him.”

I cast a wry glance over my shoulder. “If he’s an apostate, you know this is all pointless. Maryn knows it too,” I said, then muttered to myself, “Though I’m sure she’ll still relish his torture even if it yields nothing.”

“Never give up hope.” Alekko rubbed his hands together. “Today could be the day all that changes.”

Only those who committed horrendous crimes wound up here. And being an apostate was one of the realm’s most vile, treasonous acts.

The apostai likely called themselves something else, but that name had eluded us.

So, history labelled them for what they were: a dangerous group of rebels spread throughout Gaianos who dissented from the divine laws of our land.

Apostates despised the Astrals—the celestial deities who created our sky world—rather than revered them.

At least, that was what had been surmised from their actions over the years: attacks on temples and shrines, assassination attempts on Chosens and acolytes, and desecration of the flowers attributed to each Astral.

Nothing sacred was safe from the apostai.

There had always been people who disagreed with the Zodiac’s intertwined magical and political system, but the apostai became a network of their own—an organized syndicate.

And yet, no one had been able to solve the mystery of their rebellion: who led them, what their mission was, and most importantly, how they managed to remain tight-lipped when captured.

Every suspected apostate endured torture until death, never once breaking.

Catching them was almost as challenging.

Their only tell was the use of green fire.

While I didn’t receive the full report of yesterday’s attack, this prisoner must have been found near the mysterious powder before it dissolved into nothing.

No seer, acolyte or alchemist had been able to identify, let alone study the substance, since it dissipated into thin air after combusting.

I walked in a slow circle around the sprawled, naked man. “There must be something different about this one if Maryn’s requested my presence.”

A guardian’s purpose was to protect, not punish. Interrogations were considered beneath us. But I had a sneaking suspicion why our queen regent had ordered me here.

From the knowing look on his face, Alekko did too. “Or a more likely scenario, you disobeyed her and ventured into the city again.”

I shrugged, not deigning to deny it.

“Well, she’s certainly getting creative with her punishments,” Alekko said. His boots scuffed against the rotting hay until he stood beside me. “Must you provoke her so?”

“Must she shackle Felaf and I to the palace when off-duty?” I retorted. “We’re guardians, not children.”

“I don’t understand her either, but until we have a queen come to power again, her word is law.”

I understood her well enough.

Though she was only an elected queen regent and not a Chosen royal, Maryn’s authority eclipsed anyone else’s in the queendom. And until a queen broke the curse that plagued us, she would remain in power—despite having none herself.

Since the curse began twelve years ago, Maryn had grown quite comfortable as Scorpio’s reigning sovereign. Too comfortable. And none dared defy Maryn.

No one except me. I found myself subjected to her wrath all too frequently these days. It wasn’t without good reason, of course. I had little desire to inflict pain on others. I’d once assumed I would, since receiving it was all I knew as a child.

Instead, I craved it for myself.

I could defy Maryn’s orders again and refuse to partake in this torture session, sparking her anger further, but my curiosity won out. I hadn’t encountered an apostate directly in years. That I knew of, at least.

“What could you possibly be doing in Antares, anyway?” Alekko asked, folding his arms across his chest. “Certainly not helping the city guard.”

“Searching,” I answered cryptically.

“Surely whatever it is can be found within the walls of the palace. Or from our seer.”

I leveled my gaze with the commander’s. His eyes weren’t a vibrant gold like mine, branding me a Chosen of Scorpio.

His were brown and soft, a sharp contrast to his lethal stature.

He’d always been large and robust, appearing far more brutish than he truly was.

He also ran hot, opting for his summer uniform even in the dead of winter we now faced, mild as it was.

Guardians were less sensitive to the cold and heat, so our year-round uniforms consisted of sleeveless garments to expose our glyphed arms. Other territories—such as the fire kingdoms of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius—opted to dress their Chosens with less clothing to reveal the celestial markings that scarred a Chosen’s body.

Despite our sometimes-provocative nature, Scorpions were thankfully more modest than that. In public, at least.

“A text with answers on how to break Scorpio’s curse,” I said finally before looking back at the prisoner. This was the most Alekko and I had spoken in a long time, despite both of us residing in the palace.

“That’s what Gregorios is for. And the acolytes and alchemists from the Academies. You’re a guardian, not a bookkeeper.”

“Since you’re so hopeful today, does that mean you’ve gleaned anything useful?

” I prompted skeptically, averting the conversation away from myself.

Not that I offered much to talk about anyway.

There was no need for pleasantries or whatever pointless chatter passed for small talk.

Too blunt for some and too withdrawn for most, I preferred to keep to myself whenever possible. It was easier that way.

Safer.

Alekko conceded with a sigh. “Gregorios tasted his blood.”

“And?”

“And nothing.”

“So like all the others, he’s somehow immune to Blood Sight.” I cocked my head at him. “Remind me again why you’re so hopeful?”

“Because the moment we lose hope is the moment they truly win.”

I crouched down, noting the bruises and lacerations marring the prisoner’s skin. “What were the total casualties?”

“Six men, three women, and two children, with many more wounded. The city guard spotted him fleeing moments before the explosion.”

“Looks like you’ve done enough damage already,” I noted. “Even if he is different, we won’t get much out of him thanks to your handiwork.”

“This fucker blew up innocent people at a shrine who were giving their daily credence to Scorpio,” Alekko growled. “We have to get something.”

I craned my neck to look back at him. “Maryn has guards stationed outside of all temples and shrines across Antares. How did he slip past?”

“In the Baron’s District, yes. Our resources are stretched thin as it is. We don’t have enough guards to keep up with every place of worship and protect against every attack in the royal city, let alone the queendom.”

Gaianos was made of millions of floating lands inhabited by our people for the last 16,000 years. No one truly understood how the skylands remained afloat, or stayed stationary, only that it was the work of the Astrals.

Suspended at varying altitudes, some skylands stretched for several miles, whereas others were only as wide as a tree trunk.

Every territory consisted of them. Many people feared our queendom’s curse would weaken the Zodiac’s magic that kept the skylands floating above the Barrier—the lowest blanket of clouds spanning across the planet—or that the curse existed because of a weakened Zodiac.

A falling skyland had never occurred in our history before.

Still, it made the Scorpion people uneasy about the future of our queendom.

Especially as the apostai’s presence ramped up lately.

According to recent reports, Scorpio had more apostai attacks than any other territory. I wanted—needed—to know why.

“We were lucky Vesperah was doing a patrol nearby when it happened,” Alekko added.

“Ahhh.”

“What do you mean, ahhh?” Alekko rebuked. “There’s nothing to ahhh about.”

“It explains why you’ve beaten this guy to a pulp.”

Vesperah was the captain of the City Guard—second in command to Alekko, and also his lover. I should have known she’d been involved, given how riled Alekko seemed. “And you’re certain no one paid her guards to vacate the premises?”

“Vesperah trusts her team, and I trust Vesperah. Not everyone is a sociopathic leech, Raithe.”

“Solipsistic,” I corrected. “And you’re right. The rest are just leeches.”

“You don’t actually think that. If you did, you wouldn’t be risking the queen regent’s fury.”

“Your point?”

“My point is that the Scorpion people are suffering. Our skylands are drying up. Our resources are depleting. The other territories want nothing to do with us. You wouldn’t be seeking a cure if you thought the queendom was filled with leeches.

” Alekko paused, offering a half-smile. “You also wouldn’t have stuck up for me on the Martial Isles all those years if you thought I was one. ”