Chapter Forty-Seven
He didn’t speak.
My muscles tensed and my chest hurt. Like my heart would explode.
“Dolion, please,” I said, the blood draining from my face and pooling in my gut. “This is my brother, Haemon. He’s sick. I need to save him.”
He still didn’t speak, just kept his sword trained on me.
“Please, let us leave,” I begged. I would have gotten on my knees if I’d thought that would sway him. I was so desperate to get Haemon to safety.
The screams started to the south of us. Ahyana must have released her wasps.
The three of us stood there, staring at one another. I tried to control the way my limbs were shaking.
Because even if I fought Dolion and won, at any time all he had to do was call for the guards and Haemon and I would be done for.
He slowly lowered his sword.
And then he said, “I would have been so good to you.”
Was that a warning? Or was he going to let us go?
Dolion walked toward the screams, as if he intended to help with the wasp situation. I led Haemon away from it, going as quickly as we could. My lungs felt frozen—at every step I expected to hear someone call after us or order us to come back.
When we reached the trees and could no longer be seen by the guards, my trembling actually got worse as my adrenaline flooded out of me.
My adelphia was there, ready to help.
“That’s not Xander,” Io said, already reaching into her pouch for vials.
“Xander escaped. This is my brother, Haemon.”
Ahyana put a blanket around his shoulders. “I thought your brother was dead!”
Haemon said with a smile, “So did Lia.”
“We need to move,” I said. “They’re going to come looking for the escapees. And we have to find Xander, who is probably lying in a ditch somewhere, dying of poison. Instead of staying put and waiting for me to come save him.”
Io poured some potions down Haemon’s throat. “To be fair, Xander probably didn’t expect you to rescue him.”
After he’d told me he loved me? How could he not have expected it? I let out a deep sigh. I knew that I was covering up my concern and worry with annoyance.
Zalira turned her aspect off and Ahyana had to help her stand. She’d held that storm for a long time.
And . . . it was still going.
“How are you doing that?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, sounding out of breath. “It’s like I made it rain so much that it decided on its own to keep storming.”
“You can do magic?” My brother sounded bewildered.
I helped him walk toward the horses. “We all can. I’ll explain on the way.”
“How is Doria?” he asked.
That should have been the first thing I’d told him, and I felt bad that I hadn’t. “She lives with us at the palace. She never gave up on you. She’s been insisting this whole time that you were alive and she was right. She misses you so much.”
He nodded weakly and I helped him up onto my horse. We would have to share because I didn’t trust him not to fall off if I had him ride alone. I grabbed some food from my pack and gave it to him. “Eat.”
Io used a rock to climb up on her horse. “How do we find Xander?”
Based on the scroll, I knew we had a large body of water north of us, mountains to the south, and the Carians to the east. Would he head directly west, back to Troas?
Would he go in a straight line and try to put as much distance between him and the army as he could?
Or would he attempt to disguise his tracks?
Or what if he went north to Cyzicus? He could have chartered a ship and traveled back to Troas that way.
Whatever it was, I had to decide immediately. I knew that the Carians would decamp and come this way. We had to reach him before they did.
Because while the army itself would be slow moving, they could send out hunting parties to search for him.
“Let’s go west and see what happens,” I said. I chose that because it was what I would have done.
Suri took Luna for me, although she didn’t look pleased about it. Part of me wanted to laugh. If she hoped to have a life with Io, she was going to have to get used to small animals.
“What is that?” Haemon asked.
“Luna. She’s an aether dragon.”
“A what?”
“There is so much you don’t know.” I told him how our family was doing, that Quynh had fallen in love and was pregnant, and how Xander had broken Kallisto’s betrothal.
It suddenly occurred to me that Haemon being alive changed everything. “You’re going to be king of Locris,” I said.
“If Artemisia has her way, I won’t be king of anything.” He took another bite of pasteli. “What have you been doing?”
I did my best to recount everything I had been through. I left out most of the details about my relationship with Xander. I didn’t think my older brother would understand.
When I finished he was quiet for more than a minute. And then he said, “You’re telling me that you’re this savior?”
“She is,” Io said.
“I just got you back. I don’t want you to die,” Haemon said, and I had to gulp back the burning lump in my throat.
Because I couldn’t promise him that it wouldn’t happen. The oracle had just told me it would.
And that there was nothing I could do to stop it.
The moment that Xander’s light returned to me nearly knocked me off my horse. I put a hand over my chest, so intensely grateful to know that he was still alive.
“This way,” I said, taking over the lead. “I feel him!”
My adelphia followed me for hours. Xander’s light grew stronger and stronger. We were getting close.
I couldn’t help myself. I urged my horse to go faster. I needed to reach him. Zalira called out after me, but they all followed.
The light took me down a dusty, unpaved trail that led straight to . . .
An inn.
Xander was inside.
With murderers, thieves, and cutthroats.
There was no way he would be there voluntarily. Someone must have captured him.
I let out a groan as I dismounted. Haemon moved to do the same and I stopped him. “Will you stay here with the horses?”
“There’s no possibility that I will let you go in there without me,” he said. He was doing better, thanks to the food and Io’s concoctions, but he wasn’t healed yet. There was no way he could fight. I would have been surprised if he’d been able to stand.
“If I have to worry about you, it will be harder for me to fight. I promise that I can take care of myself. And I will be out here in ten minutes or less with my husband. If I’m not, you can come in after me.”
I handed him my xiphos, and this seemed to mollify him. He nodded curtly. I knew that Haemon was used to protecting me, but I didn’t need him to do that anymore.
My sisters arrived and dismounted, bringing the reins of their horses over to Haemon.
I took out the goddess’s golden sword and went first.
When I walked into the main room, there was a fire roaring in the fireplace against the far wall with wooden chairs and tables scattered about. A tired, older woman stood behind a bar getting her patrons what I presumed was beer, based on the smell.
There must have been two dozen men in this room who had been talking, laughing, and playing games before we came in.
And every single one of them pulled out their weapons and stood when they saw us.
“Who’s in charge here?” I asked.
“That would be me.” The man speaking had been standing near the fireplace and flirting with a hetaera. He left her to walk toward us. “I am Autolycus, king of thieves. Welcome to my home.”
He was tall and had dark hair, dark eyes, golden-brown skin. His tunic was a bright red. He had several earrings in both of his ears, and every one of his fingers sported a ring.
“Usually we have to seek out beautiful women. They don’t tend to wander willingly into our web.”
The men laughed in a menacing way, and the sound sent chills of disgust racing along my skin.
“I hate spiders,” I said.
He tsked. “That’s a shame.”
“Do you like your head?” I asked him.
My question surprised him, and he seemed delighted by the novelty of it. If he was the king of thieves, I was sure people didn’t typically speak like this to him. “Very much. Why?”
“Because if you wish for it to remain attached to your neck, you will return to me what’s mine.”
“And what is it you think that I have stolen that is yours?” Autolycus asked, and the men laughed again.
“My husband. The king of Ilion.”
“My apologies, my queen. I am the only king in this inn.”
I lifted the sword. “Dea Nikos.”
The sword ignited and every person in the inn took a step back.
Autolycus’s entire demeanor changed. “Oh, you mean King Alexandros. He’s right this way. Just follow me.”
I kept the sword lit as my adelphia and I followed him. He took us up the stairs and led us to a room at the end of the hallway.
“He’s in there,” he said.
“If you or any of your men try anything, I will happily slaughter every person in this inn. Do you understand?” I asked him.
Autolycus nodded, looking a bit concerned while still retaining his debonair attitude. “Of course, my queen. No need to get all fired up.”
“You should kill him just for that terrible joke,” Ahyana said as the king of thieves left.
I opened the door, and there on the bed . . .
Xander.
My heart fluttered at the sight of him. I rushed over, with Io right behind me.
He cracked his eyelids open. “I don’t know how I feel about you having a flaming sword of death.”
I had forgotten. I turned it off. “It’s going to make it much harder for you to beat me in a fight.”
He smiled. “I still know how to disarm you.”
Only my husband would be on his deathbed and saying flirtatious things to me.
That I secretly loved.
Io interrupted, directing him to open his mouth. She gave him at least six different potions.
After he finished drinking them, he turned his head toward me. “Your first act as queen was to launch a rescue attempt?”
I both wanted to throttle him for worrying me and hug him because I had missed him so desperately. “It would have worked if you had stayed put. You’re the only person I know who would free himself while a rescue was underway.”
That made his smile even bigger.
“Is the antidote working?” I asked. “Because if you die, I’m going to kill you.”
“It’s working,” he said. “I’m feeling better already. How did you know I was poisoned?”
“My night walking. I saw you and Artemisia. And her former general.” I moved closer to him so that only he would hear me. “I stayed with you all night. I couldn’t bear to leave you.”
“Wife, are you saying you were worried about me?” he teased, and I was again struck with the urge to punch him.
“Look at you. How could I not be worried?”
“I haven’t seen a mirror recently, but I’m sure I look terrible.”
“This is not the time for vanity. Oh no, the poor handsome man is not as handsome as he normally is. Whatever will you do?”
“You think I’m handsome?” he said flirtatiously, and sparks of heat pulsed through me.
What was wrong with me? He had nearly died, and all I wanted was to throw myself on top of him.
“Can you walk?” I asked.
“I can.” He got up slowly.
When he stood, I hugged him. I couldn’t help myself. He was so real and solid.
He kissed the top of my scalp. “I will be fine.”
“You promised you wouldn’t leave me.”
“I wasn’t given much choice in the matter.” He sounded weary, but I also heard the laughter in his voice.
What would I have done if he had died before I reached him with an antidote? “I almost lost you.”
“I never would have let that happen. I was about to rally and defeat the thieves.”
That made me smile. “I know you were.”
He put a finger under my chin to lift my face up to his. “Liar.”
“You started it.”
He leaned down to kiss me, and the sense of completion, of rightness, that I felt with his lips fused to mine . . . it overwhelmed me.
Zalira cleared her throat and I stepped away from him.
I had completely forgotten that there were other people in the room.
“We should probably go, what with all the criminals waiting downstairs,” Ahyana said, her eyes dancing. She was going to tease me later.
And I would let her.
I might even enjoy it.
He held my hand as we left. Out of the room, down the hallway, taking the stairs, until we were in the main room with the thieves.
“Thank you for keeping him safe,” I said. I could afford to be benevolent now that I had him back.
Autolycus bowed. “It was our pleasure. Thank you for allowing me to keep my head.”
“You’re welcome,” I said.
“My queen, if you ever have need of me, please let me know.”
“If I ever thought I needed you for anything, I would hit my head against the wall until that feeling went away,” I said as sweetly as I could.
Autolycus laughed, as did his men.
Then I felt bad. He had kept Xander safe in his own way, so I added on, “There is a Carian army that will be marching through here soon. You might want to clear out.”
“You do realize that they were planning to ransom me to the council in Troas,” Xander said as we made our way through the great room. “You don’t have to be nice to him.”
“I know. I wanted to practice being magnanimous.”
He chuckled as we walked outside, and I saw that Haemon was about to dismount.
Xander took my sword and pointed it at my brother.
“Stop,” I said, pushing his arm down. “That’s Haemon. The Carians had him. I found him when I went looking for you.”
“Your dead brother?”
“Not dead,” Haemon said cheerfully. “Thanks to your sister, I might even fully recover.”
“Yes, Haemon can take a normal amount of medicine and heal. Unlike some people,” Io said pointedly.
I made the introductions, and my brother jokingly said, “It seems fairly pathetic to me that you got taken down by a bunch of thieves. Aren’t you supposed to be goddess-blessed?”
Xander grinned. “And how long did the Carians keep you captive for?”
My heart twinged as I watched two of the men I loved most in the whole world make each other laugh.
It felt so unfair that I had just gotten all this and it was going to be taken away.