Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
Iwait nervously in a parlor in the palace, alternating between standing and sitting on one of the oversized armchairs and standing again to pace.
I don’t know if this is a good idea, but I know this is the only chance I have, so I must take it.
If the roles were reversed, I would be going out of my mind with worry.
“Another visit so soon,” King Ryker says as he enters the room, smiling warmly.
The early morning sun filtering through the oversized windows brings out light streaks of red in his dark hair.
“The Makers must be smiling upon me.” I curtsy low and return his smile when I rise.
“To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?”
I take a deep breath and shift my shoulders back. “You said that you owed me a debt. I’ve come to collect.” His brows rise.
“So soon?” he asks, clearly amused.
“Yes.” I nod, but add quickly, “If that’s alright, of course.”
“What can I do for you, my dear?”
I take a deep breath and hold out the envelope. I found a stationary set in the bottom of Tesni’s trunk and though I refused to use the Lyannian seal, throwing that out into the snow behind my tent, I was grateful for not having to ask anyone for writing supplies.
King Ryker eyes the envelope, clearly confused, but waits patiently for me to explain.
“I need this letter to find its way to Helios, but…” I lick my dry lips and try to swallow past the desert that’s taken up residence in my throat.
“But I can’t explain why. I can promise that it’s nothing having to do with Lyanna or the war or anything about my location or ransom.
It’s…I just need someone to know that I’m alright, that’s all.
I wish I could explain more, but I can’t, not now.
Maybe one day. I’d like that, actually, to explain everything to you.
If you’d like of course. You’re a king and have far more important matters to worry about than me and my confusing, somewhat pathetic story, annnnd I’m rambling, I’m sorry.
” I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment and breathe.
When I open them again, I find Ryker studying me, but he doesn’t look suspicious or angry, merely interested and amused.
“Please, it’s important. Not to Hypathia or the war or the Alliance, but to me.”
King Ryker reaches out and takes the letter, patting my hand gently as he does.
“Then it is important to me as well.” I exhale in relief, the knot of tension in my stomach unfurling like the petals of a flower opening for the sun. “I will make sure that it finds its home and will do so with the utmost discretion.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
He eyes me for another moment. “Is this truly what you would ask for my debt? To send a letter?”
“Yes,” I say, brow furrowing. “Why?”
“You could ask for nearly anything. I am one of the most powerful royals in all of Hypathia, after all. You could have asked for riches beyond imagining or your freedom from Dorian.” I start at that, the thought never having crossed my mind.
“But you asked for a letter to be sent, not for any personal gain, but merely to put someone else’s mind at ease. ”
“I…I suppose that’s right,” I say, my cheeks heating. I don’t want to examine too closely why I didn’t think to ask him to save me from Dorian…by taking me away from Killian.
“Hmm,” is all the old man says, amusement and calculation sparking in his golden eyes. “You know,” he says very quietly, very carefully, “I heard a secret many years ago.”
“A secret?” I ask, brow furrowing.
“That Barony didn’t just have one Gifted, but a set. Twins.”
I snap my eyes to his, my entire body going cold in a way that has nothing to do with my Gift. He knows. Oh, great fucking Makers, he knows. I try to tell myself to calm. He only knows that there were twins, not that I’m not Tesni. Breathe, Thea. Breathe.
-Thea…-
-I’m alright- I assure Soren. I don’t need the frost cat ripping through Ryker’s guards or scaling the palace to reach me for no reason. -I’m fine-
My Gift rises, readying to fight my way out if needed, but I find it blocked. Killian must be near the palace.
“It was a secret that King Morthan knew—but after his untimely death nearly fifteen years ago, I believe I may be the only other holder of such knowledge.” Fifteen years ago.
When I escaped. My mind races: did Barony have Morthan killed after I fled?
It would make sense, I realize, pieces falling into place.
Barony wouldn’t risk the knowledge of a second Gifted escaping his grasp leaking throughout Hypathia.
He would look weak and that is something Barony would not tolerate.
So that’s how Ruby took the throne. I’d been too worried about staying alive in those days to concern myself much with empire business, but I did hear about a new Queen of Enola along the way, a vicious woman—with ties to Barony.
Makers, they’d probably plotted it together.
After all, Enola was considered a weaker kingdom years ago.
Now, it’s powerful and feared. My head throbs as I try to think through everything, but all of that must wait.
The most important thing right now is that Ryker might know the truth…
It takes me a moment to find my voice. “And how did you hear the secret of my sister, Your Highness?” He leans towards me and speaks quietly.
“I have a Gift of my own, one that allows me to speak with animal kind. They bring me secrets from all across the empire.” My eyes fly wide.
Ryker is a Gifted? He presses a finger to his lips, letting me know that we’re sharing many secrets between us this day.
Then I remember dinner the previous night, when it had seemed as if he and Soren were speaking. They fucking had been.
-You couldn’t have told me??- I hiss at the damned feline.
-His was not my secret to tell.-
I grit my teeth but can’t really blame Soren for keeping Ryker’s secret.
“And...and do you know what happened to my sister?”
“She died, of course.” He gives me a knowing look, and though I should be terrified in the knowledge that he knows this forbidden, dangerous truth, I only feel…safety. Relief. Suddenly not so alone in the world.
“Yes, it was very tragic,” I reply, watching him closely for any signs that I’m about to be betrayed yet again, though I can’t imagine it. Then again, I never would have thought Tesni capable of it all those years ago either…
“Exceedingly so. I daresay that my intuition tells me that if the sister had had the chance to live, she would have become a remarkable woman.” My nose burns as tears well, making my vision blurry. He smiles again, saying so much with that gesture, with these layered words. I clear my throat.
“Do you think King Dorian could possibly know this secret?”
“I don’t believe so,” he assures me. “Though…well, he is a mysterious man.” I tilt my head at that, wondering what he could mean.
He gives me a smile that says he’ll say no more, but will await the day I figure it out on my own.
“Well now, I’m sure you are anxious to get back and prepare for the journey. ”
The army has been resupplied to bursting, Tithmoore’s citizens hefting as many gifts as they could spare at us in thanks for our assistance with the harvest as well as after the cave-in.
We start the final leg of this journey to Duskthorne in the morning and while I’m still afraid of what might happen, I can’t deny that I’m not ready to part from Odessa and Mia…
and Killian. I’m nowhere near ready for that, and I might be more terrified of what that might mean than I am of Dorian.
I am well aware of how ridiculous and stupid it is, but it’s the truth.
“I will take care of your letter, you have my word. Speaking of letters, I have a gift for you. Wait right here.” He strides out of the room and I wait, wondering what this gift might be. He comes back in and I nearly gasp: a stunning silver raven sits on his arm.
“This is Alexi. He’ll deliver messages to me—discretely and directly—should you wish to write.
” The bird seems to preen, puffing out his chest and waiting for Ryker to stroke his feathers.
I reach forward tentatively, stopping before I reach the bird in question.
Alexi spreads his wings for a moment, as if to show them off, and then folds them against his body as he lowers his head in invitation.
I stoke my fingers gently along his head and beak and he makes a soft cooing sound, making Ryker smile.
“He’s beautiful.”
“He likes you,” Ryker says, rubbing his knuckles down the bird’s back. Alexi turns to give the king a playful peck before flying off with a soft caw. “Alexi will always be near, though you may not always see him. Soren will be able to reach him any time you wish for his assistance.”
I furrow my brow. “May I ask you something?” He nods. “Why are you being so kind to me?”
“Because you deserve it,” he says simply.
Ryker has always been rumored to be a great king, a beloved ruler who cares deeply for his people, but to see the proof before my eyes, his care extending to a stranger, is truly something.
So…why would he ally with Duskthorne, with a monster like Dorian?
I frown inwardly, trying to make sense of it all, but knowing I can’t possibly.
There are far too many things at work that I don’t understand, that I have no knowledge of, things that must make sense to Ryker.
One thing I can tell about him above all else is that he will do whatever he must to protect his people and ensure their safety.
I shake myself, deciding to think on it on the many days of travel we have ahead of us.
“Safe travels, my dear…Tess. All will be well, I promise.” It seems as if he’s trying to tell me something, though I have no idea what.