39. Chapter 39 #2
A shadow loomed over her, and she jerked her head up. Horror filled her eyes as she stared at the beast of a man cloaked in black with a horned helm. Then came the recognition. He saw it. She knew exactly who this monster was, and she watched as he spoke to a tall man with a shaved head.
“ Who’s he talking to? ” she whispered. “ What are they saying? ”
Cyrus remembered their every word. “ A Serran slaver ,” he told her. “ And he’s deciding whether a small boy is worth any price at all, or if I should just be killed. ”
Did she understand now?
“ Everyone I loved abandoned me ,” Cyrus said, “ including Alexander. ” Especially Alexander.
Her head jerked back to him, her eyes wide. “ He didn’t abandon you! Your brother loved you. ”
Cyrus swept away the image of the cages and men in chains, and they stood again in the winter forest. He shook his head. “ No. If he loved me, he would have looked for me. He would have tried to find me. ”
“ He was only a boy! He thought you were dead. ”
“ He would have felt me! ” he raged in a sudden burst of anger. “ The way I have felt him all these years. ” He would have felt the pull, the weight, the burden.
“ He didn’t have your gift! ” she insisted.
“ He did. ” Cyrus knew he had. “ He had a shield. I couldn’t see him. ”
“ No. ” She shook her head. “ It wasn’t the same. It was… different. ”
He paused. What else did she know? “ How? ”
She shook her head again. “ I… We don’t know. He was only starting to uncover it when he died. But I swear to you, he didn’t know you were alive. He would have gone to the ends of the world to find you. ”
Cyrus didn’t believe that.
“ I mean it ,” she said. “ If he had any idea you were still alive, he would have come for you. ”
She spoke with such surety—it was… almost convincing.
“ He would have come ,” she told him, “ as soon as he was able. ”
But he didn’t believe her, or rather, he didn’t want to believe her. He couldn’t let himself believe her, because that would make the loss of Alexander worse than it already was. And he couldn’t handle worse . Yet even as he told himself not to believe it, his strength left him.
His voice dropped to a whisper. “ I spent my entire life hating him. I followed the news of his rise, planning how I’d kill him too. ”
She wavered for a moment. Then her eyes narrowed. “ What happened to your mother? ”
His eyes locked with hers. He hadn’t meant to share that deeply.
Her wide eyes stared at him. “ Did you make her take her life? ”
How did she know his mother had taken her life? Maybe Alexander had told her. Regardless, that wasn’t something he was willing to talk about. “ I told you. I’ve done terrible things. ” If she were smart, she’d let that be the end of it.
But she stepped closer to him. “ Lucien, your brother loved you. Family was so important to him. And to Adrian—do you know what it would mean to him to learn that you’re alive? ”
For the first time, his childhood name didn’t claw at his ears. And to hear her mention Adrian…
“ I never knew I had another brother ,” he said quietly. “ Not until you told me. ”
She smiled, but it was a sad smile. “ He’s such a beautiful person. ”
“ Is he… like… us? ” He brought his hand to his chest. “ Alexander and me? ” He already knew Adrian didn’t have power, but he wanted to be sure.
“ No, there’s nothing weird about him ,” she said with another shake of her head. “ He’s perfectly normal. ” She frowned. “ That didn’t come out right ,” she added quickly.
He couldn’t help a smile. Norah was much easier to talk to than he’d imagined. He should have known. He had gotten to know her over these past few months. He should have told her about himself sooner—
Then came the rupture.
The trees blurred, and the sky cracked. His breath caught in his throat—his vision shredded into white. The blow almost felt physical as he was abruptly forced from her mind.
And then…
Silence.
Cyrus’s eyes shot open to find himself back in his study.
Essandra was already at his side. “What happened?”
“I—I don’t know.” He wasn’t sure exactly. “We were talking, but then… the bond broke.”
“Is she angry?”
He shook his head, still reeling. “I don’t think so. She was, but not now.”
“What did she say? Do you think she’ll call you back?”
“I don’t know.”
She was firing questions at him faster than he could think.
The bond was gone. Something had severed it. Abruptly. Violently. What if she’d been harmed… No, she was safe in Mercia.
Essandra sighed and rose. “Well, let’s wait to see if she calls you back.” She picked up a letter on the edge of the desk. “This came for you while you were with Norah. It’s from Miriel. She didn’t send me one, and I was worried. I hope you don’t mind that I opened it.”
“Of course not,” he said, his mind still on Norah.
“She’s worried about Etreus,” she told him. “They’ve fortified their borders with more forces than she’s ever seen before, and they’re adding more Union soldiers each day.”
Etreus—Pryam’s neighbor and the primary power of the collective Union with four other kingdoms. They’d expelled Pryam the year before, stripping it of all its protections. They feared Miriel’s power.
Cyrus rubbed his temples. He couldn’t think about this right now. Plus, Hephain would have told him if there were a problem.
“I’m sure they’re reacting to us sending waves of people to Pryam.” Cyrus had been moving refugees by the shipload, as well as building out Miriel’s army. “They’re probably just being cautious,” he added.
“What if they plan to move against her?”
“That would be stupid of them.”
Essandra held the letter in her hands, biting the corner of her lip.
He stood and pulled her close. “Miriel’s fine,” he promised. She wrapped her arms around him, and he dropped his head into the crook of her neck, breathing her in.
It was so much easier when she was here.
She calmed him, and he could focus.
He focused now.
Cyrus threw out his mind, reaching, searching for any birds still wearing his blood that he could redirect.
He found one. Then another.
And he willed them to Mercia. To Norah.