Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
LYVIA
Votruvians of old worshipped the floating island, but in recent centuries, its stories have shifted from holy to haunted.
– History of Votruvia, Kellan’s private library, the Hydra.
Lyvia – Borva, Votruvia
Raucous laughter echoed as the doors to the tavern down the hill swung open, the joyous sound filling the crisp, evening air.
I slid off Tiberius’s back, and my feet softly hit the muddy grass, wet and bright mid-spring.
A young man and woman strode into the tavern, the warm golden light disappearing as the doors closed behind them.
A wave of malty ale, enderleaf smoke and roasted potatoes flooded my senses, and my stomach let out a loud groan in response.
Do you want to talk about it? Ti murmured in my mind.
Not really. You?
Ti bristled in response, and I rubbed my hand along his withers. The voices of the creatures in the sea were on repeat in my mind.
His voice.
Tiberius had heard them too, but he’d heard something else. Something upsetting enough to elicit a tense reaction when I’d first asked him about it.
Aeriden will be all right. Get some food. Be with your friends for a while.
We’d left my brother to heal at Eghan House. At Kellan’s house. He’d need a day or two to rest and recover before we could continue to the Arx and find the key to defeating the Embodied.
And where will you be? I turned to him, sliding my hand up the side of his face and under his chin to scratch the long tufts of hair underneath.
He turned his big head to the mossy hills in the distance.
Flying.
Tiberius nudged me with his nose before tucking his wings in and clomping down the road.
I moved to the stone path, cutting my gaze over the sweeping hills and rocky shores of Borva, Votruvia.
My eyes caught on a large fountain in the center of the town square in the distance, the twisting stone necks of a Hydra stretching from the middle of the water.
I looked to the opposite end of the square, searching for the wooden stage that must have been torn down.
My stomach plunged as a flurry of painful memories from hell rushed forward. Kellan’s memories. Kellan’s childhood…
“There you are!” Isla called as she swung the door to the tavern open and waved an arm at me.
I took a deep breath, pulling myself out of Kellan’s hell as she strode toward me.
Sounds flooded my senses as Isla looped her arm in mine, and we stepped inside the tavern.
Countless conversations, the clanking of glasses and the sloshing of their contents, the sizzle of meaty juices over a fire, the barked curse of a server, and the sharp rattle of a dropped platter.
.. I closed my eyes, doing my best to shut out the noise.
“When it’s too much, find one sound, and narrow in on it. Like a target,” Isla murmured, her dark brows pinched. “I can’t imagine what the transition must be like for you.”
My transition. Yes, it had been…a lot. For whatever reason, the Transcindiel magic that had transformed me into a human as an infant had reversed after I’d traveled to the realm of the dead.
Perhaps I could only enter this realm in my original form?
I’d barely had a moment to process my new form, or why it had happened.
I closed my eyes and narrowed in on Isla’s sing-song voice, and somehow the background noise mulled together into a strange buzz. I blew out a breath.
“Thank you,” I murmured, turning and taking in the scene before me.
Mismatched tables were scattered throughout the multi-level tavern in a random pattern.
An array of colorful drapes hung and crisscrossed along the walls, wrapping around the various wooden columns throughout.
A round dance floor in the center of the tavern hosted a myriad of couples joining hands for a jaunty jig performed by a small band on a curved stage in the back.
Smoke wafted from the tavern’s occupants, puffs of it coiling and colliding in the large space before rising to the tall, slanted ceiling where a few wooden taper-bearing chandeliers hung.
My eyes snagged on the tall elf hunched over the bar, glaring in the direction of the barkeep. I suppressed a giggle as the patrons nearby gave Vulcan a wide berth, many of them throwing the ex-War Slayer fearful glances.
Isla pulled me to a small table in the corner, sheltered from onlookers with red drapery on one side and a small tree on the other.
My friend crossed one strong leg over the other and took a long swig of water before nibbling on the crusty edge of the O-shaped round roll.
My eyes drifted to her thin neck before catching her eye.
“I’m fine, Lyvia,” she murmured, painting the kind of smile on her face only friends knew was fake.
I resisted the urge to call her on the lie. Whatever trauma she endured last fall on Kayj lingered with her.
“You, on the other hand…” She raised a thick, ebony brow. “Tell me what’s going on in your head.”
I let out a sigh and shook my head, brushing a pile of old crumbs to the floor.
“I have too many thoughts and questions in my mind, Isles. And I can’t seem to focus on any one of them. Those creatures in the sea… The Embodied and what they will do to our world… What Bayne claimed he saw in the Waters of the Ascendiel…”
Heat gathered behind my eyes, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep tears from forming. I’d shared my eavesdropping with Isla as soon as we’d had a moment of privacy. She tossed the crusty bread onto the plate with a clank and crossed her arms.
“I don’t believe it,” she piped in, shaking her head.
“Bayne was spooked when he returned from the Waters of Ascendiel last summer. If he believes he saw himself battling the Obscura, if he believes you had anything to do with it, it explains his choice to bind himself to Queen Antares. His power has been amplified after his soulbinding. We always expected that was the case with his parents.”
I nodded. We had discussed all of this already, but it didn’t make me feel any better.
“I’m sure it’s why he never explained it to me,” she continued, chewing on the inside of her lip. “I was so mad at him.”
Warmth swelled in my chest, and I slid my hand into Isla’s.
“Come to me with accusations like that against my friend? That she will be the downfall of our realm? I would have slapped some sense into him.” She turned to me and winked.
My lips tugged up. “I love you,” I murmured, giving her hand a squeeze.
“Love you back, Sister.” She rocked her small shoulder into my arm. “But that wasn’t what I was asking about.” She leaned in and jerked her head to the doors of the tavern where a group of people gathered.
My gaze slid to the tall man in the sea blue coat, his face hidden by the brim of his black hat.
A crowd formed around him as he stepped inside the tavern, faces lighting up in surprise and delight as the patrons spotted the pirate lord.
Hands reached out to grasp his shoulder or pat him on the back as the crowd grew, and people from the opposite ends of the space moved to get a closer look at Lord Astraeus.
My brows furrowed.
“I don’t understand,” I murmured. “I thought the Votruvian Islands were supposed to be a vicious, unlawful place.” I couldn’t help but think of Morwyn. She’d never told me which island she was from, but she spoke of Votruvia with such hatred.
Isla uncrossed her arms and tore the soft chunk of bread away from the crust with her teeth.
“From what I’ve gathered from our dear pirate’s crew…” She paused, chewing slowly and sliding her eyes back to mine. “Kellan has flipped this island since his rise to Lord of Marisarma. Apparently, he took the place of his father at a young age. He was eighteen when they branded him.”
My breath slowed, some dozing part of my mind stirring. Why did this sound familiar?
“They said he gifted the Marisarma estate to his mother to be used as a hospital of sorts and house the orphans left behind by the ashen raids from Kayj and those who could escape from the islands run by the other pirates. He’s been quietly planning their demise since.”
I nodded, remembering his betrayal of three of the other pirate lords last summer off the coast of the Death Dunes when he’d attacked the Centurion.
“He’s dispatched some of the captains in his fleet to begin working on the other islands.
But there’s still one pirate lord left. Lord Haro.
The most dangerous, they say.” Her eyes slid back to where Kellan stood, shaking hands with men and women and accepting a mug of ale from a familiar red-headed beauty.
Naomi’s face lit up as Kellan smiled at her, and a twisting formed in my gut. I pulled my gaze away and caught Isla staring at me. A smile played on her lips.
“I can see the way you look at him, Lyv,” she said softly. “The way he looks at you. Something has happened between you.”
A dryness formed in my throat, and I snatched Isla’s water, taking a swift swig and avoiding her eyes. I shook my head.
“I don’t know what is happening between us,” I said quietly, unable to look at her. “And I feel… I don’t know what I feel.”
“There is a reason you went after him,” Isla continued gently. “I think you know how you feel, and you’re not sure you can accept it. Don’t punish yourself for making that choice.”
Bayne’s words replayed in my mind. You left your family and friends behind… Left us behind immediately after our realm was attacked. Guilt tightened my stomach.
“I left you all,” I murmured, shame snaking its way up my chest. “I’m so sorry. And how can I feel something for someone I barely know? How could I have just risked everything for someone I hated not that long ago?”
Numbness crept through my fingers and lips. Yes, I had hated him. I would have killed him last year in the Death Dunes had he not snapped a rubelline cuff on my wrist and cut off my magic.
“Well, you did spend about four months on his ship. I think you know him better than you realize. And there are powers in this world we cannot begin to understand,” Isla murmured, rubbing her thumb over the top of my hand.
“You felt something, and you followed your instincts. In doing so, you gained invaluable information that has the potential of saving our world.”
Kellan moved through the crowd to the center of the tavern, his blue coat like a beacon in a hazy sea of smoke.
Members of his crew approached, and he tilted his head back and laughed, the tattoos along the strong column of his neck moving.
His friends clapped him on the shoulder, and he returned the gesture, giving a firm but playful shove.
His dark gaze slid across the dim room, eyes tracking each face until they landed on me, and he paused.
Kellan’s dark eyes anchored mine to his. The overwhelming sounds of the tavern seemed to slip away, the busy patrons and bustling servers slowing, almost disappearing entirely as our gazes lingered.
“I think he might be in love with you,” Isla breathed, too quiet for anyone but an elf to hear, and the sights and sounds of the tavern rushed forward.
“He saw me,” I murmured, shaking my head.
“How could he, after seeing every horrible thing I’ve done?
After experiencing it for himself? You don’t understand…
In the Abyss, when I found him and we touched, he entered my hell.
Every kill I made, all the hurt I caused the countless people who have had the unfortunate luck to encounter me, I did to him. I killed him. Over and over again.”
My throat bobbed as a choke forced its way up my throat. Kellan moved through the crowd without taking his eyes off me, his first mate close behind. Isla released my hand and leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table.
“Hiding, Bonscaíh?” Kellan asked as he made his way to our table, the scar on his lower lip lightening as his lips tugged up.
“Join us, will you?” Isla asked, pulling Kellan’s attention off me and kicking a chair back from underneath the table.
Kellan gave a nod and took a seat. Raek moved to pull up another chair, but his gaze lingered at the bar. I tracked his line of sight, finding Vulcan still waiting to be served, the elf’s frustration morphing into violence.
“You should go help him,” Isla said to Raek, nodding her head in Vulcan’s direction. Raek’s face snapped back to Isla, his eyes wide as a flush bloomed on his neck.
“He’s been waiting for ages,” she explained, giggling. “I think they are afraid of him.”
Raek cleared his throat and rubbed a hand behind his neck, nodding.
As he turned, Isla leaned forward. “And perhaps ask him for a dance,” she continued, her full lips spreading in mischievous delight. “I think he’s been waiting for that as well.”
She sat back and smirked as Raek squirmed under her gaze.
Kellan’s lips spread into a wide grin, and he took a big swig of ale, raising his brows at his first mate.
Raek snatched the drink from his captain and proceeded to down its contents in one go.
His red waves bounced as he slammed it back on the table and made his way to the bar without a word.
I couldn’t help the smile that formed on my lips as Vulcan turned to Raek, their words too far away and muffled for even my new elven ears to pick up.
Vulcan’s face softened as Raek spoke quietly to him.
The first mate slapped his hand on the bar and growled at the barkeep.
His hand drifted to Vulcan’s elbow, lingering a moment longer than necessary.
Vulcan’s hazel eyes went wide before shooting to where we sat in the corner, and I peeled my gaze away, giving them as much privacy as I could.
“I feel stupid,” I murmured, taking a sip of water.
“That you didn’t know Vulcan prefers sausages to round rolls?” Isla asked, picking up her roll and taking a large bite.
A mortifying snort escaped my nose, and I slapped my hand against my mouth.
“You’ve been busy,” Isla explained, raising her brows pointedly to Kellan.
“Plus, Vulcan’s a pretty private guy. Sometimes, he needs a little push.
” Her wink was directed at Kellan, and she paused before saying, “I think I’ll get us some more food.
And ale for the two of you.” She gestured between us.
She hopped onto her feet and paused after taking a step. “You know,” she murmured, leaning into the pirate lord, “Lyvia also prefers sausages. She can eat sausage all night.”