Chapter 30
The port city at the edge of the Diamond Region is swarming with activity. The docks are loaded with ships ready to make their way up and down the Alloy to trade with Topaz and Sapphire.
Kieran and I slip easily amongst the brown cloaks, melding into the bustling crowd that splits as the Captain of Corinth steps off the gangway.
The black-clad god parts the throng of people, their faces colored with equal parts fear and disgust as they take in the creature who walks in their midst. Power surges in my chest, the sea beast undulating against my skin for an entirely different reason.
In another life, another fate, I walk alongside him.
Not in hiding, but in emerald green. The feelings that warred within me only days ago as we rode through the streets of Gathe no longer battle for control.
The urge to bring them all to their knees in submission takes root in my gut, and it requires a power stronger than magic to subdue it.
Keeping my head down, I set about securing a new horse.
She’s a pretty chestnut color, feisty and bold.
Nothing like the docile caramel mare I left behind in Ruby, but everything I need for this leg of the journey.
We follow the herd of people towards the city gates, riding until the cobblestones give way to a dirt road and the cover of trees thickens.
It’s not long before Kieran arrives at our designated meeting spot on his own mount. He keeps his back towards the road, overly careful of being spotted by the white-coated Diamond soldiers that ride by sporadically.
“Looks like the road is off limits for at least a day,” he mutters.
Cal arrives a short while later, dressed head to toe in brown atop a black mare with a glistening mane.
We agreed that the Diamond port city had to be his last known location, but the clothes of a commoner can’t conceal a god.
There’s a bulky bag secured behind his saddle that we didn’t travel with, and I’m certain that I would find it stuffed with his leather armor if I opened it.
He gives me a once over, visually checking for any signs of trouble before spurring his horse deeper into the trees. We follow alongside the dirt road of the Kingswood, rows of trees concealing us from fellow travelers as we ride.
When the sun hangs low on the horizon, Cal leads us deeper into the woods to make camp. I’ve had hours of silence to stew in my own head, an entire day of waiting for Cal to uphold his promise for information.
“How much longer do I have to wait for someone to tell me what’s going on?” I ask impatiently as Cal pitches our tent and Kieran builds the small fire.
A cool breeze stirs around us, air magically summoned to distort our conversation if listening ears happen by.
“Do you want to go first or should I?” Kieran asks.
“You’re the one most likely to incur her wrath, so I’d start talking if I were you, Rollins.”
Kieran sits with a huff beside the now lit fire, patting the space beside him. With a snap of my fingers, tree branches shift to camouflage our makeshift camp. His eyes go wide, startled at the sight of the earth bending to my will. The elusive element, if Cal’s words are true.
“Unless you want to find out how I can use that magic against you, I suggest you tell me the truth.”
Kieran’s eyes meet mine as I sit, the awe completely gone from his gaze.
“I can pull the air from your lungs, Ivy. Your threats don’t work on me.”
“I don’t think you can,” I say flatly, “given what happened on the boat.”
Cal pauses, the stake hammer still raised above his head as he turns to face us.
“What happened on the boat?” he asks, a tense strain in his voice that has nothing to do with physical exertion.
“Kieran couldn’t summon the wind.”
“Oh I could summon it just fine,” Kieran starts defensively.
“Ivy.” Cal sets down the hammer, walking cautiously over to kneel beside where I sit. “What did you do?”
“She funneled her godsdamned power into me,” Kieran scoffs. “One minute I was commanding the wind and the next minute she was.”
“Someone had to get us off the dock,” I say, rolling my eyes. “You’re welcome for the help.”
“Help? More like theft! My magic wouldn’t answer to me anymore.”
“What?” Cal and I ask in unison.
“Are you some kind of amplifier? Is that even possible?” Kieran asks.
“I don’t know.” Cal shakes his head, running his fingers through his hair. “I thought you could use my power because of our—”
“It’s different,” I interrupt. “I didn’t use Kieran’s magic. There wasn’t anything to use.”
“There’s plenty to use,” Kieran huffs in agitation. “Just because I’m not a full god like you two doesn’t mean I’m not powerful in my own way. I didn’t see either of you coordinating a coup for the governing seat of every region in Corinth.”
“You did what?!” I’m on my feet before my brain can process what I just heard. “Every seat?”
“As of today, every Governor in Corinth is aevus. You’re welcome.” Kieran beams.
“The resistance.” I whisper in disbelief. “It’s the heirs, isn’t it?”
“Our mothers were exiled here, Ivy. It’s Marks’ fault that they’re dead and that they were forced to live in the shadow of human men who believed his lies and wanted to make him a king. You can’t blame us for wanting to change our fate.”
I don’t blame them for wanting change—I could never blame them for that. It’s what I want too, even more so now that I know the truth.
But what stings, what cuts me to the core, is the realization that they all knew.
Kieran, Silas, Micah, and possibly even Marianne knew what we are—what I am—and they never said anything.
When did their powers manifest? How long have they been in this group, this resistance? And why did they never tell me?
“Besides you and Marks, the remaining governors of Corinth are all demigods. Four of the five ruling seats want to see the Lord General disposed of and they’re on their way to Amale to make that a reality.”
Cal’s hand finds me, tanned fingers wrapping around mine to steady me as Kieran’s words land.
We have a real chance to change our country, and maybe even our world.
There’s no need for political strategies and negotiations, no necessity for the chess game that I’ve mapped out in my head.
If this is true, we win the Ascension Vote in every scenario.
But I know in the hollow pit of my stomach that it can’t be that simple. Magic scrapes its beastly claws under my skin again as I turn my attention to the pained expression on Cal’s face.
“There’s more, isn’t there?” I ask tentatively.
Cal lets out a ragged exhale, the throb of his distress spearing me in the chest.
“There’s more at stake than just the Amethyst Throne, princess. When Nobus exiled the rebellious gods here, Selene cut a deal with the God King.”
The weight of both men’s gazes slice into my skull at the mention of my mother. When I don’t lift my eyes from the blade of grass I’m focused on intently, Cal presses onward.
“A mother’s love runs deep. I don’t know the terms, only that it gave the exiled gods a chance to go home again. Under the agreement, they will remain in this realm until the one with the power to unite us rises.”
The one with the power to unite us rises—the prophecy from the strange, otherworldly woman in the streets of Eida, the words I easily dismissed now falling from Cal’s lips.
“What does that mean?” Kieran asks.
“There’s a doorway of sorts, a portal to the god realm. Marks wants it open—and he wants to be on the throne when it happens.”
“That’s why he’s forcing the entire country to worship Nobus,” I say on an unsteady breath.
“We’re his offering to the gods,” Kieran adds. “Fuck.”
“The understatement of the century, Rollins.”
Whatever part he played, Marks was definitely a member of the rebellion, an uprising that I’m beginning to think was more about stealing power than invoking change. And now half a million people are going to pay the price for his deeds with their lives.
We are his collateral, his sacrifice to the God King to reclaim his favor and return home, our own existences be damned.
I’m not aware that my hands are trembling until Cal squeezes them, the increased pressure of his magic against mine sending my traitorous heart skittering.
“Why don’t we go get some water, princess?”
Kieran disappears into the tent, granting us precious privacy. Cal and I gather our vessels in silence before he directs us towards the water his magic detects.
He doesn’t push me to speak while we walk to the small stream. He doesn’t prod me as he takes the canteens and fills each one with the clear water. And he still doesn’t question me as he sits on the bank and removes his boots.
I follow suit, letting my toes feel the biting cold of the flowing water and the thickness of the mud underneath before I speak.
“Kieran and the heirs are all demigods, but I’m not. My father … isn’t Ansel Fellows.” It’s not a question anymore, but a fact.
“I’m sorry.” He scoots closer to me, his shoulder pressing against mine.
“I know this feels like a betrayal, but Ansel was still your parent in every way that matters. Rhea was Henry and Theo’s mother, but she took me in and loved me like I was her own son.
That’s what makes someone a parent: not their blood but their heart. ”
Cal’s grief mingles with mine, the shared wounds weeping with the endless, chasmic pain of loss.
We sit in silence, the cold water numbing our skin until it matches the feeling that swarms within us at their memories.
There’s camaraderie in our commiseration, strength in the weakness that we both keep buried.
“Who is the prophesied one, Cal?” I ask on a shaky exhale, eager to feel a pain I’m more comfortable with.
As if his thoughts are my own, I know his next words before they ever leave his lips.
“Marks believes it’s me, but I don’t.”
“What do you believe?” I ask cautiously, both wanting and not wanting to hear it said aloud.