Chapter Twenty-Four #2
“Good, you can conceal Kira with your shadow,” says Ronan. “Keep her safe for me, both of you.”
“Come on,” says Octavia, lifting Quinn from the guard’s arms. Quinn isn’t a small woman, but Octavia throws her over her shoulders with ease. Quinn’s eyes widen as she looks at me behind Octavia’s back.
I wink at her. Octavia is a much better option than my brother.
“The rest of you, pack your things and meet in my chambers in ten minutes. Gaius, I need a team to escort Queen Claudia back home to Minar. She’ll be safe there with her own House.”
“Of course, sir,” says Gaius, one of Ronan’s guards.
“And anyone else who wishes to go. Do not fight to the last. Get out of here, do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir,” say the other guards.
“Let’s go,” says Ronan, leading me to our chambers behind Quinn and Octavia.
“Ronan, don’t be mad at me, but I let my father go,” says Quinn.
“You did what?”
“I told the guards you ordered his release. It’s so chaotic right now, they believed me. I couldn’t leave him here to die.”
Ronan shakes his head in disbelief. “I don’t even have time to consider what that decision may have cost us. Fucking hell, Quinn.”
“He wanted you to have this.” Quinn reaches into her pocket and pulls out a slip of paper. “He said he was sorry.”
Ronan reads the letter as we make it into his chambers. Octavia leaves Quinn on one of his divans, and I leave the torch on the hearth, and then I lead her outside and introduce her to Kira.
“She’s very intelligent,” I say, scratching the feathers on Kira’s neck. “But she flies a little wild sometimes. Make sure you’re strapped in well.” Kira nips at my fingers at the insult, but I’m right. She does her best, but she hasn’t gotten used to having passengers yet.
“Can she see well in darkness?”
“No. Try to let her have some light if you can. Where you’re taking her is where we found her. There may be others there like her. Be careful—I don’t know if they’ll be as friendly as she is.”
Octavia holds me by my shoulders. “Are you going to be alright? You could take her yourself, if you want. I’m sure it would make him happier to know you’re safe.” She tilts her head towards where Ronan and Quinn are talking in the living room.
“I’ll be fine. My place is with Ronan. Fly straight up and get above the clouds before you head for the cliffs. There’s a canyon there just as the road turns east. That’s where we’ll meet you.”
Octavia pulls me into a hug. “Be safe.” Then she returns to the living room and retrieves Quinn.
“I could get used to this,” mutters Quinn over her shoulder.
Ronan joins me as we watch them depart from the balcony. There are fires raging in the harbor and the city, but Kira flies out of reach of anything that could hurt her in seconds.
“They’ll make it,” says Ronan. “We’ve got a harder journey ahead of us. We need to get packed—I don’t know how long the palace gates will hold.”
“What did Cyrus’s letter say?”
He hands it to me and leads me into the bedchambers to start packing.
Your Majesty,
Apologies for being brief, but we’re out of time.
I deceived you when you asked if I helped Zara.
I did help her, but for a very important reason.
I have served House Alta all of my life for one purpose only: I believed your House to be critical to the Shadowbound Prophecy, our one chance to restore the balance of the world.
For a long time, I believed your father was the subject of the prophecy, but I was mistaken. I discounted the possibility of your involvement, believing you ill-suited for what will be required of you, but I realized my error when Sylvie arrived.
I should have explained myself sooner, but I didn’t think you’d believe me. I doubt you believe me now, but if I’m right, it won’t matter.
This world has been doomed for a long time, since long before the ash crisis or the scouring of Machair. Those issues are symptoms of the larger problem: the world has been broken. Corrupted. You and Sylvie must restore it.
Seek the relics of the gods. I have searched and searched for what you must do with them, but I’ve found few answers. Zara believed the tomb of God-Queen Julia would hold the key, but she searched the Mausoleum in Dalven and found it to be false. I will continue the search once I get to safety.
Perhaps I will find you there. Good luck, and may the gods watch over you.
- Lord Cyrus of House Horatio
“What the fuck? The Shadowbound Prophecy? Ronan, what does any of this mean?”
“Who knows? It’s the ravings of a madman.
At least I’m reasonably convinced he won’t immediately run to Adria with all of our secrets.
” Ronan tosses clothes into a leather satchel, and he hands me an empty bag to do the same.
“Bring your flute. We may need some kind of story for why we’re on the road. ”
I do as he says and pack up some of my Nithyrian clothes. There’s no point trying to hide who I am from the Orsa. They know House Verran far too well to be fooled, and we need heavier fabrics if we’re heading into the mountains with winter on its way.
Ronan takes his lute down from the wall—the lute Stella’s mother gave him when she taught him to play—and then he retrieves some papers and coins from his desk. Finally, he reaches into the back of his bookshelf and pulls out a small wooden box.
“What’s in there?” I ask.
“Something I’m definitely going to need later.” He offers no other explanation, and I feel a strange sensation in his magic. A secret strengthening it, just like they strengthen mine.
I let him have his secret. We need our strength right now.
The last things we pack are our weapons. We both take daggers, and I take my Nithyrian rapier while Ronan carries the soldier’s longsword he wielded when he rescued me from Seth.
And then I take the torch from the hearth. “I’ll keep you out as much as I can, but you better let me snuff you without complaint this time.”
“Are you ready?” he asks me with a lingering look at his chambers.
This is his home. I know it kills him to leave it, to leave the palace and the city and the people.
But I can’t see another way. If he stays and tries to fight Adria, thousands of people will die, and if Taran is to be believed, he’ll lose anyway.
If he surrenders and lets her take him captive, it may save some of his people, but Adria will kill him, likely in a public execution.
And Seth and I are certain to suffer the same fate.
The only hope we have of saving Faros is by leaving it. “We’re coming back here,” I tell Ronan, placing my hands on his shoulders. “We’ll be back here before you know it. We’ll save them. We’ll come home. You’ll see.”
Ronan tilts his head down until his forehead meets mine.
“My home is wherever you are.” He blinks back tears from his eyes.
“I never thought my reign would end like this. I thought I could…it doesn’t matter.
All that matters is that we’re together.
All that matters is that we live to fight another day. Together.”
“Together,” I say, and then I take his hand and lead him from his bedroom for what I pray is not the final time.