53. Chapter 53
CHAPTER 53
Zev
G oing to the dresser with a basin, Zev splashed his face with water, soothing the itch on his skin. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, yellow eyes looking back. After years with the Madness, sometimes his head felt too quiet.
A light breeze picked up and blew in through his open balcony, rustling the branches outside. On days like these, when all he heard was the whisper of the trees, he heard another voice. Zev glanced at his pack resting on the bed where he had tucked Lara’s letter. The scent left on those pages seemed to linger or it may have been simply imprinted on him.
The image of a beautiful white wolf arose in his mind. It was so clear that he could almost see her there, standing in front of him. But there was no room to think about what he wanted when Dyna needed him first.
Zev grabbed his pack off the bed and left the bedchamber. The others must already be awake. He could hear their voices drifting from the grand hall along with the chirp of birds outside of the hallway windows.
The sky was pink with the coming dawn, coating the land in a light dew. He could smell the dynalyas from here. A dark green carriage adorned with gold filigree waited on the path. The Rangers were already outside, and an entourage of servants loaded a wagon with luggage and supplies.
Zev strode down the hall for the east wing where Dyna was staying. He let the conversations of the passing servants swarmed over him, ignoring the guards eyeing him uneasily. Most had seen him shift yesterday and were naturally wary of him now.
Reaching Dyna’s wing, he clenched his jaw when he found Cassiel there. The newly appointed King of Hilos slept with his back against the wall, arms crossed, head hanging. What was he doing there?
Before Zev could ask, Dyna’s bedroom door swung open. She came out with her disheveled hair still in yesterday’s braid as she quickly tossed on a cloak.
Cassiel jolted awake and she halted at the sight of him.
Dyna blinked. “What are you doing? Did you sit outside my door all night?”
Rubbing the sleep from his face, Cassiel leaped to his feet. “I only wanted to make sure you’re all right. Were you able to rest?”
Dyna stared at him mutely. She had looked more rested than she had in days. She must have slept soundly enough to even wake up late. Zev frowned. It couldn’t have been because Cassiel had simply been a few feet away from her.
“Your necklace…” Cassiel said when he noticed its absence. “Where is it?”
Dyna swept past him. “I tossed it in the rubbish where it belongs.”
She quickly strode down the hall and vanished around the corner. Sighing heavily, Cassiel rubbed his hands up his face, raking his hair back.
“You did that,” Zev said from the shadows. “You filled her heart with hate. That was done by you .”
Cassiel glanced at him then down at the floor. “I know,” he said faintly. His voice was tired, strung with emotion. Nowhere near the cold, black-hearted prince Zev was used to. “I know…”
“Why stay here when her indifference is the only thing you will receive? You said you could live with her despising you, so do it. Live with it because that’s what you’ve earned.”
“If her resentment is all I am given, then so be it. I cannot stand being nothing to her, even if it’s only to serve as the source of her loathing.” Cassiel tugged at a loose string on his cuff. It pulled away from the meticulous lacing, unraveling the fine cloth row by row. “I’m not entitled to her affection simply because she has mine…”
Zev didn’t know what to say to that. It was pathetic, really. He had everything. Then tossed it away all for what? It infuriated Zev, it infuriated him more that some small part of him felt something akin to sympathy for the one who use be his friend. And he hated that suffering look on Cassiel’s face.
He looked tired of life and so lost.
Zev hated it. He hated it so much because it reflected him when he had also lost his way. It was a look that hung over Cassiel like a dark cloud. It had only lifted for a moment yesterday when Zev noticed him conversing with someone out of view. Whoever they were had used a tall shrub for cover.
“I saw you by the stables yesterday,” Zev said. “Who were you speaking to?”
Cassiel paused the unraveling of his cuff. “Don’t concern yourself with that.”
Zev grit his teeth. “Well, I am.”
Taking the loose thread he’d undone; Cassiel wrapped it around his finger. Blood pooled in his fingertip, turning it purple until the thread audibly snapped. Sighing, Cassiel tucked his hands in his coat. “It’s irrelevant.”
Gods, it was just like him to disregard them the same he had when he left.
“Then tell me why?” Zev growled. “You owe me at least that.”
Why did he hurt them?
Cassiel’s tired gaze fixed on his reflection in the glass. “I was willing to sacrifice everything, including my soul, if it meant our fate would be different...”
Zev clenched his teeth at the poisonous anger that roiled in his stomach. The cost had been Dyna’s innocence and their friendship. “That’s the thing about sacrifices, Cassiel. Someone always pays the price, but it wasn’t you.”
They shared a long look and Cassiel’s brow tightened. “Zev?—”
“No, I have no interest in your apologies either. There is nothing for you here anymore.” He turned in the direction Dyna had gone. “Give up and go home.”
“I am not giving up on her.”
Zev gritted his teeth, his claws sharpening. “I hope you are prepared for disappointment, then.”
After a breath, Cassiel’s footsteps retreated.
“To quell her deep well of scorn it would take reducing yourself to the dust beneath her feet,” Zev called after him. “Which a king would never do.”
Cassiel paused by the opening of the adjoining hall. “And what makes you believe I am above groveling for my queen?”
Then he walked away from him again.
A question that Zev had wanted to ask, shaped by hurt and resentment, were left to wither in a moment passed. Yet he whispered it to the empty hall for no one to hear. “Did you ever once think of me as your friend?”
That too was irrelevant now.
Turning away, Zev continued on through the estate, following the sounds of voices and the scent of food. His senses brought him to the dining hall where all of his friends were already seated, talking as the servants served the food.
Dyna sat quietly between Raiden and Von. Zev took the chair across from her, next to Lucenna and Klyde.
Keena grinned cheerfully when she saw him. She had been fluttering around the tiered plates filled with food. Piling a plate with parties, fruit, and sausages, Keena flew it over to him. “Let’s share,” she whispered.
Lady Aerina, Eldred and Raiden were in the middle of discussing their journey across Greenwood with Camsen, the captain of the King’s Ranger Regiment.
“We would draw less attention if we took the game trail through the forest,” Raiden said. “Our large party is surely to draw many eyes, and we know not who is watching the King’s Road.”
Camsen pursed his lips. “Yes, but the season is a concern, my lord. It rains much in the mountains, particularly at this time of year.”
“How did the roads look when you traveled to Sellav, captain?” Lady Aerina asked him.
“Dry for the most part, princess.”
“But very frequented, I imagine,” Raiden countered. “We run a higher threat of attack on the caravan. I will not risk my mother’s safety.”
Camsen straightened. “Yes, I admit, the King’s Road is quite active. For that very reason, the King sent us to escort you. I believe the hills and mountains hold a much higher peril.”
“Good thing we are traveling south, Captain. We have not had a flashflood since two seasons ago, but when they do come, they tend to fall from the Anduir Mountains. I believe we have a good chance of avoiding one once we leave Sellav.”
Zev paused eating at the mention of a flashflood. They had one in Lykos five years ago and it was brutal. Wiped away a good portion of the land, and with it a third of the Pack. He glanced at Lucenna and Klyde. Their expressions were guarded. Von glanced at him when sensing Zev’s stare, his expression was unreadable.
Keena was the only one who looked frightened. Her golden wings tucked close against her back, and she moved to sit on a saucer by Lucenna’s arm. “I don’t like the rain,” she muttered to her. “Pixies can’t fly when our wings are wet.”
Lucenna conjured the image of a raincloud over Keena’s head, making her dash beneath a cup for cover.
Eldred hummed, linking his fingers together. “I’m afraid we cannot avoid the risk until we cross River Myst, young master. If the rains continue, the river may flood. Regardless, danger will follow us whether you choose to take the King’s Road or the game trail. We will abide by whatever you decide.”
Raiden sighed and looked at Dyna. “What do you think, my lady?”
She blinked and looked up at everyone nervously. “Oh, I am not the right one to ask. I am not familiar with Greenwood’s terrain?—”
The servants opened the doors to the dining hall for Cassiel.
“Oh, please join us, King Cassiel,” Lady Aerina called to him.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the table.
Straightening, Cassiel schooled his expression. “Thank you, princess.”
He took the empty seat at the end of the table. Away from the others which he so clearly knew didn’t want him near. It reminded Zev too much of their first time in Hilos.
“We were discussing the better route of travel for our journey,” Aerina shared with him. “The main road is too conspicuous but the trail through the forest could face with deluge. We are weighing the risk of both. In your opinion, what do you think is best?”
Irritation fleetingly flashed across Raiden’s face before he composed himself by taking a drink.
Cassiel paused, equally taken back by the question as Dyna had been. “Well, Lady Aerina, as a celestial, we prioritize discretion. I would better serve you as an escort through the forest, however, I am compliant to whatever you decide.” He glanced at Dyna. “If my wife in agreement, of course.”
Zev heard Dyna’s pulse spike, but she didn’t look in his direction.
“I find it amusing you should continue to use that word,” Raiden said as he took another drink from his goblet, eyeing Cassiel over the rim. “As I understand it, she is not yours anymore.”
The very clear jab invited a sudden tension over the table. Keena’s head popped out from under the cup, her mouth gaping open. A look of either shock or discomfort crossed everyone’s faces as they all stared between Cassiel and Raiden locked stare. Dyna was frozen in her chair. Zev didn’t know whether to take her away or change the subject.
Cassiel’s cool repones cut though the silence. “I beg your pardon?”
Raiden cleared his throat and linked his fingers. “You left her. Therefore, she has no obligation to you, correct?
Cassiel’s jaw clenched, his silver eyes storming.
Raiden shrugged. “Pardon me if I offend. I simply wanted to assure I do not misstep.”
“Regarding what?”
“I intend to court Lady Dynalya,” Raiden said, laying his hand over hers on the table. Dyna’s eyes widened, her face turning as red as her hair. Aghast silence fell over everyone. Lucenna nearly spat out her water and Keena’s stifled a gasp. “In fact, I asked her yesterday, and she has given me permission to court her.”
She did? All eyes fell on Dyna again. Her mouth opened and closed, at a loss for words.
Raiden then said to Aerina, “Do you approve, mother?”
It was Lady Aerina’s turn to blush under everyone’s stares. “I-I don’t know if this—they are—” She winced apologetically at Dyna. “Forgive me, dear, I don’t wish to interfere, but while there is a marriage in place...” Her eyes flicked to Cassiel nervously. He had yet to say anything or react other than to stare at where Raiden had placed his hand over Dyna’s. “I don’t know if a courtship is possible, Raiden. The politics with you being a nephew of the king and she is a queen of a foreign kingdom … and ethics of-of-such a situation … I …”
The poor woman didn’t know how to respond. Neither did Zev. Dyna didn’t say anything about this to him, and she looked equally shocked as everyone else.
“It is a complicated situation,” Raiden agreed nonchalantly, “But you yourself challenged principles and politics when you chose a soldier to love. Are you to deny me the same? Do you not want your son to be happy?”
Aerina’s face softened. “Of course I do, darling.”
Clever elf knew how to wrap her around his finger.
“Then I hope you will treat my intended kindly.” He smiled at Dyna and brushed a crimson lock of hair from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear.
Dyna made a sound that was caught between a breath and a faint gasp. But she didn’t pull away and Zev sensed whatever was going on, she had now silently agreed to it. Her green eyes flickered to Cassiel and his gaze slowly lifted to her. There was no anger there. Whatever he was feeling was hidden behind a mask.
“This so terribly awkward,” Keena whispered to Lucenna, now sitting on her shoulder.
The sorceress quietly snickered. “Oh, this will be fun.”
Klyde braced his elbow on the table, curling a fist over his mouth as though to hide a grin. Von merely continued eating, not interested in the spectacle at all. Well, whatever road they took to Avandia, it was going to be uncomfortable to say the least.
Raiden raised his brows at the silent Celestial King, “Well, I do hope you will provide Lady Dynalya with a divorce and a substantial alimony that she is rightly owed.”
Cassiel’s jaw flexed and he laughed. It was a dry, harsh laugh, lined with ice. A spark of blue light fanned over the back of his fists resting beside his plate. “Celestials do not divorce.” He smiled at him sharply. “Lordling.”
Raiden’s expression hardened. “How fortunate that she isn’t a celestial, wouldn’t you say?”
He had a point. And that very reason was what tore them apart in the first place.
Cassiel met Dyna’s gaze across the table. “If Dynalya wishes to entertain this jest, I will not stop her.” A white light began to glow through his tunic, from his chest and arms. It spread to his neck, taking the shape of a foreign letters. “But our vows will forever remain, lev sheli , and they will always hold value to me.”
Their staring match was interrupted by the sudden commotion of voices outside. The dining room doors swing open, and the Norrlen Guards dragged in a boy by his arms, forcing him to kneel. He was tattered and filthy, his hair matted with leaves, but he wore a familiar dark blue coat and heavy harness at his waist.
Zev stilled because he immediately recognized him.
Lucenna audibly sucked in a breath. The others stiffened in their seats. Von blinked up from his plate with a dazed frown and he also froze.
Klyde jerked up from his chair so abruptly, it toppled over and banged loudly against the stone floor behind him. But he didn’t notice. His wide eyes were fixed on the boy unwaveringly with disbelief.
“Tavin?”