Chapter 28
Zane
The search had been a flurry of activity interrupting the autumnal equinox festivities. Multiple hours were spent hunting high and low for Iyana and her accomplices—within the castle, on castle grounds, and throughout Athusia. The city was too large and widespread to look everywhere, and Uther made it known that should anyone be found harboring the fugitives, they would be severely punished. It was a decree that would typically concern Zane, but he was reasonably certain Iyana, Emmeric, and Talon were safely out of the city; none of his subjects were in any direct danger.
Crown Prince Zane found himself summoned to the throne room early the next morning. Upon entering, he discovered his father slouched upon his golden seat of power, appearing more haggard than Zane had ever seen him. Bruises were underneath his eyes, and his normally well-groomed hair and beard were disheveled. Cain was sitting on the emperor’s lap, giving the prince a look like the cat belonged in this space more than he did—which wasn’t far from the truth. Uther was petting his tabby half-heartedly, staring off into a corner, expression blank. Advisors and nobles huddled along the wall, shifting nervously, watching the prince closely. Urging him to diffuse the situation. As if he had any power here.
Zane bowed low, willing to conform to his father’s standards if it could sway his decisions. “You summoned me, Your Majesty?”
Emperor Uther snapped out of his trance, icy blue eyes finally noticing his son. “Yes, I need something from you.”
“Anything, sire,” Zane said, nodding his head in respect again. It killed him inside to show any respect to this man who deserved none. A man who may be actively plotting Zane’s demise.
“Find the girl. You found her so quickly the last time. I expect similar results.”
Perfect,Zane thought, ensuring his neutral court mask remained in place. “I will do my best.”
“You’d better,” Uther snapped. “The star will be with her. Bring them both to me.”
Zane debated asking, but decided, fuck it. “It may help me to know more about the star. What it looks like? How big it is?” Uther’s gaze sharpened on the prince. Zane squeezed his hands together behind his back.
“You need nothing more than what I’ve already disclosed. Dismissed,” Uther uttered with all the authority of an emperor ordering a lowly subject, not a father to a son. Zane only bowed low again, turning on his heel to leave. He refused to risk this chance. Not when his and Uther’s agendas were the same, for once. Even if for different reasons. Zane had no intentions of bringing Iyana back to his father. He had questions and needed answers.
“Oh, and Zane,” Uther called to his back. Zane stopped walking but didn’t turn around, his heart racing. Did his father have a way to read his mind? “Don’t fuck this up.” Giving a curt nod, Zane continued his way out of the throne room, Geoff and Gordon falling into step with him. Nobody had noticed Emmeric and Talon were gone yet, and Zane wanted it to stay that way.
“Pack up,” he told the twins. “We leave in a couple hours.”
“Anybody else we need to inform?” Geoff asked. Or was it Gordon? Zane still couldn’t tell them apart.
Zane shook his head. “Just the three of us.” He almost felt them glancing at each other and questioning his decision. From their interactions in Huton, he wanted to trust the twins. It seemed Talon did, so Zane would take the risk and hope Geoff and Gordon would go along with him. But these walls had ears; he’d fill them in on the road.
Soon, the trio was riding out of the castle. If fate smiled upon him, he may never enter these cursed gates again. Zane sent a silent prayer to Otho and Thelena for success; that he would find Iyana, Talon, and Emmeric, and they wouldn’t kill him on sight. Should Uther discover he’d been praying to a goddess, and Thelena especially, he’d have a conniption. Men are superior, he’d say. When has a woman ever done anything good for you? There was no way for Zane to bring up his mother and all the things she’d done for him. It would only set Uther off even further. Although, maybe it would cause a minor case of apoplexy and he’d drop dead. Zane sent another prayer to Phaedros. Wishing for his father’s demise made him feel slightly guilty, but then he thought of all the times he’d been beaten, lied to, demeaned, plus all the atrocities Emperor Uther had committed against his own people, and the guilt washed away.
As they neared the border of Athusia, after walking in total silence, one of the brothers ventured a question. “So… Is there a reason Emmeric and Talon aren’t joining us? Not that I’m questioning your judgement,” he added in a rush. “They just usually travel with us.”
“They’ve gone on ahead,” Zane answered, still too close to the castle to feel comfortable explaining. The other twin’s brows lowered, trying to process the when and why. Zane cleared his throat, steering the conversation in another direction. “Is there a way to tell you two apart? I’m sorry to say I haven’t figured it out yet.” They both sat on their horses, one on either side of him. Both of them were large, brutish men. He hated to think of how horrible their mother’s pregnancy must have been. With brown, shaggy hair, they both had chocolate brown eyes, and even their noses appeared to have been broken in the same spot.
The one to his left chuckled. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Our own parents sometimes couldn’t tell who was who.”
“Which really allowed us to get away with a lot,” the one to Zane’s right laughed. “They never knew who to punish.” Zane smiled at their memories of—what seemed to him, at least—their happy childhood.
“I’m Geoffrey. Or Geoff,” the one on the left said. “I’ve got a beauty mark, as my mother called it, underneath my left eye. Here,” he turned his head to show the prince, tapping to the spot. “Just remember Geoff, left.”
“And Gordon, warden,” said Gordon.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Geoff asked.
Gordon shrugged. “I don’t have a beauty mark,” he teased his twin, “and I used to work at the jail.”
“How is the crown prince supposed to know where you used to work?”
Their bickering went back and forth, lobbying well-meant insults over Zane to each other. Zane briefly grieved the life he might have had with a sibling. Would anything be different? An older brother would have been ideal, so the crown prince title would fall on his shoulders instead. But that was not to be Zane’s lot in life. He remembered asking his mother for a younger sibling one year as a winter solstice present. She had smiled sadly, her green eyes sparkling with unshed tears. Oh, my heart, that won’t happen. He’d never learned if she simply was unable to, or if she’d refused to bear more of Uther’s progeny. Honestly, Zane couldn’t blame her if it was the latter.
The twins talked their way out of the city, and Zane was happy for the distraction, even if he was only half listening to the conversation. His mind turned from his mother to what he had heard his father utter in the dungeons when he was unaware of Zane’s presence.
Always knew I should have killed him along with his slut of a mother.
Zane wasn’t so much concerned about his father’s murderous intents for him—although good sense told him he should be. Life so far had not been kind to him, and while he didn’t necessarily want to die, the burden of living sometimes felt like too much. No, he was more upset his mother had died by her husband’s hands. The thought filled him with so much rage; he almost wanted to turn around to confront his father right then. A desperate need to understand why and how she had been killed ran through him. At eight years old, he’d been told her heart gave out. They didn’t let him see her body or say goodbye, claiming it’d be too traumatic for a boy so young. It had never sat right with him, even less as he grew older and Uther more cruel. He vowed to pry the information out of Uther’s mouth if he had to. Then there was the other concerning tidbit he’d picked up…
We need to complete the ritual soon, Azazel. I’m not getting any younger.
What ritual? What would he be hoping to achieve from said ritual? Furthermore, where was the magic coming from? There’d been almost no magic in Arinem, aside from the healers, for the past few centuries. Zane couldn’t puzzle out how the star was connected to this. Also, not getting any younger… did he mean he’s running out of patience? Or maybe age was a factor in this ritual? It was a lot to ponder, and he hoped Iyana could shed some light on the situation when they caught up.
He was fairly certain their party headed north, because that’s what he would have done. Instead, he steered their horses south, back towards Huton. This way, if Uther had sent anyone out to track their movements, they’d be able to claim south is the most plausible as it’s the quickest way back home for Iyana. What else would any scared, recently tortured young woman do? Go home, of course. Women were ‘weak-spirited.’ It would give Zane time to sniff out any potential tails and end them before they even had a chance to question him on his decisions. The runaways would get maybe a three-day head start, but Zane wasn’t concerned. With his skeleton crew, they’d be able to ride hard and catch up soon enough.
They’d finally made it onto open road, with nobody else in sight. It was time to let the twins in on the plan.