37. Raithe #3
My hand dropped from her back. I was surprised Gregorios hadn’t already warned her.
Perhaps he didn’t want to scare her from trying to find hudro.
“The call of the elements is strong. It can be tempting for a royal, especially at the beginning, to overindulge in their newfound elemental power. With hudro specifically, the more you use your power, the thirstier you’ll become.
Forever parched, as if nothing could satiate your need for water. ”
“So you’re saying that I’ll want to drown myself?” She ran her fingers through her curls. “Well. Didn’t see that coming.”
“That’s why Felaf and I exist. I’ll—we’ll—always be nearby to protect you.”
“From myself,” she murmured. “That’s encouraging.”
“While it’s a lifelong burden, royals find a way to endure. Gregorios will guide you through it once you reach that point.”
“And I could take off the topaz, right? If it becomes too much.”
“Not for too long,” I warned her. “The longer you go without it, the more your ability to control your power resets. It’s the same for guardians and seers.”
She was contemplative for a moment. “Markus and Allory cared more about King Zephyr’s talisman than the king himself. The apos—”
My hand wrapped around her mouth. I slipped us into a quiet alcove nestled behind thick velvet curtains, where a cushioned window seat overlooked the gardens bathed in moonlight.
Rahzlyn stared at me expectantly. I removed my hand and whispered, “Maryn.” I waited until the trio’s heels clattered further down the hallway away from us. “All clear.”
There wasn’t much standing room. The cramped space was dark without the hallway’s soft sconce lighting. I could see impeccably, but to her I likely appeared as nothing more than a shadow until her eyes adjusted.
I removed my hand. “Apologies. You were saying?”
Her eyes tracked the outline of my figure. “I was?”
“About the apostai.”
“Right,” she murmured. “Talismans seem essential to their cause. At least, King Zephyr’s was. It made me wonder why the stones aren’t more heavily protected.”
“They are. The Astrals bound them to metal that morphs to its Chosen wearer so that only the Chosens of a given Zodiac sign can wear or remove them. Or if a Chosen voluntarily touches, skin to skin, another person.”
“Don’t talismans matter more than Chosens then? Because without them, Chosens are—”
“Powerless, yes.”
“So the apostai could, if they wanted to, cut off King Zephyr’s head and take his agate necklace.”
“His guardians would never allow that.”
“Indulge me.”
“It would still be attached to his neck, tethered to his skin. If they did manage to find a way to fully remove it, it would be useless in the hands of anyone else. Only Chosens can access its power. The only damage such a scenario would do is prevent a Chosen from accessing their powers.”
“What if someone loses it? Or destroys it?” Rahzlyn pressed.
“You have a frighteningly vivid imagination,” I told her, wanting to ease the lines between her brows.
I clenched my hands instead. “That never has and never will happen. Destroying it isn’t physically possible.
Talismans aren’t like other stones. Nothing can penetrate them. Where is this coming from?”
“Never mind,” she said, waving a hand.
“Rahzlyn.”
“It’s probably already been thought of.”
I gently pinched her chin with my thumb and forefinger, blaming the cover of dark for my boldness. I ignored how her little gasp went straight to my chest. “Tell me.”
She chewed her lip, a nervous habit of hers. “Why is it called a ‘curse’? A curse from who?”
“No one knows.”
“I’m only wondering if the curse and the apostai are… connected somehow.”
“You think the apostai are behind the curse?”
“Maybe?”
“Tell me more.” Our gazes held. “I want to know what you’re thinking.”
“Something about Gregorios’s connection to Scorpio being blocked strikes me as odd, considering Gregorios is blocked from seeing the futures of the apostai. Surely such a magical impedance can’t be a coincidence. What if the brand, like you said, is the link between both?”
When she framed it that way, the similarity was impossible to ignore.
“You think it’s silly,” she said at my silence.
“No, I’m simply surprised I haven’t thought of that myself.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” I frowned, dropping my hand. “Why do you doubt yourself?”
“I’m plenty of things, but smart isn’t one of them. Basil was always—”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Compare yourself to him.”
“If you knew him—”
“I didn’t. But I already know there’s no comparison.”
Her eyes kindled. “Why are you suddenly so determined to disprove my unworthiness, yet seek Maryn’s wrath as if it’s what you deserve?”
In the quiet space between us, I was compelled to share with her a sliver of the burdens that weighed me.
Here, it was only us. No titles, no pretenses.
“It’s not for nothing. I’ve ventured into the city against Maryn’s orders in search of a way to break the curse.”
She studied me. “And how long have you been doing that?”
“The past year or so.”
“Since Hector died.”
My lungs constricted at his name. “Yeah. Since Hector died.”
Her hands sought mine, fingers tangling with my gloved ones.
I sucked in a breath. “What are you doing?”
“Holding your hands.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to.”
“You shouldn’t.” I was torn between wanting to pull away—to hide where it was safe—and wanting to feel her skin instead of the leather that divided us. All these little gestures we’d exchanged, however small, were dangerous.
“Why not?”
“Rahzlyn…”
“Why do you think the burden to break the curse rests on your shoulders?”
I searched her face, the sincere depth of her question softening something crucial inside me. “I’ve known it since I was a boy. My purpose has always been to save the queendom.”
“That’s where you’ve been going during the day, isn’t it? Back into the city?”
“Been keeping an eye on me?”
She tilted her head back slightly. “And if I have?”
“You have more important things to worry about than my whereabouts.”
She exhaled wearily. “Raithe…”
“Rahzlyn.”
“If Maryn finds out that you’re still—”
“She won’t.” From the disappointed look in her eyes, I added, “If I don’t continue to try, who else will? Gregorios is blind. Scorpio abandoned him. The rest of the realm has given up on us.”
“We don’t know—”
“What good am I with these abilities if not to use them for a higher purpose?”
She shook her head. “What would you do with your time if you weren’t a guardian?”
I didn’t have a response for her. After escaping Pipirima, all I’d known was becoming a guardian. “That’s a pointless question.”