Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Clay
It had been some time since I’d last been to the Republic of Inanis, but not much had changed since the last time I’d walked these darkened halls.
They built their governing halls within the mountains that the nation was known for.
Windows were sparse, but those that existed let in the gleaming golden light that came from being this high above the sea.
Unlike my castle, where every spare inch of wall was covered in golden trappings and the finest portraits, they left most of their walls bare.
Well, my former castle, that was.
“The president will see you now,” a small woman said to me from the desk where she sat.
Wordlessly, she rose and led me into a long rectangular suite. To my left was an oval cherry wood table, likely for group meetings; to my right was President Jonan’s personal desk, directly in front of three floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the ocean.
President Jonan stood with his back to me as I entered, staring out those large windows.
“Thank you, Serafine,” he said to the woman behind me, who smiled before closing the door behind us.
“I saw you fly in,” he said to me, still without turning. “I must admit, it was quite a sight. That color of scales is rather unique.”
“They were the color of my mother’s scales.”
I hadn’t mentioned that particular fact in years.
I didn’t quite know why it came out just then.
Perhaps I needed to remind him I wasn’t just my father’s son. I’d had a mother—once—and she’d been a sweet soul who had loved me in all the ways my father hadn’t. I wanted the world to see her light when they looked at me rather than his darkness.
After a long pause of consideration, Jonan turned and met my gaze. The older man looked tired; dark circles lingered under his eyes, and his skin looked thinner than when I’d last seen him.
When exactly was the last time I’d seen him?
The Peace Ball, maybe? Gods, that felt like an eternity ago.
“Can I offer you a drink?” He asked, moving towards me and clapping a hand on my shoulder affectionately.
“No, thank you.”
He wasn’t my family—not really. He was a grandfather to my half-sisters, but nothing to me.
By the time my father had married his daughter, I’d already fancied myself a man and spent most of my days either with the army or getting into trouble with Rankor and Kent.
I knew he loved my sisters, though. I could only hope that love for them would go far enough to ensure an alliance between our peoples.
He gestured towards the table, and we sat in unison. I took my seat two down from him, enough to leave a space between us if necessary. One can never be too careful, after all.
I ran my fingertips against the shining wood. A circular table was an interesting choice. There was no head at this table—no position that offered more power than the others. A table like this wouldn’t have existed in Athenia when my father had ruled.
“You seem like you know why I’m here,” I surmised.
He nodded, staring blankly ahead at the table. “There have been rumors—whispers. I admit I was hesitant to believe most of them, but then I saw a golden dragon flying on the horizon, and it confirmed my fears.”
The old man’s breath was heavy; his shoulders slumped. The war had hardly even started, and he already looked defeated by it.
What chance did we stand if the world’s leaders all looked like this?
“We can fight back,” I implored him, unable to keep the pleading tone out of my voice. It didn't seem very kingly to come here with such a desperation in my voice.
My father wouldn’t have begged.
My father would have marched in here full of smug self-importance and insisted that his plan was the only logical path forward.
He would have insulted, outsmarted, and killed his way towards the Republic’s army.
If allies wouldn’t come willingly, he would have just killed them and taken their resources by force.
Was that the kind of king I was destined to be? Would I follow the path he had so purposefully carved out for me?
It wasn’t what I wanted, of course, but my crown meant nothing if we didn’t defeat Hyrax. This wasn’t just Athenia’s war. This war belonged to all of us. So, I had to do whatever it took to secure allies. We all had to do whatever it took to win.
I just had to convince President Jonan of that.
“Fight back against a High God?” He lifted a brow at me, twirling his wineglass by the stem.
Sitting the glass down, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment from his breast pocket and tossed it casually on the table in front of me. I didn’t need to look at the new seal to understand what sat in front of me.
“They summoned me to Hyrax’s castle to stand before His Holiness and pledge my loyalty.”
Fuck me.
If he had one of those missives, then others had gone out as well. How many leaders had already put down their swords at Hyrax’s feet?
“Why shouldn’t I be flying to Athenia right now to do just that?”
I held back the growl building in my chest, adjusting my position in my seat to allow me to lean forward and fold my hands together in front of me. “You know who he is. You know what he’s done.”
“Of course I do, but to stand against him is to risk the lives of everyone in my land. You are a king now, surely you understand the weight of that choice.”
I didn’t, though. I hadn’t had the opportunity to make a choice like that before Hyrax had already made it for me.
There wasn’t a coronation held to commemorate the start of my reign.
I hadn’t even sat on my own throne yet. Hyrax had stolen my kingdom from me before I’d even fully adjusted to the burden of being its one true leader.
So, no, I didn’t understand the weight of having to decide how to best protect my people. The only way I could protect them was by defeating the God of the Dead.
“What of my daughter?” Jonan asked, voice cracking softly.
I glanced over his shoulder, looking out the too-large windows. A cloud had come in, so thick that nothing was visible through the glass panes. It was as if everything else had completely faded out of existence.
“I cannot know for sure,” I admitted almost painfully, terrified that the potential loss of my stepmother could be what drives him to Hyrax’s feet. “Pasnia had already taken over the castle before we arrived. We assume those who did not flee with us have either pledged their loyalty or—”
“Died.” Jonan nodded, his gaze still locked on that table in front of him. I watched his jaw work. Watched the skin on his fingertips darken for a moment before fading back into pale skin. “She would never pledge loyalty, knowing that her children are heirs.”
“My generals have gone to retrieve my sisters from their school. You have my word that I will protect them.”
Amber eyes lifted to meet mine, a seriousness in them. “Thank you. They are important to me.”
“Jonan.” I held his gaze, my fingers clasped together so tightly that the whites of my knuckles were showing.
“I know you are a good man. And I hope you know I am not the man my father was. I love my people, and I will fight for them regardless of how I leave this room. You must know, though, that this isn’t just my battle to fight.
Hyrax doesn’t just seek to claim my land; he seeks to claim us all. We cannot allow this.”
He scanned me, taking in my own disheveled and tired appearance.
I’d done my best to dress the part, but there was only so much I could do when I’d been staying at a war camp and unable to find a peaceful night’s sleep.
The shadows that hung around me for far more reasons than just the weight of my crown.
And as if he could see exactly what haunted me, he pursed his lips and asked, “And what of the Hyraxian girl?”
My heart sputtered in my chest, beating out of time for a moment before speeding up.
Just a mention of her was enough to bring a picture of her to my mind’s eye, enough to make me remember the way she had felt beneath me, enough to bring a pang of longing for the look in her eyes when she had said she loved me.
I remembered that as clearly as I remembered the look in her eyes when she’d vowed herself to be Caldrius’ wife.
For me.
To protect me.
“She remains at the castle.”
There was pain in those words—pain and longing and a million other things that were un-kingly. If my father had been here, he would have scolded me. These were emotions that didn’t lend themselves to convincing this man to ally with me.
Jonan tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. “Are you surprised she remained loyal to her father?”
I swallowed. Apparently, the rumors he had heard had extended to her divinity as well.
“She is loyal to me.” A growl laced my words.
“So you think.”
“So I know.”
He knew what I meant. I know he did. Gods, he would have had to be blind not to see the love that had existed between the two of us. We’d been so terrible at hiding it.
Even then, the night of the Peace Ball, when I’d still found her to be grating and disregarding of tradition, I’d been so undeniably drawn to her. So desperate for her wit and humor that I’d broken every expectation of me and pulled her away from her mingling to dance with me.
And she had looked so beautiful in my arms, I could only marvel at how such a stunning creature had just happened upon my castle.
I’d thought myself… lucky then.
I wasn’t sure what I considered myself now.
“If that is the case,” Jonan mused, drinking deeply from his wine and setting the emptied glass on the table before continuing. “You are not asking me to ally with you in just any war.”
No, I wasn’t.
“The daughter is to fight the father.” Again, his voice cracked, and his face flashed with such unabashed grief that my chest twinged with it. “The Goddess against the God.”