Chapter 15 #2
I nodded, unable to voice the implication of his words. It hung between us, though, just as it had been hanging over me since the second Hyrax had stepped through that golden portal Pasnia had forced her to open.
Hyrax against Thea meant only one thing.
“You are suggesting there is to be a third War of the Gods.”
His voice was quiet, but he might as well have been screaming at me for the way his words rattled my bones, filling me with the sudden urge to shift into my dragon form so that I might be better prepared to face a threat.
This threat did not need the beast inside of me, though.
This threat needed every ounce of strategy and maneuvering that I had in me.
This threat demanded both the ruthless ability to do and say anything of my father and the compassionate empathy of my mother.
If I wanted Athenia to live through this war—if I wanted the Mortal Realm to emerge a land of free people at the end of this war—I needed to convince every single soul I could that to stand against Hyrax was to stand up for us all.
“It is not a suggestion, President,” I cleared my throat, letting my voice sit deeper within my chest. My back straightened, head lifted, and I felt the weight of a crown on my head even if it did not exist. “It is the reality of the situation we are in. A reality our ancestors found themselves in twice before. They stood for what was right, and they won. I have to believe we can accomplish the same. So, I come here not only to ask you to ally with me in this fight, but to ask you what side of history you wish to stand on.”
He ran a hand down his jaw, his expression equally contemplative and pained.
“Do this for your granddaughters,” I implored him, when the silence started to feel crushing. “They will never be safe while Hyrax sits in their ancestral home.”
His eyes snapped to mine, the tips of his fingers darkening.
“They will be safe here,” he challenged, standing in a rush.“Inanis is as much of their home as Athenia is, and it will be safe if I bow to Hyrax.”
Standing, he lifted both hands to rest nervously atop his head, moving away from me only to move back. Away and back. The old man paced and paced with no end in sight.
There was no simple answer to what I was asking of him.
There was no easy decision to make.
“And you would want that life for them?” I questioned, rising and resting both of my palms on the surface of the table.
“A life here while Hyrax terrorizes their home, their people? You cannot think that he will be satisfied with my kingdom alone. Surely, you know that it doesn’t matter how long you stay on your knees before him, he will come for your land too, and he will kill anyone who stands in his way! ”
Jonan spun towards me, lifting an accusatory finger. “How can I stand behind her? How can I risk that? I understand what you feel for her, but that girl is nothing but a child compared to Hyrax.”
I was at my full height in an instant, standing tall as rage shot down me in a current that sparked through my veins. This time, I didn’t stop the snarl that ripped out of me. “That woman, that Goddess, has more strength than you give her credit for.”
He leveled his glare at me, chest rising and falling steadily. “You truly think she can defeat him?”
I let every ounce of love and dedication I felt for her show on my face then. I didn't care if it made me look un-kingly. After all, if at the end of this Thea decided she wanted to rule over Athenia, she would have that right as a Goddess, and I would gladly stand at her side.
I was a king second and hers first.
“I would bet my life on it.”
“It’s not just your life you’re betting!”
He turned away again, breathing deeply in a struggle that looked all too familiar. I wasn’t the only one trying to battle down a beast form that came out when the threats seemed too great to handle.
For a moment, we both stood frozen, his deep inhales and exhales the only sound filling the small office. I waited patiently, trying not to count his breaths.
Trying not to give up hope.
“Get her out of that castle,” he demanded, the order an unbending decree that hung between us.
“I cannot in good faith ally my people with a dying nation. That’s what you are right now, boy.
You are a king without a crown. You lead an army that has fled, and you ask for allies based on the promise of a Goddess who currently does not stand with you. ”
Jonan turned back to face me, and as impossible as it felt, I schooled my face into that mask of indifference that my father taught me to wear so long ago.
“Get Theadora out of that castle. Show me that this is truly a war between two Gods and not just a rebellion against the God who has made his home in our realm, and then I will consider allying with you.”
He said nothing more.
He pushed past me and out of the room at such a furious pace that I was sure he was losing the battle with his beast. He was leaving to go fly. And in doing so, he was leaving me here with the echoes of his request tightening around me like a noose.
It wasn’t a no.
But it wasn’t a fucking yes either.
So once again, I faced the realization that everything that meant anything was currently trapped inside that castle, and I needed to get her out.