Chapter 30
When Soren woke up, it smelled like stew, the scent of herbs filling the cavern. Her stomach gurgled, her mouth paper dry. As if sensing her needs right away, Vane handed her a clay mug filled with water and ordered, “Slowly, or you’ll make yourself sick.”
She listened, and over the lip of the mug, she said, “You need to rest too. And drink and eat. You were mortally injured, not me.”
He grimaced. “The king ensured I was fed and watered before he called me to that tent last night. And I just ate. Believe me, the last thing I want right now is to be weakened.”
She sat up further, and he handed her a bowl of stew. Swirling the spoon, she furrowed her brow and asked, “Where did you get this?”
“I made it.”
She leveled a look at him. “Not what I meant and you know it.”
His small smile lit up her entire chest, despite her worry and annoyance.
“The root vegetables grow in the soil of these peaks, and the rabbit, I caught with a snare. The broth is unfortunately just water from a small pool not far from here in the cave systems. But I did have a small store of dried herbs to help remedy the taste.”
She took a spoonful of the soup, nearly moaning. He was bluffing—it tasted excellent. But still, a bitter truth cut through the warmth.
“This was it, wasn’t it?” she asked softly, looking around. “The place where we would go. Where we hatched Thessa and Heles.”
Vane smiled, but his eyes were heavy with sorrow.
“It was funny to me, the first time I heard you refer to Thessilnn by that nickname. We tried that kind of thing with her before, and she hated it. Would leave scorch marks on your mother’s flower beds if you said it once.
But now…I think she missed you so much, she doesn’t even care. ”
“My parents knew about the dragons?”
Vane nodded. “They were both still adolescents then, but dragons aren’t exactly an easy thing to hide.
You never told them you bonded to Thessilnn, or that Heles bonded to me.
They probably wouldn’t have believed you even if you did tell them about the dragons bonding with me.
Dragons bond with mortals now, and some did then, but Vemon are a notoriously particular breed.
There’s a reason you didn’t see any but Heles and Thessilnn in Johannas’ army.
Gods and godlings have historically been the only riders they’ll bond with. ”
“But she bonded with you,” Soren said softly, setting down her now-empty bowl.
Vane lifted a shoulder. “I always figured it was because of you.”
“And if it isn’t?”
He lifted a pierced brow. “What do you mean?”
She bit her lip, reaching out to Thessa. Is now the ‘right’ time?
Thessa’s reply was sleepy and grumbled. You are stubborn. I will not waste my time trying to stop you.
“Soren?”
“When we were in flight, Thessa told me something about you. Don’t be angry with them; they were told not to say anything to us. I probably shouldn’t even be telling you now, but—”
Vane took her hand, searching her gaze. “I won’t be angry.”
She let out a breath. “Alright. You once said your father had lots of children. Who told you that?”
Vane blinked, once, then twice, obviously surprised. “My mother. She said she was one of many mortal women he’d… Well, she wasn’t the only one.”
“She lied.”
His lips parted, his head tilting. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m not sure why I didn’t know that wasn’t true at the time, being Nyx’s daughter, but Vulcan must have somehow hidden the truth. He didn’t have other children. No godlings, no demi-gods. Just you.”
Vane’s throat worked, and she saw him trying to mask his shock, even for her. She tightened her grip on his hand, and his chest expanded in a deep breath. “But that makes me…what, exactly?”
“Thessa called you Vulcan’s heir.”
A laugh broke out of him. “That’s impossible. Heirs of principals need to be named.”
“Was I named?” she asked before she could stop herself.
His face softened a fraction. “Yeah, when you were a youngling. You told me the dress you had to wear was scratchy, and that it was the first time you met Kronos.”
“Oh.” She rubbed at her face. “I hate that I can remember so little.”
“It’ll return in time,” he assured her. “And if it doesn’t, I’ll remind you every day.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked rapidly at the burning in her eyes. “Maybe Vulcan hasn’t named you yet for a reason.”
Vane snorted. “Even if there was a chance he would have before, he won’t now. I’m an exiled traitor, remember? Kronos put me under a curse tied to a mortal bloodline and closed off Arcadia because of what I did.”
“What we did,” she reminded him quietly.
His gaze dropped to their hands resting on the dusty stone floor. “If you had never met me, none of this would have happened.”
“You’re right,” she said. “And I would also be married to an abusive tyrant, probably popping out godlings and trying to find a way to keep them safe from him.”
Vane’s mouth tightened, but the look on his face turned distant, his eyes wandering somewhere behind her. She reached out, touching his face. “Vane?”
He cleared his throat. “I know. As far as Vulcan goes, I wouldn’t expect anything from him. I never have, and I’ve never been disappointed because of that.”
She tilted her head. He still wasn’t really looking at her. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
He was silent for a long moment, and she could practically see his mind working.
Heat emanated from him, and she was about to push again when he said, “We had four days after we were wed. Two of them, we spent here, and two of them, we spent apart. But the day before Kronos came for me, Ana showed up in the field where I was working and punched me in the face—well, tried to. Once she’d calmed down and stopped cursing me, she told me she’d had a vision. ”
He paused, and Soren’s stomach turned with unease. “What did she see?”
A short breath escaped him. “Ana punched me because she thought you were with child and we didn’t tell her. She thought I was putting you in danger, that we needed to run…” He trailed off. “I knew that wasn’t the case, or I thought I was sure it wasn’t.”
“Vane, what did she see?” Her heart was pounding so loud and fast, she wondered if he could hear it.
He finally looked at her as he said, “The future. You and I, with a youngling.” Anguish pierced his terse expression as he added, “I’ve never been sure I was wrong to deny her anger that day.”
Soren’s eyes widened as she realized what he meant. But she shook her head slowly, cradling his cheek in her palm. Tears ran down his face, and she swiped them away.
“I wouldn’t have kept something like that from you,” she whispered.
“So you weren’t—”
“No.”
His entire body shuddered, curving in on itself as silent sobs wracked him. “All these years,” he gasped. “I didn’t know. He made me burn your body.”
He said the last six words, nearly void of breath as he struggled to take in air. She pulled him close to her, threading her hands in his hair and murmuring, again and again, “I’m sorry, I know.”
When a few minutes had passed and he was breathing steadily again, she whispered, “What are we going to do?”
Vane lifted his head, looking around the cavern. “There is something. I thought of it once you’d begun remembering, but selfishly, I didn’t even want to consider it.”
She looked at him expectantly.
“Arcadia’s borders are closed to mortals. Evidently, Ana and I can’t cross the veil without consequence. But you could…” He shook his head, as if he didn’t even want to consider it.
But she finished for him. “I could just walk right in, couldn’t I?”
“Theoretically, yes. But there’s no telling what it would be like. A hundred years ago, many gods in Arcadia were already divided on Kronos’ ability to lead and hold so much of the realm’s power. You could be walking into a war, for all we know.”
She raised a brow. “I could never survive that.”
He didn’t laugh, though. “You would be alone, and you haven’t tested your magic to its full extent yet. I can’t send you on a suicide mission.”
“Thessa could go with me,” she said. “She would be a direct line to you and Heles should anything go wrong. She would protect me.”
“Soren—”
“I’ll go to Nyx. Surely after everything that happened, she doesn’t support Kronos.”
Vane looked doubtful. “She never did. She just bent the knee to him.”
“Then I will unbend it for her.”
She could do this—she had to. If she could gather enough gods in favor of ending Kronos’ rule, maybe it could be enough. Perhaps no mortals needed to die in this. Vane, Ana, Cion, and the others could be safe.
“I’m going to Arcadia tomorrow,” she said firmly, ether warming her insides and shadows dancing around the cavern chamber. “I’m going to kill him before he can kill me again.”