29. A Plan, Sort Of #2
Larissa hesitated. Darien kicked himself mentally for bringing up her deceased adoptive father.
“Okay,” she said finally. “I know one. Do you see that constellation over to the right?”
He located the cluster of five stars barely visible in the dimming light. “Yes.”
“That is Aurvandil the Valiant. Dal called him the saddest of the stars. Aurvandil left his wife to help a friend on a quest, but on the way home, he fell into the icy river. Unable to save Aurvandil, his friend returned to Aurvandil’s wife and told her that Aurvandil chose not to pass into the afterlife.
Instead, he became a star so that he might watch over her for the rest of her days.
She was comforted every time she walked under the night sky, but when Aurvandil’s wife died of old age and passed into the afterlife, Aurvandil remained in the sky. The lovers were forever separated.”
After a beat of silence, Darien barked out a laugh. “Not quite what I was thinking when I asked for a story. Would it kill you to share one with a happy ending?”
She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. “Tell your own story, then! It’s the gods; none of their stories have happy endings!” But her own laughter let him know she wasn’t serious.
Darien’s eyes grew heavier as the shadows lengthened across the road. He hoped Anara would find a place to stop soon.
Larissa’s fingers played with the edge of her sleeve. “Do you think Halla is okay back there with Kai?”
Darien’s eyes caught on the rear view mirror. He could catch a glimpse of Halla leaning on the side of the truck bed, staring into the forest around them. “Why wouldn’t she be?”
“What do you think about him?”
“I don’t really know him, besides the obvious.”
“That he’s from Diamant.” Larissa’s voice was too light, too forced.
“That bothers you?”
“Doesn’t it bother you?” she asked.
“He isn’t Shiko, Lara.”
“I know.” Frustration crept into her voice. “But I see him, and I see her .”
Shiko. The Empress. “That’s hardly fair on him.”
She slumped against the door frame. “I know; I’m working on it.”
Anara cawed, catching a low draft of wind and drifting toward the side of the road.
There was a slight gap between the thick line, but Darien could only go so far before the forest provided no allowance for Helga’s bulky frame.
Though the stretches of road between commonwealths were often abandoned, it would only take one sentry’s vehicle to cause a spectacle.
He could only hope they weren’t looking too closely at the forest.
Larissa threw open her door before he’d come to a complete stop, no doubt wanting to stretch her legs. Darien moved more slowly, his body stiff from a day’s worth of driving, and shoved open Helga’s door, joining Anara and Larissa at the back of the truck bed where Halla and Kai waited for them.
Halla stared at Kai, her eyebrows pinched together in concern, but there wasn’t time for Darien to investigate, Anara was already arguing with Larissa.
“—no,” Larissa was saying. “There is no way you are going alone into Smaragd. What if something goes wrong? We’ll never know.”
“Larissa, I’ve done missions like this a hundred times before. Nothing will go wrong if it’s just me. No one will even know I’m there.”
Larissa snorted. “Except for Kiah. How did she become Regent anyhow? Shiko murdered her parents!”
“Kiah was given a choice,” Anara said. “She swore her loyalty to the Empress and enslaved her people for her own survival.”
“And her child’s,” added Kai.
They all turned to the boy, who had uttered the words seemingly without intending to be heard. He traced the grooves of the open tailgate, unwilling to meet even Halla’s eyes.
But Darien’s mind was already moving past this. “ Did her child survive?”
“Apparently so.” Anara waved a hand at the question. “No doubt he’s just as spineless as the rest of his people.”
Darien shared a look with Larissa. Smaragd and Rubin had never exactly agreed on their philosophies, but the war had only made their division more distinct. Darien hedged his next question carefully. “Anara, do you think you’re the best person to go?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her words were deadly cool.
“Only, we need information from Kiah, and ideally, we’re not planning to torture it out of her.” When Anara didn’t respond, Darien said more forcibly. “Because torture is bad , remember?”
Anara rolled her eyes but released her crossed arms. “Yes, yes, torture is bad.” She examined her lengthening nails that curved into claws. “But a lot comes before torture.”
“Anara!” Larissa cried in exasperation.
“Kidding! Mostly.” Her nails shrank, but the mischievous grin remained on her face. “I’ll get in and out with none but Kiah the wiser.”
“She turned on her own people for her survival. What makes you think she won’t turn on you?” Larissa asked.
“It’s not a matter of loyalty. Kiah won’t reveal my presence if she doesn’t have to.”
“Why, because you’re so charming?” Darien asked.
“Because of her pacifism. She won’t want to cause a scene or bring Shiko’s attention to Smaragd. She’ll give me what I want as long as I leave. She’ll want my presence to remain a secret more than myself. She’s Smaragdian.”
Anara’s words rang true, and although he didn’t love the idea of her going in alone, it would be far less conspicuous than them traveling as a group. Larissa kicked a rock at the ground. “I still don’t like it.”
“We’ve got another half a day’s worth of driving for you to come up with something else,” Anara offered. “But if not, that’s the plan. The sooner we’re heading back to Safír to meet with the Vienám, the better.”
On that, Darien couldn’t agree more.
“So, camp then?” Halla offered.
“I’d rather not,” Larissa interrupted. “Anara’s right, and without much tree cover here, we’d be better off to keep moving.”
Darien resisted the urge to groan as the burn behind his eyes reminded him of his exhaustion. It would take driving through the night and then some to reach Smaragd.
Though he made no sound, Anara shot him a side glance. “You’re dead tired. Larissa can drive. I can spot ahead, but my owl form won’t hold as long as my raven. I’ll have to rest more. We’ll be taking a risk.”
“We’re taking a risk anyways,” Kai muttered. Halla nudged him, looking more annoyed than perhaps his comment warranted.
Darien scratched at the scruff on his face, his mind ticking off their objectives one by one.
Drive to Smaragd without being seen by sentries.
Sneak Anara inside. Retrieve directions from Kiah.
Find the Norn. Avoid alerting Calder to their location.
Rendezvous with the Vienám in Safír. Find a way to stay with Larissa.
And then there was just the little complication of overthrowing an Empress who had demolished centuries of peace.
He let his hands drop in surrender. “Well, it’s a plan. Not a good one, but we’ve had worse.”
Larissa’s lips turned up in a flash, and Darien wondered if she was thinking of the disastrous summer carnival of her thirteenth birthday too. He caught himself before he could speak again.
No distractions.
But as Larissa walked away, Darien’s eyes trailed after her. He wasn’t fooling anyone. Least of all himself.