Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Do you think the food is poisoned?” Matea whispered from my left.
I fixed a pointed look at my sister in warning, though I couldn’t say I hadn’t already considered that thought myself.
When our group had filed into the spacious dining room after following Lyra through Castle Avyer, we’d been surprised to find it empty—void of any of the Rividian royals.
The room itself was constructed of the same earth-grown materials as the rest of the castle, including many of the room’s components.
The giant table in the center, the same one we all had taken a seat at, looked as though it had sprouted up from the floor.
The people of the Ocrein Isles seemed to be very in tune with their zirilium—at least here in the castle.
The rectangular black table had two crystal chairs on each end. Lyra had motioned for Byn and me to sit at one end, leaving the rest of the Valwain to sit closest to us—though my wings made sure I was the one left most uncomfortable.
Byn was to my right, with Teagan and Margo on the other side of him.
Matea was on my left with Laurence next to her, then Rayven.
Laurence had subtly tried to beat Matea to be closest to me—an act of protection I appreciated—but ended up between Matty and Rayven.
Rayven, who had obviously been attempting to take a spot next to Matea, had gotten booted.
If Laurence realized the awkward predicament he’d found himself in, he didn’t portray it. He was too focused on drinking in the surrounding details, keeping an eye on each entrance and exit.
The rest of the Valwain filled in almost the rest of the table.
Four empty chairs remained on the other side.
The two across from Byn and me, we assumed, remained empty for the king and queen—if they ever graced us with their presence.
Next to that set of chairs, though, stood two extras for their heir and eldest princess—or so I was guessing.
“That wouldn’t be a very intelligent move on their part,” Ezra responded to Matty from the other side of the table. “We’re the only thing standing between them and the North.”
Quinn swiftly reached over and grabbed her husband’s hand, squeezing. A warning, it seemed.
Byn leaned forward. “Ezra—”
“—is correct,” Queen Rividian finished for him.
All heads at the table snapped toward the far corner of the room, where I assumed a hidden door was, though the way the light bounced around in the crystals made it difficult to tell.
Next to her stood her husband, who hadn’t changed since we last saw him. The queen, though, had redressed into another gown—golden yellow to match the gold in her hair—that was even more revealing than the previous one, its neckline dangerously low.
Though the rulers before us had to be at least over twice my age, they had retained their youth and beauty impressively well.
Maybe it had something to do with having peace in their kingdom for over the past decade.
Byn rose to his feet. “I apologize for his bluntness—”
“Please, save the pleasantries. And stay seated. We’re here to join you,” the king said before they both crossed the space and took their seats at the opposite end of the table.
Before anybody could utter a word, two shadows that I recognized as Callum and Caelia squeezed out from under one of the other, more noticeable doors, and speared toward the table.
A moment later, the prince and princess were sitting next to their parents on their respective sides.
“Like my wife said, your friend Ezra here is correct—the only reason you’ve not been sent back home is because without you all, there’s nothing stopping the North from coming after us next.” King Rividian jerked his chin toward Ezra when mentioning his name.
“Though it seems you’ve already brought them here,” the queen added smugly, throwing a blatant glare my way.
“I understand that our union may strike you as odd, but Aviva has more than proven herself. She is my wife and queen, and she deserves respect—despite your opinions,” Byn stated matter-of-factly, not breaking eye contact with the queen across from us.
Something shifted slightly in her expression at the way he stood his ground, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.
“She might have earned your respect, but what has she done to earn ours?” King Rividian questioned. “Actually, let us start at the beginning. How did your union come to be?”
Before I could glance over at Byn to gauge his reaction and follow his lead, he placed a hand above my knee and squeezed softly. Encouragingly.
He was letting me handle this.
Callum and Caelia had been right. I would have to earn their respect my own way.
Taking a deep breath, I looked straight at the couple across from me, and started from the very beginning.
Leaving out the part about how, for most of my life, I’d been certain I’d killed my mother, I started with my father and the elixirs, claiming I began taking them after an accident.
From there, it spiraled into how my father had proposed giving my hand in marriage to Byn in exchange for peace between the North and South.
Byn chimed in briefly to mention that he’d have done nearly anything for peace after losing his parents, but that our union had been a blessing from the Stars after all.
I started again with how my Southern zirilium began to emerge after I’d stopped taking the elixirs, then skipped forward to when Aurora had come to warn us of the impending battle—and how that warning had likely saved lives, especially civilians.
When vaguely mentioning that my father had met his doom during that battle, the king interrupted. “King Horace is no more?”
“Who rules the North now?” the queen added.
Internally cringing, I answered, “My father has met his end, yes. My twin brother, Dimitri, now sits on the Heartshire throne, and… he’s decided to follow in our father’s footsteps.”
The rulers shared a brief glance, their shock evident.
“Carry on,” Queen Rividian directed.
Taking a deep breath, I resumed with what we’d discovered since we’d won the war—with the help of the Isles.
After that, I allowed some of the Valwain to chime in on our revelations.
Laurence described how we’d noticed the records not making sense, and how Matea’s suspicions had been enough of a push for us to pursue the matter.
We recounted our time sneaking into the North—where I could feel the silent judgement radiating off the king and queen—and the encampment we’d unveiled while there, as well as how our zirilium had been temporarily snuffed out.
In the end, the reason why we’d come all the way to the Isles was glaringly obvious.
And yet, the rulers across from us still seemed to be questioning me.
“You mentioned you had Southern zirilium and your Northern ones. How is that?” King Rividian asked, looking my way.
“While in the South, I discovered that my mother hails from one of the South’s noble families—the Ashfords. I’m not sure how our mother came to be with my father, but she ended up in the North—as the queen. Though, she wasn’t seen often by the civilians—likely so her origins would remain secret.”
“Our mother?” the queen pushed.
“Yes,” I said, motioning towards Matea. “This is Matea Ashford, my half-sister. We share a mother, and as a matter of fact, her father was originally from these Isles.”
The queen cocked an eyebrow as she took in Matea with a newfound interest, but she said nothing further.
“Entertain me—which zirilium are you able to wield?” the king said, eyes back on me.
Beginning to grow frustrated, I snapped, “All of them.”
The king’s eyes widened as his wife gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
“Et monlya,” the queen whispered the Nolvym words—though it was so quiet, I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly.
“Et monlya?” Byn questioned.
Adding in the same dead language so few new, I asked, “What does that mean?” Despite my studies of the ancient tongue, I didn’t recognize the word.
The queen, seeming to regret having spoken, clenched her jaw shut.
The king, though, looked more than willing to fill in the blanks. He looked around at those sitting at the table, who all were trying to decode our conversation, before looking back at Byn in question.
“Whatever you have to say can be said before anybody we brought into this room,” he reassured King Rividian.
Nodding, the king picked up the slack of his wife.
“Et monlya translates literally to the one who commands earth and sky. In the ancient texts of the ancestors, though, it was a title. A name for somebody to come. It’s been so long, everybody simply assumed it was nothing more than a myth. And yet… here you are.” He cast his gaze my way.
“It was a text written by my ancestor,” the queen chimed in, clarifying.
“Her name was Tarynama, and she was a fierce ruler. This war you are in started a few generations before her reign. It’s noted that as a child, she’d been in an accident where they thought she’d died—but somehow, she’d just barely survived.
Yet after the accident, it was said that she came back different.
Wiser, but often more distant. She wrote that in her dreams, the Stars themselves would visit her.
And that they would someday send et monlya to fix the mistake they had made. ”
“Mistake?” Teagan chimed in, pushing for more information.
The king and queen stalled, as if stunned by our lack of what seemed to be common knowledge to them.
“The star stones, of course,” Caelia said, finally speaking up for the first time since making her entrance alongside her older brother.
The room went silent enough that I could hear Byn’s breathing next to me—deep and deliberate, probably to combat the immense anxiety flooding between him and me.
When none of the Valwain said anything, Callum picked up where she’d left off.
“According to the records, the Stars told Tarynama that sending the star stones to your King Baron had been a mistake. That if they hadn’t sent the stones, this war wouldn’t have broken out. So they promised Tarynama a solution someday—a solution that may just be you, Aviva.”
“Me?” My eyes widened, then I shook my head. “That’s impossible. It’s just a coincidence.”
“My thoughts exactly. The Stars wouldn’t make another horrible mistake—such as making et monlya a Northerner,” Queen Rividian hissed. “Who knows where her loyalties lie?”
I ground my teeth together as I listened to the queen doubt my motives and loyalties. Who was she to question me?
I could feel the air in the large room beginning to stir. The more my thoughts spiraled, the harsher the wind within the room became. Soon, our napkins were flying off the table, and our hair was flying in all directions as my emotions overcame me.
I was the physical embodiment of the wind of our realm.
And I was the very air they all breathed.
Finally fed up with always having to defend myself, I slammed my hands onto the table, rattling dishes as I stood.
“You want to know where my loyalties lie? I’m the one who slayed my very own father!
” I bit out aggressively, though I wasn’t done there.
“I am the one who has sacrificed my entire life for the good of my people—from both of my nations. I am the one who took down King Horace Heartshire of the North in the Battle of Shadows. And I am going to be the one who brings peace to all of Inphis—even if I die trying.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as the air in the room became further electrified with my zirilium—a storm lying in wait just beneath the surface of my skin. My breathing came quick and shallow as I stared down the table at the queen, refusing to look away from her intense gaze.
A few heartbeats of silence later, she began to clap ever so slowly.
“Now that, young queen, is how you gain my respect,” she announced.
My brows drew together as I fought to keep my emotions—and my zirilium—in check. I was vaguely aware of Byn’s hand on my lower back, guiding me back down to sit in my seat once again.
Just at Byn’s touch, I was able to release the hold I’d had on my Northern zirilium.
They weren’t necessary right now.
“My apologies, but he did have it coming,” her husband said. “You did the right thing.”
I loosened a breath, trying to steady myself as I responded quietly, “I know.”
“Now that you know everything, you must know why we’re here,” Teagan said, her tone cautious.
“Hm?” Queen Rividian hummed, as if we had all the time on the continent to spare.
“We want you to open your borders long enough for you all to help us win this war—once and for all. And we want access to your navy to do it,” Quinn spoke out, bold as ever.
The rulers looked shocked at her outspokenness, leaning back in their chairs as they glanced towards me and Byn.
“The general speaks with our voice when it comes to these things,” my husband said, refusing to correct or reprimand Quinn.
“Truthfully, we imagined this was what you all had come for,” the king responded, moving forward with the conversation after a breath of hesitation.
“And my wife and I are in agreement. We’ll do this for you all—lend our support, our soldiers, our navy.
But we have a… stipulation of our own that we’d like you Thorntiers to consider. ”
“And once you agree, we can finally eat,” the queen said, looking at the food before us that had gone untouched—and was likely cold by now.
That was something Callum and Caelia had taught me during our journey—that in the Isles, nobody was permitted to eat in the presence of the king and queen until the royals themselves had begun to dig in.
“Alright, I’ll bite,” Byn said, breezing past the comment from Queen Rividian. “What do you want from us?”
At that, the two rulers shared a long look, a smirk growing on the queen’s lips as they finally looked back toward us.
“Our stipulation is quite simple, really,” she said airily.
And then King Rividian finally revealed what it was they wanted from us.
“As this conversation seems to have brought to light, the South needs the Ocrein Isles. And as it turns out, we need the South, too.” He paused briefly, as if he wanted us to feel the full impact of what he was about to say.
“As was done for centuries to strengthen royal and noble lines, we simply request that your princess marry our heir.”