The Fire Court Third
The Fire
Court Third
Six Years Later
“I don’t even get the courtesy of being seen in his Highness’s throne room?
” the thief griped as Rayner led him down a hall at the Fiera Palace in Solembra.
The thief craned his neck to peer into the formal dining room, then looked back at the door they’d stopped in front of. “Really? A fucking pantry?”
Rayner didn’t say anything, letting his ashes push open the door as he shoved the thief through.
The Fire Prince was seated at a table, dealing two hands of cards. He looked up when the door opened, that arrogant grin Rayner saw so often these days appearing. “I was beginning to worry,” Sorin said, dealing the last few cards. He nodded at the one empty seat. “Sit.”
The thief looked over his shoulder at Rayner. “I’m to watch you two play cards?”
Rayner rolled his eyes. “He’s talking to you, you dick. Just sit down.” He stepped around the thief, moving to the bar that ran along the back of the room.
“That one’s for you,” Sorin said, pointing at a full liquor glass beside the cards he’d dealt.
The thief’s golden eyes bounced back and forth between the Fire Prince and the Ash Rider. Rayner just sent him a taunting smile.
“I am not going to bite,” Sorin drawled, taking a sip of his own liquor.
“No. You’ll just toss me in your cells for a time,” the thief bit back.
Sorin sighed. “Sit down, Cyrus. I have a proposition for you.”
Cyrus’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know my name?”
The prince sat back in his chair, swirling his glass, the ice clinking.
“I know a lot about you. I know you grew up in my port city of Aelyndee, but have not been back there in decades. I know you have been a thief since you could walk. I know you have swindled more people than I can count. I know you have been robbing some of the wealthier of my subjects.”
Cyrus opened his mouth to speak, but Sorin held up his hand. Rayner took a sip from his glass to hide his smirk.
He’d been working for Sorin since he came back from the islands six years ago.
The prince and Eliné had helped find homes for all the innocent people he’d freed from the colony.
In fact, the Water and Fire Princes had been waiting for them when they docked in the Water Court.
Once they had all been settled, Rayner had taken the time he’d needed to refill his magic reserves, but he’d kept his word.
He’d had people looking into this thief Sorin was having troubles with.
They had quite a few leads for him to follow, and as soon as his reserves were full several months later, he’d started looking into all of them.
They’d eventually led him to Cyrus, where he’d watched him single-handedly pickpocket an entire tavern in minutes and then walk into a wealthy district and do the same thing at a theater.
Rayner could have brought him in that very day, but Sorin had asked him to watch the male.
Learn about him. Figure out why it had taken them so long to catch up with him.
Figure out what made him so godsdamn good at what he did.
Rayner could admit he was looking forward to seeing the male’s reaction to Sorin’s proposition.
“I also know you are an excellent thief because you can read people,” Sorin was saying.
“You have learned to watch others and figure out what makes them tick. You know how to find weaknesses and exploit them. You know how to do this without the other person realizing they have been swindled until it is done and you are long gone. That is talent, my friend.” He tipped his glass in salute at Cyrus before taking another drink.
“I know I’m good at what I do,” Cyrus drawled, swiping up his cards and putting them in order. “If you dragged me all the way here to congratulate me on effectively robbing your subjects, you could have just asked me to come. You didn’t need to send the Ash Rider after me.”
“His name is Rayner,” Sorin said conversationally, organizing his own hand. “Between him and his network of contacts, we have had eyes on you for a few years now.”
“Fucking busybodies,” Cyrus muttered, tossing some coin onto the table.
Sorin shrugged, placing his own bet in the middle of the table. “It is my job to protect my subjects’ best interests. That includes learning who is robbing them blind.”
Cyrus tossed his cards onto the table, pulling the coin towards himself. “Great. You solved the riddle. What are you going to do with me now?”
“Offer you a job.”
“Fuck off,” Cyrus snorted, picking up the glass and taking a long drink.
Sorin placed his forearms on the table, leaning in to Cyrus. “I meant what I said, Cyrus. You have a unique talent. One I could use in my Court.”
“You want me to work for you?”
“Work with me.”
“Semantics.”
“I am having some … disagreements with the Earth Court regarding Artist fees. I want you to help me with negotiations. Use these skills of yours to help me figure out my best angles.”
Cyrus’s eyes narrowed. “Then what?”
Sorin sat back, raking the cards in and shuffling them. “If we work well together and get along like I suspect we will, I want you to be my Second.”
Cyrus went completely still. “Come again?”
“I know it sounds out of the blue to you, but like I said, Rayner has been watching you for the last few years. He has been reporting back everything he has learned about you. There is a weakness in my Court, and I think you can help fix that.”
“Why not make him your Second?”
Sorin glanced at Rayner, and the Ash Rider shrugged.
“Because he is my Third. He is also my personal spy and is often gone for long periods of time. I need my Second to be more accessible.”
“You hardly know me,” Cyrus said.
“Hence the trial run with the Earth Court, but I think I know enough from what Rayner has gathered. I trust his opinions,” Sorin said, dealing the cards once more. “I already have rooms prepared for you if you accept.”
“Live here?” Cyrus asked, picking up his cards.
“Rayner has another residence in the city, but he mostly stays here. You are free to do whatever you like, but you will always have rooms available here as well.”
The male just stared back at Sorin as if the idea of a place to call his own was foreign to him.
“So let me get this straight: I help you negotiate with the earth prick, and if you get all warm and gooey inside over how well we work together, you want me to be your Second-in-Command. What’s the catch?”
Sorin tossed some coin onto the table. “I have my eye on a new general for my forces. She is kind of difficult to get along with. You would have to deal with her.”
Cyrus scoffed. “A female? That’s the catch?”
Sorin and Rayner exchanged a look. Cyrus had no idea what exactly this female could do to him. Rayner was a rare Ash Rider and even he avoided Eliza when she was in a foul mood.
“Fuck it,” Cyrus finally said when he won the next round of cards again. “I’m in.”
“Why?” Sorin asked curiously.
“Like you said,” he answered, knocking back the rest of his drink with a smirk. “I’m excellent at reading people.”
Sorin chuckled, glancing at Rayner again. “You in?”
Rayner nodded, grabbing the liquor bottle and bringing it to the table, sliding it over to Cyrus as Sorin dealt him in. He kept his eye on Cyrus while they played. It wasn’t his official role anymore, but it was ingrained in him at this point to constantly be guarding his sovereign’s back.
Only now that sovereign was more friend-turned-family than prince he served out of any sort of obligation.
He’d sworn allegiance to him a year ago, the Mark on his chest proof of that vow.
It had been hard to get used to, learning that he could depend on someone else.
Trusting after doing so much on his own for so long.
He’d brought Aravis’s body back with him that day six years ago.
Sorin had performed her Farewell Rites himself.
He’d been there waiting for her, just as Rayner had asked him to be in case he did not survive Moranna.
Sorin and the Water Prince had stepped in, taking control of everything the moment Sorin had seen him step off the ship carrying Aravis’s body wrapped tightly in his cloak.
He’d been nothing, going through the motions to get innocent people somewhere safe.
He’d never been more grateful to not be alone.
To have someone there to take over when he had nothing left to give.
“Since you two assholes apparently know my life story, what’s yours?” Cyrus asked, dealing the next hand.
Sorin paused, his glass halfway to his lips, shooting a glance at Rayner. He knew the prince would intervene if Rayner wanted him to, but Rayner just sent the thief a dark grin. “Do you know what a dreamer’s lie is?” he asked, picking up his cards.
“Do tell,” Cyrus murmured.
“That all nightmares have an end. Some never do. I didn’t know if mine ever would,” Rayner replied, tossing coin onto the table to place his bet.
“And now?” Cyrus asked, refilling his drink.
“Depends on the day,” Rayner answered truthfully.
Cyrus snickered, toasting him with his glass. “I hear that.”
And hours later, when the thief was passed out on one of the overstuffed sofas and Rayner was still seated next to Sorin at the table, sipping on a final glass of liquor, he asked, “What do you think?”
Sorin knocked back the last of his drink, mulling over his thoughts. “He has his own darkness to overcome.”
“We all do.”
“Do you think he can do it?” Sorin asked, setting his glass down with a faint thud.
“I think he’ll make an excellent Second if he can face his nightmares,” Rayner answered. “They won’t end until he does.”
They sat in silence for a long moment before Sorin said, “He will fit in well. Balance us all out, especially once Eliza is ready to be part of this Inner Court.”
“You think she will accept?”
Sorin snickered. “A chance to take the position from a male and prove herself? She is as bloodthirsty as they come. You know that.”
“And her nightmares?” Rayner pressed.
Sorin’s grin fell, his features turning grave. “Together. If we can all learn to trust each other, to depend on each other, we can face those nightmares. If we can do that, we will be a force on this continent.”
“It’ll take time,” Rayner supplied.
“We’ve got time,” Sorin answered. “The war is settling. Our people are safe. We take the time to do this right to ensure they remain so.”
“Whatever it takes then,” Rayner said.
Sorin nodded. “Whatever it takes.”
Leaving Cyrus to sleep off his alcohol in the den, they went up to the floor where their private rooms were located. But when Sorin went to his chambers, Rayner continued up to the top floor. It had been a long night, and the sun would be rising soon.
Fire Court Third.
Another name he now went by.
And as he watched the sun break over the horizon, he couldn’t help but wonder what other names the Oracle had glimpsed in his future.