Chapter 27
Esmyra
Esmyra stood at the top of the tower’s staircase, staring at the door before pushing it open to reveal the chamber.
The familiar, dark grey brickwork of the tower appeared, the walls shimmering faintly in the low merlights. Massive windows stretched from floor to ceiling, showing an unbroken view of Maerinys and the ocean beyond. The Veil of Visions sat in the tower’s center, its water mimicking liquid glass.
Esmyra took a step up to the basin, a chill running along her spine as she stared down at herself in the water. She stood before it in her mortal form, but her heart leapt in her throat when she saw the reflection staring back at her was Kaelypso’s.
“We are one in the same.”
Esmyra’s muscles tensed at that.
She hadn’t been up here since the day she watched her father’s murder. Hadn’t dared step foot in the tower since she ran from it, down the spiral stairs, and to the front steps of the palace as her power burst from her in an eruption of grief and rage.
Esmyra needed familiarity, but even more than that, she needed the truth.
The truth of why her father was in Maerinys the day it sank and why he saved her instead of both twins as they lay in their cribs.
Surely he had been in the room for a reason, and maybe his curse was the result of what he took… of who he took.
Not just a royal heir, but a god.
She peered back down into the water, an ache clawing at her throat as she was overcome with endless questions.
Cyrus Blackwood had pulled her from a fate sealed in darkness, from a cursed damnation that he took on himself. The weight of it felt like chains around her ribs, but the details of the past blurred like ink in water, and she didn’t know what to trust.
Esmyra had believed her father for many years, only to find out he’d lied. She believed Draevyn when he finally broke through her walls. And she believed Syrena when she spoke of Kaelypso and Naerysa’s past.
But who was to say that was the truth? The more time she spent in this newly raised kingdom, the more she began to question everything. And she knew the one way to get the truth—the full truth—was by demanding it from the Veil of Visions.
She stepped closer to the basin, her fingers carefully wrapping around its stone edges. “Show me.”
The air stirred, a subtle breeze fluttering through the room and causing a ripple in her reflection of the water.
Her heartbeat thudded in her chest, a reminder that she was alive, and yet, not whole. Even after learning of Maerinys and obtaining Kaelypso’s power, something inside her still felt unfinished, like a book with pages torn free and burned before she could read them.
“Please… show me who I was. Show me the truth of my father’s past and what led to the day Maerinys sank.” As the words slipped past her lips, her thoughts raced in quiet chaos.
The runes along the floor ignited in a pale-blue sheen, spiraling around the basin. The water’s surface began to ripple, as if the Veil itself had drawn a breath before flaring to life with blinding light.
The brightness wasn’t golden with warmth, but pale and sharp like moonfire. Her breath caught in her throat as the ground beneath her vanished. The air was ripped from her lungs as she went to scream, but it twisted into a single high-pitched ring as the Veil tugged at her soul.
It felt like her spine had been caught by a hook, as if something was reaching inside of her and yanking her forward. Her limbs went weightless, her skin tingling with an icy heat as her vision shattered into a cascade of color and shadow.
Time folded in on itself, and space bent until up and down meant nothing at all. The room around her disappeared and her body fell away.
And then the world itself paused.
The Veil’s pull released her all at once, like a breath held too long and finally let go. The weight of her body returned, her heart pounding wildly as her fingers trembled.
Slowly, Esmyra opened her eyes and realized she was no longer looking into the past.
She was inside it.
Esmyra stood between two towering windows, the tall violet curtains fluttering with the breeze.
A balcony stretched out before her, the sea glittering in the distance like glass.
Her jaw fell open in awe as she took a few hesitant steps up to the rail.
The sunrise above burned in molten hues, casting gold across the realm.
Where was she? She had never seen a view like this before. It was breathtaking.
But before she could take in more of her surroundings, the sound of soft, steady breathing drew her attention back inside.
Esmyra turned from the rail, her eyes widening as she took in the room that lay just beyond the high-arching windows. Her bare feet padded across the floor, her sheer dress billowing in the small gusts of wind.
The massive chamber opened before her, carved from smooth, pale stone veined with shimmering white and gold. To her left, an arched doorway led to a bathing chamber she could only just glimpse, and to her right, a table was set with figs, soft cheeses, and bread.
And there, on the far side of the room, was a grand bed fit for kings and gods alike with two figures lying across it.
The silken sheets pooled around them, rumpled around their waists, their bodies were bathed in the molten light. As she took a few steps closer, her eyes narrowed and found it was a man and a woman.
The hard planes of the man’s chest caught the soft light of sunrise that spilled through the towering windows.
His features were relaxed as his dark lashes kissed the tops of his cheeks.
The man looked lean and powerful, sleeping with a hand resting beneath his head; the other hand was wrapped around the woman tucked into his side.
Her breath caught then.
Silver hair fanned over their pillows like strands of moonlight, her face mere inches from his.
Her skin glowed faintly as her power coiled beneath it, showing in her swirling tattoos.
The blanket barely covered the curve of her hip and the line of her bare shoulder, exposing the elegant slope of her back.
Her taloned hand was on his chest, her fingers splayed in possessiveness.
Kaelypso and Irah.
They looked… whole. Happy, even. Like the sea and flame had found balance, and his betrayal had never touched their world.
Even in their slumber, the gods looked like they were in love.
“I will find you again.” Esmyra remembered the words Irah had whispered to Kaelypso the day he murdered her.
If he never intended to betray her, or wanted to find her in another life, then why would he ever agree to plunge the blade into her heart?
The sight of them wrapped in each other was so painfully beautiful. Esmyra longed to feel what that version of herself—what Kaelypso—must’ve felt.
Whole. Cherished. Free.
Draevyn’s face came into her mind, and then the tightness in her chest started to twist.
Because if this was meant to be their fate, why had Irah let her go? Why hadn’t he fought for her when she was bound in chains, when her magic was stripped, or when they all turned against her and her sister?
Why is the veil showing me this? She had asked to see the truth of her father and the cause of Maerinys’s fall.
Esmyra reached for Kaelypso within, but she went unanswered. She could feel her, but it more-so felt like how it had all her life. Like the goddess was buried within her, trapped. Esmyra wondered if it was because her soul was already here in the past.
The Kaelypso lying on the bed stirred then, her lashes fluttering like petals caught in a breeze. Her fingers flexed across Irah’s bare chest as she smiled up at him. She leaned in and pressed a slow, lingering kiss to his lips. He didn’t wake, but his breath deepened beneath her touch.
Esmyra suddenly felt like she was intruding on an intimate memory.
“Why would he betray you if you loved each other?” she whispered.
A deep sadness erupted through her chest the second she asked the question, but she knew the emotion wasn’t her own. Guilt crept into her as her goddess was forced to relive the heartache of betrayal caused at Irah’s hands.
The version of her in the memory studied his face for a heartbeat longer, brushing a knuckle along the edge of his jaw.
Then, silently, she slipped from the bed.
She was entirely nude as she strutted to the door before grabbing a robe of sheer blue silk and throwing it on.
The fabric trailed behind her like mist as she glided toward the arched doorway and out of the room.
But as soon as the door closed softly behind her, the air in the room changed.
An aching chill ran along Esmyra’s spine as confusion settled in. Irah was now alone, still sleeping, but she couldn’t help but feel like danger was suddenly lurking in the corner.
From the far wall, a shimmer of magic caught her eye. The urge to hide behind the curtain was overwhelming, but she knew that she was essentially a phantom in a memory.
Esmyra blinked as the shimmer peeled back like a veil, and when her eyes adjusted in the dim light, Naerysa stepped into view. Her lips curved into a dark grin as her amber eyes locked on Irah, sleeping soundly in his bed.
Had… had she just been camouflaging herself against the stone? Truthfully Esmyra couldn’t judge, she had done that more times than she could count over the centuries when spying on others.
But never in intimate moments and certainly never on someone she supposedly loved.
Naerysa looked like a serpent waiting in stillness. A predator cloaked in a goddess form.
Esmyra’s heart slammed against her ribs as she watched.
Naerysa moved silently across the floor, her rose and gold hair billowing behind her as her eyes fixed on the man tangled in the sheets. Her hips swayed with the grace of a siren who knew the power of desire.
Esmyra knew that walk. Had mastered it herself. And because of that, she knew nothing good would come of it.