Chapter 4
Four
Aesira
“What the hell was that?” Aesira had kept quiet the entire walk back to the Citadel, not trusting for a second any loose lips that might be listening.
But now that they were in Kamari’s room and it was only the two of them, no roles to be played, she let her fury flow through her voice. “You’ve just made a deal–”
“I did what I had to do.” Kamari placed the stack of journals on the desk in her room.
A wave of dizziness swept through Aesira. There were so many things she wanted to say.
How could you make a deal with an Odega?
How could you not tell me your plan?
Only when she glanced at Kam and saw the way she worried her bottom lip through her teeth, did her edges soften.
She couldn’t imagine the stress Kamari was feeling, with Desmond gone and the treaty threatened.
Aesira was here to protect the wall, but more than anything, she wanted to protect Kamari.
Even when she made choices that Aesira couldn’t fathom. “Are you sure you can trust him?”
“No,” Kam said, “but I’m desperate enough to.” Kamari pushed the curtains back, and from where Aesira stood, she could see the dust from the earlier sandstorm had settled. The red of the city now muted to a murky brown.
Aesira shifted, the bronze of her chest plate glinting in the midday sun. “I’ll head to the Phoenix tonight, doesn’t take much to get the people of this city talking. Someone other than Stone must have heard of Ravki.”
“Thank you,” Kam said. “I know the plan is outrageous but if we can find Desmond, if we can get him home–”
“We? What do you mean, we?”
Kam sat at Desmond’s desk, stacking the remaining books and journals into a neat pile. “I think you know what I mean.”
Since when did Kamari become the reckless one? Since when did their roles reverse? Aesira’s heart raced, a busy beating thing pressing against her ribs. “Are you out of your mind? You’re going with them?”
Her sister ignored her, stacking and restacking the journals on top of the desk as if organizing them would help bring clarity to the situation.
“There’s a reason no one travels past the Outpost, Kam. Sandstorms. Dust clouds large enough to take down a ship. Not to mention the accounts of many deadly beasts.” Kamari flinched and Aesira knew she’d said the wrong thing again.
If Desmond truly left for the west, those were all things he would have had to endure.
Alone.
Aesira softened her voice, letting out a long breath. “Maybe if we can wait, gather a proper search team–“
“There is no more time!” Kamari spun around, a desperation lining her eyes Aesira had never seen before. The ripped shards of her heart sunk low in her stomach. “You were in that room, Aesira. You know what the council plans to do. Do you expect me to remarry so soon? Or abandon the treaty?”
“Of course not,” Aesira said, tapping her boot in a rhythmic pattern.
“Okay.” She nodded one too many times before squaring her shoulders.
It was unfathomable to even consider letting her sister join a crew of Odega’s over the wall during the storm season.
“I agree we need to find Desmond, but you can’t leave Vargah with an empty throne.
They are a den of vipers and the moment they see an opportunity to strike, they won’t hesitate. ”
Kamari sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between two fingers. “You’re right. I just…” She threw her hands up. “I have to know where he is, Aesira.”
“So, I’ll go instead.”
“Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous.”
Aesira smirked, hand resting on her sword.
“And yet you would go?” Kamari opened her mouth, a snarky reply surely at the ready but Aesira didn’t let her get a word in.
“Let me go. That way I can keep an eye on the smuggler. Make sure he’s doing what he’s agreed to do. I’m sure I can be of some assistance.”
“Ex-smuggler,” Kam corrected with a hint of arrogance. “He hasn’t smuggled in years. He’s reformed, remember?”
Aesira grunted.
“And what will the Order say if they hear you’ve left your station?”
Aesira shrugged but she was sure Kamari saw the quick panic that laced behind her eyes at the mention of leaving her station.
The Order was as rigid as the council in their rules.
The knights in the Order did not make their own decisions.
They were soldiers, footmen, defenders of the kingdom–kingdoms.
A plan stitched together in Aesira’s mind and a small part of her past self unfurled inside her.
The unruly part the Order had stamped down, but not killed.
“The Order doesn’t need to know,” she said, the defiance in her statement sending a thrill down her spine.
“Nev will stay behind and look after things, she’ll cover me if she needs to,” she said.
“She and Rahashi will take care of you and Vargah.”
“I’m not completely useless, you know.”
“I know that,” Aesira said. “But it’s their job to protect you, so just let them.”
“Thank you.”
“What are sisters for if not risking their lives for each other?” She winked, then nodded toward Kamari’s hand where the parchment from Stone was tucked into her palm.
“Now, let me see the paper.” Aesira attempted to snatch the parchment from her sister's hands, but Kamari was too quick, tucking it into her dress safely behind her bodice.
“Quiet,” she said. “You saw how Stone acted. As if whatever he wrote on this could lead to trouble.”
“He is the trouble.”
“Again,” Kamari said, “so flustered. Are you going to tell me what happened between you two?”
“Nothing happened,” Aesira grumbled, flames tipping her ears and cheeks.
“Oh.” Kam pinched her cheek. “Don’t sound so disappointed.”
Aesira shrugged away. “You’ll have to show me eventually if I’m going with them so it may as well be now.” Aesira was masterful at changing the subject, especially if the subject was her.
“Fine.” Kamari carefully unfolded the paper and held it between them.
Of the first three words, Aesira only recognized one from earlier.
Ravki.
The next two were just as perplexing.
Whispering Mountains.
Lunaris.
But when her eyes landed on the last word, her lungs froze.
Dragon.
“This is blasphemy,” Aesira whispered through gritted teeth. “If Stone thinks Desmond has gone looking for”—she pointed to the last word—“Desmond would be considered a criminal and if you think the scroll you saw this morning was treasonous, this would be worse by ten. A hundred, even.”
Aesira ran a hand down her face and shook her head.
“He would be viewed as a betrayer of Celestria, Kam. If he believes dragons to exist, he would defy the very religion his throne is built upon.” Aesira was talking too fast, her face burning red.
She paced the room, the click of her boots and grinding of her armor filling the space.
“Dragons,” she whispered, “are unspoken for a reason. They directly challenge Celestria.”
“I know,” Kamari said.
“Of all the beasts in the west…” She shook her head again. “Desmond wouldn’t be welcomed back and if he managed to he would be—”
“I know.” Kamari folded the paper again, placing it back in her dress pocket.
“If we acknowledge this, we may be tried as well.” Aesira bit her bottom lip. If Desmond truly believed dragons to be real, his mind was far worse than Kamari let on.
“I won’t make you go,” Kamari said. “I won’t risk your life for the sake of another’s. I know you don’t trust Stone, but he’s my only chance.”
“No,” Aesira cut her off. “I’m going. I made you a promise and I plan to keep it, I just want you to realize the risks. Belief in”— she mouthed the word dragons—“is not just a crime in Vargah, but Novaria too.”
“I know,” Kamari said again. But did she know?
Did she see how severe the consequences of betraying Celestria would be?
The goddess blessed their kingdoms. Provided what they needed to sustain life in the barren desert.
She was fickle, however. Nothing would compete with her power and anything remotely close would be abolished.
Cursed. No gods or deities. No beasts with wings.
Celestria was All and they would worship as such to gain her privileges. Like the astra that kept Vargah running and in turn, Novaria and smaller dwellings like the Outpost. She blessed them with water that staved their thirst and kept them alive.
“They’re bringers of despair,” Aesira said. “I don’t know why he’d wish to find such things.”
Kamari glanced out the window, her eyes distant and shoulders slumped. “It seems despair has found us either way.”