Chapter 27
Talon
My muscles ached from being so tense—not only from what Zara had told me, but also from having to constantly hold myself back from kissing her every time she turned to look at me.
The way she looked at the sky while flying, her eyes shining with wonder, made me wish I could stay in this moment forever.
With Zara safely above the earth and everything that threatened her.
But when she told me she had eavesdropped on such a dangerous conversation, I had fantasies of destroying anyone who threatened her—starting with Lord Heron.
I knew it was only a matter of time before Altair gave in to Lord Heron and the Devourer’s demands for Zara’s power.
My need to keep her safe overwhelmed me.
Only the possibility that her power might save us from my cousin’s horrible mistake restrained me.
I kept thinking of the way Zara had looked after she nearly drowned.
Could I really ask her to face such a monstrous evil?
But then I remembered the powerful cyclone that had torn us from the sky.
As powerful as Neo was, the wind had ripped through him like he was as insubstantial as a songbird.
What could that kind of power do against the Devourer?
Still, my thoughts warred with each other.
I wanted to save my empire from this terrible threat, but I also didn’t want Zara to risk herself.
Zara stayed close to my side as we made our way to Altair’s room, a determined look on her face. The latter was to dissuade me from telling her she couldn’t come with me, but I had no intention of doing that. I knew it was a waste of breath.
When we arrived in front of Altair’s door, I knocked, but there was no answer. Not a good sign, I thought.
The moment we entered the room, I made sure to keep Zara behind me. An ominous atmosphere hovered in that room like vultures circling above a kill.
Altair sat at his desk in almost total darkness. I could only just make out the whites of his eyes. I couldn’t imagine what Zara thought about it, but it was clear to anyone with sense that Altair wasn’t well.
Lord Heron hovered behind Altair’s desk, arms crossed over his chest. I thought again of how Zara nearly drowned because of this man, and my hand twitched near the dagger I kept hidden. It would be so easy to lunge toward him now and slit his throat. He wouldn’t even see it coming.
“My Lord Emperor?” I asked carefully. “What happened?”
He didn’t answer, so I moved closer until I could see him more clearly in the dim light. Without answering, he slid a letter over to me across his desk.
“This is the letter from the messenger?” He nodded. Whatever the letter contained, it couldn’t be good.
“I sent servants to find you,” he said.
Lord Heron sent an accusatory glance at both Zara and me that made me bristle. “Yes, it took quite a long time.”
“Well, I wasn’t far from the palace.” I picked up the letter, and I immediately noticed the seal at the top, like a swirling gust of wind.
The only country that had an emblem like that was Mistral.
And though it was located on the same continent the Zephyrians had once called home, it may as well have been a mythical kingdom for as much as we knew about it. Rumors and legends; that was all.
Zara moved closer to read the letter over my shoulder, and Altair didn’t object.
After the seal was a greeting and all of Altair’s various titles, which I skipped over to get to the meat of the letter:
It is with great apprehension and dismay that I, the King of Mistral, write to you.
I have been informed that you have made an alliance with a creature of such evil that it would be the greatest sin for me to stand by and do nothing.
I must ask you to sever your alliance with the creature known as Ozul.
You have forgotten the old stories, and you do not realize what you have awakened.
It will destroy you, your country, and everyone else on Zephyrus.
It has only one goal: power. And the means with which it gets it is the most disturbing of all. I dare not even write about it.
If you do not sever your alliance with Ozul immediately and turn it away from your nation now before it has a chance to grow in power, then Mistral will have no choice but to declare war on you.
Ozul will only grow more unstoppable over time, and if I should refuse to act now, it will finish destroying Zephyrus, only to turn to the sea and the nations beyond.
Not even Mistral will be able to face it then.
I will expect your prompt reply. I hope you understand that I will do whatever it takes to protect my people, even if it means declaring war before an even more devastating one can come to fruition.
It was signed by the king of Mistral, with all his titles, a king I knew very little about. And even though he was essentially declaring war on us, I could understand why.
Somehow, the king of Mistral had discovered the unholy alliance Altair had forged with this demonic creature, which meant there was a spy in our midst.
I let out a frustrated breath. “I warned you that Ozul should have been banished the minute we successfully forged a treaty and no longer needed its dark magic—if we ever did,” I said to Altair.
Lord Heron stepped forward. “The sorcerer is what enabled us to counter the Children’s magic and scry even the Queen of All Queens’ location,” he said smugly, and Zara looked up with a frown.
“How dare you attempt to scold His Majesty for allying himself with such a powerful being. It was because of this that we were able to draw up the peace treaty.”
Zara looked deeply disturbed, which worried me. If she spoke now, Altair might turn his anger on her—and that was a risk I couldn’t let her take.
“Cousin, this threat from Mistral is bad.” I appealed to Altair rather than Lord Heron. “The treaty saved the lives of many, but we still lost riders and countless infantry, and our resources are depleted. We won’t be able to sustain another war.”
He looked up, the flame of the lantern flickering in his eyes. “Even more reason to keep Ozul on our side. We will need his power.”
“That is foolish. We know little about Mistral or its allies and resources. Give the order, and I will lead all the riders to the west wing to destroy this creature.” I didn’t want to tell him about my hopes about Zara’s power—I didn’t want Lord Heron to be able to warn the Devourer before we descended on it.
But if Altair at least gave an order for my riders, then I could have hundreds at my back instead of the few who would follow me and not the emperor.
Altair let out a dark laugh. “You make it sound so easy.”
“I don’t think it’ll be easy, but we have to at least make the attempt.
This alliance with such a demonic creature could destroy this empire,” I said, and Lord Heron puffed out his chest like he thought he could take me on.
I didn’t even glance his way. “Now we’ll have to do what we can to break free. ”
“It’s always my fault, isn’t it?” Altair said, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. “I’m always the one making idiotic mistakes. You sound just like my father.”
“We all make mistakes,” I said, in an attempt to be soothing, but honestly, I lacked that skill. I preferred to stick to the truth. “When you are emperor, those mistakes just have bigger consequences.”
“I’m finished discussing this,” Altair said, his head in his hands.
“I have seen this so-called sorcerer from my horse’s eyes,” Zara said, stepping forward to be noticed.
My muscles tensed at the risk she was taking.
“And there is nothing inside but darkness. Once it gets whatever it wants from you, it will turn on you and devour your soul along with everyone else’s.
The commander of your aerial army wants to stop it before it’s too powerful to be killed. Perhaps you should listen to him.”
Altair’s jaw hardened. “You’re turning on me, too?”
“I’m trying to get you to listen to reason.”
Lord Heron narrowed his eyes at Zara, and I shifted instinctively, ready to put myself between them.
“How dare you speak to the emperor in such a way, especially when you’ve done nothing but comport yourself in a disgraceful manner since the moment you arrived.
Where were you? Why did it take the servants so long to locate you both? ”
The question took us both by surprise, but it was Zara who answered. “I have the freedom to go where I please. We were flying above the upper pasture. As my guard, Talon accompanied me.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” Lord Heron said with a knowing look. “He was all too willing to accompany you to a lonely pasture.”
A muscle twitched in Altair’s jaw, and I didn’t like how the conversation was rapidly turning against us.
“Is he or is he not my guard?” Zara demanded. “Should he have let me go alone?”
“He shouldn’t have let you go at all,” Lord Heron said.
Her eyes flashed a warning, and her spine went rigid.
“I will not be told where I can and cannot go. And there are more important things to discuss, Lord Heron. Like the threat of war from a powerful country.” She moved toward Altair.
“I know this letter must have been threatening to receive, but the best thing to do is to take action quickly.”
Altair shook his head once, and then he was gripping both sides of his head with his hands. A wave of unease hit me hard, tightening my chest like a vise.