Chapter 27
Zane
Sunset found Emperor Zane Holygazer skulking around his own city. He wished it was something he’d never done before, but with Uther as a father…Zane was no stranger to hiding in some of the more unsavory places found within Athusia.
Scuti had returned to their hiding place at sunset, like he’d promised.
They agreed it would be too difficult to conceal everyone, so only Zane and Talon were going with the star.
It was better for them to split up as it was, in case this went poorly.
At least then Iyana could continue on to Istoria.
The three of them were shrouded in shadows as they made their way to the middle ring of the city.
They tried to stick to the alleyways and cut through backyards and gardens when they could, but there were times they had to walk on the open street.
During these times, Zane appreciated having Scuti’s ability to hide them.
He begrudgingly admitted there was absolutely no way they would have been able to do this undetected without him.
While Scuti had offered to teleport them directly to Talon’s childhood home, they had both adamantly refused.
They had only just met this star, who technically worked for Rigil, and there was nothing stopping him from jumping them directly into the dungeons.
This way, at least, there was the illusion of safety—that they could fight him off if they needed to.
Although, seeing how powerful he was with the shadows made Zane doubt they would have any chance of defeating Scuti.
After the third time they hid from a star patrol in plain sight, something struck Zane.
“Have you been following us?” he asked Scuti in a whisper.
The star didn’t even spare him a glance when he said, “Yes.”
Zane and Talon shared a look. The team had debated the entire day whether they could trust Scuti, and the general consensus had been no, but what other choice do we have?
Altair had never returned, and for that, Zane was silently grateful.
During their confrontation earlier, he had been fighting back urges to both remove Altair’s head from his shoulders and to vomit in the corner.
Talon had held up better against the man who had killed him than Zane did.
“So Iyana and I weren’t going crazy?”
“No.”
It was readily apparent that Scuti was a star of very few words.
Were their situation any different, he might’ve been someone Zane could find quiet companionship in.
He believed that Rigil had killed Scuti’s astalle—mate?
Wife? Zane still wasn’t completely clear on what an astalle actually was.
But he had seen the haunted look in Scuti’s eyes while he’d told them about it.
Zane knew that expression; he’d seen it on his own face in the mirror for years after Jax had died.
“You still work for Rigil?”
Now Scuti’s gaze did flicker to Zane. “Yes. But I only bring him limited information and try to use my position within his court to my advantage.”
“And what are your goals, then?” Talon asked.
It was the first thing he had said since they’d left the outer ring.
He had been silently leading the way towards his parents’ house, his face drawn with tension.
Zane worried about what they might find and how that would affect Tal’s mental health.
He’d been doing better in recent days. Not great, not back to his old self by any means, but better.
If they were to find his parents captured or dead… Zane didn’t want to think about it.
“I would like to see the stars banished back to the sky—permanently.”
“Isn’t that uncomfortable for you?” Zane asked.
The trio paused in a darkened doorway while a patrol walked past. Zane hardly dared to breathe, for fear that they would be discovered.
Especially when one star walked so close to him, Zane could smell the soap he’d used in the bath.
Gardenias. He plugged his nose to stifle a sneeze caused by the strong floral odor.
“Yes, it is,” Scuti eventually said when they moved again. “However, I have no intention of going back to the sky.”
“From my understanding,” Talon said, “it was an all-or-nothing thing. Like, the magic didn’t pick or choose which stars to banish.”
“You are correct, but I would do everything in my power to ensure the stars are defeated, then take my own life.”
Zane stared at Scuti in shock. He returned the look with a sad, knowing expression.
“I want to rejoin my astalle in the Everlands.”
That small piece of information solidified Zane’s tenuous trust. Because hadn’t he felt exactly the same after he thought he’d lost Talon?
Zane had been prepared to shove a dagger through his own heart to reunite with the man he loved.
So, while Scuti’s brute honesty surprised him, he could wholeheartedly understand.
“We’re almost there,” Talon whispered.
They were walking through a nicer portion of the middle ring.
This was where most of the merchants and those with trades worked.
Talon’s parents, as chandlers, made a decent and honest living.
It wasn’t enough for them to live in the inner ring with the wealthy and nobles, but it kept them out of the outer ring.
It allowed Talon to have an education as a child, as well as a sturdy roof over his head and—from the appearance of the neighborhood—a small yard in which to play.
He’d never had to worry about where his next meal was coming from.
Zane swore that once he had reclaimed his empire from Rigil, the first thing he’d do would be to help the people of the outer ring. He’d redistribute some of the wealth so that nobody was struggling to eat or stay warm during the winter months.
They checked to make sure nobody else was nearby, then crossed the paved street to a quaint house.
Even in the dark, Zane could tell it was painted a bright shade—likely yellow.
There was a garden out front that had seen better days, but even through an invasion and the cold winter, there were still some snowdrops and blooming primroses, creating a splash of color in the otherwise white background.
Talon spared a brief glance at Scuti before he bent over and lifted up a stone. Grabbing something from underneath, Zane realized it was a spare key, and Tal unlocked the front door.
The conflicting smell of multiple scents assaulted Zane’s nose—vanilla, lavender, eucalyptus, and spearmint. Underlying it all, though, was the familiar spiced rum and oranges that Zane had come to associate with Talon. It instantly made him feel safe and welcomed.
They had walked into a living space that appeared cluttered but homey. Unlike the castle, this was a home. Somewhere a family lived and loved—actually coexisted peacefully. But it was dark and quiet; Zane’s heart dropped.
“They’re probably in the basement,” Tal murmured. He wound them through the living and dining areas into a modest kitchen. Drawing back a threadbare rug, Talon exposed a hatch hidden in the floorboards. He lifted it and it swung open on smooth hinges.
“Mom? Dad?”
Silence. Then…
“Talon?”
Tal’s face instantly relaxed as he sighed in relief. He dropped down into the basement, not even bothering to use the ladder. Zane climbed down after Scuti reassured him he would stay upstairs to keep watch, giving Talon a few precious seconds alone with his parents.
The scents were stronger down here, and Zane saw bottle after bottle lining shelves around the room.
There were boxes full of wax, twine, and half-melted candles.
A few lanterns lit the small space in a warm glow and, not for the first time, Zane lamented how different his childhood was from that of others.
Talon was wrapped in the embrace of a small woman with tight, red curls and a bespectacled, thin man, even taller than his son, with darker hair. When they broke apart, his mother put her hands on Tal’s face and looked him over thoroughly.
“You’re okay? You did what you had to do?
” Her words came out in a rush, and once she started, it seemed she was unable to stop.
“I know you said you were leaving for a bit, and not to believe any rumors that might be spread about you, but then our house was searched by the royal guard, and they said you were a traitor to the crown. We told them we didn’t have any idea where you were, but someone was posted outside of our house for weeks.
And then the city was infiltrated with stars, and people have been kidnapped off the street and never seen again.
We’ve been staying down here, hoping it would keep us safe, and, oh —who is this? ”
With a grin large enough to split his face in half, Talon turned to Zane. “Mom, Dad, this is Zane. Zane, these are my parents—Perry and Nina.”
Nina blinked. “Zane. As in, Crown Prince Zane?”
“Emperor Zane,” Talon whispered, still smiling.
“Uther is dead?”
Perry cleared his throat and nudged his wife. “Dear, we have royalty in our basement.”
“Oh, right!” She curtsied. “Very pleased to meet you, Your Majesty.”
“Please, call me Zane.” He smiled brightly, already loving them.
Talon’s mother tugged on his arm to whisper into his ear, although she needn’t have bothered, as Zane could hear everything she said anyway. “Why is the emperor in our basement?”
The grin had yet to drop off of Talon’s face. “He came with me to help evacuate you.”
“He came to evacuate us? Why?”
“Because I asked him to.”
“Because you—oh.” Nina’s eyes widened. “Oh.”
“Oh?” Perry asked, frowning.
“They’re together,” Nina whispered, albeit very loudly. Zane chuckled, and Talon’s smile widened further.
Talon’s father strode forward with his hand outstretched. When Zane took his hand, he shook it enthusiastically, dislodging his glasses. “Peregrine Strom, and my wife Nina. It’s so nice to meet you, son.”
“Perry,” Nina gasped.
“What?” he asked, confused, as he pushed his glasses back onto his nose.
“You can’t just call an emperor ‘son.’”
“No, no,” Zane said quickly. “It’s okay, really.” Nobody had ever called him ‘son’ so warmly, not even his own father. Zane rather liked the sound of it.
“This isn’t how—” Perry began.
“Or who,” Nina interrupted.
“—we expected Talon to bring someone home, but it’s such a wonderful surprise in the midst of all this chaos. He’s good to you? He makes you happy?”
It amazed Zane that these people were looking out for his best interests, not because he was royalty, but because they genuinely cared. He glanced past Perry until Talon was the only thing he could see. Zane smiled softly.
“He makes me exceptionally happy.”
“Then welcome to the family.”
Other than Talon telling him that he loved him, those words were the best Zane had ever heard in his life.
To be so instantly accepted for himself, instead of his title or what he represented, was so refreshing.
It was what had drawn him to Talon in the first place, and now he understood where he got it from.
“Now that we’ve got that out of the way,” Talon said, “we really do need to get you two out of here.”
They took a moment to pack a small bag of necessities each, then they all clambered out of the basement. Perry and Nina froze when they saw Scuti.
“It’s okay,” Zane said. “We can trust him.” I hope.
“I’ll be taking you two to the border of Nyr,” Scuti said.
“Talon,” his mother said, clutching onto her son’s arm. “Are you not coming with us? What about Emmeric?”
Talon gently disconnected his mother’s grip and squeezed her fingers. “Emmeric is safe. He has a beautiful woman I’m sure he’d love to introduce to you to. But we have too much we still need to do.”
Nina’s eyes filled with tears. She stroked a hand across Talon’s cheek. “My boy, sometimes you are too selfless.” The color drained from Tal’s face. “Please promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I will,” Talon whispered.
“And tell Emmeric to do the same.”
He pulled his mother in for a fierce hug.
Then it was his father’s turn. Perry and Talon spoke in soft tones with each other, and Nina turned to Zane.
She hugged him tight around his middle. There was a burning in his sinuses—it had been so long since he’d felt the embrace of a mother. He held her close.
“You’ll take care of him, right?” she asked.
“Of course.” Zane smiled sadly. Talon hadn’t told his parents about what had happened in the Dead Lands, and Zane felt it wasn’t his place to mention it. But he put his entire heart and soul into that promise.
Scuti teleported Perry and Nina out of the house, leaving the two of them alone in silence. Zane slipped his hand into Talon’s. For the first time in the past hour, Tal’s face was placid.
“They’ll be okay.”
“I hope so.” Talon turned to Zane and enveloped him in his arms. Zane held him tight, knowing the other man needed to feel grounded.
They stood there for several minutes until Scuti reappeared.
“I watched them cross over the border into Nyr. Your parents are safe.”
“If you’re lying to me,” Talon said, violence wrapped around every word, “I swear to the old gods I will gut you.”
“I would expect nothing less,” Scuti said.
Tal’s parents were supposed to send word via carrier pigeon once they were safe.
They’d purposefully not told that to Scuti, and soon they would be able to know if the star was trustworthy.
Still, there were many things Altair had done to endear himself to them too, and look how that had turned out.
Scuti shrouded them in shadows again, and they slipped back through Athusia to find their friends exactly where they had left them.
They’d get a few hours of rest and then leave for Istoria.
Although everything within Zane wanted to take the fight to Rigil, especially since he was right there, he knew it was not the smart move.
They needed the might of multiple armies behind them if they were to rid Athusia of an entirely new tyrant.
He was exhausted just thinking about it and briefly wondered if his empire would ever know peace.