Chapter 33
The city isalive with evening dwellers as we sneak from corner to corner, all dressed in inconspicuous attire, our hair braided and rolled up into buns the way many peasants wear for practicality. A cool breeze announces summer is coming to an end, and I shudder at the mingle of scents and smells wafting along the alleys.
We made it out of the noble district half an hour ago, our progress delayed by the many occasions we had to dodge a night patrol. Somewhere between passing out in my bedroom from whatever was in the bread and being tortured, I lost track of time, day and night blurring into one big mass. Now that the oil lanterns are flickering to life and armed soldiers are making their rounds through the city in routine patrols, I have a clearer grasp on reality than I’ve had in weeks.
Gray clouds are shifting across the darkening sky, driven by the sluggish wind hitting from the east. From the ocean. My heart leaps in my chest at how close I am to the troubled waters that mean freedom, then slumps at the impossibility of bolting and disappearing without looking back the way I did when I joined the Wild Ray. Closing my eyes for a heartbeat, I inhale deeply, tasting the brine in the distance. I’ve barely escaped with my life, gambling with that of four others—five if I count Herinor, who has been risking his life to find a way around his bargain with Ephegos.
At least, I have two capable females at my side who are familiar with my current condition—which is mildly beside myself at the thought of my mate in the dungeon and a hidden pair of wings and feathers stuck in my body.
“Here, drink some more.” Kaira hands me the canteen without waiting for my response. Despite all her bickering with Clio, she’s made it her mission to keep the two of us fed and strong, and I can’t help but admire that about her.
Gratefully, I take a sip before handing the canteen to Clio, who frowns but drinks.
“I’m tempted to stay right here and not move until that poison of a drug is out of my system.” She gestures at the packed dirt road leading between the one-story buildings in this district. There’s a small front garden with a vegetable patch where a few stalks of lettuce and what looks like an early-ripened pumpkin sit in the shadows.
I’ve never been to this part of Meer, but judging by what I’ve seen so far, we can’t linger, or we’ll be reported. Even when this isn’t the district of estates and palaces, the houses are formidable, and poverty seems something nonexistent.
“Perhaps we should go near the docks and find a ship that will take all of us away when we get the males out,” I suggest, forcing myself to mean the when. I can’t live in a world where not succeeding is an option.
“You need to live with that option,” Kaira says in my mind, reading every last of my thoughts. I can’t tell if I’m relieved I’m not all alone in my head or if I’m annoyed by the lack of privacy.
“Relieved,” Kaira answers for me, shooting me a smile as we round another corner.
“You know we can’t simply run away once we have them back,” Clio notes. “My brother will be eager to know I’m still alive and that his general is ready to lead his armies in the upcoming war.”
My stomach folds into a knot—as if it hasn’t been one tight cluster of knots since the moment I learned that Myron is still alive—and in Erina’s and Ephegos’s power. “I know. I just wish it were that easy.”
“Running away isn’t easy, Ayna.” The wisdom in Clio’s tone gives me pause, and I meet her gaze, falling into step beside her. “You need to live with the guilt of knowing who and what you sacrificed in order to save yourself.”
“Sounds like you’ve tried that before,” Kaira quips, and I wish the two of them wouldn’t constantly challenge each other.
Clio doesn’t strike back with a smart-mouthed comment this time, merely nods and sighs. “I wish I didn’t.”
“One of the many stories taking too long to tell?” I ask, squeezing her hand for a beat as we step into the next alley.
“One of those stories.” She forces a smile, and even Kaira doesn’t comment when the female has laid open a vulnerability that others would be ashamed of.
“If the two of you have another half-hour walk in you, I’m sure we’ll find someplace we can stay for the night,” Kaira eventually says, taking the lead as if she’s mapped out the city in her mind. By now, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has.
“How did you manage to be in the right place at the right time so often,” I ask her, trudging on behind her while my senses reach far ahead, learning their limits and scouting our surroundings.
Kaira shrugs. “It comes with its benefits being unremarkable on all levels.” She says it like she doesn’t care, but I see her frustration, have witnessed it before when she told me she wasn’t taken on hunts to the Seeing Forest because she’s only part-Flame. Her average height and average looks and unremarkable hair color. There is an advantage to being able to blend into crowds because of being purely average, but it also is a stab to the gut to not stand out in any way.
“You are remarkable to me,”I tell her through our connection, and I could swear a ghost of a smile crosses her face. It’s hard to tell from this angle, but when she speaks again, her voice is lighter.
“Julj is the only one who seems to be attracted to unremarkable,” she narrates, her gait more energetic and her tone almost humorous. “You wouldn’t believe what sorts of information one can squeeze out of a man who thinks with his cock.”
Clio’s grin is the first genuine one I’ve seen since Kaira joined us in my room, and it’s a good look on her. “Finally something we agree on.”
“What’s your status with him?” I ask the Flame while in my mind I add, “I thought you had a thing for someone slightly … more experienced.”
Kaira’s gait falters briefly before she catches herself. “Julj? He knows what my breasts feel like through the fabric of my uniform, and that’s about it.” I can’t help but grin, too. “And the other one… He’s…”
“Intimidating,” I supply as she continues the conversation through our mental connection.
“That, and I can’t decide if I want him or am afraid of him.”
“He does give off those ‘dangerous Crow’ vibes,”I agree.
“Does he know who you are?” Clio wants to know, unaware that we’ve already moved on from the topic.
But Kaira is ready as if jumping between conversations has already become second nature to her. “Julj knows that I’m part of Ephegos’s staff serving in Erina’s court, but he has no idea I’m a part-Flame on a rescue mission to save?—”
She stops herself by flapping her hand over her mouth, drawing a suspicious glance from both Clio and me.
“To save who?” Clio prompts, her tongue ready while mine is tied by a million thoughts.
“That’s what I want to know, too,” I agree when Kaira doesn’t immediately speak.
She’d been the least trustworthy of all of my so-called allies until she started speaking into my mind. But if I’m honest with myself, even that doesn’t make her my friend or someone I can trust, just someone who knows more of my secrets than anyone else.
“My sister.” Kaira’s words are a whisper, but in my head, they ring loud like the warning bells of the royal fleet under attack.
“What do you mean, your sister?” Again, Clio beats me to it, but this time, I remain silent as I hold Kaira’s brown gaze, understanding dawning.
“How is that possible? You’re part Flame.” I search for anything that would resemble my father in her features, coming up blank. Her nose is too wide, her eyes too brown, and her jaw too square. Not even the smile she gives me resembles anything close to my father’s.
Clio goes silent while Kaira and I stare at each other, reading into each other’s features.
“We don’t share a father,” I realize as her lips twitch in a sad smile that I recognize instantly. Should have recognized the first day she visited my room at the Flame estate.
“When I was little, it was common for human partners of Flames to be shunned and forced to leave after they gave birth to a Flameling.” I can’t decipher whether that’s shame in her eyes or sorrow. “Elenja Woltaya was allowed three months with her part-Flame male and her daughter before being kicked out of the Flame community. And had they known how little magic I’d have, they might have sent me with her back then. To this day, I can’t rid myself of the memories of my father’s disappointment when he realized how useless I was as a Flame.”
My heart stops. Literally stops before chasing to catch up the lost beats. If what she says is true, I have a sister.
“Is your father still alive so I can kill him for being an elitist ass?” Clio grunts, the only comment she has for now, and I can’t help the small smile stealing itself onto my lips.
Kaira’s gaze doesn’t stray from mine. “He didn’t survive the battle in the Seeing Forest.” Not a hint of grief. Not a single tear. Not even a tremble in her voice. “I had no family left and might have left the Flames had I not accidentally overheard Ephegos’s discussion with Jeseida where he explained who you were: the daughter of Elenja Woltaya who became Elenja Milevishja, wife of Ivan Milevishja, the last of the royal Milevishja line.” She reaches across the distance, placing her hand on my forearm, and I don’t shy away, too stunned to even think of defending myself in case she is just another person lying to me, manipulating me, wanting me dead or trapped, or intending to use me as a tool for their revenge.
“I have family now. Someone worth running for and fighting for. And I chose to run from the Flames to join you here. I lied to Ephegos, pretending I don’t care about you, that I believe you deserve your fate. I played the good little servant to gain his trust. And he trusted me enough to let me prepare you for the palace that first day. He trusted me enough to let me prepare your meals. So I took whatever chance I got to understand what’s going on in the palace, to explore all possible routes for an exit. To acquaint myself with the hulk of a Crow that he appointed your guard.”
“Herinor,” Clio supplies, but Kaira and I are both aware Kaira knows exactly who Herinor is. I could swear her cheeks blush the slightest bit at the mention of his name.
“Herinor,” Kaira repeats, clasping her fingers in front of her as she turns into another alley, this time not heading along but stopping at the splintered door of a shed in the backyard of what seems to be an abandoned home. “He told me your story, Ayna.” She ignores the way Clio scans her with her jade eyes as if ready to stab her with one of the sharp ends of the loose wooden boards making up what’s left of the door. “And when I learned what Ephegos had planned for you, I couldn’t just sit by and watch you being taken away again.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” It’s the only question that matters—the only question that ever matters, I learned the hard way during my time at Myron’s court. There is always a reason for someone’s actions, no matter how despicable.
“Because I couldn’t risk anyone finding out.” There is genuine fear in her expression now. “My father kept my mother’s last name a secret the way it’s custom when Flames take human lovers. But when he died and I had to take care of his things, I found a hand-drawn picture of her in his nightstand. It said ‘Elenja Woltaya on our first Ret Relah’. I knew it then, that it was her. Elenja isn’t a common name among Flames.”
“It’s a Tavrasian name,” I insert as she pushes open the brittle door and leads the way into near darkness, ignoring Clio’s skeptical glance.
But the female doesn’t object when we make our way into the half-light of the shed and Kaira closes the door behind us.
“This is where we stay until the two of you lose the effects of the drug,” she says matter-of-factly, as if she has been leading us toward this place all along.
“How do you know it’s safe?” Clio interrogates, exploring the long, narrow space with her hands raised for combat as if expecting one of Erina’s guards might step out of the shadows.
“It’s not a trap if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I’m not.” Clio shakes her head. “I just…” She stops at the end of the single room, apparently deeming it safe enough because she sinks to the flipped-over crate in the far corner and rests her head in her hands. “You planned this. You knew where we were going.” The accusation in her tone is obvious. “You could have told us—told me—that you had a plan.”
Kaira guides me to join Clio, flipping over another crate for me before sitting down against the wall across from us. “As I said, I earned Ephegos’s trust by continuing to drug you, Ayna, but he didn’t give me much leniency. I was allowed to travel between his estate in Meer and the palace, but that didn’t give me spare time to find a hideout for when we escaped.”
Too exhausted from torture and being drugged, I simply wait for her to continue speaking. By now, nothing should shock me anymore, yet when she mentions how she knows about this place, my heart does something I hadn’t believed it was still capable of: it flutters with excitement.
“Herinor found it for us.”
I should have been surprised, should have wondered, but with the way she seems to have formed an attachment to the Crow and his little tells when it came to her that he’d help, I’m more surprised he managed to find a way to actually do so.
“How did that bastard do it?” Clio asks the question I can’t seem to get to leave my tongue. “That little Crow shit kept telling both Ayna and me that he can’t help her because of the bargain he made with Ephegos.”
Kaira’s face lights up, the rising starlight falling through the broken windows illuminating her soft expression. “He told me the same. He couldn’t help you”—her gaze falls on me—“so he helped me instead.”
The same way he helped Myron rather than me.
It makes sense. Total sense. Yet, there is one thing I still can’t wrap my head around. “Why does Ephegos trust you? Why not put the same sort of bargain as a condition for you to work for him that he demanded from Herinor?”
Beside me, Clio nods her agreement, the skepticism never leaving her face.
Kaira’s smile is broad and victorious this time as she glances between Clio and me. “You forget one thing when it comes to Ephegos.”
“And that is?” Clio prompts while I try to figure it out on my own.
He wanted revenge on Myron more than anything and earned the position of a Flame prince in the process of betraying his best friend. He hates Myron, and so he hates everyone the Crow King loves, including me. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants, including working with a despicable king who extends his power to the fairy realm. The Flames are his new people even when he wants to reestablish a Crow Court somewhere.
Before I can come to a conclusion, Kaira responds, “He needs allies, people in his own ranks he can trust. People who aren’t part of a trade or partnership that will eventually fall apart like the one with Erina and Katrijanov. He needs those two to gain power and get his revenge, but they are both human and will eventually die while Ephegos will outlive them, and only the Guardians know what he’ll do then.”
I don’t want to know either, but I should because, if there is anything I can do to stop him from waging war on the fairy realm… I don’t know if I have it in me to think of saving another kingdom when all I want is to save the male I love and run. The male who is tied to me by the whims of a god—or two, if Herinor is right about Shaelak giving me Crow wings.
“Ephegos desperately needs supporters in his own ranks; that’s why he might have been faster with trusting me at least not to kill you off or try to run. He has no idea of all the things I’ve been up to because guards are so wonderfully silent when they hope to get lucky with you.” She shakes her head as if tossing the mass of hair back that’s neatly braided and coiled into a bun, then bats her eyes the way she did at Julj. “It’s not my favorite weapon, but when it comes to saving the only family I have left, I know no boundaries.”
I believe her. For the first time since I met Kaira, I have no second thoughts about her motivations. She’s on our side just as Herinor would like to be. And he found a way to help us by helping everyone but me.
Clio seems to be less convinced, so I do the one thing I know will put all cards on the table.
“Do you know anything about mind-readers, Clio?” Turning my head, I attempt a smile as I present the final secret Kaira holds to my friend?—
And earn a panicked glance from the female that makes me wonder how bad her experience with that sort of magic could possibly be.