46. Zari
Chapter forty-six
Zari
H orror washed over Zari. Compelled… not to speak? The very fact magic could do such a thing seemed impossible, and yet, the proof was in Daeden’s blank expression. The second fae standing by Daeden remained just as motionless, just as silent.
“How dare you,” Tivre began. “You are not a member of the royal family, Syonia, no matter what you pretend. You have no right to—”
“The Queen granted me this right,” Syonia continued, “as she did not take kindly to Stellaris Hazelle’s rashness in following you south.” A punishment, then. Another mark of the Queen’s cruelty. “So, little Zari, you too, fall under my command, at least for now.”
“Zari, you do not—” Tivre started, but she put her hand on his wrist.
“I must do as the Queen wishes,” Zari said. If there was any reason to suspect she wasn’t Oathborn, her life would be forfeit.
“It is not an Oath for you to do so. Not yet.” Urgency cut through his tone, and she caught his underlying meaning. She was not compelled to do as Syonia asked.
“All the same, it is the Queen’s wish that Zari journeys to the shore and returns with the Crescent Blade.” Syonia smiled, showing fanged teeth.
That sword had been in the stories Yansin had told Zari. The Crescent Blade, he’d said, had been forged by the fae goddesses and wielded by some of the greatest heroes. “Why am I being asked? ”
With a shrug, Syonia replied, “This is but the start of the plans the Queen has made. I have already had a boat fetched, and it waits for her to be escorted to where the Blade rests.”
The smallest flicker of emotion passed over Daeden’s face, as if he wished to speak and could not do so. Syonia, seeing it, snapped her fingers. A sudden flare of purple light appeared, and she spun it into one of those twisting sigils, then let it dance over her open palm.
Daeden blanched.
Whatever the sigil’s magic contained, it was clearly a threat. It had silenced him as surely as a drawn blade would. As an Oathborn, though, she had no doubt he could have disarmed any enemy.
The unfairness, the horrid impact of the Oathborn magic hit Zari once more. She took a steadying breath. “This Blade. Where is it?” Syonia had mentioned the shore, which sounded like a return to Rhydonia, to the territory she’d left.
It sounded like a retreat, away from her father and any hope of rescuing him.
“The Blade rests inside a grotto dedicated to the goddesses. Beyond the moon pools, beyond the opal beach.” Syonia smiled. “An Oathborn such as yourself should have no difficulties with the journey.”
Was it just Zari’s imagination, or did the fae’s smirk grow at the last sentence? As if she might suspect that Zari wasn’t an Oathborn?
“That land is not considered our territory!” Tivre snapped. “The grotto rests too close to the cliffs. If—”
“If what, dear Tivre? If Zari was to see a Rhydonian, what might happen?”
Smugness dripped from her tone. Had she figured out Tivre’s con? Otherwise, what was Syonia implying? The hatred seemed to ooze from her, a complete disdain for both Zari and Tivre, just as her magic clung to her fingers. Only then did Zari realize that the magic was a familiar shade of purple .
The same as the smoke that Zari had now seen three times. Each time, it had heralded danger, even death. Yansin had suggested that smoke was part of a plan to break the Accords. Had Syonia been behind all those attacks?
Zari clenched her fists. She took one step forward. If her guess was correct, the blood of dozens of innocent Rhydonians stained Syonia’s hands.
Daeden tensed, before taking a matching step forward. His blue eyes glowed, unearthly and bright, in the dim light. His fingers tightened on the hilt of his sword. A pained, half-gasp noise slipped from Tivre, revealing that concern Zari was sure he’d been masking.
“Something the matter?” Syonia asked, tilting her head so her white hair tumbled over her shoulder. “You seem a little upset, dear Tivre.”
“It’s nothing,” he muttered, eyes downcast. “Nothing at all.”
Once more, that purple magic danced over Syonia’s fingertips, and now Zari was sure of it. She was the one behind all those attacks. Perhaps she was Blood Ember’s master now, commanding the beast with a snap of her fingers.
If Zari refused to obey her, she would be outed as a false Oathborn. Not only that, but Daeden would be in trouble as well. “It is the Queen’s wish that I journey there and retrieve the sword?” Zari asked, trying her best to sound calm.
“Indeed it is. So,” Syonia smiled, “will you risk displeasing the Queen, little Oathborn?”
No. No, she could not risk that at all. Not when her father had given so much for the Accords. She would go, and hope to all the stars that she might succeed in the impossible.
What hope did a mere mortal woman have of claiming the most magical of fae blades?
As they sat in the boat, Zari stared out across the churning gray waves, blinking away a mixture of salty air and tears.
The Queen’s royal isle grew smaller with each passing moment.
Every moment that passed took her further away from her father.
To have come so far, and yet, not succeed. The thought burned in her mind.
Daeden rowed the boat with steady calm, despite the waves.
A dark outcropping shaped like a hand stretched into the water in front of them.
If he was upset at Syonia’s treatment of him, he hid it well.
“The stars must have been bright indeed upon your day of birth,” he murmured. “For you to be given such a quest.”
His voice startled her. “You can talk now?”
“Her Oath to me was to remain silent until we left shore.”
Zari sighed. “Daeden—”
“You can call me Dae,” he offered. “My friends do.”
The implication made her smile and feel guilty in equal measure. “Can… can’t we go back?”
“Back?” A flicker of brighter blue light burned in his eyes. “Zari, to consider that—it—” his voice cracked and broke off, as if he was choking. Daeden’s perfect rowing faltered, making the boat tilt to one side. “To go… go back?”
He took a deep, steadying breath. Zari found herself doing the same. Was that how swiftly an Oath could be broken? “No, I didn’t mean what I said.”
“Do not take Oathbreaking so lightly, even in jest. The anguish is worse than any other. Liyale’s screams still haunt me, even now.”
Liyale? Hazelle had spoken so fondly of Liyale and never breathed a word of her sister breaking an Oath.
Again, the boat leaned in the water, and again, Daeden fought to control it. “At least her death was swift. Liyale did not suffer long. Her lover, Ishni, was another Oathborn and struck her down within moments of her breaking.”
What terrible magic, to be killed by one you loved, simply because you broke a vow. She could not imagine living in a place where free will was so limited. How had Daeden retained such a kind heart when he’d been through so much? “What is an Oathborn’s life like?” she asked him.
Daeden smiled, clearly glad for a distraction.
“As small children, Oathborn live with their families but practice daily. My mother was the Trainer-Adept for young Oathborn, so I started sooner than most. Once an Oathborn child reached the age of reason, they’d stay in the Tower to study with their cohort.
But… all of that is gone. There is no more Tower, nor Training-Adept.
The Tower fell to Rhydonian bombs before the shield was created. ”
The pit in her stomach grew. Toward the end of the war, newspapers boasted that the first bombs were dropped over the isles. Her countrymen had destroyed that tower, and all the lives of the innocent children within.
She’d tried to keep the conversation lighthearted and failed. So, rallying herself, she tried again. “Did you have a mentor?”
“I did. He was a strong warrior. Talented, but I cannot…” he faltered. “I should remember more, but I do not. Forgive me, little cousin.”
“There’s nothing to forgive.” Zari’s heart softened at how he referred to her as family. It was not the first time he’d offered her a kinship she didn’t deserve.
“Is there anything else you would ask of me? We draw close to the shore.”
Zari peered ahead to see the dark landmass. The thick mist obscured all but a few small boulders in the distance. “How can I find this shrine with the sword?”
“Journey southeast. There will be no path, for it is a place few fae travel.” The boat’s hull crunched against stone.
Setting the paddles aside, Daeden leapt out of the boat and pulled it the rest of the way inland without balking at Zari’s additional weight.
“Even I have not returned here since I was a boy. There are stories of—” His words cut off as if shut behind a door, and his eyes flashed brighter with that telltale magic. “I cannot say more.”
Another Oath, then. One that must involve some danger found here. “Is it Blood Ember?” Perhaps if he was able to nod…
“No. He would not be here.”
He? She was used to the monster being spoken of in far more vague terms. Zari shivered, and not from the cold.
Silently, Daeden pulled her into a hug. He towered over her, a comforting, warm presence.
As her head pressed against his chest, she heard that far-too-slow heartbeat, reminding her of their differences.
She wanted to trust his friendship, but she knew at the Queen’s order, he might become her gravest threat.
“Let me tell you a story,” Daeden said. “Once upon a time, there was an Oathborn, beloved by all. Godspeakers foretold of his birth. He wielded the Crescent Blade, the only sword crafted by the divine. This fae…” Daeden fought to keep talking, straining against the magic of the Oath.
“He broke his Oath,” Daeden finally managed the words.
The story was about Javen . Clever, Zari thought. Daeden was sidestepping an Oath by using a story.
“It is said that he, once broken, returned to this land beyond the moon pools. That twenty Oathborn fell in that first hour to his sword before he abandoned the blessed blade and fled.”
So that was how Javen had left the isles behind, with a bloody trail of corpses behind him. Zari shuddered. Now, she was tasked with retrieving the same sword he’d abandoned. If the task was so simple, why had no fae done so?
She thought again of Syonia’s smirk. Her stomach tightened. This had to be a trap. “In these stories,” she began, “what protection keeps the abandoned blade safe?”
“Ah, if the stories told of such things, surely, I would tell them to you. But now, you must go and complete your Oath. May the goddesses guide you.”