Chapter 23
LYRA
Our journey to the Aetherian shores, after initially being followed, was uneventful. Terran’s first use of the Ascension Gate, unimpressive… according to him. I almost could have fooled myself into believing the reunion between brothers would go smoothly.
The others were gathered, we were told, in the Celestial Hall, waiting for us. Even though he’d never been inside said hall before with its ceiling that fooled most into believing it was truly an open-aired sky, Terran hadn’t seemed to see anything around him.
Not the palace. Not the king. Or even Mev, who most people were enthralled to meet for the first time.
He marched directly up to Kael and, without a word, punched him in the face. Chaos erupted as Mev rushed forward, bending down to Kael, who was kneeled over. The king hadn’t reacted, aside from a set of raised bushy white eyebrows, but I certainly did.
“What in the skies was that?” I yelled, running forward.
Terran looked at me as if he’d merely said hello to his brother.
Kael stood up, assuring Mev he was fine.
“I deserved that for not sending word to you before changing course. But not for anything else. So that shot will be your last.”
Although they were twins, Kael and Terran were easy to tell apart, at least for me. Terran was slightly bigger, though most might miss that detail. It was his expression, perpetually scowling, that differentiated them. Kael was no ray of sunshine, but compared to his brother…
“You abandoned us.”
“I did what was necessary.”
For the first time since we entered the chamber, Terran seemed to realize we weren’t alone. He glanced from his brother, to Mev, and then the king.
“I must say.” Galfrid glided toward us. Both commanding and elegant, his white hair matching his robes, the Aetherian king looked like a cross between a grandfather who’d taken hundreds of years to age and the most powerful person in Elydor, as most believed him to be.
“I never expected you to come here, Prince Terran. But you are most welcome.”
“Not at all the greeting I received,” Kael mumbled.
King Galfrid smiled kindly. “You’ve done much to change my thinking, and for that, I’m grateful,” he said, defusing Kael’s words effectively.
“I’m here to speak to my brother,” Terran said as gruffly as when I’d first come to Gyoria.
“You’ve not met the princess,” I reminded him.
Mev was glaring at Terran. He obviously hadn’t ingrained himself to her by punching her partner, Kael’s left cheek showing the evidence of the strike already.
“That wasn’t nice.”
Terran startled at her speech. It was an accent we hadn’t heard in some time.
Once, when humans flowed freely into Elydor, occasionally those from outside England would find their way to York and through the Gate.
It happened enough that Elydorians became accustomed to a variety of different accents from the human realm.
But it had been nearly thirty years since the Gate was open, and those who remained had eventually learned Elydorian.
“He deserved it.” Terran was less than apologetic. “As he admitted.”
Mev crossed her arms, unconvinced.
“I watched the two of you battle. At any time, you could have stopped to listen to your brother’s side of the story.
But nooooo, you blasted him first and asked questions later.
Oh wait”— she snapped her fingers, as if remembering something—“that’s right.
You never asked any questions, just laid into him for—”
“Mev.”
She spun her head toward Kael.
“What? I was just getting started.”
“I know. That’s why I stopped you.”
The king tried, and failed, not to smile. I was accustomed to their bantering and used the opportunity to actually introduce the two.
“Prince Kael, this is your brother’s partner, and now your family,” I reminded him. “Princess Mevlida.”
“He hit you,” Mev repeated as Kael gave her a don’t do it look. She clearly wanted to continue her well-earned tirade against Terran.
“And I did abandon him, even if it was justified.”
She looked as ready to hit Terran as he had just before he struck his brother. I’d seen Mev angry before, with Kael especially, when they’d first met. But the fury she directed toward Terran was unlike anything I had seen from her.
This was not going well.
“Perhaps we should allow them to speak. Your Majesties,” I said to both the king and Mev, “I have much to relay. ’Tis pressing.” I caught Terran’s eye. “And we should, perhaps, prepare for battle.”
Terran didn’t disagree.
“Were you followed here?” Kael asked, concern etched in every feature.
“Since Father has likely guessed I took the Stone of Mor’Vallis? And four of his ships were spotted just off the Blackshore Coast.”
Everyone had stopped listening at took the Stone of Mor’Vallis. I willed them not to say any more. Thankfully, the king seemed to sense my rising panic and gestured for Mev to follow us.
“Come,” he said to Mev and me, graciously leaving his own hall. King Galfrid rarely used his throne room, except for formal and official events. Though I followed my king, it was imperative I caught Kael’s attention. When he finally glanced my way, I shook my head ever so slightly.
No, he doesn’t know we want to use the Stone to open the Aetherian Gate.
Kael understood. I was certain of it. Before we even left the chamber, he’d already begun to question Terran.
“What does she mean, prepare for battle?”
It was the same question King Galfrid asked as we entered his solar chamber.
It was as different as Terran’s as could be.
Windows and light made it seem like part of the sky, as it was with so many of Aethralis’s chambers.
There were no regular windows, though. Each one an enchanted, and impenetrable, pane of crystal that shifted hue with the light, mirroring the skies beyond.
“As Terran said, he has the Stone. Balthor suspects it was he who took it.”
I started at the beginning, regaling my time in Gyoria and leaving out some of the… grittier details.
“So he has it,” Mev summarized, “but hasn’t agreed for us to use it? And it’s very likely either Balthor, or at least his men, are on their way here to retrieve it.”
I nodded. “It was a gamble, leaving the Gyorian palace. But without Terran’s aid, I’d not have been able to retrieve it.”
“A bloodline seal?” Galfrid guessed.
“Aye.”
“What’s that?” Mev asked.
“It’s an elemental binding woven into the royal line,” Galfrid explained to his daughter.
“The crown’s wards recognize the magic in our veins…
wind and sky, the gifts of Aetheria. Land and all beneath it, gifts of Gyoria.
And the sea, Thalassari’s gift. Without it, the seal stays shut, no matter the key or spell. ”
“It’s a good thing you recruited Terran.”
“‘Recruit’ is not the word I’d use. He agreed to retrieve it having seen the beginnings of an Unbalance himself. That Balthor lied about seeing such evidence, and much more, planted seeds of mistrust—”
“Which you took advantage of. Lyra.” The king sighed. “You have exceeded all expectations.”
Why, then, did I feel like a failure?
The Stone was within our reach, yet… I’d deceived Terran, just as his father had done.
“He knows nothing of the Gate.”
Galfrid sat, so Mev and I did the same. I’d always loved this chamber, its chairs carved of pale ashwood and cushioned in clouds of silk.
Elegant, ethereal… like sitting in a wisp of sky.
Yet as I settled, my thoughts strayed to Terran’s chair in his own solar: deep-cushioned, worn to the shape of him and warm from the ever-burning hearth.
“Nothing at all?” Mev’s question was a good one.
“He is smart, and likely suspects.”
“But has not asked you directly?” Galfrid appeared thoughtful.
“Nay.”
“You care for him.”
I’d been looking at the ring my mother gave me, not unlike the one Mev wore. My head snapped up.
“Your majesty—”
“Galfrid in these quarters, as I’ve told you many times, Lyra.”
He had, but it was difficult not to see him as my liege. I still saw myself as I did the day my parents left their positions, and I officially began to serve the crown: a young Aetherian, eager to serve her king. Certainly not an equal, as he suggested with permission to use his given name.
“Galfrid.” It felt… unnatural.
“I have many years on you, and Shadow Diplomat you may be”—his smile was warm—“remember who trained you.”
He did. Among others.
“Shadow… what now?” Mev’s expression was as open and honest as always.
“I will explain later,” I said, having meant to tell her for some time now. There was no purpose denying the truth. “I’ve come to…”
Care for him? Desire him? Want to be near him every waking moment? How could I possibly put into words my tumultuous feelings for Terran?
“It doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “Both Terran and Kael”—Galfrid looked at his daughter—“were raised by two strong, intelligent Gyorians.”
He had never spoken of King Balthor in such a way.
“Father… you’re talking about the guy who kidnapped Mom and sent her pregnant through the portal. I mean, Gate.”
“I am aware,” he said in that calm, soothing tone that was Galfrid’s signature.
“But that does not negate the fact that Balthor is one of the strongest of his clan in many generations. His sons were trained by the best, and their mother one of the kindest and most caring I knew. She balanced him, keeping Balthor in check in ways that became evident after her death. You’ve seen evidence of this through Kael.
It does not surprise me Lyra sees the same in Terran. ”
“But even Kael says his brother is more like their father. That he’s harder… more unforgiving.”
“Both true.” I could testify to it easily. “But with many redeeming qualities. None of which will help our cause if he can’t be convinced to help us.”
Galfrid sighed deeply. “First, we deal with Balthor’s imminent threat.
Once I can be assured our people are safe.
” He looked me straight in the eyes. A kind king, aye.
But not a weak one, as evidenced by Galfrid’s expression now.
“We open the Gate. With Terran’s permission to use the Stone.
” He sighed heavily. Regretfully. “Or without it.”