Chapter 14 #2
“Maybe. Then again, I distinctly remember we bathed in the river afterward rather than let anyone inside the castle realize just how disgusting we’d become. We burned every one of those cloaks afterward.”
“Well, how’d the plan work? Did you push back the Stormbringers?”
His laughter dies. “Nine of the twelve of us died that day, but we killed every one of them to the man. We surprised them completely. We waited until they lined up just a few hundred feet in front of us to prepare a charge. Then we snuck up on them and sprayed them with dragonfire.”
It almost seems like he’s developed soft wrinkles in his face, like the years have finally caught up with him.
The mask he wears around everyone seems to be cracking just a little.
“This was before we could use the Mark of the Phoenix so indiscriminately. We each had a single use of it. Chains and the Cloak helped us gain a bit more of an advantage, but those Stormbringers aren’t like mages.
They know how to use spear and sword as well as any Priest. It was a hard fight, but in the end, we won. ”
Those first few years must have been hard. “I…” I hesitate, and his eyes darken. “I spoke to Azric Cyrus, Father.”
Suddenly, the carefree feeling of an old soldier is gone, and Rhaskar Thorne stands up, raw intensity in his eyes. “And?”
“He wants me to win the trials because he thinks that people from Sylvantia can kill Godforged soldiers permanently.”
The wrinkles next to his eyes crinkle just a little as he listens, but nothing else changes. “Why does that interest him?”
“Because he says he wants to end the war, and this will be the way he accomplishes it.”
My father turns to look at the Midnight Bridge.
“He’s dangerous, Fiona. I’ve realized I cannot tell you what to do anymore.
I am not at your side, and I cannot help you make the decisions you’ll have to make.
The best I can do is offer some advice. You are stronger than you think you are.
I do not believe that you need anyone else’s help to win these trials.
You may need help to survive the time between because you can’t fight everyone else in that castle with the resources at your disposal.
In the trials, though, I think you have what it takes to win against any of them. ”
He turns back and looks at me. “You are special, Daughter of my Soul. I would beware any help you receive from Azric Cyrus. I hate the fact you are so bound to that imbecile Darian Emlyn, but it is what it is. They have found you a hiding place, and they most likely ask little from you. But the Prince of Bones will not give help without expecting something in return.”
I nod to him. My father, more than anyone else in the entire world, is someone that I trust so completely that I don’t even think to question him. He raised me after my parents died. He built the Order that’s saved an entire kingdom and has given me the ability to survive this terrible world.
If he tells me to beware of any help from the most dangerous champion in Nyth, then it feels obvious I should heed that warning.
He takes a deep breath and lets it out. “Well, I guess that’s that.
Cedric and I have been watching you through the Eye.
We can’t watch all the time, but Ainslee’s been keeping us informed about things.
I saw you fight the skryths, Fiona. You did well, better than I’d expect most Priests to do when facing something like them with no experience. We were thinking…”
Normally, I’d be leaping with joy at his praise, but something overshadows those emotions.
It was a question I’d been too scared to ask.
I’d felt confident Nyxthos couldn’t have caught them and brought them to the Shadow Road, but the possibility was there.
If my father thought they were missing, it’d mean I’d killed them.
I couldn’t feel those feelings right now.
I couldn’t go to the next trial with their deaths on my hands.
It was better to wonder than to know for sure.
But if my Father had been watching the trial with Cedric, then they can’t be dead.
I ask the question that’s terrified me. “Cedric and Bram are alive, aren’t they? ”
He frowns at me. “Of course they’re alive. Why would you think they weren’t?”
I shake my head, not wanting to talk about what I’d done. “They died in my trial. I assumed it was an illusion, but since you’re here, I wanted to be sure.”
Then my father wraps his arms around me. “They’re both fine, Fiona. Why couldn’t I see them? There were periods when you stopped, when your actions didn’t make sense. Nyxthos must have been altering what you saw.”
I lean into the hug, letting it last longer than most, and I let go of so much of the pain I’ve held onto. I told my father that I wanted to be sure, but in reality, I needed to be sure. Their imagined deaths weighed on me more than I’d like to admit.
He pulls away first, and I let him go. “As I was saying. Cedric and I have thought long and hard about what’s coming in your second trial.
We think it will have something to do with secrets.
Everyone talks about Nyxthos being the God of Darkness, but he is also the God of Secrets.
He’ll test everyone on that prior to allowing them to compete in the third and fourth trials. ”
“How do I prepare for that?” I ask.
My father shakes his head. “I don’t think you’ll need to. You’ve spent your entire life preparing to keep secrets. I doubt anyone has held as many secrets in such a tiny mind as you did when you were seven years old. You’re built for this, and I am confident that you’re as prepared as you can be.”
He smiles at me then, and says, “But you probably still need to refill your Infusion supplies. What are you missing?”
I run through the Infusions I’ve used, and my father frowns. “That’s all? You’ve been in the viper’s nest for nearly a week, and you’ve barely used any. That’s impressive.”
I shrug. “I thought these would have to last for two months.”
He shakes his head. “If you start to run low, tell Ainslee you need to see me. I’ll get you more. It may take time, so don’t wait until you’re desperate.”
There’s a pause, and I know what comes next. I walk away, back to the prison cell where I’ll wait until the next trial. I’ll sit in numb silence while I wait for the next time I’m tested to see if I’m worthy, where a literal god tries to kill me.
I’m not ready to go back to that. “Will you sit with me for a while?” I ask.
My father looks out at the bridge that the rising sun has just moved past. An entourage of nobles dressed in blue and silver, the goddess Rivena’s colors, cross on winged horses. Sidon flies high overhead, his silver scales glittering in the morning light. “I’ll sit with you, Daughter.”
He turns back, a soft smile on his lips, and he sits beside me on the ledge.
His very presence comforts me. He’s always been safety in my eyes.
No, it’s deeper than that. In my very soul, the man who’s raised me for as long as I can remember has been the walls that keep the monsters out.
He, not the castle at Stormhaven, protected me against the evils of the world, and just being beside him gives me a kind of peace I’d never find within Castle Lachlan.
“Did I ever tell you about the time that I had to fight Vyran?” he asks.
He’s been telling me that story since my first memories. “Maybe a time or two, but it’s a good one.”
He nods and begins the tale, which somehow has become grander as I’ve gotten older. Maybe it’s because he’s learned to embellish a little more, or maybe it’s because I’ve come to understand just how terrifying a dragon would be.
Either way, I lean my head against his strong shoulder, just as I did when I was seven. In this moment, everything seems right again. Even as we sit in the heart of one of our enemies’ strongholds, I feel just as at home as if I were sitting across from my father at his desk.
It’s too bad that I know it can only last so long.