Chapter 55
Kiera
The journey to Aquinon was fairly uneventful.
I thought I would come across border patrols like we had last time. But perhaps the fall of Calimber had scared them off. Or Renwell had called them back to Aquinon to defend it.
Regardless, I was happy to keep my sword in its sheath for the whole journey.
When I passed the gaping hole that used to be Calimber, I said a prayer for Nikella and any other lost souls. Then I added another to Mynastra for luck with our next battle.
I caught my first glimpse of Aquinon a week after leaving Yargoth. A long, cold, lonely week.
But staring at the royal city with its warm stone walls and sparkling palace and formidable city gate, I wished the journey was longer.
“This is it,” I whispered to my horse, a friendly roan mare. “Hopefully, you have a better time than me.”
She huffed and kept carrying me to the gate. To whatever fate lay beyond.
The gate was—unsurprisingly—shut, with archers on top aiming at me as I rode up to them.
“Nobody gets into Aquinon by order of the king,” a voice boomed down to me.
“My name is Kiera Torvaine. Renwell is expecting me.”
The guard didn’t bother to correct my purposeful lack of a royal title for Renwell. Instead, the archers lowered their bows.
The gate doors cracked apart, startling me. A guard in the violet Rellmiran uniform slipped out. The sun beamed off his helmet, nearly blinding me. He had a thick mustache for a mouth that moved when he said, “He’s been expecting you for weeks.”
My mouth went dry. Of course Renwell had. He still held Everett and Delysia captive. He knew I couldn’t stay away forever.
“Dismount and leave your sword,” the soldier barked when I said nothing.
I slid off the mare and handed over the reins. They could take my sword, but I would put up a fight if he demanded Mother’s knife.
But he said nothing. Didn’t search me. Just gestured me to go ahead of him through the narrow gap between the gate doors.
I fought the sudden urge to get back on the mare and ride hard for The Hollow to meet up with Henry. Come back with an invading army, rather than alone.
But Aiden needed me. Everett and Delysia needed me. As did Aquinon.
I have monsters to defeat.
I squared my shoulders and stepped back inside Aquinon. And into the sharp embrace of a dozen guards with spears.
They marched me through the city like a prized prisoner. Even if my shackles were invisible, they were still there.
We passed dozens of Shadow-Wolves prowling through the streets. Hardly any other people roamed about. Perhaps Renwell sensed a coming attack and had ordered them to stay inside. But a city could not operate without its lifeblood—the people.
My heart ached unexpectedly as I strode past new and old memories. Things I now saw in a different light. Like the white dome and four bell towers of the Temple. Aiden and I had climbed to those towers. The Temple was where he’d first met Mother.
The taverns were dark and quiet, not full of life and laughter as they’d been when Aiden, Maz, Ruru, and I had met up at The Weary Traveler.
Maz would be so disappointed he couldn’t get a pint of Sunshine. But he wouldn’t be here for the mead when he came.
I remembered how it felt to fly across the Old Quarter’s rooftops. And to fight the Wolves who now patrolled in the daylight.
We passed the Market Quarter, which no longer smelled like the sticky bread I used to get with Ruru. The colorful awnings flapped in the breeze like a flock of restless birds.
The Noble Quarter gate was more heavily guarded, but they let us through without a word.
Hope sprang in my chest when I saw The Silk Dancer, still bright and untarnished. Was Melaena in there now? Would she hear of my return before I could meet with her? Would she be glad I was still alive or angry about what I’d done?
One of the guards shoved me hard in the back, forcing me to pick up my pace.
No nobles strolled through the streets of this quarter, either. Even though the fountains were still running and the gardens remained manicured, there was no one to enjoy them. Except the guards posted at every corner.
Then Garyth’s mansion came into view. I winced at seeing the shattered windows and smashed door. A rotten tooth in a gleaming smile. Renwell had probably left Garyth’s mansion like this as a message to his neighbors.
Everyone was hiding. Except me.
My escort tightened around me as we neared the bridge. We squeezed past another dozen guards at the bridge gate.
I could barely see the bridge as we walked over it. Just the guards at my side and the palace ahead of me.
The thundering waterfall washed out the sound of my heart drumming in my ears. I had no time to fear traversing its fury with something worse waiting for me inside those walls.
The soldiers marched me up the stone steps, through the double doors of the palace, and into the familiar throne room. It hadn’t changed since the last time I was here. But now there was a different monster on the gold throne.
Renwell sat alone, an impassive look on his darkly bearded face. But I knew from the calculating gleam in his eyes that a messenger must’ve told him I was coming. He’d wanted me to see him like this—casually lounging on the throne, the Rellmiran crown on his gray-streaked dark hair.
He wore a finely tailored tunic belted over trimmed pants. A heavy velvet cloak rested on his shoulders. All black with a few threads of gold and purple, as if the darkness had almost swallowed Rellmira’s colors.
I was so used to him hovering in the wings in his austere, hooded cloak, forever a fleeting shadow. But somehow, he looked just as comfortable playing at the role of king. Yet his boots were scuffed as always, as if he couldn’t give up all his ways despite his stolen status.
A smirk slowly grew under his gaunt cheeks as I drew closer on the black-and-white marble floor.
He waved off the guards as if fully confident he didn’t need them. Mother’s knife rubbed on my ankle inside my boot. I could still kill him if he tried to kill me. The way he’d done to Asher the last time we’d been in this throne room together.
Once we were alone, Renwell rose to his feet, towering over me on the black marble dais.
My body screamed at me to take a step back, to snatch my knife. But I didn’t. I stiffened my spine and lifted my chin to meet his dark gaze.
“Welcome home,” he said.
My eyes narrowed. What game was he playing now?
His eyes drifted to the scar on my cheek. An emotion I didn’t understand flickered over his face.
“Where are Everett and Delysia?” I demanded, my voice filling the huge, domed space like a bell.
He smiled smugly, as if he knew this would be my first question. “I’ll take you to them.”
Fear bled my courage. Was he keeping them in the palace dungeon?
He descended the dais and walked through the northern doors. I hurried after him.
“My soldiers found Korvin’s body at a checkpoint on the Medria River,” Renwell said calmly, striding through the golden hallways.
I almost stumbled, but then anger snapped to the surface. “You mean your brother’s body?”
Renwell raised an eyebrow at me. “Nikella told you, did she? I’m guessing she was the one who killed him. Spear wound, they said. How is my little sister faring now that she’s destroyed her childhood tormentor?”
I came to a sharp stop, my boots squeaking on the glossy floor. “She’s dead.”
I hadn’t meant to state it so baldly, but I had no desire to shape the words into something more palatable.
Renwell slowly faced me. His cheeks hollowed as he worked his jaw. “How?”
“Saving us,” I said, willing myself not to get emotional. “And destroying your precious mine.”
I had no trouble interpreting the rage that steeled Renwell’s features. He stepped toward me, his hand going to the hilt of his sunstone sword. “I knew that was your doing at Calimber,” he spat. “But how? How did you get an explosive strong enough to gouge such a mass out of the coast?”
I balled my hands into fists to keep them from reaching for my knife. “Our explosives only took down part of the mine. Mynastra did the rest.”
He stared at me for a moment, then threw his head back with a laugh I’d never heard before.
It unnerved me more than his anger.
“Mynastra? Gods damn it, your rebel lover must’ve taught you to be a better liar, you seem so convinced. But choose a more believable lie next time. The few soldiers who escaped Calimber’s fall told me nothing of a goddess. Only explosions.”
My heart tripped over itself at the mention of Aiden. I tried to keep my face and voice neutral. “It’s the truth. After Nikella sank your warship, a vicious storm crumbled everything else into the sea.”
Renwell cocked his head to the side and studied me. “Why do you continue to choose him?”
I didn’t need to ask who he meant. I kept silent.
Renwell stepped even closer, his voice dark and soft. “I protected you. I trained you. I gave you a purpose—”
“I was simply a blade you forged and sharpened to keep in a sheath at your side,” I snarled in his face. “You only released me when you wanted to use me for your own gain.”
“Is that not what my sister has done to you as well?” Renwell breathed, his eyes like chips of sunstone. “She turned you against me, filling your mind with lies, thinking that even in death she’ll best me.”
My nose wrinkled in disgust. “This isn’t about ‘besting’ anyone. I chose to come here. For Everett and Delysia.” Although I’ll gladly kill you when it’s time. “And she didn’t need to turn me against you. I already hated you, Renwell.”
His face shuttered, turning perfectly cold and blank. “You hated me once before. And you still came to care for me.”
My stomach twisted as if he’d wrenched it. I tried to breathe evenly, but I couldn’t. He’d known all along of my na?ve trust in him, and he’d used it against me as he was doing now. I’d never felt so ashamed.
“I shouldn’t have,” I whispered. “I should’ve stayed away from you after what you did to Julian and the rest of the People’s Council.”
“But you didn’t. You needed me. You will come to care for me again.”
He was so sure of himself. He spoke as if he knew my mind better than I did. Had I really been so ignorant all those years?
“Care for you?” I croaked out, my anger and hurt stripping my voice. “The man who betrayed my mother and lied to me about it?”
“I’m not the one who killed her.”
“You killed my father in front of me.”
The corner of Renwell’s mouth quirked. “Yes, I killed a man you despised who would’ve executed you.”
“You threatened Everett and Delysia,” I snapped.
He shrugged. “Empty threats to halt your attacks on me.”
“I don’t believe you.” My fists were shaking with the effort of holding back from grabbing my knife, from striking him with my bare hands.
“I don’t believe you either,” Renwell said softly. “You don’t hate me. You can’t. I saved you when no one else would. You will never hate me for that.”
My rage boiled over, flooding my body with heat and my mind with blood. I snatched my knife from my boot, but Renwell had me against the wall in a flash, his hands like shackles around my throat and wrist.
I gasped, tears rising to my eyes. “You destroyed that mountain village. You’ve killed innocent men, women, and children. You sent Korvin after us, told him to punish me. You have no excuses for any of your crimes, and I will never forgive you.”
“You forgave him,” Renwell growled in my ear. “He killed your mother. He used you to further his rebellion. He’s using you to get to me just like he did with your father, and you still don’t see it.”
Darkness crowded the corners of my vision as I struggled against his grip. “Aiden loves me. You never cared for me at all.”
The deadly look in Renwell’s eyes made me wonder if he would kill me here and now. Banish whatever plans he might’ve had in store for me.
Instead, he loosened his grip so I could breathe. “Didn’t I?” he whispered.