Chapter 22
‘I’ve seen it. When the wall breaks, it is only the beginning. The prophecy will unfold. It is only a matter of when.’
— Written entry from Paulyr Moros’ personal journal
Taryn
“I’ll have ale, please,” Airess said to the barmaid and took a bite out of the sourdough bread that was left on the table. Taryn ordered the same and popped a piece of bread in his mouth, chewing as he scanned the tavern.
The crackling hearth cast dim, flickering light across the space.
The low murmur of conversation hummed beneath the occasional burst of drunken laughter.
The tavern seemed harmless enough, but Airess still wore her headscarf and Taryn his cloak.
He didn’t want to take any chances on risking them getting caught.
So far, so good.
“What did you think about what Mara said?” Airess asked, her gaze pinned on him, brows creased in determination.
Right. The fortune teller.
It was a completely bizarre encounter. Taryn didn’t know what to make of it, but he recognized the words instantly.
A stolen Death. A touch of Fyre.
Those were the words the Elve had said while Taryn killed him in the alleyway. And what Mara had said about The Vulture preying on the Owl? He couldn’t shake the words out of his head. He knew it meant something, but he didn’t know how they connected.
Who was The Vulture?
The question was eating at him. Taryn couldn’t tell Airess.
How could he possibly explain it without her thinking he was crazy?
What would she think of him if he told her?
Perhaps it wouldn’t matter. Perhaps everything Mara said had been a sham.
Taryn tried to rationalize it, tried to make sense of it, but he couldn’t.
He refused to believe it meant anything at all.
But deep inside, he knew he was lying to himself. He didn’t want to know or make sense of it.
“Do you honestly believe a word she said?” Taryn asked, brushing off Airess’ curiosity. He swallowed the guilt that came along with holding something back from her.
Airess blinked once, scanning him up and down. His heartbeat quickened, realizing she was using her Sight on him. That damn ability. He had almost forgotten about it.
Finally, she replied. “I don’t know, Taryn. The thing she said about being in a cage… it wasn’t inaccurate. What she said afterward about not seeing anything in my future and–and what about that poem? It was quite unnerving.”
Taryn leveled a stare at her, eyes trailing down her face.
He drank her in. The glow of her gilded irises.
The two tendrils of silver hair framing her beautiful face.
Her lips were pursed in thought, as if Mara’s words disappointed her.
Taryn wished he could kiss the disappointment right off her face–
He stilled. The thought sobered him and he wasn’t even drunk. Gods.
Taryn cleared his throat. “Don’t pay her words any mind. There’s nothing to worry about. You’ll have a wonderful future in Rune,” Taryn said softly. “I promise.”
The barmaid returned with two large mugs of dark ale and turkey legs the size of Taryn’s arm, accompanied by roasted vegetables. The smell reminded him of his earlier years at the Guild when he and Raiden frequented this bar during training.
“Ugh, Gods. I needed this.” Airess said as she took a swig from her mug.
“I thought you said you didn’t like ale?” Taryn asked, intentionally changing the subject.
He recalled that she told him she was only ever offered a small glass of wine on special occasions while living at the castle. The thought alone made his blood boil, considering the reasoning was to keep her body pure and healthy for childbearing. For Arzhel.
The thought alone made his blood run hot with fury. Taryn swore to all five Gods that if he were to ever see the Luciens again, he would rip their hearts out. One by one.
“I’m trying new things,” she said with her fingers clasped together and leaned in. “Here I am, alive and free against all the odds stacked against me–against us. I believe this night calls for celebration.”
Taryn smirked and raised his mug. “Then celebrate we shall.”
Airess clanked her glass against his and took a sip. She slammed the mug down and wiped her mouth with her cloak sleeve. “This has been the most fun I’ve had in my entire life,” she blurted out and blinked, as if the words weren’t meant to leave her.
Airess looked around and studied the folk around them.
Taryn saw the curiosity in her gaze before picking up her turkey leg and taking a huge bite.
Taryn smiled, realizing she was trying to emulate the folk around them.
He started eating as well, enjoying the greasy food with the tavern musicians playing loudly at the front of the bar.
“And now we will open the floor to any singers who might be in this tavern tonight!” the Human man at the front projected out. The music died down as he looked around for any takers.
Airess’ wide eyes met Taryn’s.
He had come to learn her musical talent of singing, catching her humming to herself through the night when she thought he was asleep. He didn’t mind it, her voice was a melody he hadn’t known he needed, lulling him to sleep with a warmth of a thousand fyres.
One night he had come back to their campsite, and Airess was singing out loud, her back to him as she sat atop of a stone. He waited, letting her get the music out of her system and sparing her the embarrassment of getting caught.
Taryn looked at her now, her face full of angst and longing to perform. She cleared her throat. “Should I…” she trailed off, already losing confidence in herself. Taryn looked around them for any potential threats, any Lucien guards that could possibly stop them, and found none.
“Go for it.” Taryn nodded in encouragement, his eyes bright. Maybe it was the ale and the atmosphere that dulled his usual alertness, but tonight he felt different. Lighter.
Lighter, with her. He wanted her to feel this moment entirely. He wanted to experience this with her. The thought surprised him.
Airess stood abruptly and sifted through the folk loitering the front. “We have a singer! What’s your name, dear?” the man asked her.
“Scarlett,” Airess answered confidently, the lie rolling off her tongue like butter.
Taryn sat back in his chair, a slight grin on his face as he sipped his beer, nodding to Airess in encouragement as they made eye contact through the crowd.
She averted her eyes shyly as the man asked her what song she would be singing.
She turned and whispered it into his ear with a smile.
The fiddler began to play a familiar tune. Airess closed her eyes and began to sing a melody so sweet that Taryn’s heart quelled at the sound, singing a distant Runean song he heard what felt like a lifetime ago in his childhood.
Her eyes locked with him while she sang.
Surprise coursed through him at how fluent the words flowed out of her.
Her voice was like a melody that hadn’t been heard in a millennia, the answer to all his prayers and the center of all his desires.
Her voice filled the tavern like sunlight through an old window, gracing the surface of things that hadn’t been touched in ages.
A chair scraped the floor beside him and someone filled the space. “Seat’s taken–” Taryn began as he pivoted his body to face whoever dared to sit near him before his jaw fell open.
“I didn’t think you would mind.” Raiden said, a coldness in his brown eyes.
Raiden sat back comfortably with his legs crossed, watching Airess intently.
Taryn’s heart thundered with panic. Where one Guild member went, others followed.
Taryn masked his panic with indifference and glanced around the pub.
“Don’t worry, I came alone. Though, it won’t be too much longer before the rest catch up.” Raiden glanced between Airess and Taryn, suspicion in his gaze. “You have some explaining to do, Tar. Eryx is furious.”
Taryn had to think of something that would prove him loyal to the Guild, something that would make sense. “I sold my ring to fund my travels,” Taryn began. “I’ve been tracking–”
Raiden shook his head and waved his hand in a gesture to tell him to save it. “After everything we’ve been through, you would still lie straight to my face? It’s as if I don’t even know you anymore.”
Taryn closed his eyes at the words, and shook his head. “I don’t expect you to understand –”
“Then make me understand. Were you ever planning on returning?” Raiden’s coldness faltered just enough for Taryn to see the brother he had grown up with, trained with, since they were teenagers.
Taryn finally understood that Raiden had come alone on purpose, without the other Guild members, to spare him from whatever punishment that would eventually transpire.
“No,” Taryn admitted shamelessly, and leveled a stare at him.
Raiden scoffed with a bitter smile and folded his arms, his eyes averting to Airess once more.
“You get one taste of aristocrat pussy, and decide to ditch the people that saved your life when you were lying half dead in a ditch at fourteen years old? I’ve got to give it to you, I never thought a female would have you so tightly wound around her finger you’d betray the only people who were there for you. ”
Fuck. He knows it’s Airess up on the stage.
Taryn's jaw tightened as he leaned closer to Raiden, his voice hushed as he gritted out, “Believe whatever you want but that’s not what this is. I was thrown in jail with her chained in Donstenyte, Raiden, and her power was so great that she broke the chains, and set us free. Did you really think you, or I could simply capture her? I don’t know what fucked up plans Eryx has for her, but I’m done being a pawn in his schemes.
His drug deals. His assassinations. I’ve got more blood on my hands than I ever wanted. I’m fucking done.”