30. Diar
Diar
My father tossed me roughly onto the cold floor of his office. I caught myself on my palms, saving my face from a nasty bruise.
General Yuudai whirled on his heel to leave.
"You're wasting everyone's time," I called, eyes fixed on the legendary bow of ice he clutched. "I can call Siotha back to me."
"And I will know, if you should. Don't make things worse than they already are," he warned, pulling the door closed behind him.
"I know how to use it," I shouted. "Akemi taught me."
Father froze. His hand tensed around Siotha, and he glanced over his shoulder. "I overlooked your brother's reckless and lawless decisions because he was my son. Had it been anyone else . . . "
"Am I not your daughter?"
Father's face hardened. "A man has little use for daughters."
The door slammed, and I heard it lock.
A few years ago, his words might have wounded me. Now, they were but confirmation of all he had never said.
Dragging myself to my feet, I leaned against his desk and rebraided my hair. When I chose to leave home, upon a spontaneous whim, I never could have imagined what would come.
Siotha had chosen me. That Solheart, Quinn, had wanted as much. He and his allies were behind the Emperor's murder. They now sought the Paragons' deaths and slaughtered cities.
And one of them had dealt the killing blow to Akemi.
Lady Rohan and Paragon Tiernan were still going to ride out and find the scáde. Alone.
Circling the desk, I peered out the window. Father strode down the promenade, a small group of soldiers in tow.
The enemy was out there, within reach. The assassins I'd never dreamed of finding, so close to their original crime.
Father didn't know me at all, if he thought this room would keep me.
Backing up, I built up momentum to kick the window open. I slammed my boot against the frame, and the lock broke with a satisfying clink. The frosted glass fractured. Frigid wind bit into the room.
Slipping over the sill, I dangled from the edge and dropped to the ground.
I landed in the snow-covered garden beds beside a cloaked man.
"Whoa!" Ferris stepped back, surprised.
"Ferris?" I hissed, equally surprised.
"I was coming to rescue you . . . " He looked up, brow knit. "I see that wasn't necessary."
"Good." I shoved him against the wall and hid us in the bushes. "Do you see any guards?"
"No," he breathed, turning his head. A curl brushed my cheek. "How did you manage to escape?"
"My father thinks I'm afraid of him."
"Are you?"
"Yes," I said quietly. "But this is more important. Come on."
"Wait, where—”
Darting across the yard, I slammed into the stables and yanked the doors open. The stout, fluffy white horse that had been my brother's raised its head and looked at me with gentle black eyes.
Ferris flew in behind me, touching my back as he slipped past me to grab Arrow's saddle off the wall. A shiver ran up my spine.
"I know what that's like," Ferris said, helping me saddle Arrow. "Fearing them."
Surprised, I paused. Aenir's king was beloved amongst his people, from what I'd heard.
"Yes, well.” I returned to strapping on Arrow's bridle. "I brought it on myself."
Ferris caught my wrist. "Nobody should be punished for wanting to be free. Say the word, and . . . ”
"And what?"
He dropped my wrist and smiled. "Let's survive tonight, first."
My brows knit as I studied his face. What had he been about to say?
"Are we chasing after the Paragons?" Ferris asked.
"Yes." I flexed my hand.
I'd wait until the last moment to summon Siotha back, to avoid drawing my father's gaze.
Grabbing Arrow's reins, I moved to lead him outside. Ferris looped his hand around them just above mine and yanked, pulling me close to him.
"Is your father planning to have you killed?" He asked.
"I don't know," I said. "I haven't really had time to process anything."
"But you're riding out toward certain death?"
I couldn't formulate a response. Thoughts whirled in my head, not composed of words, but motion.
Akemi's words came back to me. 'You never think, sister. You just go. It's going to get you killed one day.'
'So?' I'd asked.
'So, I'm teaching you to use a bow. It'll force you to slow down and think.'
"I'm no good with a bow," I blurted out. "Akemi taught me, but I never . . . "
Ferris blinked at me in surprise. His head snapped up, and his eyes darted toward the stable doors.
Alarm bells sounded in the distance, faintly, at first. They grew in volume and power as bells around the city joined in the chorus.
Warning the people of Tsuyan to shelter from danger.
Ferris looked back at me. "I'm shit with a bow, too. We'll improvise. Reese told me Paragon weapons can shift to fit their wielder. Maybe Siotha will, too." Grabbing Arrow's saddle, he mounted and offered me a hand.
I took it, sitting behind him. "Why are you steering?"
"Because.” He slapped the reins against Arrow's neck. "You're the one with the bow."
Arrow rocketed out of the stables, galloping across the yard and down the promenade. We burst through the gate to the sounds of ominous chimes.
I wrapped my arm around Ferris' waist and leaned forward. He grinned. "If we're to die, this isn't such a bad way to go."
"Why?"
"Saints, Diar. You are impossible to flirt with."
Too much adrenaline pounded through my veins. I couldn't think about flirting or riding with a man.
Maybe, if we survived, I'd think about it then. And ask Ferris what he'd meant to say.
"Don't bother," I said. "I haven't the manners to be a wife, remember?"
"That's precisely why I like you.” Ferris turned back ahead.
Arrow neighed, pulling against the reins as Ferris turned him down a sharp bend, leaning him toward the south.
"The gates," I said, leaning around him. "They'll be closed."
"I know."
The walls came into view, dark save for the occasional torch, packed with archers prepared to fire. Powerful wind built up behind us, as though it were chasing Arrow away from the city. I leaned forward, burying my face in Ferris' back as it overwhelmed me.
Ferris stood in the stirrups. "Jump!" He yelled.
I did as he said and threw myself from the saddle. The wind caught us—but it was no longer mere air.
An emerald dragon of swirling winds surged beneath us, wings spreading as it soared upward. I gasped, grabbing Ferris tightly as I tried to steady myself on the not-quite-corporeal thing's back.
The dragon flew high above the gates, then arced down at a sharp angle. Snow blew in every direction as it tore away from the walls into the surrounding hills.
Into the darkness.
The dragon slowed and plunged before disappearing. I struck a mound of snow and rolled over myself. Ferris caught himself, tumbling once before landing on his feet. Groaning, I spit out a chunk of snow.
"How did you manage that landing?" I asked.
"Practice.” Ferris pulled me to my feet.
Catching my breath, I looked around. The only light out here was the gentle blue glow of Tsuyan's crystal pillars, rising from the ground like the claws or teeth of a great dragon buried deep beneath the earth.
A hum drolled at the edge of my mind. I'd never heard anything like it. Haunting, pulling.
"That's the song," Ferris panted.
I looked down, noticing he was still holding my hand. "Are you flirting with me, even now?"
He smiled. "I haven't decided yet."
Dropping his hand, I reached out and closed my eyes. I pictured Siotha—my bow.
It was poetic, in a way, being chosen by the weapon I so despised. The weapon my brother had forced lessons upon me with to teach me patience.
Patience had never come. I wasn't ready for this.
But I was out here anyway.
My eyes flew open, and the air dropped in temperature. Siotha appeared in my grasp with a flurry of snowflakes.
A flash of fire illuminated a grove of dead trees at the base of the hill. Ferris whipped in its direction. "There!"
Reaching back to where I might hang my quiver, I imagined pulling a shaft loose. A spectral arrow appeared between my fingers, cold as death.
Knocking it to the bowstring, I tore down the hill.
Fire and light illuminated the night. Light.
The Solhearts were out here, with the monsters. They were one and the same. Allies.
Silhouettes danced between the trees, too many to count. I saw a man in white, with a streak of red hair—Paragon Tiernan. He clashed with a man in ebony armor, a mere blur against the night.
Raising Siotha, I tried to steady my aim, eyes darting around the glade.
A sea of trees spilled down the hill to my north and west, dark and obscuring. How many Solhearts hid within that darkness? My eyes shot east, scanning the sloping hills of snow, the jagged crystals rising from the white.
Gentle blue light spilled off the crystals, illuminating the empty fields—empty, save for a single silhouette walking toward us.
Golden threads burst from the shadow and wrapped around my wrists, nearly tearing the bow from my grip.
The radiant threads drew back, releasing me. They flowed back to the shadow under the crystals, a man dressed in all black, eyes glowing bright yellow.
Quinn, Glenn—whatever his name was—I was going to tear him apart until he told me the truth.
Turning from the battle, I raced after Quinn. He whirled on his heel and sprinted into the sea of crystals.
"Diar!" Ferris shouted after me.
Fitting my arrow back to the bow, I lifted it and fired. A streak of ice followed in the arrow's wake as it flew long, whirling past Quinn. He turned, flicking his hand back. Golden threads ripped through the air, looping around Siotha and snapping it in half.
I felt the bow give, and expected to look down to see myself holding its broken pieces. The ice within the bow shifted, melting, reforming. Twin daggers sharpened in my hands.
'Paragon weapons can shift to fit their wielders.' A wicked grin tore across my face.
Flipping the blades around, I threw them toward the Solheart's back. He ducked at the last moment, and the daggers soared over his head, thudding into the crystal formation behind him.