Chapter Eighteen #2
‘I don’t give a shit if you think it matters or not,’ Kyra said coolly.
‘I’m still going to give it. I don’t know who Nysari is, but losing someone you love affects everyone differently.
Some bounce right back because their routine is their comfort.
And some lose themselves in their grief and don’t know how to carry on.
You can’t judge someone on how they grieve, whatever the cost of it is. ’
Zuriel glared at her. ‘Nysari made a vow when she became Eternal. We all did. A vow that no matter what she feels or thinks, her duty to protect comes first. I would not expect you to understand that.’
Naal had the impression that Kyra was holding back a few choice names for Zuriel.
Before they could be said, she intervened.
‘Kyra is right. I will not condemn Nysari for mourning her father… such a reaction would be cruel. But Mankar, she cannot dwell for much longer in this despair. She is needed, now more than ever.’
Mankar nodded his understanding.
‘It is becoming clear to me that we cannot solely rely on this order to snuff out this evil,’ Naal said slowly. ‘We need aid. A united front against the spreading fires of Zarynth.’
‘What are you suggesting?’ Maida asked.
Naal had wondered when this time would come. When she would have to drag the poor young boy into the fray… ‘Two Wardens against Azar, against her Fire Warden son is favourable. But three…’
‘You want to find the boy,’ said Maida with realisation.
Naal grimaced. ‘It will not be easy. He knew what he was doing when he disappeared. But Droria needs its Wardens. He will join us, when he realises what is at stake.’
Kyra leaned forward. ‘You’re talking about the Water Warden?’
‘I am.’
‘Where is he?’
‘He vanished a couple of years ago. Escaped from Loros’ capital. No one has seen him since.’
‘Escaped?’ Kyra repeated. She had quite the sharp mind.
‘A tale for another time,’ Naal assured her.
She turned to Mankar. ‘Go to the Esi tribes and the outer provinces of Phaenon. See if we might find some recruits for a land army in the freefolk. They have no obligation to aid us in this fight, but some might realise the gravitas of the situation and answer our call. Take Ruven with you. Zuriel, you will oversee the city rebuild. I should like our people to feel they can go home as soon as they are able if they wish. Maida-’
‘Keep healing,’ her quick-witted friend finished for her with a tight smile. ‘Always.’
Though to all it was obvious, she felt the need to say aloud, ‘I name you acting pramah in my absence. I know you have stepped up in light of Orro’s death and you have my eternal gratitude. There is none I trust more than you.’
Maida bowed her head and smiled in appreciation.
‘Have Nysari lead a squad in doubling the city’s magical protection, along with a continuous guard rotation with the hawks on the summit, and on the shore of the Frozen Tides.
Make a record of every single ship that passes through those waters.
’ A thought occurred to Naal then, and she paused with a frown.
‘How did the princes climb the mountain so quickly?’
‘Apparently the elder brother is a salir,’ Mankar said dryly. ‘It was how they escaped so quickly too. Though, not before Nysari shot the Fire Warden with an arrow. It didn’t kill him but I bet it still hurts.’ He gave a low, dark chuckle. ‘She never shoots an untipped arrow.’
‘That is… unfortunate,’ Naal said with distaste. The crown prince of Zarynth was a salir. Empress Azar had certainly strived to keep that information quiet.
Saliring was one of those gifts that went against the nature of things. Interrupting the constant flow of the world, the wielder must slice through its carefully created atmosphere to reappear elsewhere. It was not a magic that Naal approved of.
‘Implement these changes imminently,’ Naal told her inner circle, standing as she concluded the meeting. ‘We will rest tonight. But in the morning after tomorrow, Kyra and I will begin our search.’
‘I’m coming with you?’ Kyra asked suddenly, eyebrows raised.
‘I would be most appreciative if you did.’
‘Do I have a choice?’
Zuriel made a sound of impatience at that, as though she were personally offended at Kyra’s audacity. But Naal was not offended at all. ‘You will always have a choice, Kyra. I ask you to come with me because I believe you will be of great help in finding and recruiting the Water Warden.’
She had hoped for more time, to ease Kyra into this Warden life slowly, to teach her to wield her magic without haste. It seemed they would not have that luxury.
‘You will be bored here, girl,’ Maida interjected. ‘If you stay, I might put you to work. How does shovelling snow sound?’
A smirk pulled on Kyra’s mouth. After a moment of deliberation, she looked at Naal and said, ‘I’ll come. I’ve never been one for manual labour.’
Maida chuckled.
There was a shift in the air as the course of the future changed. Gallena was giving Naal a soft nudge toward it, as though confirming that the journey they were about to embark on was indeed the true path.
Naal trusted that feeling more than she trusted her own intuition. It had never, ever led her astray.
And this time, it would lead her straight to the Water Warden.
???
Kyra.
In the solitude of a little cave room deep within Gallena’s temple, Kyra stood in front of a dusty mirror and pulled her wild hair from its tie, letting it hang loose.
The mane had been lacking any sort of management since her escape from Avaldale, usually piled in a curling mass on top of her head.
She did not have the patience to tame it as Lilion’s servants had once done…
but she much preferred it this way. With a heavy hand, she fluffed it and let it rest over her shoulders.
Kyra knew nothing of Phaenon’s customs, but she supposed the dirty clothes she’d been wearing since leaving Avaldale’s shores would not suffice as appropriate dinner wear.
Not that she needed a reason to strip the rags from her body the second she was alone in her designated room, hoping she would not have to don them ever again, not with a wardrobe full of clean apparel at her disposal.
Naal’s generosity, she presumed, as she ran her fingers across a night-black dress of simple cotton, deciding the long-sleeved gown should certainly be appropriate attire for her first dinner as a guest of the Eternal Warriors.
The reflection smiled at her, content with what it saw, and though the dress was a tad itchy on her skin, she breathed with satisfaction as she allowed herself to soften in the simple dress, to move as elegantly as it did.
She had not given herself permission to do that in a long time.
Faeries fluttered around the entrance to the great dining hall, curiously flying as close to her as they dared go as she passed through the threshold, then swiftly darting away if she looked directly at them.
It was not the first time she had noticed them within the temple, but being here in Nythanor was the first time she had encountered faeries before.
They’d been driven out of Avaldale the moment humans had taken over the city after the Great Earthling War, but here in Gallena’s house, under the safety of Naal’s guardianship, they were abundant, floating around like tiny golden glowing stars.
Either they were quite shy creatures, or perhaps just had little trust for an outsider in their sanctuary.
An impressive fire was crackling in a wide fireplace behind the longest table Kyra had ever seen.
It ran down the length of the high ceilinged room and was made of hard stone like the one in the Council Room, yet the attention to detail was significantly more impressive in its design, the entire table surface carved with the same swirling runes that patterned the ceiling in the temple’s atrium.
The carvings must have been an inherently airling design…
she’d never seen anything like it before.
Oslan, with his keen eye for beautiful things, would have been awed by it.
The table was set for around fifty people, and down its centre was an array of dishes Kyra was not familiar with.
Thick chunks of pinkish meat that she could only assume was some sort of whale, thawing but seemingly ready to eat just as it was.
There was not a single vegetable nor a piece of fruit in sight, but she supposed the frozen terrain of the mountain was hardly fertile ground for fresh produce.
Next to the abundance of protein and placed along the table were crystal decanters, each filled with a stunningly dark, alluring red wine.
‘There you are,’ Kyra said with a smile. She filled a fancy crystal goblet with the stuff and made herself comfortable in a seat by the fire.
Within a few short minutes, the rich contents of her goblet was gone, and she was reaching for the decanter for a shameless refill.
‘It is an Eternal custom to wait for the pramah to drink first,’ Naal said as she glided into the hall in robes of grey, her long, open sleeves almost reaching the floor.
She’d never seen the Air Warden without her silver armour, but this suited her far better.
It was peace in the form of clothing, more befitting of her calm nature.
Kyra instantly lowered the goblet from her lips. ‘Will I be swept from the temple in the eye of a tornado for my sins?’
Naal smirked. ‘Between you and me, I believe it to be a rather egotistical tradition. Though, there are many in the order who do not share the same belief. They believe that Eternal customs should be upheld with the utmost respect for our predecessors. Zuriel is among the devout. She will no doubt have something to say on the break in tradition.’
‘Zuriel has a lot to say on everything,’ Kyra said, unabashedly voicing her shrewd observation of the Air Warden’s daughter.
‘That she does,’ Naal replied, though the smile was fading. She filled her cup with water and said no more.