Chapter 40
LETHE MONASTERY, RAVOS
Hermes eyed them all, pacing before them as if deep in thought. Sonah shivered and edged closer to Rydon. Leander was on her right, his solid frame doing nothing to allay the fear coursing through her as she watched the god’s thunderous face.
“You have ten minutes to gather your belongings,” he said after a very long silence.
Sonah did not move. She glanced at Rydon, who reached over and squeezed her hand.
“Where are we going?” Daris asked. He stood in front of them off to Rydon’s left, his stance wide as he regarded Hermes with a calm expression.
Out of all of them, Daris was the only one not bothered by Hermes’s tantrums. So far since his arrival, he’d almost pierced Sonah’s eardrums twice.
“Metilai,” Captain Soros said, his voice too loud in the tense quiet. He turned to address Hermes. “I heard her and the seer woman she has with her speaking about their destination.”
Sonah caught the scowl Daris hid as he turned and walked back into line with her, Rydon and Leander. He turned to face the god again as he gripped the collar of his breastplate.
“Let me go ahead with my men,” he said in a bored tone. “I’ll take Rydon and Sonah with us. If we run into her before she gets to Metilai, we can convince her to return with us once she sees Sonah.”
Sonah grimaced, shooting a glare at Daris even as Rydon squeezed her hand to the point of pain.
“Why would I want her to return? That’s where I want her. In Metilai. Do you not see?” A smile slowly stretched across his face. “You will go ahead,” Hermes said with a negligent wave, “but Sonah stays by my side. Take Rydon with you.”
“What will you do?” Daris asked, again in a tone that made it seem as if he didn’t care either way what the answer would be.
Hermes smiled and it made Sonah’s belly flip. Bile climbed up her throat to choke her as she watched the unpleasant way his lips curled.
“I’ll be right behind you, marching on the city with my army to destroy everything Emperor Solon built.”
Sonah bent over and vomited.
Rydon swore as Sonah bent over, dry heaving after she voided everything—barely any food, really. Before he could move to help, Leander had his arm around her waist. The man glared up at Hermes and Rydon moved in front of them to hide his ire from the mercurial god.
“Lord,” Rydon said aloud, calling over his shoulder at Hermes. “I beg a few hours rest before we leave. The lady is obviously unwell and cannot go anywhere as she is.”
Hermes eyed Sonah, his expression a mix of dismay and disgust. “Clean her up as best you can and then go.”
“Lord—”
“Eudaemon,” Hermes said in a soft voice that never boded well, “if I have to repeat myself, I think I’ll just stab you for the fun of it.” He shrugged. “I know you won’t die, but it might make me feel better.”
Rydon ducked his head, checking his fury behind three deep breaths. “Aye, lord. We will leave anon.”
“Good.” Hermes turned away, but as Leander rose with Sonah still hunched over and panting softly, he turned to them with a raised finger.
“You.” Pointing his finger at Leander, Hermes frowned. “Are you the Riverman who took my niece?”
Leander glowered at the god and Rydon stilled. He gripped Sonah around her bicep while Leander continued to hold her about the waist.
“I am her protector,” Leander bit out.
“Oh, but… she already has one of those.”
The way Hermes was speaking so casually to Leander made Rydon’s neck hairs stand on end.
He tried to shuffle them back, positioning himself in front of Sonah in an effort to further hide Leander from the god’s notice, but it was no use.
Leander was too stupid to know when to keep his mouth shut and Hermes’s ego was too fragile—especially after Terena’s defiance—to know when he’s being goaded.
Daris moved in a leisurely fashion, stopping in front of their trio as he faced Hermes. Rydon had seen him pull his sword on Hermes when the god had struck Ren, but even he knew he’d only get one mercy from Hermes.
“He’s a child, lord,” Daris said with a weary sigh. “Enamored of the goddess is all. Let him take care of Sonah and then we’ll be on our way.”
“Stand.”
Daris closed his eye and glanced at Rydon over his shoulder. Unsure what the commander was trying to communicate, but knowing whatever it was, the situation with Hermes was about to get very violent.
Rydon swung his head around to the monks still seated quietly at the trestle tables, their heads together or unabashedly staring at the performance Hermes was subjecting them to. He feared for their safety and wished he’d thought to get them all out of the monastery when Hermes first arrived.
“I said, stand.” Hermes’s words were clipped, his voice razor sharp as he turned to glare at Leander.
To the young man’s credit, he stood to his full height, several inches taller than Rydon.
He kept his arm around Sonah, but his hand had fallen to the small of her back.
Sonah sighed and leaned heavily against Rydon.
Hermes stepped forward, his gaze riveted, watching Leander with such intensity, Rydon brought his hand to his dagger.
Stopping inches away, the god narrowed his unnatural eyes, the silver fluid racing around his irises like a frenzied rat tail.
“You’re a shifter,” Hermes mused.
“Aye.”
“What’s a shifter doing in Heylisia’s military? Don’t they kill your kind?”
“Aye.”
Hermes lifted a brow.
Leander sneered. “I went to Metilai with my mother when I was a boy.”
Hermes waved his hand lazily for Leander to say more.
“I joined the military when I turned twenty and was assigned to the Rivermen. 21st Regiment.”
“You’re a…,” Hermes paused and sniffed at the air before scrunching his nose in thought. “A wolf.”
“Aye.”
“How were you not caught?”
“I shift at will.”
“Yes,” Hermes sighed and looked up at the high ceiling. “I know what shifters are. But something about your story…”
He strolled closer to Leander, stopping within a foot. “…is off.”
Rydon’s grip on his dagger was painful. The exit to the spring behind the olive grove was right behind him. If Hermes did something, Rydon could easily escape with Sonah.
“You see, I know the royal family in Osta. In fact, they must be the oldest family still in power from when we ruled this realm.”
Sonah twisted her head up at Leander, who was as still as stone.
His face was just as stoic as he stared hard at Hermes.
Rydon feared the god would lose his temper at any moment with this kid.
He burned to pull him back or step in, but he moved closer to Sonah instead.
If this shifter wanted to stay in their company, protecting Sonah, Rydon had to see if he deserved to.
“I… made a mistake with my niece,” Hermes said casually.
Rydon blinked. He felt Sonah flinch, the tension in her frame about to snap.
“It was very out of character. I don’t know what is happening but I feel… different lately. Regardless, I have been taken to task so let’s move on, shall we?” Hermes added, this time through gritted teeth.
“Lord?”
“I’m feeling magnanimous,” Hermes said with a flourish of his hands, ignoring Leander’s question. “I was shown mercy, so I will, in turn, show you mercy.”
Leander’s frown deepened. He flicked a glance at Rydon, who was staring so hard at Leander, it was a wonder the shifter didn’t have a burn mark on his cheek. “Mercy, lord?”
“Yes!” The god clapped his hands together and kept them pressed to his lips as he stared at Leander. The shifter kept his stance wide and his body loose, despite his clenched fists.
“You see, normally, I would’ve killed you as soon as you lied about your mother.” Shrugging, Hermes paced away. “But as I said, I was shown mercy today. So, you’re welcome.”
Leander hesitated. “I… don’t understand.”
“He’s calling you a liar,” Rydon snapped. Gods, the boy wasn’t bright. Exchanging a look with Sonah, Rydon returned his gaze to Leander. “Speak true, or he’ll kill you.”
“I have,” Leander said with a withering glance back at Rydon.
“You said your mother brought you to Metilai,” Hermes purred.
“I did not.”
Hermes’s response was to crook his eyebrow.
Still, Leander remained silent.
“You try me, boy. By the time you went to Metilai, your mother was long dead.”
Leander’s face drained of color. Rydon caught the slight twitch of his head, the only sign he gave of his surprise.
“Do you deny it, then? That you lied when you said your mother brought you to Metilai?”
“I did not say that. I never said she brought me.”
“Gods,” Rydon said before he could stop himself.
He braced, waiting for Hermes to rebuke him.
Sonah’s brow was sweaty. A drop tracked down the side of her face, and he cursed Leander again.
It wouldn’t be a bad thing if Sonah threw up again.
At least then they’d have an excuse to end whatever the fuck this was.
Instead, the god cocked his head as he prodded Leander with his silence.
“I do not know how you know of my mother,” Leander started, glancing quickly at Sonah before dropping his gaze to his feet.
“But aye, she died before I left for Metilai. I brought my mother’s ashes with me when I left Osta.
I wasn’t going to let that—” Leander cut himself off with a shake of his head.
For the first time since Rydon had met him, Leander looked as young as Croak.
The shifter lifted his gaze to Hermes, his posture straight, but not with challenge. To Rydon, he seemed resolved.
“I returned to the land of my father. For a new start. I found purpose in Heylisia. Where my legacy wouldn’t follow me. And now I have an even greater purpose.” Turning his head, he looked down at Sonah, who gazed back up at him.
“I have made vows to protect her,” Leander continued, his voice overly loud in the thick silence of the dining room. “Ones I cannot break. Nor do I wish to.”