Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Dante
“I fear this is the end, my friend. There are so many of them and we can’t seem to agree on anything long enough to stand together these days. Should our Houses fall, I will wait for you beside the gods.”
— A Letter from Julian, Heir of House Lynx, to Atticus, Heir of House Avus
It was decided, once Adrian had finished her strange conversation with a wild horde of the most dangerous beasts in the world, that the general and his band would camp outside the walls tonight while Roman, Ksenia, and I were admitted to the city.
Undoubtedly, Prince Leo would be wanting a debrief on everything that had occurred since we'd left before he admitted his guests and heard their request. I went along with the Captain and the Spy, concerned about my safety should I remain behind in the camp instead, and tried to push the strange sight of my former partner kneeling before that massive scarred Zver from my mind.
They'd spoken to one another, I could feel it.
I hadn't heard any of what they'd said, just like everyone else.
But there was something about that moment, a little tingle of power at the back of my mind.
Like I could feel when they spoke and when they stopped.
I could feel certain emotions surging in the air, shock and unease and camaraderie, but I couldn't hear the words, couldn't grasp the significance.
It was the same feeling of having a word on the tip of your tongue but not being able to recall it for the life of you. An entirely odd sensation.
"What the hell was all that?" Roman hissed as we passed through the gates, guards on either side of us shuffling about much more nervously than they had when we'd left. Their eyes kept darting out into the sands where campfires dotted the space before the gates and tents had recently been erected.
"She drew the wild Zver out from their dens," Ksenia answered, her voice hushed with awe.
"We've been searching for them for centuries and have only caught brief glimpses here or there of one or two.
We've never seen them in such numbers and so fully.
But she drew them right out. Just by…touching the wall. "
"What does it mean?"
"I don't know, but Leo will want to hear about it."
Roman nodded, having obviously already decided that himself.
They fell quiet as we passed the last guard gate and emerged into the city.
Phantom padded by Ksenia's side, seeming more solemn than usual.
Ksenia must have picked up on the shift if the way she kept glancing in his direction was any indication.
The Captain nodded to guards and soldiers as we passed, frowning all the while.
It wasn't until we reached the palace that either of them began to relax.
Ksenia sent a servant running after the prince before we'd properly entered the foyer and we were met with the same servant informing us he was in the throne room before we made it to the dining hall.
Striding down another long hallway, we passed chattering nobility and rushing servants who skittered out of Phantom's way, whispering and muttering amongst themselves as we went by.
Roman and Ksenia must have been used to the staring, but I wasn't, having spent most of my time here before holed up in my room.
So I found myself glaring back at anyone who stared my way, a clear challenge in my gaze.
I'd passed the gods' Trials, been trained in their city, crossed the desert twice, and survived the reunion with my partner. There was nothing these prattling nobles could throw at me which I wouldn't be able to face. Besides, they reminded me of home. And I'd hated my home.
"There they are," the prince announced the moment we pushed through the giant carved doors of the throne room.
I looked up from gaudy white and black checkered marble to see the man himself pacing before a throne.
Upon the plush burgundy velvet seat sat an older version of the prince with a scowl on his face and a crown on his head.
The blonde curls that Leo sported were turning white and collapsing against his scalp.
The sharp brown eyes were dulled and the lips pale with age but the familial resemblance was uncanny. This was the king.
"Your pets have returned," the king grumbled, eyeing us with distaste.
The Captain and the Spy both went to one knee in front of me so suddenly I nearly tripped over them. I didn't bow. This was not my city, these were not my people, and he was not my king.
He eyed me at my defiance, lip curled.
"This is the Betrayer?" he snapped.
I resisted the urge to flinch, glaring right back at him.
"Father—" Prince Leo began in a soothing tone.
"You know how I feel about his sort, son," the King snapped. "Fallen are one thing. Betrayers another. I don't want him in my city."
"He has valuable information about the Geist. He's lived inside their city, trained with their men. He was in Valin's own squadron before—"
"Before your spy brought him to us without being ordered to."
Ksenia dipped her head.
"My king—" she began.
"Enough," he snapped, rising from his throne with what appeared to be considerable effort given how round he was about the middle. "I asked you for information, spy. Not another mouth to feed. Not a Betrayer in my own halls."
"With all due respect," I found myself speaking before I could think better of it.
Fists clenched at my sides and teeth gritted with barely concealed rage, I could hardly help myself.
"You don't know the first thing about me or my kind.
Seeing as you've spent your entire life hiding behind your Geist-proof walls, you wouldn't know the first thing about living under their thumb.
I am Dante of House Viper, heir to the high house, descendent of Prima the First, Victor of the Trials, Soldier of the Pavosian Army, and, yes, Betrayer. "
Ksenia gazed up at me with wide eyes. I saw the slight shake of her head, a silent warning. I ignored it, stepping past both her and the captain to face the rising fury of the king.
“I've faced dark voids of spiraling madness, the crushing weight of stone, the fearful act of drowning, the sacrifice of a limb, the pain of unfeeling, the shift of time and space, and the weight of a mountain. I’ve faced captive Zver and Fallen heroes. I’ve faced gods and legends.
And I’ve faced the choices I’ve made and the love I’ve scorned.
You, human king, will be the least of these. "
His lips parted and he sputtered at me, blinking and spitting with rage.
"Father," Prince Leo said, stepping forward, likely to heal the damage I'd done. But I wasn't finished.
"You hide here behind your wall and pass judgment on those of us living without its protection," I growled at him, stepping forward.
Leo, between us, watched but made no move to intervene.
"You hate the choices I've made when you could have saved me from ever having to make them.
Your people let mine suffer in the cage our ancestors built, knowing we will live and die in captivity, held hostage by gods whose names you spit upon.
And still, you hide. You sit on your throne and grow fat and old like the king before you while my people, a bloodline half related to your own, worship your enemy and live in ignorance of their own purgatory. "
Leo stepped back then, having decided to let me finish my tirade.
"Don't be the next king to be remembered for his inaction," I said.
It wasn't my place to be making this argument.
This was Adrian's plan. Adrian and the general and Zya, the girl from the second ring.
But Adrian wasn't here and, from the way the king spoke of me upon my entrance, I wasn't sure she'd ever be allowed in if I didn't do this now. Besides, Sanctuary was my home too.
"If you don't do this," I started, glaring at the king I now stood directly in front of, "your son will."
He blinked at me as guards stepped forward from the shadows. With one hand lifted, he waved them back. Then he spoke.
"Do what?" he asked.
I grinned.
Roman and Ksenia launched into action, rising from where they knelt on the throne room floor and going into detail about all they'd seen and done since we left the palace. They ended with the Fallen's proposal, with the group camped outside the gates for the night.
The king looked once to his son and I saw where the wisdom lied in this palace.
Leo, though younger, was better at this.
Perhaps his father ruled his city well. Maybe his people loved him and they were well-fed and happy.
But this stuff beyond the wall? The events of the wider world around them?
He hadn't the faintest idea of how to continue.
Leo did. The dream of an alliance shined in his eyes with every passing second.
"We should welcome them properly," the king finally said. "Liselotte will see it done."
Leo nodded and we all watched as the king strode from the throne room, half a dozen guards peeling off the walls to follow.
The prince's shoulders slumped when his father made it to the shadows and I noticed he seemed to be far more tired than his earlier pluck would suggest. Ksenia must have noticed as well.
She stepped toward him, a concerned frown on her lips.
“Leo—" she began.
“You’ve done well, Viper,” Leo interrupted her, forcing a smile in my direction. “If it’s redemption you seek, I imagine your words have taken the first step on that path.”
“There will be no redemption for me,” I ground out.
Leo paused, eyes flickering with interest, before nodding and exiting the hall after his father.
“Take him back to his room,” he called out just before the massive doors slammed shut behind him.
I wasn’t chained. I didn’t have to be bound and dragged back to the room I’d occupied before. I went willingly, silently, not even glancing up at the dark halls as we passed through them.