Chapter 14 Thyra
Chapter Fourteen
Thyra
Ishiver in the wind, Antony’s name churning around in my mind. As soon as he spoke it, I sensed his regret, the tension in his body, almost immediately.
At nearly the exact same moment, a soft fluttering filled my chest, the sign of my oncoming Oracle power, but the vision was brief. A mere flash.
In it, I heard my own voice asking him again, What should I call you?
That vision ended as quickly as it began, leaving me only with a sense of unease.
Then Antony lifted himself off me, and I’d taken a deep breath before I sat up, trying to process the terror of the flight through the bloodlands.
Unlike my fleeting vision about his name, my Oracle visions in the bloodlands were sustained. A sequence I couldn’t deny.
First, I saw the blue eagle broken and covered in blood, then the vampyr swarm hiding behind the mountainside, then the tunnel at the end of the valley, and finally, a vision of light, an explosion of silvery rays.
That last made no sense to me, but I trusted the impulse to fly toward it, even if I couldn’t explain it.
Now, Antony’s black armor presses once again against my back as he reminds me that he’s never letting me go.
“I promised you I wouldn’t fight you.” I tilt my head, intending to force him to look me in the eyes, but, frustratingly, succeed only in snuggling my head closer to his neck.
“For how long?” His voice is hard, his lips brushing the top of my forehead. “I live in a world of lies and liars, Thyra. There is not a single promise that doesn’t come with strings or conditions, or limitations.”
My brow furrows that he thinks my promise could be short-lived.
I wonder how he imagines I will fight. My physical strength doesn’t come close to his.
I have no eagle or serpent to escape on.
No family or friends to escape to. The villagers may have treated me like one of their own for a time, but I was careful never to form deep attachments with any of them, and as it turns out, one of them betrayed me by killing my father.
Perhaps Antony believes that, in the space of time between my father’s death and now, I foresaw my entire future. Or that my father foresaw everything years ago, and we plotted out a path of manipulation and subterfuge.
Maybe Antony believes that, like the path to safety I foresaw through the bloodlands, I have a mental map of every push and pull, every remark and gesture to ensure I win whatever game he thinks we’re playing.
Except I don’t.
Each of my Oracle visions so far has now transpired. Those events have passed.
I’m left with a handful of blade-induced visions of iron, ice, and flame, and a whisper telling me that the kings must earn what they desire, which seemed to imply that they must also earn the blade.
The blade that is now embedded in my right arm.
I don’t know its history.
I don’t know its story.
And I don’t know if I can safely tell Antony any of that? The distrust with which he spoke indicates he won’t easily believe me.
I take a deep breath, resolve building within my heart.
All I can do is show him who I am, little by little, piece by piece. My actions will speak for my heart more surely than my words ever could. If he chooses to reject what I show him, well…I’ll deal with that if it happens. No matter what, I won’t jeopardize my life over it.
His focus has remained on the city ahead of us, and now he tips his chin at it, the movement causing his jaw to graze my hair, a faint hint of bristles catching the strands. “Do you see those towers?”
“Of course.” Despite my declaration, the far-off collection of closely packed white towers gleams so brightly in the sunlight that I’m quickly forced to squint.
“We call them the Constellation,” Antony says, “because they were built in the same pattern as the brightest stars that burned in our night sky.”
He draws back enough so that his savage green gaze can burn into me while he continues to grip me tightly, his right arm around my ribs beneath my breasts, his hand splayed across my waist, while his other hand rests on his bird’s back.
“Did you know that already?” he asks.
I’m confused that he spoke in the past tense about the stars that burned, but he probably means an ancient constellation that might not be visible anymore.
“I know far too little about your kingdom,” I say.
“I’ve spent my entire life living in coastal villages.
Many villagers have wild stories about the three kingdoms. There were traders who traveled between territories, but many of them had conflicting versions, and none of them ever mentioned a Constellation. Not to me, anyway.”
“Hmm.” The slight narrowing of his eyes tells me he doesn’t believe me.
I smother my sigh. “Of course,” I murmur. “Lies and liars. You must distrust anything I say.”
The visible corner of his mouth tugs up before he returns his attention directly ahead. “Do you see the highborn gathering at the top of the tallest tower within the Constellation?”
The tower’s still too far away. Maybe, if I had a highborn’s sharp eyesight, I’d be able to see more of the vague dots on top of it. “Not really.”
“I can’t either,” he admits. “Not yet. But I’m certain I know who will have come out to meet us.”
He looks at me expectantly, as if I should know the answer already.
Well, damn.
“Liars,” I whisper, although there’s a question in my voice.
His cold grin confirms the accuracy of my statement.
“My mother’s personal guard will have spread out to surround the landing platform,” he says. “Except, of course, the side we’re approaching from, but as soon as we land, they’ll close in around us. My youngest brother, Hadrian, will be a step behind our mother. He’s never far from her side.”
With another quick glance at me, Antony adds, “Don’t take him for a sycophant. It’s a smart move on his part, given how far down he sits in the line of succession.”
Antony returns his attention forward as he continues, “My only sister, Cassia, will have been sent to her quarters in disgrace, since she never should have dared fly out with me. She will be heavily punished, so you may not meet her for a while. And my other brother, Victor, well…”
Antony points to a spot lower than the tower he was focusing on. “Do you see the gathering of smaller towers off to the right, nestled in the shadow of the Constellation?”
I nod. “I do.”
“Those are the Iron Forges where Victor works.”
I expect Antony to say more, but he falls silent, and I consider him carefully, unsettled by his sudden quiet.
His expression changes as the silence stretches. His lips press together. Hard. His brow furrows. Deeply. Then his jaw clenches.
Oddly, the savagery in his eyes doesn’t change.
If anything, based on the coldness in his eyes, I’d believe he was unfeeling, unbothered, and completely unconcerned by the world around him or the choices that might lie ahead of him.
But the rest of his face is telling me…
He’s worried. Frustrated. Uncertain. Troubled even.
It’s startling, and I wonder if he’s so used to wearing a mask over his features, only his eyes exposed, that he hasn’t learned to control the rest of his face.
He’s holding me too tightly for me to twist and reach up to his jaw, to brush my fingers across it, but I tip my head back to see him as best I can, a certainty in my voice. “You need to fix your armor.”
He jolts, his focus flashing to me. It looks like he’s about to utter a quick retort, but then a muscle in his jaw twitches.
“After we greet my mother, we will go to the Iron Forges,” he says, making me wonder if this was the choice that was worrying him.
“That is, regardless of what Mother might have planned now that I’ve returned with you. ”
Carefully, I ask, “Does she often dictate your choices?”
I’m fully aware my question may be inflammatory, but he seems willing enough to answer.
“You will soon learn,” he replies, “that I control the Iron Army, the forges, and the farms. In fact, I’m responsible for the rest of the kingdom, but my mother controls the Starlit Court, which is contained within the Constellation. The moment we land, we’ll be within her jurisdiction.”
It’s an interesting division of power. “Why?”
“Because our kingdom’s safety relies on her power.” His lips twist, a bitter tone entering his voice. “If it’s true you don’t already know that, then you will see it for yourself tonight.”
I consider pressing for more information, but the immediate problem is how close we are to landing. I’m certain I’ll need to face Antony’s mother soon enough, but I’m not looking forward to a power struggle between them, especially if it threatens my life.
I study the white towers, and what I can now see is a group of fae gathered on top of the highest platform.
It looks very much like the scene Antony told me to expect. Guards line the platform’s edges while two fae stand separately from them, closer to the platform’s center.
“Well…” I purse my lips. “If your mother controls the Constellation, why not land somewhere else?”
My suggestion is greeted with silence.
Then Antony bursts into laughter so suddenly it startles me.
It seems to shock his bird, too, because the animal jolts and its wingbeats falter. The other eagles also jerk mid-air, as if they, too, were startled by Antony’s raucous laughter, their riders trying to get them under control even as his bird resumes its steady path.
Antony doesn’t seem to care about the ripple of surprise he sent through his troops.
“Fuck me,” he declares, shaking his head, his eyes gleaming at me. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
I’m not sure how disconcerted his sudden happiness should make me.
Or how worried I need to feel when he leans to the right, and his eagle responds by turning in that direction.
Probably extremely worried.
At least on our previous path, I knew what I was headed into. After all, he was good enough to tell me.
The bird cuts sharply across the path of the eagles on that side, causing them to scatter. Their riders seem determined to stay with us, adjusting their path to follow, but Antony roars at them. “Back to your towers!”
They must be trained to obey his commands without question because, despite their suddenly wide eyes and the glances they take at each other, they immediately break off from us and turn around, several with backward glances.
Other than the shift in Antony’s body weight, it isn’t clear to me how he’s directing his eagle’s path.
It dips, sailing across the tops of buildings that glimmer in the sunlight.
There are perhaps hundreds of white roofs, all blindingly reflective, forming a sea of infrastructure.
Soon enough, though, it’s clear we’re headed toward the Iron Forges situated in the Constellation’s shadow. I relax a little since it makes sense that Antony would want to go there. He needs to fix his armor.
My comfort disappears when his lips brush my cheek and, with a cold glint in his eyes, he says, “You may come to regret your suggestion.”