Chapter 44
Chapter
Forty-Four
-KADIAN-
The past few weeks had gone by in a haze.
The majority of my days were spent in the library with Iona by my side, who, it turned out, had a sense of humor, albeit a dark one.
Our lunches were spent with Oz, who, despite himself, had not learned any sort of lesson in regards to Iona as he rose to meet her each time she approached, and tripped over his words as if he was learning them for the first time.
It was as if the man who performed the poem for her had ceased to exist.
“So, what’s your book about?” Iona asked Oz over dinner one evening.
“It talks of these two cities.” He said between bites of food.
“I knew that from the title… what else does it say?”
I tried to stifle my laughter. Perhaps the kiss they had shared had been a momentary lapse of judgment on Iona’s part as she had mostly returned to herself around Oz. But there was still more patience, a tenderness that hadn’t been there weeks earlier.
“I think it’s fiction.” Oz reached for his glass, taking a sip. “Talks about these gods for the cities, the war that divided them, and how they became two separate realms. Had that actually happened, we would have heard about it.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Iona’s dagger-like eyes found mine, and I offered her a curt nod in response.
“Besides,” Oz continued, “I’m not sure why the house wanted me to have this book. Perhaps it is its favorite story.”
“That’s wishful thinking,” I said, “either way, keep reading. Maybe we’ll find something useful.”
“Can do.”
The remainder of dinner was civil, banter flowing easily between the three of us.
Something I’d never imagined months ago.
It was hard for me to picture what Brida would say when I told her of my relationship with Iona—it was difficult to distinguish the two versions of her.
The one who had been so horrid to Brida, and the one who had gone out of her way to help me.
“I’ll meet you in the library,” Iona said, “but first I’m going to see Edrick.”
“Tell him I say hello.”
Iona turned to make her way to the scribes’ quarters before pausing. “It hurts, you know. To not be able to tell him about Addie. He deserves better. She deserved better.” Without waiting for a response, Iona made her way down the hall out of sight.
Placing my hands in my pockets, I decided to make my way back to the House of Shadows to wait for her. It would give me some time to review some of my notes. I had asked Tura if she knew of any ancient runes or books on them in the library. She said she would look into it.
The halls were quiet the past few days, each barrier blocked by the shimmering prisms that I had seen work in full force a few days prior.
A Fae from the Eternal Court had been screaming that he needed to go outside.
Their magic had been strength—they had begun punching the floor, hoping somehow that it powered the shield, not the Wind Walkers standing in front of it.
Frustrated with nothing happening, he’d sprung toward the barrier and punched it with all of his force.
At first, it appeared as if the barrier pushed him off, that his fist had rebounded.
That was until he turned away and hands in the form of wisps extended from the shield and pulled him back towards it.
“Let me go! Please, please!” Wind Walkers forced each of us back with a gust. The hands that moved faster than lightning grasped him, pulling him back toward the barrier.
His left shoulder hit the barrier first, sizzling on impact.
His screams were cutting as he disintegrated before our very eyes.
The smell of burning flesh lingered in the air as a warning to others.
It was one of the most horrifying things I’d ever seen.
I took the long way back to the House of Shadows, allowing myself time to think, to revel in the quiet rather than the incessant droning on of the door’s voice. I need to send Mom a letter, see what’s happening in Escalia.
As I wandered the halls, I thought back to a similar night during the Courting. I had been restless, fretting over my success, Brida’s success. I paced in the hall, knowing I couldn’t wake her.
A smile etched itself on my face as I thought of that night. How Lil’s face lit up when I knocked on her door. How my face had no doubt done the same when she had let me inside.
That night had been warmer than any I could remember. “We don’t have anything like this back home. Not until the height of summer,” I’d said as I’d taken a sip of a bottle of wine Lil had hidden in her room.
When I’d asked her how she’d gotten it, she’d merely winked and said “I know where to find things people like to keep hidden.”
I didn’t question her. Lil was a closed book, a mystery, just waiting to be unlocked.
Something akin to the trials. Something I needed to succeed at.
Something I would succeed at. The attraction had been immediate, but I knew there was more to her than her beautiful smile and golden hair.
Something that radiated familiarity, something that demanded a chase.
We sat on her balcony, gazing up at the stars all night until she told me she needed to go. When I’d asked her what was wrong, she’d said “I need to show Brida something. And you’ve already been entertained for the last several hours.” With a wink, she left.
A pang lingered in my chest as I walked the emptying corridors.
What was it that Brida had said to me about not knowing where you’re going, “that’s part of the adventure, Kadian.
Allowing yourself to get lost, learning from the journey, and then finding yourself once again.
” For years, I thought she said that to me based on the fact that she was perpetually lost, but the more I’d come to think of it lately, it had been truer than I’d known.
The lingering quiet of the atrium outside the House of Shadows shattered when the voice snaked into my mind.
Hello, Kadian.
“I’m not in the mood,” I thought. “Please just open the door.”
What’s the matter? Azmeer not what you hoped it would be? The voice teased, sounding more feminine than it ever had before.
“No,” I said, out loud, wanting to make sure the entire palace heard me. “Azmeer has not been what I hoped, what I imagined it would be. I wanted a chance to prove myself, to be worthy of something, of…” Of someone. I thought and immediately regretted it, knowing the voice had heard it too.
Who is to say that all of that will not come to pass?
The voice was smoother than silk. The words cut through the space between us with effortless precision.
They carried a surprising warmth, not that of a fire or a hearth beckoning you inside, but something deeper.
More consuming. Like embers hidden beneath the last bit of ash, just waiting to ignite.
“I guess it’s just my pessimistic nature.” I thought as I took another step towards the door, wisps of shadow and smoke mingling around my feet.
The voice laughed mildly in my mind, “Some men wear their fate like armor, Kadian Taldot. But you don it like a second skin.” Without another utterance, the door opened, and I ventured back inside.
Whatever she meant, I didn’t have it in me to face it now. Making my way to the library, I greeted Tura, who was closing up for the night.
“Ah, yes, there you are.” Tura placed her work from the day into one of the satchels and crossed it over her body. “I have something for you.”
“I hope it’s not another assignment,” I muttered as I made my way to her desk.
“No—I am still piecing together your… notes from the last meeting.”
“I told you,” I arrived in front of her, shrugging my shoulders, “I’m not Brida.”
Tura made her way around the desk before reaching out and grabbing my chin with her hand.
“Easy,” I said, but she ignored me.
“There is greatness within you, Kadian Taldot. It might not be this,” she gestured around us with her other hand, “but you are worthy. It’s about time you realize that for yourself.” She let go of me and made for the door. “The book is on the third floor at your desk.”
“I have a desk now?” I screamed as she opened the door to leave, the hair on my arms standing like soldiers ready to march into battle.
“As I said, you are worthy, Kadian.” She bowed her head and left.
A gilded book sat atop the desk, an ancient tome. On the cover was a marking, one I now recognized.
That is the mark of the king, the one Addie had in her room. Except it was drawn in the way Addie had it hung on the wall. Why is it different from the mark we know?
Pulling in my chair, I sat at the desk and took two deep breaths. I did this each time before opening a book: one to steady myself, to know that this was something I could do. The second, out of fear of Tura—what she would do to me if something happened to it.
The pages were brittle, and I did my best to be delicate, but with my ogre hands, it was damn near impossible.
Tivali pray hi’thur, the first line read, and underneath it read, The Keepers of Time.
I turned to the next page and froze. On the four corners of the page rested the four symbols I had seen carved into the floor in the Room of Convergence. And in the center of the page sat the mark.
The next page had etchings of runes, similar to those covering the book I had been given in the Eternal House. The rest of the book was in a language I didn’t understand.
The symbols of the courts—the mark of the king. Did it mean that the king controls the courts? Or that the courts control the king?
According to Illerium, Eldara was the courts, the king was beholden to their will. Brida had said much of the same. But was it always that way?
The bell sounded and pulled me from my thoughts. I looked around. Iona should have been here. I picked up the book and made my way upstairs. Maybe she just hasn’t come down yet.