Chapter 25
Chapter
Twenty-Five
JULIANNA
The next morning, Dario and I took our ashvan from the cave and headed into the nearest town, keeping our heads down, to look for food.
Because I’d been taken, that meant our safe home was once again compromised. Dario said that Meera and Aiden were already preparing to flee when he’d run out after me.
We had no idea where to go, or where they were.
We’d run out of options for El Zan Vylette in both Cretanya and Korteria.
Which meant Meera and Aiden had to find another solution.
A safe place to go before we could reunite.
Dario said the plan was to send nahashim to find us once they had things in order.
But there’d been no word from them yet, which I tried not to read into.
Dario and I quietly gathered supplies. More blankets with the little bit of money he had on him, and food. We returned to the cave quickly after and waited.
The next day was the same. No news. I was growing more worried.
What if something had happened to Meera?
To the only family I had left. I was so anxious that Dario and I barely spoke.
We’d come to a kind of understanding, and maybe even a level of comfort around each other.
But we weren’t touching. Nor were we bringing up the awkwardness of that first night, of me accusing Dario of ulterior motives.
Or the oath he swore—to kill any of the men who’d raped me.
On the third day, we ventured out, sticking to crowds, and laying low.
We tried to listen for news. For any possible mentions of Meera and Aiden being captured, or Lyriana finally being seen.
But suddenly, there was a scream in the square.
A man shouting. He was barely past the age of twenty.
Like he’d only gone through his Revelation Ceremony this past year.
Suddenly his shouts of protest turned to a scream of pure, unbridled pain.
Dario took my hand, his fingers tightening over mine, moving me away. But it was too late. I’d seen what was happening. What we’d known was happening all over the country to countless innocent people. What Tristan was currently the face for.
The vorakh task force. A mob was forming around him, their auras vicious and wild. They were bloodthirsty, flinging accusations with abandon.
The man, boy really, had been stripped naked by them as the mob grew in size and intensity. They were all yelling, calling him a vorakh.
I moved closer to Dario, starting to shake. A soturion in silver, one of the Kormac wolves, stepped behind him, and grabbed hold of his arms.
He screamed, struggling to get away until a bone snapped. His arm broken.
Another soturion stepped into the circle, holding a small box.
A nahashim.
The crowd cheered, and screamed as the box lid was removed and the snake inside was thrown at the man. It landed on his bare chest, slithering up to his face, and then— it slipped inside his eyelid.
His screams pierced through my heart.
“I’m getting you out of here,” Dario said, pulling me away. His fingers threaded through my hand, his arm around my shoulder, as he guided us into the shadows, my heart pounding.
We were back at the cave shortly after that. I had to dry heave, until my stomach calmed. Dario sat with me, silently rubbing my back. But only after asking if he could.
I brushed the tears from my eyes, and slowly sipped on the water he’d gotten for me.
“You’re okay, Jules,” he said gently. “You’re all right. You’re safe.”
I shook my head. “No I’m not. Nor are you.
Not as long as we stay here.” I met Dario’s dark eyes.
“Don’t you see it? They’ve won. The takeover’s complete.
I’m not in the Palace anymore, but I’m not free.
None of us are. And, the truth is, I never will be.
None of us will. Not against the whole force of Ka Kormac.
Dario, I, don’t know if I want to find Meera and Aiden,” I said, quietly.
“What?” he asked, “No, don’t say that. Of course, we’re going to find them.”
I shook my head. “No, I mean I don’t want to.
Not unless it’s outside of the Empire. If they wish to, they can join me there, but I’m done trying to just survive here.
I’m done being afraid every minute, waiting for them to find me, to exact their next law of cruelty.
I want you to take me west, to the human lands. To Dobrava.”
“Jules,” he frowned, “your home is here.”
“Home? What home!” I yelled, my stomach twisting.
“I’m from a country that won’t recognize I’m alive.
Heir to a Seat of Power that has been usurped, my family killed.
And more than that! I’m from two countries that don’t even exist anymore—that are both now New Korteria.
I’ll be killed if anyone finds out the truth, or worse.
Returned. I’ve been enslaved and raped repeatedly for years.
All by the same man who’s now in charge of everything.
And now—they’re taking people off the streets.
You said you care about me. That you’d protect me. Take me away from here.”
“If you want me to,” he said. “I’ll take you. But, Jules. Are you sure you want to run? You don’t want to fight back?”
“Do I look like I can fight?” I snapped. “I can barely do magic outside of my vorakh. And I’m not strong. I’m not a warrior. I can’t fight these soldiers.”
“You could be trained,” he said. “I’d train you. If you wanted.”
I exhaled sharply. “Sure.”
“You could,” he said fervently. “Lyr did. She had no magic at her Revelation Ceremony, and she learned to kill akadim anyway. You have magic. You could learn too.”
“And save one person. Maybe? Maybe save myself. Once? But what would be the point? The fight would never end.”
Dario stared at the flames burning before us.
“You’re right. It wouldn’t end. The fighting never stops when it’s you against the world.
An army, a soturi makes it better. You can cover more ground.
” He stilled, his eyes blazing as he looked me over.
“But you know what has an even bigger impact, and could save more lives, help more people than me and a hundred soturi ever could?”
I blinked. “What?”
“Being a leader,” he said. “Being a good leader. Like an Arkasva. Making changes for the country, standing up against the Emperor.”
I scoffed. “Oh right! Of course. An Arkasva! That sounds nice in theory. But in case you haven’t noticed, we’re lacking good Arkasvim at the moment. We don’t have them.”
“We could,” Dario said slowly. “We could. What if you claimed your birthright? What if you became High Lady of Elyria? Took it back from Kormac and Ka Elys? Jules, you could make things better.”
I stiffened. “No,” I said, my voice hard. “I won’t do that. And I don’t want to talk about it. Not being Heir. Not being Hava. None of it.”
“Why?” Dario asked, his aura pulsing with energy. “You have the chance to have power in this world. Too many have that who don’t deserve it. But you do. You could take it.”
“Because I tried once before and I failed. Okay? These titles mean nothing. The same as all of these little fucking rebel groups. Did being Hava stop me from being a slave? Did being Heir to the Arkasva save me from being, from being raped?” Or stop them from killing Seth. …
My hand trembled, and I picked up a stick beside the fire, tossing it in, watching the flames crackle, my heart hurting.
Fuck all of this. Fuck the Empire. Dario was speaking nonsense.
Dreams of delusion. I didn’t want it, I didn’t want any of it.
For the first time in years, I had the tiniest chance to be Julianna again.
To just be myself. But I couldn’t do that under the Emperor’s rule.
No matter what country I was in, what it was called, or who was Arkasva.
Even if it was me in the end, sitting on the Seat of Power.
Because I knew Avery Kormac. And I knew I wasn’t a leader.
I could barely do magic. Barely run more than five minutes without needing to sit down.
And I was supposed to lead a Godsdamned country?
One that would have me arrested when they knew what I was, one that would shrink in horror when they learned what was done to me?
Dario inched closer, careful not to touch me.
“Can you drop this? Please?” I asked. “I’m not going to rule. Whatever my birth father says, it was never my destiny. If you want a new Arkasva, talk to Meera. She at least was trained.”
“You could learn,” he insisted. “You could train, too. You’re smart, and you’re kind.”
I glared.
“Not always to me,” he lifted an eyebrow.
“But you are. I see you. I see your heart. You don’t want to see others suffer, and you wouldn’t, to the best of your ability, allow anyone else to.
And if there’s something you don’t know, you can get advisors or your council to help you. Meera would help you.”
He looked away. “I would help you.”
“Dario, I just want to leave. Are we really having this conversation now?”
“Well, we could be sailing the Lumerian Ocean, but since we’re stuck in this cave, with nothing else to do.” He shrugged.
I sighed. It would never happen. Not for me. But when he explained it, the steps I could take, the way he sounded so sincere, like he believed in me, it almost seemed possible. Almost.
“I wouldn’t be enough,” I said. “You know that. You know how things work here. All my inner strength, and all my claims in blood would be worthless, nothing without soturi backing me.”
Dario leaned in. His aura filled with fire. “If the day comes when you make your claim on Elyria, I will fight for you. I will be your Arkturion, protect your land, protect you, until it’s secure. And if you want me to go home after, I will. But if you want me to stay, then I’m yours.”
My mouth fell open. I’d accuse him of joking, but I’d spent enough time with Dario by now to know—he was serious. “You’d do that?” I asked slowly. “You have no connection to Elyria, or anyone from there. None at all.”
“Not true.” He grinned. “I know you.”
“That’s not enough.”
“Well, for me it is. Because like you, I also hate to see suffering. It doesn’t matter that Elyria isn’t my home, or that it’s not connected to me.
It still needs to be protected. And why not?
I’ve spent years of my life fighting for my own country, but doing so under a corrupt ruler, one who’s done nothing but hurt me, and my friends for years.
I’d easily fight in a new country for a good ruler.
” His eyes flashed. “Especially if she were you. There’s …
” he coughed. “There’s little I wouldn’t do for you. ”
I feel this pull towards you.
“Can we not talk about it anymore?” I asked.
Dario nodded. “Of course. I just—thought I’d tell you how I feel.”
I laid down on my makeshift bed, watching Dario closely. “Will you—would you lie down beside me?”
His face softened so completely I almost wanted to cry. Like he’d been waiting for me to ask. He crawled beside me, his body still careful not to touch mine. He shifted onto his side, his hands resting under his head as our eyes met.
We couldn’t go back to Alistair’s. But Lady Aliyah had gathered money.
And Kenna was working with her own rebel groups back in Glemaria.
If I had Dario by my side … No. I needed to stop.
These were dreams. Worse. Fairy tales. I shook the thought away, and matched Dario’s breathing.
We stayed like that, our eyes watching the others for hours.
There was nothing else to do. And neither of us seemed willing to move, or break the silence.
Until we eventually fell asleep. Not talking, not touching. Just watching.
When morning came, sunlight streamed in golden rays through the mouth of the cave, a cold wind blew inside, and a sharp hiss broke our silence.
Dario grabbed his blade, rushing at it, half awake, but then the snake dropped a scroll it had been carrying in its mouth.
He grabbed the case, and unraveled the parchment, his eyes leaping across the page as he read. And then he laughed, his eyes filling with joy. It was the complete opposite of the reaction he’d had to the last scroll delivered to us.
“What?” I asked. “What is it?”
“It’s Meera and Aiden! They found somewhere to stay.
Nothing special, just an inn that’s cheap, no questions asked.
But still! They’re safe. They left the address for us.
And there’s more.” He grinned. “There aren’t many details—we’ll need to speak to them in person.
But according to this, Kenna sent good news about what’s happening in Glemaria.
And—” He walked back to me and crouched down on the blanket.
“And a second nahashim returned to them, one of the ones sent to find Lyr.”
My eyes widened, my heart thrumming. “What did it find?”
Dario grinned. “She’s alive.”
I burst into tears and threw my arms around him. He pulled me close, holding me until my sobs slowed.
“What do you want to do?” he asked. “I’m at your service. Do you want to head for the border? Or do you want me to take you back to Meera and Aiden?”
“Take me back to Meera and Aiden,” I said. And Lyr. “I’m not leaving. Not yet.”