Chapter 11
Themis's Champion will be difficult to kill.
— WHAT MAKES A CHAMPION OF ORDER
HART
It concerned me that Alaric was the puppet master in all of this. Even knowing that his sister had the gift of foresight didn’t comfort me. For so long, I had fought to free myself from the strings others pulled—namely Themis. This didn’t feel much different.
But we had no other options.
Ember reread Alaric’s papers as often as she could as we made preparations to leave.
We had gone to Linia in search of information about our magic and the curse that tied us together.
A single conversation with Scarlett had produced more information than days spent scouring the library and rereading Delphine’s journals.
If I had to guess, Lucinda and Blair were happy to see us go. They hadn’t gotten any information from the attacker they held in the dungeon. We didn’t need them to. Themis would keep interfering until Ember was dead or I sat on the throne in Kavios.
Blair pulled Ember aside before we left. They had a hushed conversation at the door, while Blair’s fingers fidgeted with the necklace chain she wore. I didn’t voice my questions as Ember returned to the balcony and we prepared to depart.
The pendant from Scarlett’s hoard hung around Ember’s neck. The red glow was visible even beneath her blouse. I tore a piece of linen from the sheets and handed it to her. “You should wrap that so the light isn’t obvious.”
She nodded and took the cloth. We both knew that hiding the gem’s glow was the least of our problems.
Not all trials are of physical strength. Sometimes it’s harder to show a part of yourself—to show vulnerability. Scarlett’s words echoed in my head. I agreed that this path was harder. If killing someone was all I needed to do to free us, it’d be done already.
This path … well, I didn’t even know where to start.
We’d yelled at each other. I guessed that was something. It proved again that she hadn’t given up on me entirely, even if she did her best to ignore me.
I could work with that.
The six colors of the adamas gem, of the emotions represented, flashed through my mind, one after the other, each a little bit worse than the last. Yellow, joy, would be hard to come by in Kavios, especially between the two of us.
Blue, for sadness, well, she had that in spades; the problem was she didn’t want to show it to me.
I ground my teeth together as we climbed on Charon’s back and each beat of his wings lifted us farther from the castle of Ciril.
Ember wasn’t the only one who would have to share.
She said she’d seen the pendant flash red when she yelled at me, but it had only glowed once we’d both finished.
Did I even know what would make me happy?
Any ideas I had died with Alaric—with the way my secrets were revealed to Ember in the throne room.
What about sadness? Unfortunately, for that one, I knew exactly where we’d have to go. The one place in Kavios I wasn’t supposed to go—the one place I went anyway, in my hubris. A price I should have paid but was paid for me instead.
I could only imagine how that conversation would go.
You let everyone around you pay the price. You’d think losing your mother would have been enough to make you think twice. Ember’s words replayed. They were nothing I hadn’t said to myself over the years. So why did they pierce deeper?
As Charon’s wing beats grew steadier, I ran my fingers through my hair, ready to pull it all out. I couldn’t make it past happiness or sadness. Envy, fear, lust, and some unknown? We were absolutely fucked.
“How did Scarlett know so much about this trial?” Ember asked the question of Charon. She spoke delicately, with genuine curiosity.
“I was born in the mines. That was the first time I’ve spoken to another dragon.”
He had been quiet since. I was sure Ember had noticed. It must be why she pried now.
“Did she say anything to you?”
Charon huffed. “Is this payback for my topic of conversation on the way to Scarlett’s hoard, Champion?”
I schooled my features as Ember shot a nervous glance in my direction, knowing she couldn’t quite tell if Charon had shared the conversation with me.
I hadn’t needed his prying questions to know she wasn’t honest about the reason Lucinda gave her Alaric’s papers.
I had hoped she’d tell me the truth in her own time.
“Maybe.”
“She said you’d need me before the end.”
That was fucking ominous. I didn’t like the sound of it.
Ember must not have liked the response, either. Her spine straightened, and she changed the topic. “We should land deep in the Pinnacle Range. There’s no avoiding the fact that people will notice your return. We have to at least stay far enough away that they won’t think we’re with you.”
“You’re going to leave me there?”
She sighed. “You can’t exactly walk into Kavios with us.”
I huffed, and she turned to glance at me. “What?”
“We can’t exactly walk into Kavios, either,” I said.
Her brow furrowed. “Do you think Alysa will help us?”
I shrugged. “She’s never wanted to talk about taking the throne from Rodric. It goes against the philosophy they’ve established. But it’s as good a place as any to stay while we wait for a way through the city gate.”
She bit her lip. “You really think your father is looking for us?”
“Which answer will horrify you less?” I asked.
Her snort was audible before she turned to me again. “The truth, Hart. The answer has always been the truth.”
I took that as the chastisement it was. We still had so much to discuss. I should probably apologize for what I’d said when we searched Scarlett’s hoard. But I couldn’t push the words out. “I’m sure they search for us. My father couldn’t let either of us go unchallenged. We both threaten his rule.”
She was silent for a moment. The wind was downright icy as it blew through my hair.
She had to be getting it worse, sitting in front of me.
I wanted to wrap my arms around her and keep her warm.
I wanted to protect her from this small thing, when I seemed so incapable of protecting her from anything else. “I’m sorry.”
The flare of her nostrils was the only indication she heard me. “You were right.”
I reached for her hip and realized that wouldn’t be welcome. Letting my hand fall, I replied, “I wasn’t. I was mad.”
“Very angry,” she said. “With good reason. I said terrible things to you. I didn’t mean them. At least not about your mother.”
The qualification didn’t surprise me.
“Do you think completing these trials is even possible?” she asked.
My gut reaction was to tell her we would figure it out, but her plea for truth was fresh in my mind. “I don’t know. I went through the list in my head and gave up after the second emotion I tried to plan out. It doesn’t look good.”
A giggle escaped her lips. Then another. Her hand covered her mouth, but she kept laughing. “Now you’ve decided to be unflinchingly honest?”
My mouth opened in surprise. “I thought that’s what you wanted?”
Her lips flattened into a thin line, and she turned to face forward again. It was the most comfortable silence we’d shared since before the throne room. My stupid, battered heart took that as a reason for hope.
Too bad it wasn’t an emotion we needed. When it came to Ember, hope had become all too easy for me to conjure.
Charon wasn’t happy, but he stayed in the mountains and allowed us to hike down to the Storm’s camp. As we approached the large boulders marking the foothills, I was happy to see that the setup remained the same.
Rows of tents hid in the space between the enormous rocks. People milled about, making campfires, washing clothes, and cooking. Everyone in the Storm had chores to tend to if they were able. It was part of what made the settlement work.
Alysa’s pesky bird, Harrow, found us first, landing on a boulder and cawing loudly. I did not doubt that the call was a warning that someone new had entered the camp.
Reid found us moments later. “Thought you were dead.”
I patted his shoulder a little rougher than necessary. “Not yet.”
He glanced behind me at Ember. “Ah, the Cursed Queen has returned as well.”
My nostrils flared, and Reid had the good sense to look apologetic. He shrugged. “What? For years, I suspected your identity. I know everything sucks, but I’m happy to finally be vindicated. We have to find joy in the small things.”
Ember’s gaze met mine momentarily, and I couldn’t quite decipher it. The minty taste of her sadness wasn’t present at the reminder of my moniker. If anything, her furrowed brow made her seem almost intrigued by Reid’s words.
“Alysa will be happy to see you again. Your parents have settled well,” Reid continued.
“Thank you for taking them in,” Ember said.
“It’s not every day the parents of Chaos’s Champion are in residence,” Alysa said as she approached, hooking her arm with Reid’s.
Ember winced. “Does everyone know everything?”
“I heard you tried to kill the king with nightmare magic. Or was that him?” She pointed at me and shrugged. “Either way, we should have this conversation elsewhere.”
We followed them into the camp. Last time we’d been here together, Alysa and Ember had disappeared into her tent, and I was left outside to wait.
It annoyed me to no end, and I was sure that was why Alysa had done it.
This time, with my identity confirmed, she had even more reason to hate me.
So I was a little surprised when she held open a tent flap and ushered me in along with Ember.
“I didn’t expect you to return,” Alysa said to Ember. “With all the revelations about goddesses and Champions, I figured you’d be long gone.”
She gave Ember a meaningful look, then her gaze slid slowly in my direction. I wondered if she silently asked Ember if she needed help to be free of me. Alysa had her faults, but in this moment, I was more than happy she’d taken to Ember.