Chapter 50
Iask Ylva to abandon her post in the hallway to help gather the others, including Uzra.
Kyor wants him to know the truth. As part of me suspects he would never have had the courage to break the vow without Uzra – and not solely because of his granddaughter’s gifts – I don’t object.
So while the housekeeper seeks them out, I tell Kyor about what happened that afternoon.
Though I try to be as succinct as possible, I also don’t want to miss out on anything important, although it turns out the key parts are hard to forget.
‘So this prophecy you’re in,’ Kyor says when I’m pretty sure I’ve covered it all, ‘what’s it about?’
‘It’s apparently called the Last Prophecy because it’s the one that will end everything, or something like that.’ I offer him a fleeting smile. ‘No pressure or anything.’
He reaches out to squeeze my fingers. ‘The prophecy may be about you, but we’ll face it together. Now, what does it say?’ Kyor asks.
‘Say?’
‘Yes, what are the words of the prophecy?’
‘Oh.’ Hearing that the Torailians believe I belong in a prophecy was hard enough to get my head around, so I simply didn’t ask what it actually said. Didn’t want to know. Didn’t want to accept that it might be real.
‘I don’t know,’ I admit a shade sheepishly.
‘Okay, well, we need to find that out.’ When he sees the doubt on my face, he gives my fingers another squeeze. ‘Knowledge dispels fear, Thorn. Better that we know what we face.’
We.
Two simple letters placed together that mean the world when uttered by him.
I nod slowly. ‘Okay. Okay.’ I blow out a breath. ‘I’m a child of four heritages. A quarter of each of the peoples, but the one thing I don’t get is why I’m the only living Sanning who has Raven Sight.’
Kyor chews his bottom lip contemplatively. ‘Could it be from the gifting?’
‘I thought that at first, but the first time it happened was when we faced the kraken, though I didn’t realise what it was at the time, of course.
But that was before the gifting.’ I shake my head.
‘I guess it was just another magic my mother’s tonic suppressed.
Maybe she brewed it to suppress everything but Morathkian magic?
I still don’t know if she knew about my father’s Torailian heritage.
I guess I’ll never know. Never know if they spoke honestly about their origins.
Never know if they truly trusted each other. ’
The possibility hurts. I like to think that they truly loved each other, that they didn’t have any secrets, but there’s no way I can ever be certain.
They certainly seemed to love one another when we were living in the High Hold.
The sweet kisses when they didn’t know any of us were looking, holding hands through the court.
The little things were constant, and the big were there too.
At least on my father’s side. The orangery he built for my mother when they were first married is evidence of that.
But do trust and love have to go together? Gods know, I love Kyor with all my heart, and I did even when he crushed it, shattering any illusion of trust.
And my mother stayed with my father after Florian’s supposed death. She didn’t leave even when his drinking was so bad that he failed to see her fading before his eyes.
Or maybe that’s why his drinking was so bad. Was it his love for her? His inability to endure the agony of the woman he worshipped so deeply? Was that what caused him to drift away from us?
It certainly got even worse when she passed. It was as if his last reason for living had finally left him.
Fuck, I used to hate him for that. But now, how can I?
And did my mother have an inkling that his powers were so much greater than the cyclone powers he displayed within the walls of Wrohelm? I wish I could know, but like far too many aspects of my current situation, I suspect they’re questions that will continue to go unanswered to the end of my days.
As the beat of silence stretches through the air, my eyes fall on Kyor’s open shirt. On the scar that will forever be there. A mark of his own destruction or of his devotion to me? No, not just to me. To all of us.
‘We should go downstairs, see if the others are there.’ I stand, taking his hand and pulling him upright as I do so. ‘I guess it’s time to hear what Daddy dearest forced you to keep from us.’
‘Daddy dearest,’ Kyor growls, ‘and his bit on the side.’
My jaw drops. Korvane has a lover? For all his sins, the staff and nobles of the High Hold still speak of his devotion to his former wife.
‘Sorry, what?’ Who could Korvane have relations with that he wouldn’t parade around court?
Only someone wholly unsuitable.
A bitter taste burns the back of my throat to think of the way Korvane dismissed – no, denied – my and Kyor’s relationship, all while carrying on some sordid dalliance of his own.
We race down the stairs to the dining room.
True to her word, Ylva has already fetched Caz and Thessa.
In everything that went on in the bedroom, I’d completely forgotten to ask Caz not to tell Thessa what Magnus told us about our possible kinship, but I doubt I needed to.
Caz respects boundaries and friendships better than most people I’ve ever known.
She’ll have understood that it’s something I need to discuss with Thessa myself.
‘Kyor!’ Caz jumps to her feet as she sees us. ‘Are you all right? You feeling okay?’
‘As good as new. Better.’ He offers her a grin, but it’s fleeting, and I can see the tightness in his lips even as he tries to hide it.
‘And you?’ Caz looks at me. ‘That was one hell of a shock, for all of us.’
A slight laugh escapes before I can stop it.
‘That’s one way of putting it.’ As worry narrows her gaze, I offer her a smile that is far more believable than Kyor’s.
‘I’m sure I’ll be fine,’ I insist, ‘but let’s wait and see what Kyor has to tell us first before I answer definitively,’ I tell her, only half joking. ‘Where are the others?’
‘Sorry, I’m here.’ I turn around to find Loch standing in the doorway. ‘I was trying to get Benny to come, but I can’t see him joining us.’
‘We can’t make him,’ I sigh.
‘Make him.’ Caz and Kyor offer their responses simultaneously.
I shake my head. ‘He needs time.’
‘I know he does,’ Kyor agrees, ‘but that isn’t a luxury we have, and he needs to hear this too. This affects him and his people. He’ll want to hear it.’
‘I’ll go,’ Caz says, squaring her shoulders. ‘And I won’t take no for an answer.’ She marches out, and Loch winces a little on Benny’s behalf.
‘How are you?’ I ask Loch.
‘Good. I have been listening in on the Torailians. When they speak aloud of course, which they do occasionally, especially when the Issen are nearby. I know you do not trust them, yet they speak of you with nothing but awe.’
I wince.
‘Awe turns quickly to expectation,’ Loch adds quietly. ‘Be wary of that.’
Feeling even more trepidation than I had, I turn to Kyor.
With all the talk upstairs about the Torailians and my Sanning heritage, I didn’t see how nervous he was.
And he is. Though he’s managed to stop his pacing and sit, his feet bounce on the ground, and he’s soon striding from one side of the room to the other once again.
‘Kyor.’ I grab hold of him as he paces past me. ‘Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together.’
‘If we can.’
‘We can. I know we can.’
Fen and Elska join us, Els giving Kyor a nuzzle. That she would do so in front of everyone once again shows the depths of Kyor’s anxiety.
He is worried the sins of his father will be painted upon him, Fen murmurs.
Well, they won’t, I say fiercely.
Not by you. But it is not just your judgement he fears.
Uzra is next to join us.
‘Your Highnesses,’ he says to Kyor and me. A shiver runs down my spine. It’s the first time I can remember someone addressing us like that. A royal collective, so to speak. I’m not sure if I like it.
‘I hear I’ve been summoned by the prince.
’ Benny stands in the doorway, his lips twisted in a sneer.
His skin is grey, his eyes blurry, and though it shouldn’t be possible, it looks like he’s lost weight in the two days since Ruben’s death.
‘So what is this exactly?’ Benny asks, his voice brittle.
Though his body is here, it looks like his mind isn’t.
He looks like a stiff breeze could shatter him.
What he needs is something to bring him into the present. A shock perhaps, and I have just the thing. ‘Kyor killed himself,’ I start. ‘Shot a bolt of lightning through his heart to stop it.’
Benny’s anger is instant and palpable as he reels on the prince. ‘Why the fuck would you do that!’
Kyor doesn’t even flinch. ‘To break the vow and the binding. They last until death, so I died. Orla, Uzra’s granddaughter, revived me. It’s her gift.’
‘And if she hadn’t been able to save you?’ Benny fires back. ‘We would have lost you, as well as Ruben!’
‘But you didn’t. And now’ – Kyor smiles slowly – ‘I can tell you everything.’
‘Is it going to bring anyone back?’ Benny asks, moroseness seeping back into his frame, as if that burst of anger sapped every bit of energy from him.
‘No, but it might save a few more, including those of the people of the Eastern Isles. And it will also explain why we’ve been digging into your land.’
Your land. I wonder if I’m the only one to pick up on Kyor’s choice of words. After all, the Eastern Isles are part of the Morathkian kingdom.
Benny instantly straightens. There is nothing he wouldn’t do for his people, and from the way he’s now so poised and focused, I know Kyor was right in insisting he be here. It’s books for Caz, sparring for Kyor, and saving his people for Benny.
‘What about him?’ Benny adds, with a glance at Uzra. ‘How come he’s here? No offence.’
‘None taken,’ Uzra replies. ‘The prince asked me to attend this conversation, but if you would rather I leave, I will.’
The group look at one another before our collective gaze settles on Kyor. It’s his secret. His call.