Chapter 15
Elysia sat at a sticky, beer-covered table, waiting for Topp to return with their drinks.
She looked out the window back in the direction from which they had come.
The Endless Forest remained in a constant state of gloom with only tiny swaths of bright, shooting light breaking through before disappearing again.
Deep within its reaches, the trees and snow muffled sound, blanketing the world in a beautiful silence.
Just like at the Bone Temple, the unfamiliar cries of creatures she didn’t know escaped into the air.
It was unnerving how they were the singular sound to escape the forest’s persistent quiet.
No mortal could possibly step foot into that forest and think they would be the one to conquer it. Elysia wasn’t especially familiar with the magical creatures that lived in its darkness, but she was positive she didn’t want to meet them.
Bringing her attention back to the tavern, her magic crawled out, slinking over floorboards and half-spilled beers in search of the juiciest secrets this Saarspur bar could offer. Excitement surged right as Topp plunked down two sloshing mugs of brown ale.
He shoved one at her before heaving himself into the chair across from her with a grin.
The rowdy tavern fit him. If you threw on his usual battle axes and added a bit of facial hair, he would have looked like every other burly Bellian man currently tipping one back in the fire-warmed room.
Elysia listened to the rapid Bellian. Side by side on the same continent, Kavian and Bellian were closer to dialects than separate tongues.
Still, even though she could follow along, it wasn’t without concentration and some confusion.
Tucked away, their knees bumped under the table, his warm thigh now touching hers. Elysia grabbed her mug of beer, wishing the tavern wasn’t so fucking packed, and took a sip, mulling over the flavors. She wasn’t used to beer, and couldn’t decide what to make of the bitter, roasted taste.
“My magic is working here too,” she commented with a raised brow.
Topp chewed on this, drinking most of his beer in one gulp before shrugging. “What isn’t strange in the world right now? None of the rules are real anymore.”
Elysia laughed roughly, putting her chin in her hand. “Isn’t that the truth.”
Topp continued to drink his beer while fidgeting with his coat. He stopped abruptly, switching to bouncing his leg before setting his mug down. “Things’ve changed fast in Kava.”
“The kind of changes that lead to a prince smuggling himself out of his own kingdom?”
Splotches of red appeared on his high, wide cheekbones as he messed with his already unkempt hair.
“It was too risky to stay. My father has lost his fucking mind, and it was getting harder to believe that I wouldn’t be a casualty sooner rather than later.
And I’m no good to anyone if I’m dead.” The words sounded like he was convincing himself as much as her.
Skeptical surprise shone across Elysia’s face. “He’d really leave himself without an heir?”
Topp leaned in closer across the small table.
“I’m telling you. He’s changed. Ever since the Raven Ball, it’s like he’s just completely gone off the deep end.
Lysia, he’s been threatening other kingdoms with that disgusting magic and traveling to small cities, testing his ability on our own people.
Can’t be long before he tries his hand at other kingdoms.”
This information rattled around within her.
“Since the Raven Ball,” she repeated flatly.
Topp gave a tight nod, his eyes scanning the tavern.
Seemingly satisfied, he leaned back even though there was nothing relaxed about the posture or his face.
“He had this woman half-starved and locked in a guest suite. He went to her immediately after you disappeared. Stomach still bleeding, medics trailing after him, raging about the god of the dead and demanding she tell him what was going to happen.”
She gripped her beer tighter. “Did you catch her name?”
“No, but she was one of the rebels in that group you met with. I recognized her.”
Her stomach sank, hating that she’d called it. Victoria’s premonitions were always right according to Mari and Jessa. “What did she tell him?”
He gave a slight disbelieving shake of his head. “She laughed. Tried to attack him even though she looked like she was about to join the dead herself.”
“And? Did she say anything?” Now her knee bounced beneath the table. Please let her have lied.
“She spoke of a mortal who would release the death god from his chains, and an heir who would claim justice.”
Shit. Victoria couldn’t have made it plainer than that. “He knows.”
“Your warrant went out immediately, and I bet mine isn’t far off.”
She scratched at the sticky table. “He’s not going to stop until he finds me, is he?”
He shrugged. They both knew the answer to that question. Standing, he excused himself to the bathroom. When he came back, he wore an all too familiar look upon his face.
Topp Blatz wanted answers after all.
Before he could start in, Elysia opened her mouth. “You want to know why I’m here? I’ll tell you.”
Suspicion narrowed his eyes. “Just like that?”
She waved her hand. “Like you said. Everything’s changed.” And I have no idea how to succeed at this mission, but the one thing we never did was tell the truth. She hoped she didn’t regret this.
The prince wore an expression of wary determination as he nodded for her to go ahead.
Taking a big breath, she spoke fast, anxious the prince would make a scene. “I tried to make a deal with the god of the dead before the ball. He offered a terrible bargain though, so I turned it down. Except then, when I found out what your father was going to do to me… Plans changed.”
Darkness flooded the prince’s face. “You knew? You should have told—how bad of a deal, Lys?”
She looked off at all the cheerful Bellians instead of at him. “I agreed to find his personal talisman so he can regain his power and help fix Kava.”
Relief relaxed Topp’s body, and he stretched one arm back with a grin. “That’s not so bad. Your magic could help you with that, couldn’t it? Finding things?”
Elysia smiled wanly. “Oh, but there’s more… I, unknowingly, agreed to partner with him. Permanently.”
The prince looked ill now. “What do you mean, partner?”
She looked away. “It means the fates have sent me on what they call a death voyage where I have to prove myself as worthy of earning the talisman and standing beside the god of the dead, and you’re my first stop.”
Topp’s brow pinched before he spoke decisively. “No, impossible. You are mortal. Mortals can’t partner with gods.”
Elysia took a long drink of her beer, waiting for him to get it all out.
“You can’t possibly mean—” He grasped for words, not wanting to come to the logical conclusion.
She slammed her drink down. “Oh, but I can. When I say partner, I mean it in every sense of the word. Immortality.”
For once, the prince didn’t get angry. A heavy sigh rasped through his thick chest. “So, you’re fucking a god then?”
Her mouth fell open. “Everything I just said, and that’s what you heard?”
The prince had the decency to look at least semi-abashed. “Seemed relevant.”
“How in the realms is that relevant?” she hissed.
He looked at her like she was stupid. “Because why are you here then?”
Elysia reared back. “The fates sent me to talk with you.”
“Sounds made up. Like you just wanted a reason to see me.”
“You think I’d risk my neck coming to see you because what? Because I wanted to have sex with you?”
His gaze drilled into hers. “No, but I thought you might because you still love me. That you wanted to help me finally, even though I told you to stay away.” He chewed his bottom lip. “But you’re right. That’s impossible after what I did.”
Her anger bottomed out, scraping over the well of hurt and heartbreak she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge. Fuck. This was exactly why she was here. To have this conversation. She was going to punch the fates in the face if she ever met them. Bunch of drama-seeking assholes.
“Whether it’s possible or not, I have to let you go, Topp.” Her voice was so soft she was afraid he wouldn’t hear her, but he nodded, his throat bobbing as he did.
“We were two kids with no idea how to love, and I think, I think we really hurt each other. Probably as much as we loved. You left me on that beach, and we went about everything the wrong way, but I have a job to do and so do you, and I think we need to be able to help each other without this”—she gestured between them—“getting in the way.”
The prince nodded at the table. He looked pained but calm. “Are you with him then?”
Elysia flushed, shaking her head. He laughed bitterly.
“It’s not like that.”
“Sure, it isn’t.” His fingers tapped against his glass, his face hardening into one he used with sycophants and men who followed his father. “Finish telling me everything, Parker. Every last detail of these deals and how they affect Kava.”
She studied him. It was the best response she could have hoped for, but instead of being relieved, she was weary.
She had known nothing she could say would break his heart.
But she was only now realizing that maybe you weren’t supposed to have to trick or force people into paying attention and caring.
Maybe they were supposed to be obsessed with you beyond the taste of your skin or the value that you brought. Dream big, girl.
Elysia motioned to a server and requested another round. The drinks arrived shortly, and Topp whistled at everything she unloaded onto him. He eyed her with renewed intensity that made her hackles come right back up.
Frowning, she snapped at him. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because you’re more important than I am.”
She blinked.
“I should help you.” He nodded, clearly warming to the idea even as she wanted to shriek and run away.
“No.”