Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
The extraction plan
nik
The usual joy and excitement I felt when visiting the king had been overshadowed by the wallowing fact that I’d royally messed up and I didn’t know how to fix it. The weight that sat in my heart like a ball of lead left no room for anything else.
Sapphire was in Oscuro and I’d let it happen.
Adalia and Matthias strode behind me. There’d been very little conversation between us on the flight over from District Seven to the palace.
Too many feelings surged through my mind to make small talk.
I’d stayed over, an order from the sister who had a higher ranking than me.
Then we’d all left together the moment the sun rose.
As we approached the castle doors, early morning sunlight spilled over the neatly trimmed palace grounds brimming with blossom trees.
Tall, arched peaks made from solid white marble.
They opened wide, beckoning us to enter.
A warm glow spilled out onto the steps, and a gentle hum of sound wafted through the air.
The surrounding flower gardens were no doubt hard at work singing for the king.
I stepped into the palace and marched down the hall to the great throne room. My heart was in my throat, threatening to choke the air right out of me.
I'd never seen the King of Light angry. He remained docile, always, a calmness that cradled even the worst mistakes. And yet, for some reason, I took no comfort in this now. Heat coiled through my stomach anyways, flushing through my cheeks.
My boots made a gentle click on the glass floor where the sapphire river ran beneath the surface.
It glittered like a million shards of the blue precious stone grounded into a fine powder.
The colour alone was a vivid reminder of the reason I was here in the first place.
For her. My heart tore in two different ways.
I entered the throne room, and my eye was drawn straight to the king. He was talking to courtiers, his laugh echoing around the room like a warm embrace. For a moment, the anxiety in me ebbed and I could breathe.
Then he bid them farewell, turning to me as I approached. His kind brown eyes hit me in the stomach . . . a sucker punch. Not because he looked like he was going to tear through me with vicious teeth, but because he’d expected so much of me and I’d failed him.
I fell to my knees in front of him, keeping my head bowed in respect. “My King.”
“Nikolas—” he said softly.
I heard the rustling of his robe, then I saw it brush the ground where I kneeled. His steady hand reached down to grip my arm, helping me up. “Rise.”
Adalia hovered at my back, Matthias close beside her. I was grateful for their support, but I still couldn’t lift my eyes to face the king. The shame burrowed too deep under my skin.
“Matthias! It’s so good to see you, and you too Adalia, as always.” The king chuckled as he drew them both in for a group hug.
My heart grew heavier and heavier with every passing second that I kept my eyes glued to the floor. The king was always so welcoming and kind to everyone he crossed paths with, and I didn’t know why I expected today would be any different.
“Nikolas, look at me.” The king's voice was steady.
I dragged a silent breath, bracing myself to meet his gaze—to lay bare my failures before the man who had trusted me so completely, the man I had so surely let down.
My eyes lifted. He didn’t scowl or meet me with severity.
His gaze was soft—understanding—as if I hadn’t come bearing the gravest of news.
“My king,” I murmured.
“Something troubles you. I can feel it.”
He knew. I just knew he knew. There was no point avoiding it any longer. I’d take whatever discipline came my way. It was only right.
I flicked my gaze around the throne room. Adalia and Matthias had given us some space, talking to a small group of Lightners a few paces away.
With a gentle sigh, I squared my shoulders. “It’s Sapphire . . . she’s dead, and I wasn’t there.”
The king’s brow knit, his eyes glistening with salt yet to fall. My gaze fell to the floor as the muscles in my jaw ached, feathering beneath the strain of my clenched teeth.
My hands curled into fists at my sides, nails biting into my palms. “I should have been there.”
“Nik—”
“If I’d just done as you asked, I could have saved her. She would still be alive.” My throat felt scraped raw. Each admission lodged deeper, like shards of glass tearing their way out with heat I didn’t know what to do with.
“Nik—”
“If I’d just persisted.” My voice roughened, anger coiling tight in my chest, looking for somewhere to go. I dragged a hand through my hair, pacing a step before stopping, the walls pressing in like they were trying to cage it. “I knew something was wrong. I knew it—and I still—”
“Nikolas!” The king's voice ricochetted off the palace walls, causing heads to turn.
It was enough to snap me out of the tumultuous spiral I was heading for.
I dropped my hands, forcing them to unclench. “Sorry, my king.”
He studied me for a moment, not unkindly. “Anger is a powerful thing,” he said quietly. “It tells us that something is wrong.”
I didn’t respond, but I didn’t look away either.
“It’s not your enemy,” he continued, “but it is not your master either.” His gaze held mine, firm and calm. “There is strength in feeling it, but greater strength in deciding what it is allowed to become.”
My jaw shifted, something in me resisting, and listening all at once.
He exhaled gently, the weight of the moment easing just slightly. Then, with a small chuckle, he said, “Go and get her.”
I blinked, certain I’d misheard. “What?”
“Bring her home.”
His words didn’t register. He was ordering me to go to Oscuro and bring her back out . . . right? I didn’t need to beg or plead my case?
I shook my head softly, needing to clarify. “Home? . . . to Lucius?”
“Yes, son. Home to Lucius.”
“But, I’m going to—”
“Need gentle persistence,” he said, voice firm, “and a coin.”
I straightened, wings pulling upright as I tried to gather my thoughts.
“And remember,” the king continued, “she has to want to leave Oscuro. You can't force a soul to choose the light.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
From a hidden pocket in his royal robe of gold and white, the king produced a single coin, pressing it into my palm gently. The weight that had tried to take up residence in my stomach no longer lingered there. I was free from it, and I knew exactly what I needed to do.
My finger curled around it possessively, knowing the full weight it carried. “The darkness will not lay claim to her.”
His smile was soft. “May the light guide you.”
For the first time since I stepped into the palace, a smile broke across my face. “And keep you.”
~~~~~
A young boy with golden curls cropped just at his ears and wings vivid cerulean, grinned as he placed down a platter of assorted foods in front of me.
It was filled with halved figs, slices of cucumbers and tomatoes, apple slices, some sort of creamy white dip, and goat cheese-stuffed peppers arranged in bite-sized portions.
I thanked him, then pushed the platter closer to Adalia and Matthias. How could I possibly stomach food when Sapphire was in Oscuro, dealing with who knows what kind of atrocities?
Adalia pushed the platter back towards me. “You’ll be no good to her if you don’t eat.”
After we’d left the king, we’d stopped in the city to devise an extraction plan. If I was allowed to do things my way, we’d already be on the other side of the Oscuro Veil, ripping into every single Thorn who stood between me and Sapphire.
“I just feel terrible. She’s over there and here I am sitting at a fancy eatery, sampling fine foods and drinks,” I muttered.
Matthias nodded. “I hear you. Your feelings are valid, but the sooner we work out the best way forward, the sooner she could be eating here with us too.”
Adalia reached across the table and squeezed my arm. “If she’s half as strong and sharp as you’ve said, Nik, she’ll hold her own until you reach her.”
They were both right. Yet it didn’t make the sinking feeling in my gut feel any nicer. I reached for half a fig, stuffing it in my mouth to appease them both.
Adalia grinned, knowing she’d done her job. Her love language was cooking for others, so presuming she’d stop now, in time of crisis, was preposterous thinking on my part.
“So how are we getting in? Where are we searching first and who do I get to slaughter?”
Adalia reached across the table and playfully slapped the side of my arm. “You don’t get to slaughter anyone.”
I raised a brow, challenging her statement. “Not even if they are trying to kill me?”
She huffed softly. “Well, that’s a little different.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I said, reaching for another fig.
I flicked my gaze in Matthias’s direction. He was—afterall—the one who held the answers. “Do you have anything we can use in our favour?”
He finished eating his mouthful before he answered. “The best way into Oscuro is through the tear in the Veil that your sister used to visit me . . . if it’s still not mended.”
Adalia munched on an apple slice. “There’s a chance it has been but I know that it’s so far from Oscuro's prying eyes that no one knows about it. I’m not sure I ever told a healer either.”
The tear was an option, but it didn’t feel fast enough. Surely Matthias could use his gifted powers. “Can’t we winnow into somewhere on the castle grounds?” I asked, my voice full of hope.
Matthias shook his head. “And risk someone seeing us with these wings?”
He was right. Thorns only had black wings. If we waltzed into Oscuro with my crimson wings, and his blue ones, we might as well paint a target on our foreheads.
I shifted in my chair, folding my arms across my chest. “So we disguise ourselves?”
“And how do you plan on doing that?” Adalia asked.
My shoulders lifted and fell. “Catching Thorn’s is our job sis. We know what their gear looks like. We just have to find someone who can make us a fit. Blacken our wings with coal and we’d totally blend in with the riff-raff.”