“Go, Tyli. Go. Jyn and I will keep an eye on him.”
Jyn hesitated and cast him a wary look. “You’re serious?”
Camion swallowed. “Look, he knows something. We need to know what and I don’t think he’ll hurt Natylia. That would cause problems with more than the two of us, and I’m not sure he’s ready for that. I trust you,” he added to me, kissing the back of my hand. “Trust us.”
I squeezed his gently and nodded at Jyn. Racing off, I hopped down the stairs and ran outside. “Lucian!”
He paused in his steps and turned around. I saw his glance flick back to the door and the windows, but there was no sign of Jyn or Camion. He said they’d be watching, but he didn’t specify from where.
“Oh, so your lapdog let you come out to play? Funny, a queen whose servants run her court.”
“You know that’s not how my kingdom runs,” I scowled.
“It certainly seems that way.”
“Lucian, I’m not here to play games with you. I need to know what you saw.”
“I’m aware,” he smiled. “But first. A peasant Natylia, really?”
I sighed. “Not now. You tell me what you know or we’re done talking.”
“Fine. A question for a question.”
“Fine. What do you mean you found the scepter?”
The sarcasm on his face softened. “I rode up to Falmar to see if anyone had spotted you. I was in one of the seedier taverns, when I noticed some people making a suspicious exchange in the corner. The people that took the scepter were heavily cloaked but had silver brooches—silver with crossed daggers. I only know they had the scepter because they unwrapped the linen wrappings briefly. By the time I realized what I’d seen, they were gone.”
I leveled my gaze on him. “That’s not your fault. Do you know where they went?”
“No, but from what I heard of their conversation, they were a middle transport for a buyer in the south. I don’t know if that means Audri or someone else.”
“Okay. Fair enough. Two questions, then.”
Lucian considered. “When and why not me?”
I took a breath and frowned. “I don’t know. Recently. Camion went with us into the forest, and I don’t know. There was always a spark with him, even when I tried to ignore it. We had some time alone and everything fell into place. I’m sorry, Lucian, there was never going to be a you. Even when we were younger, there was never anything there, not romantically.”
“I wish you’d taken a second look at me,” Lucian said quietly. “Back then it was Andimir, and now it’s this guy. I never stood a chance.”
“If I cared for you in that way, you might have. But your behavior today? No. There would never have been a chance.”
“I’m going to win you back.”
“There’s no winning me back, Lucian. I was never yours.”
“I have to try.”
“I’m not a prize to be won.”
“How do you know he doesn’t want your throne? His father has been incredibly vocal about wanting you out of the kingdom. How convenient that suddenly his son is bedding the queen,” Lucian said, his temper flaring. “How do you know that he cares about you at all?”
Flames burst into life in my gut. “You can tell me how much you care until you’re blue in the face but when, in all these years, have you truly been there for me? I’ve known Camion for much less time, but he’s been there every time I needed him. Whether I knew it or not. And no one said anything about anyone ‘bedding the queen,’ Lucian.”
“Yes, well if your past with Andimir is any indication . . .”
“You know how I felt about Andimir,” I snarled. “I was going to marry him! Would have, if he hadn’t left. Everyone knew, but you’re the only one who could never accept the fact.” I paused, my frame trembling in anger. “You talk about Camion wanting my throne, but let’s be reasonable. Not only would marriage to me give you an immediate throne, when you turn twenty-five you’d be ruling the two most powerful kingdoms in Araenna. Don’t even talk to me about Camion wanting political gain.”
Lucian froze. “You can’t choose some peasant over your birthright. The Council will never approve of this match.”
“The Council won’t have a choice. I make my own decisions, Lucian. I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time accepting that you were never an option.”
I spun on my heel to walk away. Lucian reached out and grabbed my wrist. He roughly spun me to face him. My head swam and stars smattered across my vision. A dagger appeared at his throat before I could protest—I didn’t know where Jyn had been.
Nahara, he was terrifying when he wanted to be.
“You release her or I won’t hesitate,” Jyn growled. Lucian dropped my arm instantly and held his hands up for Jyn to see.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt her,” he protested.
“You can see she has a head injury. What did you think would happen, spinning her like that?” Camion asked. I jumped. I hadn’t heard him come up behind me. He gingerly lifted my arm. His eyes flashed at the angry red marks Lucian’s hand had left.
“Did you tell her what you know?” Jyn hadn’t moved and Lucian nodded delicately. “Fine, get out.”
Jyn stepped away. Lucian straightened his shirt. “I’m not kidding Natylia. I stand by what I said.”
But he left, storming away in a cloud of dust.
“Are you hurt?” Jyn asked. His eyes dropped to the marks on my wrist.
“I’m fine, I didn’t even notice them.”
“So, what happened?”
I repeated Lucian’s brief story. Jyn’s jaw flexed as I explained the details. His eyes narrowed at the description of the brooch. When I repeated the last bits I cringed, worried about Camion’s reaction, but he merely listened. He didn’t actually show any emotion at all until I mentioned Andimir, and even then his eyes were filled with sorrow . . . not because of me, but for me. I knew that his patience with Lucian had to be wearing thin—one person could not always hold so much in.
“So, what we know is this,” Jyn said. “The scepter was retrieved from the forest and someone sold it off to the Cloaked Shadows—a silver brooch with crossed daggers is their calling card. No matter where they’re taking that scepter, someone paid dearly for their transport. That’s a job far beneath them. Which means we’re certainly not looking at ordinary citizens, though several of the nobles would certainly have the capability to hire them for something like this. And Lucian suspects they’re going south, which means that more than likely we need to visit Audri.”
I nodded. “I can send her a message, extend to her our interest in a visit and see what she says.”
“Consider that you may want to take a small unit of soldiers if we go that far south. We also need to visit the Elves, and I would highly recommend we try to find at least one of the other scepters.” Jyn paused. “And your training. We’re going to study before the Council arrives so you can pass their questions. Hopefully, they’ll be able to silence the outcries in town that you lose your throne as well.”
“I agree. Each scepter is uniquely dangerous, but if someone gets all three . . .” I recoiled at the thought. “We’ll be in more trouble if we don’t get to at least one of the three.”
“Right.” Camion clapped his hands together. “So what now?”
I sighed, my eyes following the line of dust that settled on the path before us.
“We wait.”
Acknowledgments
Oh boy. You finished my book! And you’re still reading! I’m incredibly humbled that you’ve made it this far. Thank you. For sharing in this little world I've created and for sticking with my characters through their adventure. I have so many plans for them, and I truly hope you enjoy their journey to come as well.
Where do I began with these acknowledgments? This book has been so many years in the making and for a very, very long time I assumed the world, characters, and stories would simply die unwritten in the darkest recesses of my mind. Natylia and
Camion have existed in my thoughts since I was fourteen years old. Fourteen! It’s been more than a decade! I know these characters better than I know some of my friends. Writing their original story carried me through some crazy times. Revisiting their story now put me back on track when I thought I’d lost my way.
I guess we’ve come full circle.
But here they are, all grown up and finally in a story of their own. A pretty okay story, I might add, because trust me the original work was a nightmare. If I ever published that piece I’d never be allowed to write again, and I’m fairly sure all respectable booksellers would take out restraining orders against my work.
I’m rambling. I do that, I apologize. But here you are! I’m so excited! There’s no way I could have done this alone though. So here’s some quick thanks to the people who deserve it the most. <3
***
To Corey — thank you. Every day this man tirelessly supports me. Financially, emotionally, whatever it takes. He knows all the spoilers in the universe because I needed to bounce ideas off someone who I wasn’t going to eventually drag into reading the books for edit or revision purposes. (Don’t worry, I still make him read everything. Of course.) Thank you for letting me babble on endlessly about my characters and my story, for not thinking it odd when I said that Jyn would totally go to Five Guys with you, and for making sure I took time off now and then. This book absolutely wouldn’t have happened without you. I love you.
To Ethan — You can’t even read yet but I absolutely refuse to not include you. My moon, my stars, my entire universe. I love you. You’re the inspiration that pushed me to do something with my life, to sit down every day at the computer even when I didn’t want to. And here we are, a book fueled with coffee and baby snuggles.
To Ally — There were days when I was so incredibly sure that every word I wrote was the worst thing that could happen to literature. I just knew that every character was utterly unbelievable and that the story just didn’t work… and you kept pushing me to not give up. Thank you. You kept me going when I was ready to quit, so many times, and you never complained when I spammed you with Pinterest links to character casts or aesthetics. You’re amazing, what would I do without you?
To Jesikah — Oh man, where do I start. You, my dear writing twinsie, are a gem. I can’t believe I was so incredibly fortunate to find such an amazing person on this journey. I’ve told you before that I was sinking under the weight of all the things I didn’t know entering into the professional writing world, and you dragged me up by the ankles. Your advice, friendship, and support, mean the absolute world to me. I would have been completely lost without you, thank you so much for everything you’ve done to help my crazy little dream come true. No cat butts for you, never!
To Wayne — My geologist! For the many, many conversations you’ve had with me about rocks. Rocks! And minerals, and gemstones, and every other strange question I could think to ask you. Thank you. You have never been phased by my random tangents and man… there have been so many.
To Chris — My dungeon master! For sitting down with me when I was drowning in the idea of creating creature encounters and brainstorming with me. Thank you. I was in such a deep hole of “oh crap” when I mentioned my struggles to you, and you immediately threw out a dozen potential solutions. Your brilliant ideas made my adventures so much better!
To Joe — I don’t think I know anyone else on the planet who I could message over and over (at random) with the questions I’ve asked you. (Who wouldn’t have then called the police.) When I need to check the plausibility of maiming my characters, you’ve always been eager to help. I’m not sure what that says about you, haha.
To Jessica U — Thank you not only for beta reading for me, but also for your constant encouragement and enthusiasm. You remind me every day about the joyful side of the publishing process, your optimism is contagious. Thank you.
To Kim — My wonderful editor! Thank you for improving my book baby and for fitting me into your already crazy busy February schedule. My top concern when I started hunting for an editor was that I found someone who saw my book for what she is, and not just as a paycheck, and every comment you left me just made Imber that much better. Thank you.
To my beta readers—Hannah, Michael, Becky, Hans, Daphne, Marissa, Nathan—Thank you for taking time out of your crazy lives to help me improve this beast of a project. I may never feel like my books are truly perfect, but you guys helped me feel a little more confident that what I put out is the best I can possibly do… for now.
To my Lit Happens ladies — Thanks for your never-ending support, motivation, and friendship. I’m so fortunate to have such a wonderful group of talented writer ladies in my life. I can't wait to see the beautiful works you release into the world.
To the family and friends who’ve supported my venture in any way, shape, or form — thank you. Every bit of help, even in the form of words of encouragement, has been incredibly appreciated. Thank you.
And to you, my wonderful readers. Thank you for supporting this crazy little dream of mine. You’re a gift and I’m humbled that you used your ever valuable time to read my story. An author is nothing without someone to tell stories to. Thank you.
About the Author
Residing in New York's Southern Tier, Tyffany Hackett is the author of The Thanatos Trilogy as well as co-author of the Genesis Crystal Saga with Becky Moynihan. She spends her days chasing after her rambunctious toddler, and her nights pouring words from her fingertips. Also an avid gamer, Tyffany spends her down time primarily in the worlds of Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and World of Warcraft.
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