Chapter Twenty
Gisiroth tore a huge chunk off the dried meat he held with his teeth. He sat on a rock in front of the fireplace, and the princes and I were right across him. The fireplace crackled. The sound it made barely broke the silence swallowing the atmosphere around us. Bianca was there, too, holding her charcoals and papers, sketching what she said was an eventful return.
We waited on Gisiroth’s next words, but he seemed too preoccupied with finishing off the morsel of food we had given him. He chewed, then licked his hands. “This meat is horribly stale. Can I get some water to wash this down?”
The Evaradraes hurriedly searched for a wineskin and passed it to their king.
“Much appreciated, lad,” Gisiroth said to the boyish draerin. The twinkle in his eyes threw me off. Gisiroth’s eyes never twinkled. When they looked at you, they cut.
Even Kael could not joke of this matter. He busied with his dagger, wiping and cleaning it while studying Gisiroth with suspicion. In fact, Gaius smiled more than Kael. He, perhaps, was happy the king of his country had returned. I wondered if that went in line with his code since he could be so family-oriented.
Gisiroth tossed his head back and poured the water from the wineskin down his throat in a rough and unrefined manner. His mannerisms suited a common cutthroat instead of a king. Had Gisiroth ever been this loud when he ate or drank?
“Why are you still alive, Father?” Rylan asked. The boyish servant, perhaps wanting more praise, offered Rylan a wineskin, too. But Rylan kindly declined the offer.
Gisiroth cocked a look at Rylan. “You sound almost upset that I’ve returned.”
“Upset?” Rylan sat up straighter. “No, that isn’t it. We’re just looking for the answers.”
“It was a miracle.” We waited for him to elaborate, but he’d decided to end his explanation. “So, I’m assuming you’re all here to find food for the Drae Lands? So that Sera won’t need to sacrifice her body to Aereala for her to fix things?”
How did he know?
Rylan nodded.
“Then you’ve come for the wrong thing,” Gisiroth continued, chuckling. No one else laughed. He drank more water, then tore another chunk of the jerky with his teeth. He munched and talked at tandem, not caring for how unkingly the action made him appear. “Gaia is no more. The humans died long ago, along with any life. All you will see is brown, dead fields and empty, disappointing skies.”
Rylan leaned forward. “Why?”
Gisiroth shook his head and smiled. “You are like a child, constantly questioning things.”
“That is because nothing makes sense.”
“Understandable,” Gisiroth said. “You children can be so narrow in your vision.”
What did that mean?
“The humans had found peace. They loved keeping still, and they had stagnated for thousands of years. You see, peacetime is so drearily boring.” Gisiroth tossed the wineskin aside and onto the ground. An Evaradrae stooped behind him to pick it up.
“Still not making sense,” Kael said.
Gisiroth grimaced. “Now, how do I say this? They died because they stagnated. They made the gods, one god in particular, too unhappy.”
Aereala told me she’d loved the humans, so there was only one deity I could think of.
“Gaean?” I asked.
A twinkle danced over Gisiroth’s eyes. “Ah, you are an inquisitive one. Yes, Gaean didn’t care for the humans. He loves his dragon-kind and decided to have more of them. In doing so, he tipped the balance. Since humans are, by essence, Aereala, they eventually could not sustain the magic within themselves, and they began to die off. The life of Gaia was essentially stripped. Your trip here has been for naught.”
He stretched his arms. Only then did I notice Gisiroth no longer bore the tattoos of the Everborne family. I had been too distracted by his sudden resurrection to notice earlier.
Gisiroth frowned. “Why are all of you looking so muddled? There’s no need to grieve. Like I said, I am here with the answers. Take me back to Constanria, and you will be rewarded with more of them.”
“Will you be king again, Father?” Rylan asked. It hadn’t been long since Gisiroth appeared, but already the old Rylan, the one who doubted himself in the presence of his father, had returned. He had lived in the shadow of Gisiroth for hundreds of years, and despite the growing up he had to do over the past year, it was difficult to change completely.
I quite preferred Rylan as king. Gisiroth had sentenced me to death right before he died. And although the princes were happy their father had returned, and I was happy for them in response, I dreaded to think what else Gisiroth might do to me.
This time, it looked like Gisiroth had no contempt for me, however. His demeanor had completely changed.
“I am tired,” Gisiroth said, slapping his hands on his lap. He pushed himself to his feet and flicked his head side to side, cracking his neck. “Which one of these tents are mine?”
I was certain none of them were, since the servants hadn’t planned for their old king to reappear. They scampered off, rushing to set a tent for Gisiroth. They’d probably give him the biggest one, and a few of them would have to squeeze together in a smaller tent.
“And tomorrow,” Gisiroth said, “we head back to Constanria.”
“Should we not search for more possibilities?” Micah asked.
“Oh, my dear boy, I’ve searched and searched and there is nothing around here. It’s a terrible prison for someone with such a vast mind like mine. Trust me, there is nothing to see, nothing to gain. You will be far better off sending me back to your home, and there, we can deal with the goddess herself. I’ll take my leave for the day. It’s been so long since I’ve had a comfortable mattress to sleep on. What material do you make yours with? Wyngoat furs? A fine choice. Their furs were a great spark of inspiration.”
Was Micah happy? I couldn’t tell. Confusion foiled this celebratory event.
Gisiroth snorted. “Stop frowning. Have you not heard that a smile is the best way to repair your ails?” Gisiroth grinned widely. He reminded me of a Bengolian feline—the cats they spoke of in stories that were said to lie and eat children.
Kael muttered something I couldn’t hear under his breath. Then, he projected more loudly, “I’ll be sure to tell that to the healers. Just smile until their patients come alive again.”
“It explains why miracles hardly happen.” Gisiroth winked. “They’re always so grim in the infirmaries.” He stalked away, leaving us huddled around the fireplace, gaping at each other. Now that the old king wasn’t around, the servants left, too, and it was just the princes, me and Bianca sitting in the corner. She put the finishing touches on her sketch.
We were all still too stunned to make sense of the situation. An over-arching question formed a heavy fog around us. How did Gisiroth come back?
“I don’t trust him,” I said. I gathered my legs onto the rock I sat on and hugged them onto my chest. “Maybe he’s hiding something. Perhaps he’d found power in Gaia and wishes to hide it from us.” I still couldn’t believe most of the humans were dead. It meant I was one of the last of my kind and dragon-kind was the majority species. I would never be able to meet what I thought were my people. The vast civilizations I wanted to see were no longer around.
“He’s our father,” Gaius said. He scooted over and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Why would he lie to us? All Gisiroth wanted to do as a king was to protect Constanria. He was a harsh father but he always had his own peoples’ interest in mind. His reign was the most peaceful, compared to the rest of the dragon kings of the past.”
“Is it only me who noticed he’s changed?” I asked. “He looks like he has a couple screws loose in his head now. He doesn’t talk the same, walk the same.”
“Maybe the assassination did something to him,” Gaius said. “His very purpose in life was to protect and rule. Some part of him would still be in there. He speaks strangely now, but that’s not a provocative reason
to completely ignore his words.”
Bianca made two final flicks of charcoal on her drawing and placed her paper down on the snow. “I think it’s wonderful he’s back.”
I crinkled my nose and held back a retort. All I wanted to say was, Nobody asked you, Bianca.
Together, we had some dried meat over the fireplace and prepared to retire for the night. We discussed our next course of action. We had enough supplies to camp in Gaia for another full week, so we decided to spend a few more days going against Gisiroth’s suggestions to explore more of the human realm. We were in denial. How could such a catastrophe befall an entire continent?
Then again, was this not what Aereala was trying to save the Drae Lands from?
I recalled Aereala being sad while talking about her humans. Was she thinking about the mass extinction of their kind?
The princes finished their meal and drink, and they headed back into Dragon Keep to get some rest for the night. A sharp gust of wind swept past me. I couldn’t wait to soak in their warmth. I wondered if any of us was going to get any sleep tonight.
Before I re-entered the stony rubbles of Dragon Keep, Bianca stopped me.
I tried to hide my annoyance.
“Did you get my drawing?” Bianca asked.
“The one of me?” I tried to act surprised.
She nodded. “Kael showed it to you?”
I wanted to tell her to stay away from Kael without sounding too hostile, but Bianca spoke again. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you. I was hoping you might like it, and that it’d give me an excuse . . .” She flicked her eyes away from me, acting like a guilty person.
“What do your gifts mean, Bianca?” I asked. I was tired of dancing around my hatred. Perhaps she would be less likely to bother me if she truly knew how I felt. But walking around Constanrian politics was like avoiding a sleeping dragon, and it’d trained me to be unable to be that blunt. Being so blatant often proved foolish for politicians and resulted in more mishaps.
Bianca raised a brow. “My gifts?”
“The bracelet, now the portrait. You’re lingering around my princes. Which one are you trying to snatch from me? Micah? He’s nice to you but don’t mistake that for interest. Do you want to be queen? Is that it? Is Father nudging you to take everything from me again?”
Her eyes widened. “No, nothing of the sort.”
“If you’re thinking about stealing what I have, making me an outcast like you’ve done so long ago—”
“It’s not like that . . .”
“I don’t know what you’re playing but know that I can see through your lies. You act like an innocent. You pretend you’re shy but I know how vicious you can be. Especially with what happened in Aere Grove and—”
“It’s nothing of the sort!”
We looked at each other in stunned silence. Bianca’s cheeks were flushed red. Was she angry? Embarrassed? She stared at me with determination. Perhaps she was finally showing her true colors. Within seconds, she pulled her emotions together, but her ambivalent shyness disappeared, replaced by hurt. “It’s not like that,” she said. “I just want my sister back. To apologize for everything.”
“What?”
“You don’t believe me.” She laughed sheepishly. Her breath formed mist in the air. “No, of course you don’t. We treated you horribly. It’s not like a bracelet or a sketch will change those years of torment you went through.”
“Mother and Father always saw you as their favorite.”
She met my gaze. “Yes, and I never realized how much it hurt you.”
“Never realized?” The notion was so ridiculous I found it hilarious. Better comedy than the masterworks of Constanria’s finest jesters. “You were there! With the insults and all that emotional abuse they gave me. They hated me. You hated me. And I had to clean the latrines every day and you never stood up for me. You never agreed to help.”
“I don’t hate you.”
I threw my hands up in the air. “Oh, don’t go acting you’re the one being wronged now!”
Tears gathering behind her eyelids, but they did little to sway me.
“I don’t, Sera. That’s the truth. I just . . . Some people see the evil before them and prefer to ignore it. They think that relieves them from the guilt. I thought if I pretended nothing was wrong between us when our parents did all those things, our lives would be better. I didn’t want to step in and stir trouble.”
“And so you soaked in all the attention our parents gave you, and you let me suffer. Are you hearing yourself?”
“It took me a long time before I finally realized how wrong I was. I didn’t realize how toxic our parents could be. They never liked any blame or responsibility. They refused to learn from their mistakes and think highly of themselves. When you were gone, Sera, I saw it.”
The meaning of the words came to me.
“I saw it all,” she repeated.
She didn’t say it aloud, but the truth was obvious. When I left, my parents had nothing left to throw their insults at, and someone had to take the brunt of their horrible behavior. While I was away, trying to prove myself and climb the ranks of the council, Bianca shouldered the blame for all their irresponsible decisions. What if the letters I’d received were only a trickle of abuse compared to what Bianca had gone through?
“But Father treats you like his precious jewel.”
“For show,” Bianca said. “I’ve been hoping to marry off so I won’t have to rely on him much anymore. But he keeps coming to me with his plans back at the palace. This trip is somewhat of a reprieve. I don’t like him breathing down my neck all the time, yet I’m afraid to part from him. It’s strange how the abuse makes you attached. I know he’s manipulating me but . . .”
I didn’t know what to say.
Bianca sighed. “If you want me to leave you alone, that’s what I’ll do. I’m sorry you hate me so much. I know you don’t have many months left. I thought we could make up . . .that I could have my sister back before I lost the chance.”
I watched, dumbfounded, as she picked up the fabric of her grown and turned away to leave for her tent. She seemed taller than she was just mere moments ago. I could no longer view her as the weak, spineless Bianca. Perhaps I was being unfair.
I brushed a hand through my hair. This was giving me a huge headache.
I caught sight of Micah standing at the crumbled doorway. He waited for me, and he’d heard everything. I couldn’t read his expression—his was always the hardest to read compared to the rest of the princes.
“Come with me,” Micah said, as I brushed past him. He pulled me along with him before I had a chance to retort. I thought about snuggling up against him after I had a change of clothes.
I stumbled forward to keep up with him. “Where are we going?” His skin looked blue in the moonlight.
I glimpsed my sister entering her tent. I almost slipped on the ice, but Micah caught me before I fell. He cradled me in his arms and pulled me up into the night sky. It was so much chillier now that the sun wasn’t beating down on us.
“Aren’t you tired?” I asked him. “I want to catch some sleep.”
“After that conversation with Bianca?” he said. “I don’t think you can sleep.”
I hummed softly. “You know me too well.” I inhaled a sharp breath, taking in Micah’s sweet scent. His unfurled his wings and took off. His wings brought us higher and higher, until he settled on the top of Dragon Keep. He sat on the edge of one of the towers and held me safe in his arms.
“There’s not much to see around here,” I said. “Gisiroth did mention that everything is dead.”
“Look up.”
“Up?” I craned my neck and trailed my gaze along where Micah pointed.
Aereala bless me.
In the night sky, a glorious pattern of stars left me speechless. I always thought stars shone blue, but these glowed with the colors of the rainbow, interspersed with milky shapes. Breathtaking.
“You didn’t think
to look up,” Micah said. Mock laughter shook through his chest.
“I was too busy searching for crops. On the ground.”
“There’s beauty in Gaia, even if it looks dead.” He raised a finger and pointed to a particularly beautiful pattern. “That one’s the constellation of Falron, named after a city long ago. It’s shaped a bit like a bull.”
I had to squint to see it.
“And that one’s Yvrdeen. And right there is Aquilina. Named after a rare species of hoakfowls. Seabirds.”
“You know so many,” I stated, more to myself. It was just like Micah to know the names of countless things. It came with his perfect memory, since he was a savant.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see them, not in my lifetime.” The stars were beautiful, but not as much as Micah. Boyish intrigue flared from his face. I wished he never let that curiosity from him die out. “I never thought I’d find someone I’d love as much as you in my lifetime. Miracles happen.”
My heart skittered. Micah was so unimaginably beautiful, in heart and soul.
I quickly recovered from the shock of his words and breathed softly, “Me neither. You four are everything to me.”
He clutched me, and we shared a sweet, gentle kiss. Then we continued to look up at the stars in silence.
Some dragon-kind said that finding love was being able to talk to somebody easily. Being with Micah was different. It was nice, comfortable, to keep silence with him. There was no pressure to make small talk. It was enough that I was there for him and the other way around.
I almost fell asleep in arms because he made me feel so safe, even as we sat above the top of a crumbling castle.
Then he broke the silence. “I don’t hate Rylan anymore.”
“Hmmm?” I yawned and peered up at him. His bright blue eyes caught mine.
“My brothers let me spend time with them, but I used to avoid them. Before you came, I didn’t even want to look at Rylan. He was supposed to be king, and I, the bastard child. But now that you’ve mended us together, things are better than ever. I’m happy I gave my brother a chance.”
Fall of Dragons (Sera's Curse Book 3) Page 17
