by Jack Whitney
Her heart shattered as the noise of Draven’s shout sounded around her as an echo. His knees slid to the ground on the other side of Dunthorne, the skull over his face skidding over the sand as he threw it off him. She barely heard the words he shouted. Draven grasped Dunthorne’s vest in his hands, pulling him up off the sand as though it would snap him back to life.
More tears fell down her face as Draven surrendered to the truth of his friend’s death, and he buried his head into Dunthorne’s chest.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
THE BATTLE BARELY lasted an hour.
Draven and Balandria had their men pile the bodies of the strangers up on the beach and set them aflame. Aydra, Lex, and Ash helped them pile the bodies. Aydra watched Draven as he held his cold, stern face before his own men, giving his kingly commands and instructing his people where they were needed. She recognized his held together facade as one she put on herself.
Their losses were not as great during this one. Including Dunthorne, the Venari lost three men, and the Honest lost four. After the bodies were piled, they made carts to take the bodies of their loved ones back home.
“Any wounded should stop with me at the Umber,” Nadir called to them.
Lex raised an expectant brow at Aydra’s defiant frown. Aydra cursed the canon stinger wound on her arm and huffed at her.
“I’m fine,” Aydra assured her.
“Go with Nadir,” Lex insisted. “At any rate, just go so you can meet Lovi.”
“What will you do?”
“Find a ledge to throw him off of,” Lex said with a nod to Ash.
Aydra raised a brow in agreement. “We miss an opportunity earlier,” she muttered.
“True.” Lex’s hands sat on her hips, and they both watched him try to speak with one of the Honest women. “You should tell him where you’re going. He won’t listen to me.”
Aydra nodded. “Hey Ash—”
The sound of his name coming from her made him alert to her as though he were being called by his master. He excused himself quickly from the woman and came jogging up to her. “Yes, Your Majesty. I am here.”
“Thank the Architects,” Aydra mumbled under her breath. “You’ll go back to the Venari kingdom with Lex. Pack your things. You’ll ride out for your Village by nightfall.”
“Where will you go?” he asked.
“I am stopping with Nadir by the Umber. Diplomatic mission,” she replied.
Ash gave her the first agreeing nod he’d taken all day.
Aydra bid Lex goodbye a moment later, and then she made her way across the sand to where Nadir was standing, gathering up their injured people.
“Surviving, Sun Queen?” he smarted upon her approach, a slow smile growing on his face.
As the adrenaline of the morning began to slow, Aydra felt herself start to tire. “I am,” she forced herself to say. “Your people fought valiantly,” she told him. “The ambush from the reef side was well coordinated. Those men had no idea what to do upon seeing you all rise from the waters.”
The smirk on his lips widened. “My people have been guarding this reef for two hundred years—not usually against people, but against creatures and the Infi. We have—”
“You fight creatures?” she balked.
He eyed her. “Don’t give me any of that ‘creatures are misunderstood’ bullshit, Sun Queen. These were vicious animals.”
“So is the Ulfram—” a flash of small red caught her eye, and she called out to the cardinal passing her by “—but with the right understanding, they are no more deadly to you than a cardinal,” she said as the cardinal landed on her finger.
Nadir’s jaw set and he stared at the small red bird on her finger. “I’m pretty sure that bird helped peck men’s eyes out today. So I don’t know how innocent I would say it is.”
Aydra smirked and the bird left her. “Tell me, Nadir. Will your giver be at the Umber when we get there?”
“Ah… probably,” he finally decided. “No promises. Don’t think he will listen to any politics you’d like to talk about.”
Aydra shook her head. “No politics.” She held up her arm, showing him the canon stinger burn, to which he winced for her.
“Ouch.”
“Ouch is correct,” she agreed.
He grinned a crooked, mocking grin down at her. “So not all creatures are vicious, huh?”
Her nostrils flared at his satisfied face, his cerulean eyes dancing at the delight of her in pain. “Shut up and take me to your giver.”
“Where are you shoes?” he asked.
“Oh.” Aydra had forgotten she’d taken them off. “I’m actually not sure.”
Nadir laughed at her and then draped his arm around her shoulders. “Good thing the trail is sand. I’m sure one of my sisters will have a pair that will fit.”
Draven did not go with them to the Umber. Instead, he helped his people take their dead back to his home. He’d barely looked at her since Dunthorne’s death, and she knew he was taking the passing of his friend hard.
She was left with only Nadir whom she knew to walk with. They spoke of the battle as they walked, of the way the strangers fought. He told her what they’d found on the ships—weapons, even some gold. He was having his people sail them around to the eastern edge of their reef to be raided of goods.
It took an hour to reach his home, and when they finally reached the hillside above it, she stopped for a moment to take it in. A smile rose on her face, and she shook her head at the beauty of their peaceful home.
Colorful tents lined the beach, boats pulled up to a line of docks that jetted sporadically into the ocean. The clear water poured softly against the sand on the shore. She could see the reef beneath the water as it spread out further than her eyes could see.
In the distance, she saw carts upon carts, full of goods, fabrics, food, and flowers. Her eyes narrowed. “So you are the traders?” she asked.
Nadir was stopped beside her, and he pointed at a great hill in the distance. “Beyond that hill is our food forest. We can grow a lot of foods here that you’re not able to in the northern climates. Most of it trades with the Blackhands and Venari. Your Dreamers only trade for the rarest of goods, as you grow most of your things in the Preymoor,” he explained.
She crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow at him. “Tell me, Nadir… are the rest of your people as beautiful as the home you live in?”
Nadir’s face faltered just slightly, and he held his chest. “You don’t think I’m pretty?” he asked in a hurt voice.
She rolled her eyes as he fell off balance, faking pain at her words. “Take me to your giver, pretty boy.”
The noises of children laughing and playing around the tents danced in her ears. A few went up to her, offering her flowers, and by the time they had reached the big tent, she had a near bouquet of flowers in the end of the braid her hair had been woven into over her shoulder.
Nadir gave her no warning before whipping the curtain door out of his way and barging into the great tent, holding it open only long enough for her to skirt through.
“—luwee cidefu—”
“Grand!” Nadir announced with his arms wide, crossing the room to the older gentleman using an elongated staff to cross the tent.
Aydra’s brows narrowed at the language she didn’t understand emitting from the old man’s lips. But the moment Nadir spoke, the man turned, and a wide smile grew over his face.
“Storn, m’boy!” the man exclaimed, hugging Nadir. He clapped Nadir’s shoulders and then pulled back to look at him. “Sun harsh for battle today,” the old man said. “Venari must have good intentions.”
“Ah… probably not the only reason why the sun was bright for our assault,” Nadir said, stepping sideways and revealing Aydra standing at the door.
The old man let go of Nadir, and he took one step towards her. His long caramel blonde hair was dreaded down to his waist. The white and blonde beard on his chin thinned as it lengthened to the top of the m
an’s frail chest, and its color stood stark against the darkened olive of his skin. Wrinkles and puffed bags surrounded his eyes. He stared at her with the same cerulean eyes as Nadir. He clutched his hand on the staff, and he slowly crossed the space between she and him.
Aydra swore she saw water in the footprints he left behind.
“A fire Sun daughter with eyes of sword,” the old man mused as he reached her. His small eyes narrowed at her, and he reached his hand out to touch hers. Aydra’s stomach knotted as his softly wrinkled hands curled around her fingers.
“Your mother prepares for war,” he continued.
Aydra frowned, taken aback not only by the claim but also the broken accent in which he spoke. “My mother knows nothing of the war on our shores,” she argued.
“So she tell you,” the man spoke shortly. A small smile broke onto his face then, and he laughed the high-pitched chortle that made her brows narrow back at Nadir’s smirking face. He turned away from her and started moving things on a table nearby.
Nadir leaned in towards her. “Excuse his speech. He’s much better versed in the old language,” he muttered.
“The old language?” Aydra repeated, “what like, Haerland’s original language? Who—”
“My children fond of you,” the man cut in then, having apparently not heard Aydra and Nadir talking. “Never they brought a Sun Queen into our home.”
Nadir chuckled at the confusion on her features. “Aydra, this is Lovi Piathos,” he said simply.
Aydra felt the color drain from her face. Her brows raised, and her weight shifted.
“I’m sorry, what?” she asked, now hugging her arms over her chest.
Nadir laughed again. “Lovi Piathos. Giver of the Honest people. Lesser One and child of the Ghost of the Sea. But here at the Umber, we call him the Grand.”
If there had been a chair behind her, she would have sat. But there was no chair, and so she was stuck making herself stay on her feet like a frightened child.
She wasn’t sure what she had expected upon meeting him. A warrior, perhaps. A tall strong man of beauty and grace, who’s skin looked of the glittering sea.
The very last thing she had expected was an older man with a tall staff to help him walk.
“Don’t let the staff fool you,” Nadir said in a hushed voice. “He doesn’t really need it. Just thinks it makes him look wiser—Ow!”
Lovi had smacked him in the shin with the end of his staff. The high-pitched laugh emitted from Lovi, and he turned with two potions in his hand to mock Nadir.
“Mock and pay,” he said with another laugh. He looked to Aydra then and nodded towards a chair on the other side of the tent. “Sit, my dear.”
Aydra snapped out of her daze and made her way to the chair. Lovi stood over her, pouring some of the potion onto ribbons. She winced when he pressed it to the wound on her arm.
Lovi started asking Nadir about the battle as he dressed her wound. He told him about the ships and what they’d found, the weapons they’d used. Lovi asked about the plan they’d used to ambush, and Nadir grinned at Aydra.
“Actually, if it hadn’t been for the Sun Queen here, I’m not sure we would have won with the numbers we did,” he affirmed.
“I’m sure you would have figured out something,” Aydra argued.
“Bickering like the last time,” he muttered. “It’s nice to have fresh eyes on the field once in a while.”
Nadir left them a few moments later, leaving Aydra in the room with only Lovi’s company. She shifted nervously as he cleaned the wound on her arm, followed by the cut on her cheek, but his calm energy made her feel more open to speaking truthfully with him than even her own mother.
“Tell me, little Sun. How your mother?” he asked after a few minutes.
“Oh, you know Arbina,” she said, shaking her head. “High. Mighty. Manipulative… All the things she says we aren’t to trust about every other race in this land.”
Lovi chuckled under his breath. “Not have I heard another speak about her like this since Duarb was able to walk the ground.” His cerulean eyes met hers, and he paused. “What she says such to make you think this?”
Aydra sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t speak ill of my giver. It was rude of me.”
“Hole open,” he bantered. “You spill.”
She scoffed as he started blotting her wound again. An elongated sigh left her lips, and she stared at the ground as she began to admit words to him she’d not shared with another living being.
“Everything I’ve ever learned about the other races of Haerland has been proven wrong to me in just the last few months,” she admitted. “I don’t know what to trust. I was hurt in the Venari kingdom during the deads a few months ago. Draven and his people aided me back to health, no questions asked. When I spoke with my mother about it, she told me the reason I’d fallen in the first place was that the Venari had orchestrated it.” She paused and met Lovi’s narrowed gaze, and she shook her head as the memory of her mother’s words radiated through her. “I know she is wrong, but when I accused her of it, I thought she would murder me right then.”
Lovi chuckled under his breath. “Your mother always been strong-willed, yet terrified of everything,” he said, wrapping a bandage around her forearm. “She always believed everyone after her. She has reasons.” He tied the bandage off then and took her hand. “You trust instinct, Sun daughter. And if ever you want full truth of our past, come back to Umber. I take you to the Honest Scrolls.”
She swallowed hard as she met his gaze, and then gave him a nod. “Thank you.”
“Hey, Sun Queen—” Nadir burst through the tent door again, carrying a pair of boots in his hands. “Will these fit?”
Aydra had forgotten about her absent shoes. She took the shoes from his hands and pushed them on her feet. Lovi’s chortle echoed in her ears again, and then he reached out for her hands.
“Meet again soon, Sun daughter,” he said, kissing her knuckles.
Lovi disappeared through the curtain door a few moments later. Nadir had brought her a simple black cotton dress to change into as well, as her own clothing was covered in blood and sand. He waited for her outside the tent as she changed.
When she emerged, his brows raised, and he nodded in her direction. “Not bad,” he mused, to which she shook her head. He grinned at her. “Black is your color isn’t it?” he asked.
“Is there a darker noir I should know about to match my core?” she bantered.
His finger pressed to his lips, as though he were thinking. “Not that I’m aware of,” he answered.
“Then yes, black is my color,” she said proudly.
Nadir huffed amusedly. “I hope they’ve a crown fit for you back at your home,” he said then.
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…” He stepped forward, one hand shoving into his pocket. “I’ve lived through four sets of your elders, of the Promised kings and queens of the past, and you’re the first to actually treat our people as… well, people. As allies and not enemies. Equals instead of slaves.”
“Four sets?” she balked. “How old are you?”
“Eighty-seven,” he replied.
Her brows raised, and she gave his young facade and handsome face a full once over. “Eighty-seven? And you look like this?”
He grinned, white teeth shining at her. “Immortality. Don’t you know the stories?”
The noise of children running past them diverted her attention. Aydra’s chest swelled at the colorful scene around them. The laughter in the air. The children running in the grass and playing on the beach nearby. The hugs and kisses exchanged as their soldiers came home from the battle.
“It amazes me the freedoms of you and Draven’s people,” she said as she stood there with him. “The joy they share with one another. I wish to see my people with the same.”
Nadir frowned at her. “Your people do share this freedom,” he argued. “Your Dreamers
in the towns and villages across the Preymoor and Hills of Bitratus, they feel such joy. I’ve been there during festivals, brought supplies in for birth moon celebrations and parties.”
Aydra’s weight shifted, and she suddenly felt as if she knew nothing of her own people aside from the ones residing at Magnice. “But—”
“The Dreamers residing behind your fortress and those in the outskirts are very different. Why do you think Zoria traveled to the Village of Dreams so often?”
She quieted for a moment and hugged her arms around her chest. Nadir stepped forward and draped his arm around her shoulders again.
“Come on. I’ll walk you back to the Venari roost. Unless you’d like to stay here,” he added with a quirk of his brow.
She rolled her eyes at his attempted smolder. “I’d appreciate the escort back.”
He grinned widely. “Good. You can tell me about your sister along the way. Whether she’s as maniacal and beautiful as you are.”
Aydra almost laughed. “More beautiful, and you’re not to touch her.”
He clutched his chest in his hand. “Come now, Sun Queen. That hurts. You don’t trust me?”
“When it comes to my sister? No, not in the least,” she mocked.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
A FEW OF Nadir’s people walked with them back to the Venari kingdom, carrying on about the fight that day, speaking valiantly about their brethren that had been lost to the fight. Nadir told her about their own funeral ritual that she would not see the following day. They would place the bodies of their people on separate rafts with their favored flower and send them up the Impius River aflame. He told her if she traveled far enough inside the Forest the next day, she would see the rafts. Aydra made a mental note to try to time it right so that she would see it.
It was nearly dark by the time they arrived back to the Venari home. A somber energy radiated over the whole of the kingdom, but Nadir and his people quickly changed the energy with their joyous laughter and fill of stories. Aydra left Nadir’s side and went to Lex, who had settled herself at the bottom of the steps to Draven’s home. Her gaze flickered up to the balcony as she stood by Lex’s side. Draven was leaned over the banister, his eyes staring absently into the fire, not a single muscle moving on his body.
