Another wave of silence falls over us before Theon speaks again. “She will get her apology.”
“Good.” I stand and move around the table, patting Theon on the shoulder. “Make it sincere. I’m not the only one with a talent for spotting liars.”
—CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT—
AMARA
KHISFIRE
“You can’t avoid him forever ya know.”
I roll my eyes at Roman as he braces for impact. “I sure as hell can try.”
My fist flies through the air. He catches it and spins me around, yanking my back against his front. My breath catches, his arm curling around my neck, holding me in the gentlest of headlocks. If I can hear my unsteady breathing I know he can as his lips move down to my ear. “I’ve spoken to him ya know. You might listen to his story, hear him out.”
“He betrayed us both.” I remind him, swallowing over the lump in my throat. It’s like I can feel his hands over every inch of my body. Kol Kasanoff is the last thing on my mind right now and he knows it.
“He’s my brother.” Roman reminds me, lips still at my ear. My body sings under his touch, wanting to know what it might feel like to have his hands other places.
“He’s your brother. Not mine.” I feel his breath move from my ear, down my neck. My body aches for him to kiss me there, but he never gets the chance.
“Whoa, hands off. The girl is my granddaughter after all. Very distant.” Theon grins, stopping when he’s only a few feet in front of us.
In Roman’s distraction I take hold of his arm and flip him up and body slam him to the matt below our feet. Roman grunts out in pain. “Ah, ha!” I exclaim, shooting two hands into the air in triumph. “Yes! I finally got you.” I laugh as Roman continues to groan. “Talk about upper body strength.” I bend down and put my hands on Roman’s shoulders, patting them playfully. “How ya feelin’ down there, buddy?”
“Ah, hah,” Roman groans. “Owe.”
“I got you.” I say again.
“You got me.” he admits and I laugh.
My eyes fall on Theon and my mood darkens. “How does that work anyway? I’m Thaddeus Beleros’ descendant, but you were adopted. So how did Thaddeus continue his bloodline outside of his adopted children?”
“Thaddeus and his first wife had a son. But he was wise to abandon his title early. He ran away, married, had a whole litter of kids, left his father and his kingdom behind him. You’re most likely a result of his lineage.”
“Good to know.” I muse. “So what do you want?”
Theon, looking amused, steps toward me. “A word, Your Highness.” he says to me.
Thinking about having any kind of civil conversation with Theon Beleros darkens my mood even further, but I don’t let him steal all of my thunder. I pat Roman’s shoulders, sending him into another fit of painful groans. “Sit tight, buddy.” I follow Theon across the room to a table where there are frosted water bottles sitting in a bucket of ice. I grab one and down two quarters of it before facing Theon. “What do you want, Theon?”
“Well, I—I had hoped to do this under different circumstances,” His gaze shifts to Roman where he’s standing up, but keeping the distance between us. “But getting you alone has proved difficult to say the least.”
“It’s called self-preservation. You know all about that, don’t you Theon? After all, isn’t that what all of this is about? Your own self-preservation?”
He doesn’t appreciate my tone. I can see it in his eyes, but to my surprise he keeps his temper in check. “Amara, please.”
I sigh, realizing that the petty banter might come off as a little childish. “What is it?”
“I want to apologize to you, Amara.”
“What?” I blink, thrown.
“I want to apologize to you for my part in Tristan Lancaster’s death.” he says solemnly. I gulp, fiddling with the T charm from the necklace Tristan gave me back in Baal. “I know he’s still lingering. I had hoped to extend my apologies to him as well.”
“Why?” I whisper, blinking up at him, forcing back the sickly feeling I get whenever I think about the last time I saw Tristan, his body overturned in the coffin because of Theon Beleros’ attack. He’d even managed to take away that, our privilege to bury his body in peace.
“Amara, when I put the hit out on the Lancaster boy I didn’t know that he was your…” He isn’t sure of the proper word on what to call Tristan. Boyfriend doesn’t quite cover it. He wasn’t at the time, but friend seems too casual.
“He was my boyfriend.” I tell him, allowing some of my vulnerability to creep in. “And I loved him.” At my side Tristan appears, grasping my wrist, even though I can’t feel it. It feels more like a chill than any touch. I will never touch him again.
Theon is visibly affected by Tristan’s presence. As a nether user he can see him as clear as he can see me. He takes a cautious step back, looking, for all intents and purposes, remorseful.
“It’s okay, Amara.” Tristan whispers to me.
“It’s not okay. You’re dead.” I snap at him. “And you’re not at peace. That isn’t okay, T.”
He turns to me and brushes a finger across my cheek, giving me that ghostly chill again. “I had to stay, to make sure that you were safe. Now that you are I can go.” A small gasp escapes my lips at the thought of him being gone. He turns his gaze on Theon. “You make damn sure this girl is safe and protected and that’ll be enough for me to forgive you.”
“She will be.” Theon assures Tristan.
“I love you, Amara.” Tristan tells me. “I always did.”
“I love you too.”
Roman comes over to my side, placing a hand on my shoulder. “What’s going on?” he asks gently, sensing the sensitive air around us.
“It’s Tristan.” I breathe. “He’s saying goodbye.” Roman squeezes my shoulder, to let me know he’s here with me.
“Tell Kara it was nice for a while, thinking I might have carried on my legacy before I died.”
I laugh through my tears. “I’ll tell her.”
“Don’t push this boy away.” Tristan says to me, eying Roman. Then he presses a kiss to my cheek. It’s more of a warm sensation than an icy one. I touch my cheek where his lips had been. “Promise me.” Tristan demands.
“I promise.”
He looks at Theon. “Take care of her.” He looks back at me with a smile as his body slowly starts to dissipate. “You win that crown, huh Mar?” He winks at me before fading away for good. I laugh through my tears, squeezing Roman’s hand at my side.
“Is he gone?” Roman whispers to me. I just nod. He wraps me up in his arms and hugs me for a minute before I pull away.
When I pull back from him I keep my hand in his, wiping away my tears with the other hand. “What else did you want?” I ask Theon.
“Well, I had hoped you might come somewhere with me.”
“Where?” I ask warily.
“Aaric has agreed to work with me, to help our people, but he won’t do it unless you agree so there is something I think you should see. It might help you to make your decision.”
My eyes flick to Roman and then back to him. “Can Roman come?”
“Actually yes. I think it might be beneficial for the Limacoran prince to see what I plan to show you. Meet me outside in one hour? I’ll have a transit ready for us.”
“We’ll be there.” I assure him.
There are about a dozen guards seated inside Theon’s transit when Roman and I board it an hour later.
My mood darkens when I remember the last time I was on a transit. We were coming home after I killed Talvinder and Keenan was so furious with me he was practically seething.
Roman senses my dark mood and reaches for my hand where I’m seated between him and Theon. “Hey,” he whispers, bringing my knuckles to his lips. He brushes a kiss over them. “What’s going on in there? No more hiding, remember?”
“I was just remembering the last time I was on a transit.”
“Oh?”
“We were coming back from the mission Katania Westergaard sent us on. Keenan was livid and I had just killed Talvinder.”
“That’s when you recognized that your magic was growing, right?” he asks, remembering the story I’d told everyone the night we got to Llìria.
“I’d never killed like that before. His skin turned this ghastly gray color and he screamed. No one’s ever screamed from my nether magic. Not like that.” I see Theon glance up and over at me out of the corner of my eye.
“He was hurting Haven, Amara. You had to.” Roman reminds me.
“I know, but the thing is I…”
“You liked it.” Roman sees right through me as he always does and where I expect to find fear or worry in his eyes, instead I find understanding. “Everyone feels that once in a while.” he assures me. “As a nether user you just have to be careful of it.” All I can do is nod.
There’s no mistaking our destination when we come up on it. I smell it before I see it. Outside the window of the transit we creep across a dirt road, going through what appears to be an abandoned village. It smells of smoke and blood.
I cover my mouth, forcing down the bile that threatens to rise up. I move onto the cushioned seat on my knees, pressing my hands onto the window of the transit for support. My eyes can’t look away from the scene before me. Each and every house we pass is either torn apart or burnt down to the studs. We pass a church with an inside that has been blown to smithereens.
We roll through the center of the village. That’s when I see the bodies. Skeletons torn apart and strewn across the marketplace. There are overturned wagons and half burnt stalls. The markethouse used for when the weather is bad is torn apart too. The bricks lie broken in the dirt beneath it.
Across the way there’s an abandoned transit with the top blown off. Out of one of the windows a skeletal arm dangles out between the broken glass.
“Thirteen hells.” Roman mutters beside me.
“Theon,” I prompt, desperate to know why he’s brought us here.
“Come on.” Theon stands and gestures to the guards. Two stand and open the transit door once the driver comes to a complete stop. He steps out and Roman and I reluctantly follow.
The smell is putrid and twice as bad outside the transit. I cover my mouth and Roman coughs at my side, spitting onto the dirt. Theon holds an arm out, indicating that he wants us to walk with him. I tug the top of my shirt up over my nose.
“Theon, what the hell?” I hiss.
“Rancid, isn’t it?” he says casually. “Do you know what this place is?”
“Obviously not.” I grumble.
“It used to be a village. Khisfire. It was a beautiful village. Lots of children, always running and playing. There were three schoolhouses just in this village alone because of all the children.”
“Stop.” I beg him. I know what he’s going to say and it makes me want to vomit right here.
“What happened here, Theon?” Roman demands. Maybe he doesn’t know what I already do, maybe because he’s a prince and not a hated Serpentarian like me. Or maybe he just wants to hear Theon say it.
“What do you think, Your Highness?” He uses the title sarcastically. “Hunters came and set the entire village ablaze. Hundreds died, all of the children. Some of them they murdered. Others they burned alive. They thought it ironic, because of the name. Khisfire. Kissed by fire they’d say, as they taught their little ones about the village they conquered and what they would one day grow to do. There are many other places just like this one. In Vakrov, in Limacore, on the Islands. All over Endecore. Except for one place. Tethoris.”
“What’s Tethoris?” I ask, tugging my shirt down into place. The smell doesn’t fade. Your senses could never grow used to that smell, but I want to pay attention to the lesson Theon is trying to teach. I need to know what has happened to my people in my absence.
“It’s a small country located just south of the Tempus Islands. It’s where most of the humans reside, along with the Hunter queen, or Huntress as they call her. That’s their home base, if you will.”
“The Hunters have their own queen?”
“Yes.” Theon nods. “Where do you think they receive their orders?” Theon spreads his arms wide, blue eyes scanning over the village ruins surrounding us. “This is what happens while we stand by, making decisions on whether we can trust each other or not, Amara. This is what is happening right now in a village you’re never heard of, but where there are children and women and men dying because we are different. Because we are misunderstood. This is what is happening right now. And you, only you Amara Boudelaire, have the power to stop it.”
His words affect me and Roman both, but I have to ask the question I’ve been asking myself ever since I found out about the royal blood running through my veins. “Why me? And don’t give me some speech about birthright and ability. Tell me the truth, Theon, for once. Why me? Why not Aaric or Aaren? Or, you? Why not you?”
“My time has come and gone, Amara. And while I will fight until my dying day to see our people rise again, like the phoenix from the ashes, I am not what these people need. It isn’t only because of birthright or because your abilities exceed even my own. It is because of who you are, not what you are. It is exactly what your brother said to me just days ago. You’re driven by compassion. You’re loyal and you’re smart and when people look at your face Amara Boudelaire they trust it. It is why Haven Novak clings to you now, in the midst of all she’s been through. Because she trusts you to protect her. Aaren will have his mother to champion him through the coming Monarch Trials. Aaric will have a lot of people who will want him on that throne too, because he comes from ether magic, from celestial magic. But you belong on that throne, Amara. You will do it justice. You’re the one who will deliver these people from subjugation. Let me help you do it. Let me be your champion, because I promise that if you do we will win.”
For the first time since I met the man I believe every word he’s said. I believe he will fight to help me win this crown and I believe that he genuinely doesn’t want it for himself. And I believe that with him I can win.
“No more secrets.” I warn.
“No more secrets.” he repeats back.
“We do everything together, Theon. And I mean everything. No hidden agendas. No surprises. No nothing. Not a drop of blood is spilled unless I say spill it.”
“Understood.”
“Alright.” I say. “You can be my champion.” I look over at Roman, wondering what he thinks of all this. “How do you feel?”
“I feel like if he betrays you I’ll drive a sword through his heart.” Roman promises me. “But I also feel like something like this…” He gestures to the village. “It can never happen again. I’m not my father, Amara. You are living proof that people with your magic can be good, can use it for good. I’m on your side. I’ve always been.”
I smile, pulling his hand into mine. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
When we get back to the palace I feel like I need a bath so I head to my chambers to have a bath and dress for dinner. On my way to the dining room Theon falls in step with me.
“So, should you give Aaric the good news or shall I?” he asks.
“Don’t be cute with me. I still don’t like you.”
“Mm, you may have to get over that because even after all of this is over, I am the father of your future godchildren.”
I stop abruptly and he turns, looking down at me expectantly. “I need you to understand something. While you are to blame for the deaths of two of my friends, they aren’t the reason the thought of you makes my blood boil. I know you were listening when I told Kara what Keenan did to me back in Baal. Because of you I lost him that night and for that I will never forgive you.” I turn to walk way, but he latches onto my wrist, stopping me. “Let go of me, Theon.” I sneer, unable to hide the tremor in my voice. I don’t turn back to look at him. I don’t want him to see the tears pooling in my eyes as I think about
what that night had done to me and Keenan.
“I was there that night to see if you really were the girl I was looking for. I drugged you simply because I wasn’t sure if you had your powers or not and I didn’t want to make a scene. I’m sorry, Amara. I truly am. We may not share blood, but you are my kin. I never meant to hurt you.”
When I look up into his eyes I see that he means what he’s saying. He has no reason to lie. He also has no reason to worry about how I feel. He’s already gotten what he wants, but the sincerity in his eyes tells me he hates that he is the cause of my suffering. “I loved him. Even back then, even after he broke my heart, I loved him. He still betrayed me. Is that what I have to look forward to? Never trusting anyone ever again?”
“I hope not, Amara. I truly hope not.”
In the dining room most of our friends are already seated, but across the room I find Aaric waiting for me expectantly.
When I reach him he leans in to kiss my cheek. “How did today go?”
I pull back and look up at him, puzzled. “You knew he was taking me there?”
“He did mention it, yes.”
“It was horrific, Aaric. It was horrible, and sad, and offensive, and I told Theon that we can work together, to do this, to save our people.”
Aaric smiles. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“I know why I’m trusting him enough to allow this. Why are you?”
His answer comes quickly. “Because it isn’t about him. It’s about our people. We need his help.”
I nod. “I’m proud of you. Putting away your hatred for someone else.”
“Well my hatred is placed somewhere else right now.” he admits. I raise an eyebrow in confusion. “Keenan. I know, Amara. Roman and Bay told me what he did.” I gulp, dropping my eyes away from my brother. “You better never let me get my hands on him, Amara, because if I do he’s as good as dead.”
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