Air

by Rosie Scott

  The queen glared at Altan as the Sentinel came to a stop beside us. “You're late.”

  “At least I'm alive,” Altan replied before his eyes found Bhaskar's. The god was standing with Cyrus beside the queen's throne, and the two men had been quiet thus far. “Tal is destroyed.”

  “What?” The queen jerked forward in her throne as if leaning closer to Altan's words would reveal them to be a lie.

  “You were right, Bhaskar. Hades was on your trail. He saw the test. He attacked us six days after you left. It was a slaughter.”

  Queen Tilda was silent a moment, her mouth agape. Bhaskar's face fell. Unlike Hades, he truly did seem to have some concern for mortals.

  “Hades is dead,” the queen finally stated.

  “No. I could not kill him,” I spoke up, keeping my voice firm.

  “You could not—what?” The Queen's anger grew, and a rattling sounded from the armrest of her throne, where her expensive rings trembled against the stone. “What do you mean you could not kill him? You are the only god who can! Why the hell would I have allied with you if your powers are worthless?”

  “My powers are far from worthless. Hades is simply too powerful,” I snapped, before glancing to Bhaskar. “Bhaskar warned you of this. You knew this could happen. If anyone is to blame here, it is you. Hades would never have come to Tal if he hadn't seen the power of the sun. It gave away Bhaskar's location and put the town at risk.”

  “If Tal was at risk, it was your duty to protect it with your life!” The queen shouted, bringing a fist down to her throne.

  “And that's what I fucking did!” I yelled back, before jerking a thumb to Azazel, who wore his hood even indoors to protect his still-healing eyes. “Your test nearly killed us all and disabled Azazel. You are lucky I take our alliance seriously at all given your astonishing dishonesty! If it weren't for me, every person who was in Tal would be dead, including us!”

  “Did you tell Hades where I went?” Bhaskar questioned, interjecting between our current screaming match.

  “No,” I replied, the word trembling with my anger. “And he doesn't know where to find you. Not yet. I don't know how he is finding your location, but he attacked Tal after you'd left it, so he is clearly behind schedule.”

  “Hades will not know where to find you for weeks yet,” the queen insisted, her own tone harsh and shaking.

  “How do you know?” Bhaskar inquired.

  The queen shook her head, before glaring back at us. “That is not important.”

  “Uh...yeah, it kind of is,” the god retorted.

  “You will not speak back to me!” Queen Tilda raged, whipping her head to the god.

  “Fuck you. You will not control me. If you think you can keep something so important from me, I will be gone.” Bhaskar started walking away from the throne, leaving the queen without a care.

  “Wait!” The queen pleaded, reaching out an arm to the god.

  “Why should I?” Bhaskar spun to face her just as he was beside Anto, preparing to pass us altogether.

  Queen Tilda's eyelashes fluttered quickly as she found herself on the defensive. “I need you, Bhaskar.” Her green eyes flicked to mine. “And you, Kai. Together.”

  “Then you'd better start talking, and it better be fucking quick,” I seethed. “I am not running around your country playing your games. I will not put my people in danger to be at your beck and call.”

  “Great minds think alike,” Bhaskar muttered. He then chuckled dryly and added for all to hear, “You have little power here, Tilda. I could murder you where you sit, and I doubt many people would miss you.”

  “You would murder me in my castle, before my subjects?” The queen retorted in disbelief. “Like that would go well for you.”

  “My powers could destroy all of Arrayis. I would be careful acting like you have any power over me.”

  Queen Tilda's nostrils flared. “This is why I hate working with gods. They are so fucking arrogant.”

  I spoke up, “At least we're all equals here, then.” I heard Altan stifle a chuckle beside me.

  “Cyrus.” The queen glared over to the second Sentinel, who had been silently watching the entire conversation play out. “Take them to the dungeon.”

  “Are you serious right now?” Bhaskar laughed in disbelief.

  “Not to be thrown in, you idiot,” she spat. “If you both want answers, you'll have your answers. From the source. Gods know you may be able to glean more information from him than I have.”

  I exchanged glances with Altan, remembering our conversation at the inn in Tal. Surely, our upcoming talk would be most interesting.

  Cyrus led us out of the throne room, where we collected Nyx from the benches before moving on. As we trotted down the steps of the main hall, my best friend announced to Bhaskar and I, “Well, you both did a pretty good job telling the bitch off so I didn't have to.”

  Bhaskar chuckled, though he said, “Let's be honest, she deserves a lot more than that.” He then turned to me and added, “You know, Kai, Tilda is crafty, but so am I. Threatening to leave her certainly enlightened us, didn't it?”

  I nodded. It was clear that the queen was more desperate to have access to us than she'd initially let on.

  Cyrus was quiet for the entire trek down the castle, which could have concerned me given his loyalty to the queen. I did not worry, however, since he had been the first Sentinel to warn us of the queen's treachery at all. It seemed Cyrus had his own issues with her but was not as willing to express them outwardly like Altan finally had.

  The dungeons were kept below ground, in a basement I hadn't yet known Mistral's castle had. The stairs leading down into it were guarded by a steel door with multiple locks. At the bottom of the stairs was yet another door with many locks, which opened into a long, stone hallway.

  It was well-guarded in this prison, and it was larger than any other I'd been in yet. At the end of the hallway was another staircase, which took us even further underground. Each cell had at least one occupant, and many had more, reminding me a lot of how the slaves were kept in the underground. Perhaps the dungeon was so full of criminals because of Eteri's stringent justice system. Many of the offenders here were merely thrown into cells where they were free to sit or stand at their leisure. Others were chained at their wrists, minimizing the risk of them using magic. In this respect, it was quite easy to tell mage criminals apart from the rest.

  Three floors down, we were led down yet another hallway, though this one did not end in a staircase, but a locked door. As we approached, we heard a low, haunting tune of someone singing, though the voice was rough with fatigue. The more I listened to the voice, the more I couldn't tell if it came from a man or woman.

  “Avoid his hands,” Cyrus murmured in warning, as he started to unlock the door, using keys and turning bolts. The voice within continued singing and the words were muffled behind steel.

  “There he is, a god so wise...tie him up, gouge out his eyes...drop 'em and stamp 'em on the floor...no one'll know he's a god no more...”

  The door creaked as Cyrus slowly opened it. This room was meant for solitary confinement, and though it was equipped with a bed and bucket for waste, the man within was shackled to the wall, hanging loosely from two steel binds of the wrists over his head. He was bare-chested but had on threadbare, prison-issued slacks. His skin glistened in an absurdly pale Icilic silver-white, the blue blood in his veins visible from through his skin. He was thin and sickly looking, his cheeks sunken in just a bit from where I could see them underneath a head full of multi-colored hair. His hair was long enough to pass his shoulders as he hung his head, so it dangled before his chest in streaks of white and black. He'd kept it up in chaotic tendrils, though many of the hair ties were either loose or missing.

  “Oo, I have visitors?” His voice was so high-pitched and whimsical it nearly sounded feminine. He trembled in his chains before he cackled joyfully. “I love parties! You'll have to forgive me, though. I'm a little tied up at th
e moment.” He burst into child-like giggles.

  “You have things to tell us, prisoner?” Altan questioned.

  “Mm...no, not to you, not to you...” The man's head tilted, though his hair still covered his face in shadow. “Who else is here? Give me the one I want. You know the one I want.”

  Altan glanced at me.

  “Me?” I questioned, confused.

  “Oo, who is this? Do tell,” the prisoner murmured happily.

  “You haven't told us your name, why should we tell you hers?” Altan retorted.

  “Because I want it,” the prisoner pouted dramatically.

  “And we want your name. Tell us what we want to know.” Altan sighed, before he added, “I didn't have the patience for this shit weeks ago, and I sure as hell don't have the patience for it now.”

  “Woman...” the prisoner murmured, the tendrils of black and white hair trembling before his face. “Move my hair, will you? I cannot see who is in here with me. Perhaps I will tell you my name if I know who I can trust.”

  I looked at Altan. He lifted up his hands, reminding me not to get close to the prisoner's.

  “Okay, but then you have to tell us,” I murmured as if talking to a child, before taking a few steps forward. I reached out with an arm, keeping as much distance as possible between us. I used two fingers to glide his hair to the side, feeling the slick sweat from his forehead on my fingertips.

  I saw just a flash of golden eyes before the prisoner laughed joyously. “How wonderful! Kai Sera!”

  I stiffened. “How do you know that?”

  “Everyone thinks my powers are so dull and stupid,” the god pouted. “I know more than your name, you spunky little half-breed.” He paused, before singing, “I know all a-bout you!”

  I gritted my teeth. This god appeared to have powers similar to Judai's of gaining knowledge with a simple touch, and I'd stupidly fallen for his tricks. “What do you know?”

  “Oh...how fun! Let me see here...oh, you love picking fights with family, don't you? But you are too weak to finish them. You fought Terran twice without killing him, and you think you will have the guts to do it when you meet him in battle again.” He snickered to himself. “And...oh! Isn't that interesting! You have a lot of raunchy sex with someone who looks a lot like me. Someone...from Glacia, perhaps?” He trembled with excitement. “This just keeps getting better and better!”

  “Tell me your name, god,” I insisted, frustrated with the prisoner revealing so many personal things about me before everyone else.

  “But I'm not done,” he pouted, before he lifted his head up with a jerk, causing the tendrils of hair to fly back from his face. Trailing from his right eye down to the bottom of his jaw was a thick, protruding scar. The other side of his face was free from imperfection. His right eyebrow was black, and his left was pure white. If he were human, he would have barely looked to be in his mid-twenties. He would have been beautiful if it weren't for the insanity swirling through his golden eyes.

  “Well, I am done. Would you like to be left alone again?” I asked him.

  His bottom lip protruded in a pout. “No.”

  “Then tell me your name.”

  He grinned instantaneously, bright white teeth shining from through full, pale lips. “Will you be nice to me, Kai Sera? I came here for you, after all.”

  “I am being nice to you. Why did you come here for me?”

  The prisoner's eyes found Cerin, and he snorted with laughter. “He comes for you a lot!”

  “This guy's as bad as you,” Jakan muttered to Nyx.

  “Tell me your name, or I won't be nice to you for very long,” I warned the god.

  “Mm...” he trailed off, his golden eyes looking over all the others in the room. “I will give you a riddle.”

  “Here we fucking go again,” Altan grumbled behind me.

  “It's not hard,” the prisoner insisted. “I want Kai to guess it, after all. I didn't want to tell any of you. You are all mean to me.”

  Altan only exhaled with impatience.

  “What's your riddle?” I asked him, watching as he wobbled with excitement in his chains.

  “I knew you'd be fun!” He came to a stop, before he said, “There is a god in this room who masquerades as someone he is not. Take his real name. Add two letters. Not telling you where!”

  “Cicero, god of chaos,” Nyx piped up from behind me.

  “That isn't fair! I didn't ask you!” The prisoner pouted.

  “My people worship you,” Nyx replied.

  The god's face went from upset to suddenly receptive. “Oo, really? Do you love me? Do I have temples? I've always wanted a temple. Pack it up, put it in my pocket...” he rambled off nonsensically.

  “Mm...yeah, lots of temples,” Nyx placated him.

  “You are the god of chaos,” I told him, watching his eyes come back to me. “Why should I trust you?”

  “Because I like you.” Cicero grinned and then burst into giggles.

  “Why? I've never met you.”

  Cicero sang, “Because everyone likes an underdog!”

  “An underdog?” I questioned.

  “Yes, silly. Why would I offer up what I know to those who already have it all?” Cicero jumped up and down in his shackles with excitement. “You're causing chaos! Everyone's going crazy! It's wonderful!”

  “What do you get out of this?” I inquired.

  “What do I get out of this? What do I get out of this?” Cicero burst into laughter. “More! More! More! You looove war, don't you? Tell me you will wage it forever and ever and ever and ever—”

  “I swear to the gods, if you don't shut up—” Altan seethed.

  I held out a hand to the Sentinel, holding up a finger. He stopped talking, though his nostrils flared with frustration. Looking back to Cicero, I said, “I'm going to be waging war until the end of time.”

  The god's eyes brightened with glee at my lie. “Yes! Yes! That's what I thought! And that's why I'm here! You're going to keep me from going crazy. The longer time goes on without anything happening, the more bored I get. I didn't use to be this fun.” His face darkened. “And no one likes me like this. They claim I'm weak and a nuisance.”

  “Yeah, but we're all friends here,” I argued with him lightly.

  Cicero's eyes darted around the room before he chuckled and whispered, “No, we're not.”

  “But you're my friend,” I told him. “And I'm yours. Right?”

  “Mm...maybe.” He grinned.

  “Why are you here, Cicero? Why seek me out?”

  “Vertun said you'd be in Eteri,” the god replied, before his eyes followed something invisible in the air, distracted by it.

  “Yes, and here I am. Why'd he tell you that?”

  “He didn't tell me,” Cicero replied, his eyes coming back to mine. “He told the others. He seeks their help in killing you because he could offer them something no other god could.”

  “Who?” I insisted.

  “My homeland!” Cicero exclaimed. “Glacia.”

  My heart sunk into my stomach. I had always figured Glacia might aid Chairel in their war against us if only to come after Cerin. But they were isolationists on their freezing continent. Vertun should have had no luck getting their aid. “What could Vertun offer them?” I questioned. “The Icilic don't go to war.”

  “They do now.” Cicero giggled. “The world is changing. Their land is melting. Chairel only offers them wood for their ships; it can't offer them ice. Vertun can.”

  “There is no way they would risk a war against Eteri just to get to me,” I protested.

  “Oh, there are many ways,” Cicero argued, grinning. “The Icilic are so heavily populated on their little melting continent that even Vertun can't fix the land quickly enough. Northern Eteri is as cool as it gets. They want to kill you for Vertun, but they also look to expand.”

  I glanced back to Altan, alarm in my eyes. He looked just as perplexed as I felt. It all started to make sense now. Queen Ti
lda wanted shields that could withstand magic attacks because the Icilic were mages. Sera rarely used the Orders of the Mages on ships from Narangar, so Eteri's vessels had never needed magical protection before.

  “Do they plan on attacking?” I asked the god, next.

  “Oh, yes! In full force! Glacia has started building warships that they've never needed before. They hope to attack in the coming year.” Cicero grinned at me as if this was all good news.

  “Do you know the queen's plan?” I asked the god curiously, since I couldn't be sure Tilda's answer would be any more trustworthy than his.

  “Yes, because I gave it to her! For free!”

  “And it is...?”

  Cicero beamed with pride. “The Icilic will attack, but Vertun is staying in Glacia to repair their land. So he will be there, yes?” When I nodded, he went on, “There are hundreds of thousands of Icilic mages on that continent! I told the queen to take their land right from under them!”

  “You want Eteri to take Glacia in conquest?” Nyx asked from behind me, confused.

  “No, silly! Mr. Shiny Pants behind you wants his brother dead! If he finds him in Glacia, he can finally kill him!” Cicero trembled in his chains again, so excited he started to drool from his lips. “And use the power of the sun! Poof! Glacia is gone, and hundreds of thousands of your enemies will be at the mercy of the seas!”

  “That's genocide,” I blurted, my heart racing in my chest. This was the second time Eteri wanted to plan for such a thing.

  “Yes!” Cicero exclaimed. “It'll be wonderful!”

  I turned to catch the eyes of both Sentinels in the room. It was clear this was the first time either of them had heard the full plan, so the queen had been withholding a lot even from her most trusted subjects.

  “Aren't you excited?” When I glanced back to Cicero, he was only staring at Cerin. “That'll make you and I the only ones of our kind! But you are only a half-breed! And as much as you try to make babies with Kai, she cannot breed!” Cicero cackled with glee. “I'll be so special!”