Wings of Lomay

by Walls, Devri

  “Well?” Drustan asked.

  Kiora bit her lip, her eyes running up and down the strange creature. “That looks . . . um . . .”

  “Useless,” Alcander said.

  Ignoring Alcander’s comment, Drustan went on, “I can make myself larger when I have the room, but let’s see if it works. Kiora, attach the barrier to my leg, then wrap it all the way around me.”

  Kiora saw where this was going. She touched his back leg and whispered the incantation. The enclosure rippled out behind her. She wrapped it around him. When she sealed it, it snapped shut, and Drustan vanished.

  “It worked.” Kiora sighed with relief, smiling. Stepping inside the barrier she had just created, she looked around. Beneath Drustan’s lizard-like frame was a perfect tunnel.

  Alcander and Emane stepped through.

  Alcander’s eyes flickered up and around. “Drustan,” he breathed. “You are a genius.”

  “What was that again, Your Majesty?” Drustan asked, his head swinging down between his two front legs, looking at them upside down. “I can’t seem to hear very well up here.”

  Emane and Kiora fought back laughter—he just looked so ridiculous.

  Alcander was too busy checking the barrier against the ground to notice. “Walk. I need to see if you can move.”

  Drustan took a few steps forward. Because Kiora had anchored it to his legs, the enclosure slid along with him.

  “Keep walking!” Alcander shouted, leaping out of the barrier. A moment later, he stuck his head back in and grabbed Kiora, pulling her out. “Look! He’s moving and you can’t feel any threads. It’s staying sealed.”

  Kiora started laughing. She had essentially just created an enclosure that wouldn’t zap her magic, but acted like a bubble. It was perfect. All she had to do was get the slaves inside it and let Drustan walk them all the way back to Lomay’s.

  ***

  CALMED BY THE FACT that they had a feasible escape plan for the slaves, Kiora managed to fall asleep, but as usual, it didn’t last long. She jolted straight up, gasping at the haunting images her nightmares always brought. Her blankets were twisted around her from tossing and turning and she felt like a prisoner in her own bed. She pushed at them fiercely, loosening the grip they had on her before shoving her hair out of her face. Huffing, she flopped back down on her pillow.

  Her visions seemed to be coming fewer and further between as they approached the battle with Jasmine. Deep down, she knew it was because she already had everything she needed to know. But her mind still fought against that knowledge, thinking there had to be more. She was no closer to figuring out how to tap into nature than she was when she left Toopai. There was no mention of it in any books and no one had been able to do it since the Creators gave it up—or at least, there was no record of it.

  Kiora understood now how Emane felt in the cave of the Shifters back in Meros. Once they gave him the armband, he tried to manipulate the elements, but he had no ability for it and no idea what anyone wanted him to do. She had pushed and pulled, prayed and pleaded, and yet she had no idea what she was looking for. She felt nothing.

  Maybe the queen was wrong. But Kiora didn’t want her to be wrong. She wanted an answer. Until then, she was trying to work with what she had. If the Dragons had committed, it would have helped, but they didn’t and there was nothing she could do about that now.

  Glancing over to the window, she gasped. Snow! She threw back the covers and ran to the balcony, grinning with excitement. She pressed her nose flat against the glass for a quick moment before yanking the door open and stepping out into the frigid air.

  Throwing back her head, she turned in a circle, struck immediately by the beauty of the endless expanse of dark sky speckled with gently falling snow. She held out her hands, watching as the snow landed on them, and laughed. They were mesmerizing, these tiny, delicate flakes. She seized on to their beauty, using them to fill her thoughts and chase away the lingering darkness of her nightmares. It so rarely snowed in Meros that it was almost more magical than magic itself.

  The thought of Meros sombered her, as it always did, and she noticed the chill seeping into her feet from the snow-dusted balcony. She stepped back inside her room and reluctantly closed the doors to watch the snow through the glass.

  Thinking of Meros always brought thoughts of Emane returning home when this was all over, of him having a life that did not include her. Thinking of that day reminded her of something else that she had nearly forgotten. Something Emane had said.

  Frowning, she turned away from the beauty outside and tiptoed down the stairs—toward one of the only rooms in the house she hadn’t seen. Emane said he saw something in the library that upset him, and she needed to know what it was. She felt Alcander stir above her and hurried forward, pushing open the double doors.

  Once inside, Kiora lit the sconces. She sighed in appreciation as her eyes traveled up the two stories of books to the domed ceiling. Paintings of Lomay’s visions lined the walls and Kiora trailed her finger over them as she made her way around the room, wondering which one had caused Emane to start throwing things. And then she saw it. She stopped, her hand numbly sliding off the wall. In front of her was a painting of her in a wedding dress, her arm linked with Alcander’s.

  “Why is it that everyone I don’t wish to see that painting has seen it?” Alcander asked softly from the doorway.

  Kiora didn’t know how to feel. She just stood there, gaping.

  “I would feel better if you said something.”

  She finally looked over at him. It was clear he had gotten out of bed hastily. His cotton pants were slung lower on one side of his hip than the other and he hadn’t bothered to button up the shirt he had thrown on. “You knew about this?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is this why you pursued me?” she asked, unsure if she was just shocked or angry.

  Alcander shook his head, shutting the door behind him. “No,” he said. “That is why I fought it so hard.” Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, his eyes shyly averted, he held out his hands, palm up. “Do you think you could just . . . look?”

  She understood what he was asking. He wanted her to look into his memories, to see what had happened. She shook her head, crossing her arms. “No. I want you to say it.”

  Dropping his hands to his sides, Alcander pulled out a chair and motioned for her to sit. Once she did, he plopped into the one next to her. “I found this painting years ago,” he began, staring at his knees. “I was furious.”

  “You didn’t even know me.”

  “I hated you, remember? I blamed all of this world’s problems on you. The thought that I would marry you? Make you queen of Tavea? Not only was it absurd, but I was infuriated. Lomay repeatedly tried to soothe my anger toward you, but I wouldn’t listen because I always knew what his motives were.” He pointed to the painting before looking at her. “And then when I met you, there was this connection I couldn’t explain, and I hated it. To make it worse, you were clearly in love with Emane. I was angry and jealous. And then I was angry because I was jealous. I fought it for as long as I could.” He snorted. “Trust me.”

  “So you weren’t just . . . following your destiny?”

  Alcander scoffed. “No. Every time we trained, I saw your strength, your determination, your humor. But what sealed it for me was your humility.”

  Kiora crinkled up her nose.

  Alcander chuckled softly. “And your beauty. But every time you refused to let people bow to you, downplayed your abilities, or stopped to play with little Winged boys,” he smiled as tears filled her eyes, “it made me love you even more. Still, I told myself that I would not act on it. You were still in love with Emane—that much was clear.”

  Kiora twirled the bottom of her nightshirt around her finger, butterflies replacing suspicion. “But you did.”

  “That night on the beach . . .” He paused, clearing his throat before meeting her eyes. “Are you sure you can’t just look?” he said
weakly, holding out his hands again.

  “I’m sure.” Kiora took his hands in hers. “I want to hear it.”

  Alcander ran his thumb over the back of her hand. “That night on the beach, I was at my breaking point. My magic was struggling to leap out of my skin, and earlier, during training, we had exchanged magic. Knowing that you felt something for me . . . it shattered any resistance I had left. Feeling you in my arms, I—” He looked up at her. “I knew I loved you, and I didn’t care what happened. I didn’t care if I was alone forever. I knew if I didn’t take the chance, I would regret it for the rest of my life.”

  Leaning forward, Kiora brushed her lips across his. Groaning, he pulled her onto his lap. As he kissed her, she slid her fingers along the ridges of his stomach, her magic flowing unrestrained. She nibbled on his bottom lip and he shuddered beneath her.

  Pulling back, he grabbed her shoulders. “By the Creators, Kiora. You are killing me.” He was breathless, flushed, and unbelievably handsome.

  “You are killing me,” she whispered, leaning her forehead against his. “Could you get dressed next time?”

  Alcander chuckled, shaking his head.

  Jolting straight up, she asked, “Is that why Emane backed off so suddenly? Because he saw that?”

  Alcander leaned back in his chair. “I asked him the same thing, but—”

  “You what?”

  “I asked him.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “I wanted to know.”

  Kiora tucked her hair behind her ears. “And?”

  “He said it wasn’t.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  “I don’t know. I think so, but something was bothering him. I’m just not sure what it was.” Alcander turned his head to the side, looking at her with an unusually intense gaze, even for him.

  “What?”

  He held his hand out flat, summoning a ring into it. He nodded toward it, indicating that she should pick it up.

  Kiora took it, turning it over, watching the sapphires and emeralds fade into each other as they ran around the band. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.

  “It was my mother’s,” he said softly, smiling as she twirled the ring in the light. “I thought it was gone forever.”

  “Where did you find it?”

  “Tavea.”

  She set the ring back in his hand. “I’m so glad you found something to remember her by.”

  Alcander opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but shut it, closing his hand over the ring instead.

  She saw the torn look on his face. “What?”

  “This ring wasn’t just my mother’s. It belonged to all the queens of Tavea.” He met her eyes once again and she couldn’t tear her gaze away. “I am very glad to hear you like it.”

  Kiora’s mouth went dry and her stomach leaped at the thought. “I like it very much,” she whispered.

  “Someday, when this war is over and I have something to offer you besides a life of hiding with rebels, we can see if it fits.”

  “And if it doesn’t?”

  He kissed her forehead. “It’s magicked. It always fits.”

  “Alcander?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I don’t care if you have a castle or not.”

  “That’s good,” he said, running his thumb over her cheekbone. “Because I don’t.”

  Kiora burst out laughing.

  Alcander sent the ring back to wherever he summoned it from and picked her up as he stood. “You need to get some sleep.”

  “Wait,” Kiora said. “There was one more thing I wanted to see.”

  Alcander’s face darkened as he gently lowered her to the ground. “Kiora, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  She walked over to the only framed painting in the room and pulled it off the wall. A lump formed in her throat at the third-person view of what she had already experienced. Her painted image was standing with her hand outstretched toward Lomay, who was melting away in a swirl of gold magic.

  Kiora leaned her head on Alcander’s shoulder. “I miss him.”

  Alcander wrapped his arm around her waist, squeezing her tight. “I miss him too.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Destroyer

  KIORA STARED OUT THE front window. She felt the horde of threads approaching for the winter solstice celebration. They had hours yet, but Alcander told her that many arrived early to be as close to the edge of the cliff as possible.

  Emane walked up next to her. “How are you doing?”

  Kiora shrugged. “Lately, I have been trying to think of anything besides how I am doing.” She turned her back to the window, leaning against the sill.

  “What do you need me to do tonight?”

  “I need you to be in the enclosure with Alcander. The slaves will need someone to defend them if the worst-case scenario happens.”

  “And what about you?”

  Kiora had determined what it was she needed to do, but the truth of it made her ill and she didn’t want to think about it, let alone talk about it. She looked away. “I will distract Jasmine.”

  Emane shook his head. “I don’t like it.”

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  Emane huffed. “You aren’t telling me something. I know because you won’t look me in the eye.”

  Kiora forced herself to look at him. “Have you ever known something horrible, but you know if you talk about it, it will just make it worse?”

  Emane’s eyes widened fractionally before he broke eye contact. “Yes.”

  “It’s a little like that.”

  “You aren’t planning on getting yourself killed, are you?”

  “Emane.”

  He held up his hands. “I had to ask.”

  She turned back to look outside. The snow had continued for most of the night, leaving a few inches on the ground. It glittered as the sun bounced off it, masking the brown and rocky landscape in sparkling white wonder. The trees in the distance had also been draped in snowy white sashes, completing the masquerade.

  “The snow is so pretty. I never knew it could look like this.”

  Emane leaned forward, resting his elbows on the window sill. “I know.”

  “I went to the library last night,” she said abruptly. “I saw what made you so upset.”

  Emane jerked up. “What?”

  His tone was so shocked, so horrified, she immediately regretted saying anything. “I’m sorry. I just . . . I wanted to see what had made you upset enough to throw things.”

  “What—what did you see?”

  Kiora looked up at him in confusion. He was gripping the edge of the window frame so hard, his knuckles were white. His eyes were wide and haunted. “I saw the vision of me and Alcander.”

  To her confusion, Emane seemed to relax, sagging forward. “Oh.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You didn’t paint it.”

  She nudged him with her elbow. “You know what I mean.”

  He glanced over at her and sighed. In that moment, Kiora saw profound sadness, and her heart ached that she couldn’t fix it. He turned his attention back to the snowy landscape, pressing his forehead to the window. He looked hopeless, resigned—she hated it.

  “You don’t need to apologize for your feelings, Kiora.”

  She wanted to scream, hot tears of frustration building up behind her eyes. She swallowed, trying to ensure that her tone would be even when she spoke. “I’m not apologizing for my feelings. I’m apologizing because I wish you weren’t hurting.”

  Neither one of them knew what to say after that. Emane found an excuse to leave and Kiora stayed, looking out the window, feeling the threads continue to multiply. The cold seeped in around the window panes and her fingers chilled. She was dreading the next few hours in so many ways. But dreading it did not change it.

  She needed to talk to Arturo. She made her way down the hall, following Arturo’s thread, but when she tried to open the door, it slamme
d into something. Frowning, she pushed again, throwing her shoulder into it. A flying fox yipped and skittered backwards, exposing its teeth as she poked her head outside. “Sorry.” Kiora slid out. “But try lying somewhere besides right in front of the door.”

  They can’t understand you, Arturo said.

  Haven’t you ever tried to talk to something that didn’t understand you?

  Of course not. What a dreadful waste of time.

  Kiora tiptoed around three foxes on her way to Arturo. He turned and walked alongside her to the edge of the cliff.

  The ships have returned.

  The same ships that were here last time were now sailing back up the coastline. She shook her head. “They will have to be dealt with before they can enter the fight.”

  Which fight?

  Kiora knew he was just being polite. There was no way he hadn’t heard enough of her thoughts to know what she was planning. “The one I’m going to start. I have been meaning to talk to you, but I was worried you wouldn’t approve.”

  Would it matter if I disapproved?

  “It would make it harder.” The wind picked up and the icy spray from the ocean misted across them. Kiora shivered. “I am going to need your help. The only way I foresee this succeeding is if I can carry out some of the attack from the air.” She frowned, mumbling to herself. “Or if I could figure out how to tap in to nature.”