When his eyes rolled back, and his head went limp again, Awilda covered him up, and sat down to take vigil beside him.
“Go get his partner man. The Commander cutie.” She winked.
Laughter spilled from me. How had she known? It was one of Tauran’s loosest, best kept secrets. Half of the world’s weight had been ripped off my shoulders. I smiled for what felt like the first time in ages and wiped my tears away before setting off to find Kais.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kais
The water lapped at my neck and spoke to my muscles in a way that nothing else could. The windows were little more than carved out shapes in the wall. The sound of the monkeys playing trickled in, only to be interrupted by the none-to-gentle screech of a bird I had yet to identify.
I almost felt ashamed, soaking and relaxing while Ryver was still out there somewhere. I had been patient for so long, and now here we were…so close and yet so utterly unprepared. I closed my eyes and let my thoughts roll with the water.
The door creaked, announcing the fact that I was no longer alone.
“What?” I asked, unable to keep the irritation from my voice. She didn’t answer me. Instead, Azaria’s fingers curled over my shoulders. When I turned to confront the her, she hauled me into the tightest embrace of my life.
“He is home,” she whispered against my temple.
“He who?” I asked. I jerked away but caught sight of her face. The look sprawled over her features said it all. She wasn’t a woman who wept on a whim. It gave me pause long enough to see the smile and light in her eyes beyond their emotional glossing. “Where?”
I slung water from the edge of the tub to the door. Leaving a trail behind me, I tore down the corridor toward her apartment. Azaria’s wives gasped, pointed, and giggled from seemingly every direction. I wasn’t sure which was worse—their unchecked attention or the way Lady Tatsy flushed and flustered back home.
Azaria followed behind me. She laughed and hugged each of her women as they excitedly congratulated her on the King’s return.
I threw the door open, and Awilda nearly leapt over the bed at me.
Her eyes squinted like she had cussed me, but she made a hissing sound instead. Behind her, Ryver lay on his side. I stepped past her and went to him at once. My throat grew tight and rage built in my chest. My handsome Prince was a shell of the specimen he had once been. His hair had been shorn so tightly that dried blood remained in places.
I reached for him, but he looked so fragile, I feared he might break. My hand trembled where it hovered just above him. I shook my head in denial of it all. Every moment we had hesitated had no doubt cost him. Guilt alone determined that this was not over.
I jerked my hand back, acutely aware that fingers had been on them. His eyes were just as intense as they had always been, even if they were sunken. My mouth opened, but no words came out. I quickly scooped up the hand that I shook off. I clutched it between my own reassuringly, and Azaria draped herself against my shoulder.
“I’m so tired,” he whispered.
It was the damnedest thing I had ever seen. His face, stance, even his breath, fell to a rhythm that silently repeated his words.
“Yeah. Of course, you are. Seer’s above, you need your rest to find your strength.” I exhaled the word salad with a breath I hadn’t realized I was hoarding.
His eyes crawled at the pace of a sloth, until they met my own. The lips I had shared with our Queen, the ones that had professed their love to us both, flinched into his best attempted stoic smile and he regally shifted his head in defeat.
“Look at me.” His voice was dry and strained.
The walls in me started to crumble; I could feel myself fighting desperately for control. Azaria’s hand rubbed a circle on the center of my back. I closed my eyes and fought back the pain-induced sob. It left in a huff that I never intended. I ran with it. What else could I do?
“I do see you. I’ve seen you every day since she gave birth to your son.”
The breath he wrangled in was audible.
“Look,” I continued. “Could you get better and get the fuck out of that bed, so you can meet him already? At this rate, I’ll be teaching him to ride a horse and swing a sword before you find the energy to wipe your own ass again.”
Azaria’s nails sank into my back, but I couldn’t stop. If that was what it took, giving him something to look forward to, I would have sold him the biggest dream in the kingdom. He was her husband, we were a family, so the boy was as much his son as the rest of ours.
“Pariah has gone to the Isle of Tears,” she announced, dramatically changing the subject. I squinted at her, and Ryver’s whole face scrunched. “He has family there. They will keep the Faustlin beaches. My father will be stuck in the Coastal Castle… and it is where he will meet his end. I intend to snuff out his reign of terror and pain. There will be no more senseless fear and suffering. That era is over.”
“We don’t have enough men to take Faustlin, my Goddess,” Awilda announced from the doorway.
“Then I guess they will need to lose a few before we get started,” Azaria quickly retorted.
Ryver’s hand moved for her wrist this time. His face was a pained mask of concern.
“Get King Ryett and King Eryx,” Azaria said to Awilda before she took Ryver’s hand and gently caressed it.
His nostrils flared, and he gave her the side eye. I realized it was likely the first time he had heard her refer to any other man as her king. It was possible he was clueless to what had occurred in his absence.
“Kin..” he struggled, “King…Eryx?”
I shushed him gently with a reassuring nod.
“Ryver? Ryver?” Ryett bellowed from down the corridor.
Azaria put her knuckles against her lips and laughed softly. “Everyone has missed you so.” She smiled.
Ryett rushed to the bed. I knew he intended to swoop his brother up, but the moment he saw Ryver’s clavicle and facial bones, he stopped short.
“I will kill the men who did this.” Ryett vowed.
“I… have son,” Ryver managed. Tears filled his eyes again.
Ryett’s jaw unhinged, but he quickly righted it and stroked his brothers stubbled head. He kissed his forehead and whispered over him. “You do. You do, and he has your smile. A healthy, handsome boy. If he approaches the battle field with even half the fight he gives at naptime, we shall have no worries in our old age brother.” Ryett sniffled.
Eryx gave a gentle rap against the door, but respected the moment enough not to rush in. Azaria waved her hand as if he were being silly.
“Come in, let me tell you how we are going to take out half the Faustlin army without a single loss.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Azaria
By the time I got them in the room and had Drayce brought down, they had convinced my Seer that I was crazy.
“No one has ever successfully faced the Faust. Why do you think I have been so turbulent since Ryver was discovered to be there?” Kais protested.
“That is because you were relying on the might of your sword instead of the limitless abilities of your mind,” I countered. “I recall having a conversation once about plagues. Phaedra told me that the civilized countries are only familiar with one plague. They have no contact or resistance to the diseases of the plains and rainforest.”
Eryx’s face fell for a moment before a brilliant smile formed. They all looked to him as if it wouldn’t be so unless he confirmed it.
I folded my arms once they returned their attention to me. “Perhaps I will leave you all here to play nursemaids?” I suggested.
“I’m sorry… it’s just… there is no cover of the jungle. There is no where to run if it goes wrong. They outnumber us. What if our men get exposed in the process?” Kais stammered.
I shook my head, shutting his argument down effortlessly. “There is a prisoner in the dungeon. His son is as tired of his evil ways as I am of Octavius.” I allowed the meaning
to sink in. “We will infect him with the plague as an execution. We won’t tell him. We will tell him to take a vial of poison and dump it in the Castle wells.”
“He won’t do that. There’s no honor in poison,” Ryett predicted.
“You are correct. He likely will not. I suspect he will demand an audience with my father. He will share the warning, tell of the plot, perhaps even show the poison. When he is finished, my father will call his men and demand he tell them of what has occurred. He loves his assemblies.” I seethed with recollection.
“You will unleash disease onto their men?” Drayce gasped.
“Their men? Did you see what they have done to the women and children of my home? They are parasites, not men,” I hissed.
“Of course, my Goddess,” Drayce whispered.
“Awilda and a few of the warriors will escort him close enough to set one of the smaller elephants onward, unmanned, to arrive at the gate.” I continued. Only then did they sigh with relief and understanding.
“Has word been sent to Tauran regarding DeHaven’s safety?” Eryx asked.
I nodded my confirmation before he finished his sentence. That little boy was and always would be my first priority.
“You should go to your father, convince him to agree to the poison façade. He will no doubt, but it would be more believable if you go in with some concern…” I began
“I care not if he eats or starves,” Eryx quickly retorted.
“I know that, but he doesn’t. In his mind, you are still the obedient son. The easily controlled offspring of a woman he abused.” I ground my teeth, to calm myself and prevent any verbiage that may have followed such a sentiment. I cared as much for Eryx’s father as I did my own at this point. They were both stains on society.
Eryx kept his head tipped away from me, but when he nodded, I knew it meant he gave me his word. His entire body was tensed, and for a moment, I considered calling him off, but I needed Commander Thayer to believe that the poison was our weapon.
Ryett sat on the edge of the bed trying to hide the fact that he was weeping over the reunion. I placed a hand to his back and shot Kais a wink before Drayce and I slipped out into the hall.
“Do you think… after it’s over, he might feel differently? Perhaps hold some guilt over it all, my Queen?”
I spun about and snaked a hand up to lock behind his neck. I stretched to my tip toes and managed to make our foreheads kiss. “Stop calling me that. I am your wife. Your lover. I am a lot of things, but I am not an unfamiliar sovereign, someone duty demands you address as such.”
His lips floundered, but nothing intelligible came in response. I didn’t allow it to, I pressed my mouth to his and bit his lower lip before pulling away.
“Will you tell Awilda to send one of the wives to draw a bath for me?” I called back, before hurrying ahead a few steps. I needed a moment alone with Eryx.
“Will you use the jasmine oil?” he asked, as if we were compromising. I laughed and nodded my head.
I knew where Eryx was. Once Drayce began down the hall toward the warrior’s barracks, I sprinted off toward the dungeon. I had to slow my pace when I reached the dwindling staircase. It was nothing but carved rock. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to be dragged down into the cave-like structure from a prisoner’s standpoint.
The air was cool and had a damp, earthy quality to it. Torches were hung every dozen foot or so, casting an odd glow off the buffed stone. In the corner, unseen by the cells, I found Eryx. He rarely became angry, not to the point that it was visible. Now, however, his fingers kept snapping into a fist, and his head tipped back now and again as if he were calling on something greater than himself.
I quietly slipped behind him and curled my fingers over his shoulder.
His spine tensed, and he sucked in an abrupt breath. His shoulder dipped from under my hand, and his lanky form moved to the door of his father’s cage. He used the side of his fist to assault the wood. It was so ancient, it rattled over the bolt and caused the man inside to give a startled bark.
“Get up, you waste of air,” Eryx hissed. He turned abruptly so that we could both see him. “Tell her. Tell her of the man she is willing to show mercy to!”
“Get away from me,” his father bellowed.
“Oh no. You’re good at sending people away. Now, however, you have no choice but to listen and face reality. Not the truth you weave for others, but the solid facts of truth.” His voice ebbed with emotion, but it wasn’t the distraught lost kind that usually came with such words. He had far surpassed the original pain; now there was a bleeding of anger and breathy satisfaction in its wake.
“He is a man that hurts women until they break. When they no longer amuse him, he sells them. That’s what he did to my mother. She gave him a son, he gave her a ride to the auction block. He told her to be thankful it was a private affair. Inside a manor, rather than the street. That’s the comfort he offered to the mother of his child.”
He leveled his charges, and the relief was almost palpable across his shoulders. I related to him tremendously in that moment, but I envied him above others in the next.
“He is not fit to walk amongst men. He needs to ride behind the elephants and be put from his misery. It is not too late, my Queen.”
I didn’t correct him as I had Drayce. Instead I stared at him long and hard. Was this it? The hidden feelings Drayce had feared? Had I witnessed his acting talent? In the end it didn’t matter, his father grew nervous watching our intense locked gaze.
He rushed to the door and wrapped his fingers around the bars of its window.
“He will be shown mercy as I have said.” I whirled to face the prisoner and impatiently jutted my jaw out. “You are in agreement to do my bidding in exchange for your life?”
“Yes. Yes of course, Lady,” he stammered
“I am no Lady, I am the Qu…” I began, but he quickly corrected himself, using his palms to pat the bars.
“Mercy, your Majesty,” he groveled. It was what I had grown accustomed to Narelle being called upon my arrival in Tauran, and a title I still despised. He could likely see the disgust reflecting at him, perhaps it was why he began to cower. I forced my attention toward Eryx and gave a curt nod.
“He will be given a bottle of the deadliest poison in your possession. and he will dump it in Emperor Octavius Andelei’s well.” I cut my eyes toward the man in the cell, letting him know it was no longer a request. If he wanted to live, he would do as I demanded.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ryett
The people of the Barizon had been very hospitable and welcoming. I sat somedays and stared across their green foliage and tranquil waters. I recalled how my mother had received Azaria. How the court had harassed her. It embarrassed me horribly.
Her hand weighed on my shoulder. She rose up and skimmed a kiss against my ear. Her skin was soft and almost aglow from the hours she had spent outdoors of late.
“Stop worrying. It has been three weeks. The Ravens believe they have perfected the plague serum. Ryver grows stronger every day. Soon, he will be able to walk the distance of the corridor and join us in the residential section of the palace.”
Her chest subtly brushed against me as she heavily exhaled. I gave her my best smile and squeezed her to me.
“I know, I saw him this morning.”
“Good, then you will have the afternoon free to be my grounding force.”
“Your ground what?” I chuckled.
Her brows dropped, and she stared at me as if I were trying to be funny. Which I wasn’t. I only laughed because I didn’t want to admit I was clueless to all things abroad.
“Come,” She said, before she grabbed my hand and tugged me along after her. We left the palace and started down the long ramp. It was a workout even going down slope. The gravity almost begged the body to fall into a trot.
I tried to tolerate it with a smile, since my wife walked beside me as if she had been doing it her whole lif
e. She made it seem as if it were as easy as breathing to navigate such terrain. She dragged me past a row of thatch roofed tents. The smell of smoked meat rolled out of one. Herbs and medicines clung to the air around the next.
Finally, we approached an unusual looking wigwam. Chanting and singing poured out from its open flap. I could feel the energy shift as we drew closer. Until alas, a leathery faced woman emerged. Her hair hung in long tiny braids that each ended with a curled caul feather. She grabbed Azaria’s hands and led her inside with a somber smile.
My skin tingled, and I rubbed my arms absently before I slowly followed.
“No!” the elderly woman said. Her long, gnarled finger split the air. It was almost as intimidating as her attempt at the common tongue.
“It is sacred, Goddess. Only those who are going through the ceremony may be in the circle.” A younger Barizonian woman explained.
“Then I shall go through the ceremony.” I chuckled. Azaria snapped about to face me. I crumbled my brows and did my best to let her know I thought she was being silly.
“Here,” the elderly woman instructed. She pointed to a place just opposite of center and positioned Azaria so that her back was to me.
“You are sure?” The more fluent of the pair asked.
“No, Breya,” Azaria hastily answered.
“Of course, I’m sure,” I said, staring at her now naked back. I took my shirt off before anyone could further object and looked expectantly toward Breya. She took my hand and led me to the circle. I sat with my back to Azaria, and the elderly woman scooted me so that a few feet of distance separated us.
She disappeared, and I cast a look over my shoulder in time to see her laying Azaria back. Breya’s finger coaxed my chin until I was once again facing forward. Her other hand planted on my chest. I was laid back until Azaria’s hands gripped mine. She gave them a hard squeeze before her nails traveled my arm and she locked elbows with me.
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