Of Silver and Beasts (39 page)

Bax’s father, the once dark priest, and the other members of our escaped convoy, follow behind us in another Cury. We’re to report to the king of Laryn and the Cavan Council for evaluation before the others can return to their homelands.

Bax leans over his seat and takes my hand. “You will live to regret your decision, protector,” he says. “But I will stand by you when the time comes.”

A tear slips down my cheek and I harshly wipe it away. I squeeze Bax’s hand, then push myself down in my seat. “What would you have done if it were one of them?” I nod toward his wife. Her hair is wrapped into a braided bun, her pale features smoothed out as she sleeps, their baby son cradled against her chest in a sling.

Bax’s features harden. “That’s a scenario I don’t have to consider. We must move past this and focus on what needs to be done now.”

I nod. “Of course, Bax. Always such a brute.”

He growls, and a smile sneaks onto my face. “Your will is stubborn, protector.” He smiles. “I’ve liked this about you from the start.”

He sits back, and my thoughts consume me.

What needs to be done now.

I don’t know what that is.

I plan to try healing Bax and his family as I did his father. Bale has had centuries to infest the Otherworlders with her dark power, and I’m not sure if I can summon that strange light that I used in the Cage again. I couldn’t for Caben. My heart constricts. That power feels so distant—as if I imagined it.

But I’m going to try.

When Alyah spoke to me, she said it was my power. This knowledge excites me almost as much as it scares me. I need to speak with Empress Iana. I feel she is the only one who can answer my questions.

I look down at the mercury swirling against my skin. What happened with the priest has also given me hope that I can correct the damage I inflicted on my own father. I don’t understand how something that was gifted to me from a goddess can both cause harm and heal. There’s much I have to learn about myself, but at least now, I’m not trying to hide it. I’m going to embrace this gift or
curse
fully, and discover what it could mean.

I have to. Caben needs me.

Lilly reaches over and takes my hand. She’s been silent our whole trip, her mind and body taxed from the many tortures she suffered in the Otherworld. It will take time for her to heal. It will take time for us all to heal.

Normally, I’d say a prayer to Alyah to help heal our bodies, safeguard our hearts and minds, but the anger over Caben being lost to Bale eats at my soul. I don’t know when I’ll be able to pray again without cursing the deities.

Maybe never.

Our craft rumbles up to the palace and sets down in the courtyard. Before any of the other contenders—
people
—are to be taken for evaluation, we are first saving my empress. I made sure of this.

I take Bax’s satchel and strap it over my shoulder. Then I’m the first to hop out of the Cury. The air is fresh. It’s humid and clings to my skin, warm, and with the scent of the ocean. Nothing like the dank, cool realm we just escaped from, or my dry home of Cavan.

Pines line the court, and flowers of every color decorate the walkway leading to the palace doors. The white stone of the outer walls rise up to meet a clear blue sky. It’s another world here completely.

Guards meet us halfway to the palace doors. “Is this the Otherworld convoy?” A blue-clad officer asks the commander of the Cury. The commander intercepted our war machine near the Laryn border. It’s a wonder they didn’t blast us into a million pieces. They’ve been waging a war with Otherworlders while we resided in the dark realm.

“Yes, sir,” the commander responds. “They have Empress Iana’s relic. We need to see her immediately.”

The guard nods his head and leads us toward the open doors. I walk up the steps hesitantly, my body depleted from our long journey and the battles I fought beneath the earth. Glancing behind me, I take in the ragged and weary ex-contenders filing out of their Cury. They’re moving just as sluggishly. I’m unsure of what to call them now.
Friends
doesn’t work; we’re an alliance brought together by a shared goal. But I suppose, after everything we’ve gone through, companions comes close.

“I’ll take that, commander,” a low, familiar voice says from the archway of the palace’s inner ward. I look up to see Councilor Herna marching toward us, her tan robe trailing the marble floor behind her.

“Well done, Protector Kaliope,” she says, her bright eyes fanning my disheveled form. “I knew the Nactue would not fail our empress.” She bows her head to me. Then she turns toward Lilly and Kai and lowers her head in a show of gratitude to them.

Reluctantly, I hand her the satchel. “Thank you, councilor.”

“Please,” she says, sweeping her hand through the air. “Recover from your trials, all of you.” She looks over the survivors of the Reckoning. “King Dallion has extended his home to the empress’s . . . loyalists.”

I note her stumble over what to address our crude cluster of mismatched companions. She must not have had time to prepare a speech.

Lena shifts her stance. “I’m ready to return to my home. To Taggar.”

Councilor Herna eyes her warily, but says nothing. Though we’re on good terms with Taggar now, I’m sure there is still suspicion between the nations. I don’t care about the politics. I still have a score to settle with Lena for killing one of my sisters. For now, she gets a pass. She kept her word and helped take down the Reckoning.

But one day, we’ll settle the bad blood between us.

Councilor Herna’s gaze rests on Bax. “As the commander told me of your heroics in helping our cause, you and your family are given a pardon by the empress.” She holds the satchel by the middle of the strap, far from her body, as if the Otherworlder bag will spew evil mist on her. “But you’re to be evaluated since this new development. We have to make sure of who we welcome into our company.”

I squint. “What new development?”

Her steely eyes land on me. “The possession of Prince Caben, of course,” she says. “We’re already discussing battle strategies to defeat—”

“I want to be taken to the Council,” I say, straightening my spine and ignoring her hard glare for interrupting her. “I have inside information, as does Bax”—I nod toward my Otherworlder companion—“on Bale and Prince Caben.”

A harsh smile crooks her lips. “In time, Protector Kaliope. First, you need to recover fully.”

Pinching my mouth into a hard line, I nod. They will not attack the Otherworld and try to eliminate the threat of Bale without me. I vowed to protect my charge. If there is even a slight chance that what Caben said in the Cage is truth, then I intend to try my hardest to keep that vow.

I run the pad of my thumb over the crest of his ring. I know that Bale will lead Caben to me. And when she does, I’ll be ready. To do what I couldn’t in the Cage, or to help bring the prince back to himself. Either way, it will be me who faces him. Someone who loves him.

The shard still lies in the pit of my stomach. I wince, thinking of the way I must retrieve it. But I can once again feel the empress, her relic—and now the shard. That will make my task slightly less difficult, if not less pleasant. And at least I know there is no threat of the Council locating it. I don’t trust them—I don’t trust Councilor Herna’s intensions. I still haven’t connected what Carina was trying to tell me before she died.

Until I figure out what the issue between her and the Council was, I don’t trust any of them.

I watch the councilor make her way toward the lift, the satchel holding the relic by her side, and wish I could be there to see Empress Iana’s eyes as they gleam when she recovers. I will seek out her council soon.

“I wish to remain here,” Kaide says, and my eyes snap to him.

I turn around and stand before the companions forged in terror and death. In the depths of a hell realm where none of us thought we’d survive.

“You wish to stay here, Kaide?” I ask. “You don’t want to go home?”

He shakes his head, his feather tattoo darker and more detailed in the light of the sun. “The Otherworlders burned my village, and my brother is no longer with me.” He lowers his head for a moment, then looks back up at me. “I admire your honor and strength, Protector Kaliope. I wish to join your order . . . this order of the Nactue, and help fight the coming darkness.”

I raise my eyebrows and look to Lilly and Kai. They glance at each other and then shrug. A small smile curls Lilly’s lips. I’d do anything to see her full, bright smile again. Anything.

The protectors of the Nactue Guard have always been women. But I’ve learned many things during my trial, and one is that women are not the only ones who can serve and rule and nurture.

Glancing at Bax holding his baby, his wife by his side, I know that a father can protect and be the caregiver to safeguard his family, too. Caben proved that men show their love through courage and strength, though it may be donned stubbornly and with pomp, it’s also how they protect those they care for. And a man who carries true pride is not arrogant, as how I assumed.

Truthfully, it’s not my decision as to who will replace the fallen women of the Nactue, but the empress once entrusted me with the knowledge that her and I are very much alike. I believe she will accept my request to choose my new members.

I extend my hand to Kaide. “It would be an honor to fight beside you, Kaide.”

Accepting my hand with a firm shake, his chest swells. He then looks at our other companions standing around.

Lena shakes her head. “Don’t look at me,” she says, lacing her arms over her chest. “I’m an assassin. We work alone.”

Whip steps forward. “I owe my life to the women of the Nactue. I’d be proud if you’d accept my request to be one of them.”

I smile. “Request granted.”

Bax looks up. “I cannot risk those I have sworn to protect.” He cuddles his baby boy closer. “But I’ll offer my services in council, if you’ll have me.”

“Of course, Bax,” I say. “I would have asked you before your offer in the Cury.” Our eyes meet with understanding. “And don’t throw your sword out just yet. We may need it.”

He chuckles. “No, protector. My fighting days are over.”

Lena groans. “All right. All Right. I want in, too. But don’t think I’m going to take orders. You can ask me to do something, but I decide if it’s what I wish to do.” She levels me with a hard glare. “Until I’m called away.”

“Lena,” I say, and I’m tempted to turn her down. But I consider her skills, and think they could be used for good. And, at least I can watch her closely this way. “Of course it would be an honor.”

She smirks, and walks toward the left wing of the palace. “I’m getting cleaned up.” A guard trails behind her.

The others nod to me and then depart, going off to rest and recover, the guards of Laryn escorting them. Lilly links her arm through mine. “Let’s check in with the Council and request to see our parents,” she says. “I know that you’re barely holding it together right now.”

I cover her arm with my hand. “You know me better than anyone, Lills.”

My heart pangs with the knowledge that there is one other, one man who knows the depths of my soul.

I will get him back.

After we’ve spoken with the Council, we discovered they brought our family to the Laryn refugee camp located near Court. Both my mother and father, as well as the other Nactue’s families, were looked after by the high council of Laryn. As family to the personal protectors to the failing empress of Cavan, they received the best treatment. For that, I’m eternally indebted to the king and his people.

Lilly and I plan the memorial for the fallen Nactue, and Lilly appeals for a special ceremony to be held for Willa’s family. Something small and just for them and her friends. Willa lived in the same poor quarter as us, and her family won’t be able to afford a personal ceremony.

I’m overjoyed when the Council agrees.

I mourn the loss of Willa, my close friend, and the other Nactue. They will never be replaced in my heart. I mourn the loss of never having a chance to truly lead them. But I’ve formed a new bond with the volunteers. These are the people I fought with, against, and beside—and I know there’s a reason, a
purpose
that we were brought together.