Page 27 of A Wrecking of Salt and Fire

“Ember.”

She looked up, the person she ran into was Kohl. Ember breathed a sigh of relief, because if Kohl was up then so would Katrin.

He stood in front of her, in what looked to be the same clothes he wore yesterday, a sling of cloth now tied around his arm and shoulder to keep it positioned to heal. There were dribbles of red blood—no, wine—trailing down his shirt. His brown hair, normally clean and pulled back in a bun, was awry around his face. His deep eyes were glazed over, his fingers circling his temples.

“Kohl? Are you all right?”

He wobbled as he tried to take a step back from her.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. Indulged in too much of my father’s wine last night.” His voice was raspy and overused.

The relief faded from Ember’s face. If her sister indulged in that much wine as well—she did not even want to think that. Her sister was known to barely make it out of bed the whole day, plagued with nausea and headaches that no tea or tonic could remedy. There was no way she would have been stupid enough to do that with something so important to attend this morning.

“And Katrin, did she indulge herself as well?”

“Katrin? Oh no, she did not. One of the reasons I probably drank so much. No one to share the bottle with.”

“Thank the gods. Wait. What do you mean by no one to share the bottle with? Were you not with Katrin last night?” Ember’s voice cracked on the last words.

“I was, but then my father called me away. When I returned she was gone. I was quite surprised considering everything…” his voice trailed off, getting lost for a moment in thought. “Again, circles back to why I indulged myself so much. Although I usually don’t have this bad of a reaction to a bottle. It must have been a mix of that and the tonic my father gave me for the pain.”

Bile rose in Ember’s throat. Her stomach felt like it dropped straight through her.

“My sister was not with you? She’s not in your chambers?”

“No?” Kohl’s mind seemed to whirl behind those glassy eyes.

Ember’s face went ashen and she took off as quickly as ever before.

The dining room was dimly lit when Ember entered. Her mother sat next to the head of the table, different from where she usually was on the other end of the room. Kora was whispering to her father. It was rare she saw him at home. He usually resided in their other residence. The castle in Aidesian, the underworld. To any other person, her father would probably be that of nightmares, his tanned skin and hair black as night. His eyes of darkness to match. When he was here, the whites around the deep brown irises showed, but in Aidesian they were a pure onyx.

The rain pounded against the windows, thunder roaring so loudly it seemed like the walls of the castle might cave in. A storm this large could only mean one thing. The gods were angered. Not the gods that lived in this world. Not her parents or King Nikolaos and Queen Giselle of Nexos, not her sister Katrin, or even her. No, these were the gods that returned home to Cyther. The ones whose power fueled the world around them. The gods of these isles could wield their powers at will, but that power could weaken, that power would need to regenerate. The gods that were in Cyther—their power was ever flowing.

Ember walked up to her father, throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace.

“Oh it’s so good to have you home! How long are you staying?”

Aidoneus’s face was grave. Worry and fear plastered over the God of Death’s face, something no one could say they had seen before. Her mother was silent. The whispering stopped.

A group of guards entered the room, Commander Markos with six of his most trusted men, one of which was the youngest captain Alentus had seen. Ember looked at that captain, only a few years older than she was, with terror in her eyes as her father explained what happened.

Her sister was taken from her room in the night. There were signs of a struggle down on the beaches. Remains of rope and chain were left behind or washed up on the shore. Who took her, and where they went, even the whispers of the gods could not say.

Ember threw up immediately. Her whole body shaking with confusion and fear.

The young captain approached her, with a nod from Aidoneus.

“We will find her, Your Highness. I promise.” He laid a hand on her shoulder, his warm brown eyes looking directly into hers, as he kneeled before her. But only hopelessness stared back.

“There you are! I was beginning to wonder if you would miss all the good food,” Ajax said as he smiled at a panting Ember. “Race over here just for the delectable pastries? I did save you one I have managed not to eat myself, although if you took much longer I may have.”

Ember could not catch her breath, or maybe it was that she did not know how to speak the words out loud. That same fear and anxiety she felt in that dining room five years ago swelled in her very bones.

“Ember? Ember, what is it?”

She stood there, her very bones trembling.

Ajax took her hand, moving them both away from the table and listening ears.

---