Page 57 of The Shadow of Polaris

“I suppose you’re here to kill me along with my city,” he growled, the veins in his exposed biceps pulsing with each step.

Panic-stricken, I bowed, throwing my hands above my head.

“No, King Altair we-” A snap of his fingers cut off my words as my throat tightened, choking the remaining air from my lungs. The immortal faced me, his toes curled with fury.

“Do not speak, Queen Slayer. I know who you are.” He snapped his hands again. The grip around my neck relaxed.

Gasping for breath, I sputtered and coughed.

“And you.” Altair’s eyes blazed as he locked eyes with Aryx. “Did the Great War teach you nothing?”

The salty air thickened with a current so fierce the minuscule hairs on my arms pricked straight up. Arcturas cowered beside me.

“Altair, please, I beg you to listen. We’ve come to warn you,” Aryx pleaded, his hands outstretched before him.

“Well, your warning is too late. Tethys’s army razed my city this morning. Not a single soul spared.” Altair returned to his seat. “Without my people, there is nothing. I am nothing. Do what you came here to do, half-mortal. Be your mother’s puppet. Just as you’re destined to be.” His voice cracked, and the blue of his eyes faded. He exposed the soft flesh of his neck.

“King Altair, please. We came to ask for your help,” I said, treading lightly to the round table.

“I have no aid to give you,” he whispered. His voice was a defeated, broken man. Not an all-powerful god.

I pulled out the chair across from him and took a seat.

“We’re leading an attack on Elder’s Island. That’s where she’s established her army. If we penetrate the outer walls, we take Tethys out before she causes any more mortal death,” I said, stretching my palms across the gold surface between us.

The table top was cool to the touch, but the heat radiating from his fingertips singed my skin.

“Like I said, there is no aid. They were all slaughtered in the raid this morning,” he said.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, picturing the lifeless boy, limp and cold, in the sand.

“How can you sit here and wallow in self-pity as the city burns around you?” Aryx interjected, taking the seat to my right, “Tethys is still out there. Don’t you want vengeance for the lives lost today?”

Altair turned slowly to look at him.

“You stupid child. Vengeance only brings death. There is no satisfaction, no redemption. Nothing but cruel, silent death. When you’ve lived as long as I have, think about these words. Think about my people,” he hissed, adjusting the feathered golden band across his bicep.

“When I’ve lived as long as you, I won’t care about life or death. I won’t have a city to avenge. Help us take down Tethys before she kills thousands more.” Aryx straightened in his seat, his voice rough.

“There is nothing I can do. My armies were destroyed. My resources are depleted.” Altair slammed his fists across the table, its legs jumping on impact.

“You control the seas and the creatures that live in them. Help us cross the Southern Sea. Fight with us. They deserve at least that much. The children out there who will never grow up, never have husbands or wives or children of their own. Fight for them. Fuck, if all of this is for nothing and we wind up dead, at least somewhere they’ll know. We tried. For them,” I cried, rising abruptly to my feet. Altair lowered his head.

“Or you can sit here and lose yourself in grief. Wallow in your self-pity. Either way, we’re going to Elders’ Island. Our success lies in your hands. Procyon has already agreed to send his armies. We have enough men. We need your guidance and your ships if we’re going to survive the passage,” I pleaded.

“And what of Polaris? Has she also agreed to support this suicide mission?” His eyes scanned me as I paced the chamber.

“I’m sure if needed, my mother will provide as much aid as she can,” I said, glancing over my shoulder at the seated men. “But we don’t need it. Her power courses through my veins.”

“You are Darkness’s Heir?” he asked, a brow raised.

“Yes. It’s my destiny to destroy the Spring Queen, but I can’t do it alone.”

“Elpis is more powerful than you could ever imagine. She’s fully capable of bringing my mother down, but we need to get her close enough,” Aryx said, crossing his arms.

Altair was silent, his furrowed brow racing with thoughts as he stroked his chin.

“You said you have Procyon’s army.” Finally, Altair spoke.

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