Page 38 of A Spell of Bones and Madness
White flowers. Thousands of white flowers seeped in a sanguine liquid covered the riverbed, extending up the walls of the cave. It was—it was the same kind of flower she saw blossom where her blood had fallen. It was impossible that this many could have sprouted in the short time. Another illusion—that was it. But with each inhale the sweet and crisp scent of the narcissus hung in the air.
“No, no, no,” Ember pleaded as the hooded ferryman approached the dock in his boat.
“What is all this?” Dimitris questioned, stepping in front of Thalia and Mykonos, clutching the pommel of his sword ready to fight.
“I warned you, Lady of Spring, it was not safe for you here. Yet, you did not heed my warning and journeyed into the lowest levels of Aidesian. Into Tartaros, the abyss of everlasting night and death. Now you shall pay the consequences.”
Ajax did draw his sword, Dimitris following suit. “Like fuck she will!” Ajax yelled at the reaper.
A hollow chuckle left the man’s lips. “It is not my intention to harm her,Archer, only to warn once more. I promised my lord safe passage to you all and I do not intend on breaking that promise. Just listen this time when I tell you never to return to a place such as this, where the veil between olde and new blurs. To the realms of gods.”
“Enough of your riddles, Charon. If you promised to take us back to the cave’s entrance then do it, before I unleash my wolves on you.” There was the spitfire attitude of the seer Ember had come to know, even if it was short-lived.
Yet, from the time they crossed the Stygian all the way to being aervaded back to Nexos, Ember could not help but feel there was more to what Charon had spoken.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Katrin
Katrin slumped in her chair, fiddling with her hair and her nails and the leather strapped around her waist. It had been two days back onThe Nostosand still Ander was not healed. Those gods-damned shackles on his wrists would not stop thrumming, sucking his very being from him. Not even Katrin’s concentrated power could break the seal that bound them tightly to his bones. She wanted to be rid of them, for his sake but also her own. Katrin could hear it, the screams of those forgotten to the world. Could hear everything he did. There was no power left for him to stop it, to shield her from the noises that scratched at hissoul. It would come in waves, a tingle first at the base of her neck, working her way up and causing a thin film of sweat to bead along her skin.
It was unusual still, that unwilling connection they had, two minds becoming one. She wondered if that was how Mykonos and Thalia felt every day, each splinter, every shell they stepped on, every emotion all at once amplified by some ungodly power. Or perhaps it was a godly power—something passed down to them by the Olympi. But which Olympi would it be? Had it come from the sea god? Or did all who were Fated have this keen ability?
Ander was no help, not that she would have asked him to sacrifice a single other thing—not even his time. He needed the rest, to save his energy as best he could.
A fever had struck the first night they were back aboardThe Nostosand he had mostly drifted in and out of sleep. When he would wake, Katrin would ply him with water and broth, small bits of fish to not make him sick, and a tonic Cal concocted that was supposed to speed the healing process. When he would drift off, she’d check his bandages, wiping the sweat from his skin with a cool cloth, watching to make sure he didn’t fade away or stop breathing. All things he had done for her. All things she would now do day after day, as long as it took.
When they returned to Nexos, she would need to question Nikolaos on how to get those wretched cuffs off. There had to be some way—some power—that could destroy them. Ander had escaped their hold once, though he told her he could not remember how. Maybe Hades simply willed it that way, a scapegoat so his loyal minions could infiltrate Alentus. Infiltrate throughher.
That thought swallowed her whole. The reason the Alentian people were in danger, the reason her sister had to flee. Iason. Hisdeath was on her and Katrin would do everything she could, give every piece of her power and strength to make sure that loss was not in vain. Hades would not return. Not while air still pumped through her lungs and blood filled her veins.
But to do that they would need more information—at least, more than the fragments they pieced together now. It would only be a few more days, gods will it. The seas were calm even though the wind whipped them swiftly toward the east.
Katrin inched closer to a sleeping Ander, running her finger tips along his exposed arm, tracing over the scars he’d gained. She noticed how some were turning a pinkish hue, the skin rough and sturdy, much like the noticeable markings on her own body. It was still a mystery why some of the scars would sink away back into their skin, while others left such a permanent reminder of the torture they endured. Was it the Fates’ will to keep them humble? To know even a god-born could be marked? She may never know.
“You’ll be home soon, Ander. Home at last,” Katrin whispered before she lay her head next to his.
She would not sleep—not until she knew he was alright—but for now, being in his quarters with the lull of howling winds and slapping waves against the hull, Katrin’s heart felt lighter.
A still sea broke in front ofThe Nostosas they entered the crystal water surrounding Nexos. Cal had monitored Ander’s state in the last week they’d sailed toward Ander’s home, determining hehealed as much as any man, god-born or mortal, would with the power-sucking shackles. For the first few days, Katrin had been hopeful. Cal was the God of Craft, afterall. If he could create the most complex objects from thin air he could surely break the manacles off of Ander. Cal tried everything he knew to break the hold they had on his nephew, but much to Katrin’s dismay, his tricks did not work. Power was not the answer.
Katrin led Ander up to the deck of the ship for the first time since he’d returned, hoping the sunlight and crisp breeze would help him—or, at the very least, distract him. She thought back to her first days onThe Nostoswhere the only semblance of peace and safety she could feel was on this deck, staring off into the abyss of the sea. Gulls squawked overhead, a sign they were approaching land, though no sandy shores appeared on the horizon.
“Are you nervous? About being home after all this time?” Katrin asked.
“I’m not sure. I’ve told you my father and I never saw eye to eye, and that night—when I came for you—he tried to stop me.”
Katrin’s eyes widened for just a moment. Ander had never told her that. Gods, no wonder Nikolaos seemed so reluctant to help her. Katrin knew she was the reason he wasn’t allowed to return home by the curse, but to learn he went against his father’s wishes—that he’d defied another god and still Nikolaos gave them shelter, gave them supplies.
“I’m sure he has forgiven you.” Katrin clutched her hand around Ander’s, giving a soft squeeze, careful not to touch the gold that still encased his wrists.
“You may have met my father, Starling, but no one can guess what goes through that man’s mind, not even my mother.” Helooked over toward her, meeting her gaze for the first time in days, but no spark lingered, only a sea of gray and muted blue.
Putting her arm around Ander’s waist, Katrin led him to the old wine barrel she’d spent so much time on when she was first aboardThe Nostos, letting him sit and stare out into the crystalline abyss before them. It was healing—at least that was what Ander had told her months before. Watching the sea creatures below the wake or the way the stars would flicker in dusk, preparing the beauty that is the night sky above was uniquely perfect in her mind. Now she could be the one to calm the twitch of his hand or flinch of his jaw when someone was near.Breathe, she thought,all he has to do is breathe.
“He is still your father, Ander. If he went to lengths to try and stop you from rescuing me it means that he cares about you. He knew what consequences there would be by defying the Fates. He was trying to protect you.” She wiped his hair from his brow, cupping his cheek in her palm. “That kind of love does not fade over time.”
“Maybe not,” he sighed, shoulders slumping.
