Page 40 of A Spell of Bones and Madness
“If you thought you were bad at asking for help, Starling, I am infinitely worse.” The corner of Ander’s lip twitched up before he turned toward Nikolaos. “So am I forgiven now, Father? For leaving all those years ago?”
King Nikolaos waved his hand as shadows once again flew from his palm. “Forgiveness was never our issue.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ember
Pacing—that was all Ember had done since they arrived back in Nexos a week before. Around the courtyard, through the gardens, on the opalescent sandy beaches, in the room she now stayed in, and, most recently, padding about the great hall. Even the skillfully painted murals of the Olympi and pearly alabaster columns rising so high they seemed to fade away into the sky could not distract her from that pestering feeling in her gut. What little time she spent not pacing, Ember used to train in the Nexian barracks and plot a way to destroy Hades for good with the relic she’d returnedwith.
Time worked differently in Aidesian, Ember came to learn. What felt like only a few days was in fact weeks below the caves in her father’s realm. It was strange to think she lost out on almost a month of her life seemingly wandering about through haunted dungeons. Was that how her father always felt when he returned to Odessia? But what was more bone-chilling than her own lost time was the fact that her sister had not returned. Something had gone wrong. Katrin should be back by now. It would have taken them around two weeks for each leg of the journey. It had now been more than five since they’d parted ways.
A gentle hand cupped the small of Ember’s back. “You need to sit still for a moment, Ember. She’ll be back soon. Your sister is fearless and as skilled as any soldier I’ve encountered,” Ajax said with a matter-of-fact tone that eased the pain just a little.
Nexian. Spy.Wolf.
He was supposed to stay loyal to the Crown of Nexos, to Dimitris and the wolves, and yet, for the last week since they’d stepped back upon these shores, he had remained by her side. It was still unfathomable that Ajax lived here all those years before. That he was a Nexian, by birth and blood and whatever else lingered there in his bones.
“Yes—I just hope—I just hope she found him. Katrin deserves that, to have one happy moment.” She gripped Ajax’s hand.
He reached out with the other, brushing his thumb across her cheek. “She will, Drakos. Alexander is a resilient man.”
She sometimes forgot that Ajax knew the prince. “Did you live in the palace? When you were younger?”
“Not originally. We had a small townhome within the palace’s outer walls when I was a child. I don’t remember much of it,only the faint memory of my mother reading old myths to me in front of a crackling fire.” Ajax turned his gaze away from her. “My mother was a healer for the Nexian Navy and when I turned seven she returned to service. My father, being one of Nikolaos’s most trusted advisors, was rarely home, spending his time at sea as well. He asked if I could be moved into the barracks early, learn from a stable boy and work up the ranks, but Giselle scoffed at the idea of a mere child forced to live that way. She welcomed me here and treated me as one of her sons.”
Ember stood, wide-eyed, thinking of her own parents—parents she may never see again. “Your parents, have you seen them since you left Nexos?”
“It has been a long time since I have seen their faces.” He gave her a faint smile, but she was not convinced. Not with the glassy eyes that stared back at her.
“How did you end up in Alentus, then? I remember seeing you there for—well for as long as I can remember.” She remembered watching him training, growing into the man he was today. Following every move he made from afar.
Ajax rolled his lips over his teeth. “Nikolaos needed a spy, and it was more beneficial for me to go than any other young soldier. He knew where my loyalties lay, that they could not be swayed by even the prettiest of young princesses.” A low chuckle left his lips and Ember rolled her eyes.
“And were your loyalties swayed? By a princess?” The very breath in her lungs seemed to seep out, making her head spin.
Firm hands slid around her waist, pulling Ember tight to Ajax so much so that she could feel his heaving chest against her own. He titled his head down, brushing his lips along her ear. “You tell me,”he whispered, the words tickling the delicate skin. Firm lips moved closer to her own and she wanted them with a desperate abandon.
Shadows crept along the marble pillars in the great hall of Nexos. The river that ran into the center of the hall that glittered with the sunlight creeping in from above was dulled to a deep turquoise. In a blink of an eye Ember went from being wrapped in Ajax’s arms to surrounded by people. Gods, she would never get over it—the way Nikolaos could just whip people in and out of the air. At least this time she was not the one to be swept up into the black abyss and plopped down without regard.
Several thumps echoed off the pearlescent tile as Katrin and Leighton landed abruptly, albeit more gracefully than Ember had landed either time. A bruised man was slumped over her sister’s shoulders, his hand gripped tightly around her upper arm. He limped along as she tried to hustle him to the table ahead, not noticing that Ember stood nearby.
“Alexander!” A hushed voice came from behind her before Giselle, the supposed icy queen, sprinted from outside the hall straight toward her son, locking him in a tight embrace. Golden shackles clinked together as the injured prince struggled to lift his arms around his mother. “Gods—I never thought I would see you again.”
Tears streamed down the prince’s face. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Mother. I would have found my way back eventually. Even if—”
“Even if I hadn’t found you. But there is no reason to think of that.” Katrin cocked her head to the side, her eyes wide and sparkling.
It was beautiful to see the sight before her. Ember reveled in it, the love and admiration her sister had for someone after suchlittle time. The lengths that both would go to for one another. It reminded her of their mother and father—Aidon, who now forgot he ever had a family. How would she explain that to Katrin? She would be crushed. For now, Ember could not put that burden on her sister. Not when she just seemed to capture the light in her features once more. But if Katrin found out she hid something like that from her—what was worse?
“Sister!” Katrin yelled from across the room, leaving Ander sitting with his mother and running toward Ember. “Oh, gods! It’s so good to see you.” Her sister wrapped her in a warm embrace.
“You too, Katrin.” Ember pulled back slightly. “Is he alright?” She nodded over to the bruised prince whose mother still clutched his shaking hands. Gold glittered from beneath those hands. “What is that? On his wrists?”
Katrin’s eyes shifted back toward Ander, inhaling a sharp breath. “Some kind of shackle the northern king crafted. We can’t—we can’t seem to figure out how to get them off. I was hoping Nikolaos would know—or maybe Father told you something? Did you find him? In Aidesian?”
Ember shifted her weight. “I think it would be best if we were all here for that.”
“Yes, you’re probably right. Where is Thalia and that littledaimon? I missed them while we were gone,” Katrin asked.
