Page 35 of Voices in the Stars
“Except mine?” I questioned, bringing his attention back to us.
“Why are you acting like this is my fault?” he questioned back, refusing to answer as he looked over me. “I’m just doing my job.”
Something snapped as I saw the confusion within his features. No remorse for anything that had happened.
“Your job?” My voice threated to break as my eyes misted with a new wave of tears. “It’s your job to take people against their will? To try to kill them whenever they don’t listen to you?”
I pulled my legs away from him, wrapping my arms around them until I could rest my chin on my knees. My emotions fought back as I tried to keep them locked away. It was a losing battle when tears starting trickling down my face.
Atlas’ head jerked back like I had hit him. His eyes wide as his gaze traced over my face.
“What’re you talking about?” He shook his head. “I’m escorting you to the city. You knew I was coming.”
“Knew you were coming?” I fought to stop from yelling, the confusion throughout him only working to make the anger flare up inside me. “What part of any of this has made it seem like I wanted to come with you?”
“Stop.” He stood, now refusing to look at me. “You’re working with my father. He’s the one who sent me. You could’ve killed everyone if I let you leave my sight.”
“I don’t know who your father is, nor do I care to. The only thing I know about him is what you’ve said, which hasn’t been much. All I’ve wanted this entire time is to go home,” I pleaded with him, hoping he would hear the truth in my words. “And kill everyone? If I had that ability, do you really think I would’ve almost died as many times as I have?” I scoffed at my own words. All of this sounded ridiculous.
He shook his head again like he was trying to push away his own thoughts before tilting his head toward the sky. His hands furiously ran through his hair, grabbing at his own horns. I grabbed at his hand when it came to rest at his side again. His gaze shot back over to me. I quickly dropped his hand at the guilt-ridden look on his face.
“Please, Atlas,” I still begged, even with the ache in my chest at the way he looked at me now. Part of me preferred when he was threatening to kill me. At least then it didn’t feel like I had ripped something out of him.
“Don’t say my name like that.” His voice was weak when he spoke, only looking at me for a moment before looking away again.
“I just want to go home. Please, just take me back,” I whispered.
“I…I’ll be back, Cece.” He turned, practically running away from me.
I cursed, leaning back against the railing. I looked up at the night sky and just started sobbing. Everyone was already afraid of me, so I did nothing to stop the yelling. I yelled for the family that I lost. The captain for making everyone hate me. For the family that lied to Atlas. When my voice reached the point where it was raw and I could barely talk, I muttered a curse toward myself for getting sucked into this world. For caring about the one who stole me further away.
I ran from her.I tried to hide my shaking hands as I marched toward the set of doors next to the stairs. Her cries didn’t start until I opened the doors. My eyes closed as I felt my heart give a painful squeeze. Taking a deep breath, I made my way into Ezryn’s room.
The doors slammed shut behind me. I leaned against the wood, running my hands up my face, grabbing at the base of my horns.
I’d been deceived. It shouldn’t have been a shocking revelation at this point. If there was one thing my father was good at, it was being a terrible creature. Her very existence proved that. The last of the witches, due to the power-hungry slaughter Eris commenced. He wanted no one to be able to defy him.
“You look like shit,” Ezryn commented
I opened my eyes to glare at the Elf. He sat at the desk that took up most of the center of the room. Bookshelves lined the back wall of the room. They were filled with maps from across Alryne. I’d spent several days pouring over these maps myself on restless nights, trying to find more people to join my fight. Ezryn was looking for someone, as well. It was why he had a map spread out across his desk now. The two islands shown made up Feycrest with its large river that we were traveling through now. There were red marks crossed through the ports he had already traveled through. A large circle around the port outside of the city Kilrest. Where I was taking Cece. Where my father waited for us. My stomach twisted at that thought.
“If I asked you to go back to the last port, would you?” I asked,making my way to one of the beds that were shoved against the other two walls.
His head shot up from where he was looking over the drawn-out map. His eyes narrowed even as his silver hair draped across his face. The tips of his ears twitched as he looked over me.
“No” was all he said before turning his head back down.
I laid back against the bed, crossing my arms under my head, staring up at the wooden beams. Certain things about her story made no sense. I squeezed my eyes shut. There was no guessing what he wanted her for. He needed her to call the gods so he could absorb their power and strip power from the rest of Alryne, like he’d done with Feycrest.
She spoke of a family, though. It made no sense. There should have been no one left. I was a small child, but I remembered the destruction in the temple of Kilrest as he killed all of them. Only two survived. A father and his baby.
The father’s body was found many nights after. No one ever knew what happened to the child. I assumed, like everyone else, she died somewhere along their escape. Until I was sent to bring her back to her home in Kilrest. She’d been in hiding for over twenty years. The question was where. There were only a few places where it would be possible, but her lack of knowledge of anything narrowed it down to one.
“Do you remember anything about Donnaway?” I asked Ezryn, tilting my head back to look at him.
He laughed along with the rustling of paper as he rolled it back up. His answer didn’t come until it had been nestled back onto the shelves.
“Yes, I imagine I’ve heard the same as you. Whispered rumors with no truth to back them up.”
