Page 49 of Fate of Echoes and Embers
“I belong at Hawthorne Manor.”
Marek had no chance to respond as we approached another archway, its sentinels greeting Mev as the other two had done. The Aetherian palace in Aethralis was an awe-inspiring place of gleaming white stone with lush gardens in every direction. As we climbed the marble stairs, the sea beyond beckoned.
I stopped to stare.
“I didn’t realize how high up we were until now.”
Marek stopped with me, taking in the sight. “It calls to you.”
It wasn’t just the sea that called to me.
“Marek?” I turned to face him.
“Aye, Issa?”
I hesitated, then asked the question I never thought I’d let myself voice.
“Did you ever regret it? Leaving Hawthorne that way?”
Our eyes locked.
“Every damn day, sereia.”
It was something, I supposed.
I took a step when Marek reached for my hand, stopping me. Though he let me go immediately, the effect of his touch lingered.
“I regret leaving at all, Issa.”
19
MAREK
“You almost look respectable,” Kael said as we walked toward the Celestial Hall. I’d been given directions but still managed to lose myself in the vast corridors of the palace.
“I brought it.” I gestured toward my high-collared naval coat that every officer in the Thalassari fleet wore. Its fitted tunic was adorned with silver embroidery reminiscent of cresting waves and a sash bore the Tidebreaker Fleet’s insignia. “For this meeting alone. It’s not every day you find yourself in the Aetherian palace about to meet with a king.” And then it occurred to me. “You, on the other hand, are the son of such a king. I forget the fact, oft-times.”
As we passed gleaming white columns that soared above us, Kael frowned. “My father is a very different king than Galfrid.”
“Meaning?”
He shot me a look, for pressing him, no doubt. “I was blinded by the fact that he was my father for too long.”
It was as much of a concession that Galfrid was the better king than Kael was likely to offer. That he served here, and no longer for his father and his own men, told me more than Kael’s words ever would.
“Too long, but not forever. I admire your courage. It could not have been an easy decision.”
Kael did not take compliments well. “One I’d not have made if it weren’t for Mev.”
Fair enough.
“As for women showing us the right path…” His sidelong gaze was not subtle. I thought back to what I’d said to Issa and would not regret it, even if speaking the words aloud did little to simplify our relationship.
We slowed, the hall where we were to meet the king apparently in front of us as evidenced by two guards standing in front of the tall doors where there were none at any other corridor.
“I’m not certain she will ever fully forgive me,” I said finally.
“Do you want her to?”
