Page 95 of Fate of Echoes and Embers
That didn’t please Terran, though I supposed it wasn’t meant to. If anyone was the bitch here, it was the prince to his king.
“But you?” He turned his attention to me. “What business does Thalassaria have in human affairs?”
The truth would not do. In fact, no answer would be acceptable to one with such hatred in his heart, so I appealed to the one thing Terran apparently loved.
“As a favor to your brother.”
It was well-known Kael and Issa were friends and that was a partial truth. Terran didn’t question my explanation, but his nose flared in anger at the mention of Kael.
“Lord Draven executed Lady Isolde’s commander and several of her men,” Adren said, “with the aid of Gyorian mercenaries. We are not butchers, Terran.”
If my words angered the prince, Adren’s incensed him.
“Who?” he demanded.
Adren offered names, not improving Terran’s demeanor. I watched as the two spoke, wondering how Mev was able to turn Kael so firmly to the side of justice if he was even half as brainwashed by King Balthor as his brother.
“Help us,” Adren finished. “How many do you have with you?”
“We do not… aid humans.”
“You would allow them to be butchered? Hawthorne decimated? For no cause but one man’s ambition?”
Eirion and I watched the exchange, silent. I knew what the King of Gyoria’s response would be. He had made his stance clear by cutting off humans from their loved ones without remorse. But his son? Was Terran redeemable?
“They will be dead soon with or without our aid. And you would all do well to remember it. You are no longer welcome in Gyoria, Adren. Tell my brother the next spy he sends will not be met with mercy.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
We watched him leave. I, for one, considered it a victory. If Terran wished to interfere, he could have easily sparked a war here. One that would likely occur eventually. If not today, then the day King Balthor realized his stolen Crystal had been taken. Or when Kael attempted to retrieve the Stone of Mor’Vallis. A reckoning was coming, either way.
Adren sighed. “That was his father speaking through him.”
Eirion snorted, a very un-Aetherian sound, to be sure. “Maybe it was once, but those words came from Prince Terran. He is not who Kael believes his brother to be. Not any longer.”
“Perhaps.” Adren sighed. “He will not interfere, either way. Terran is a man of his word.”
You are no longer welcome in Gyoria.That’s what he had said. If Terran was a man of his word, Adren was as without a home as Kael.
And that’s when it hit me…
39
ISSA
And so, it began. The battle for my home, one I never expected or asked for. But sometimes, challenges meet us despite our wishes, and this was one of those times. I refused to be humbled, being forced to ask for permission to enter from a guard who had accompanied me hunting too many times to count. Draven was at fault, and he would pay for his treachery.
“If he or any of the Gyorian mercenaries?—”
“I know, Marek. I will stand behind you and Adren. We’ve discussed this many times.”
Adren looked to the trees. We could not see them. Though their tents might shine like stars in the sky, the deep-blue color of the Aetherian warriors’ clothing blended seamlessly with the trees.
Thank you, father, for the idea. I will secure Hawthorne once again in your and mother’s memory. That is a promise.
The portcullis lifted. Though I hadn’t expected the two Gyorian warriors standing on the other side. They were also clearly just as surprised to see Adren.
“You, remain,” the taller one said. His nose looked as if it had been broken many times. The other was small, for a Gyorian warrior, though still larger than most human men.
