Page 98 of A War of Embers

“It’s fine,” I quickly say. “Seriously, he knows we’re in here.” Well, he knows I’m in here to look over maps and see what I can tell is actually part of Tellus and what isn’t. Then I’m supposed to be heading to the arena to see Meredith and Deena to teach them and their warriors how to properly fight against someone like me.

“Does he know you’re searching for a High Lord?” she counters.

Blowing out a breath, I turn towards her and plant my hands on my hips. “No,” I answer truthfully, “he doesn’t. But,” I interject before she can go off on how this is a bad idea, “I am not doing this alone. I’m not telling you to keep this to yourself either.”

“Then why didn’t you tell Lord Rowan I would be in here?”

Honestly? Because the mere idea I may have no other option but to go back to Tellus to the Godlands wrecks a part of me I don’t know will recover. The idea of being killed while over there, never seeing Rowan again, sends a shiver of trepidation down my spine. If I have to journey over there, then I’ll find someone to take me so I can ensure I’ll come back. But that’s only if there’s no one here who can help.

“Keres,” Alyvia firmly calls my name, dragging me out of my thoughts.

“I didn’t tell him you were in here helping me because I don’t want him to know I’m looking into a High Lord. If the war comes here, then there’s the potential Lady Gwenyth may somehow be able to access the immortal souls inside of me. I refuse to allow that to happen. She doesn’t get to use me to hurt the people I c-care about,” I stutter, saying the words for the first time aloud.

My comment seems to shock Alyvia into silence. She stares for several long moments, making me uncomfortable, before she bolts into action by crossing to the few standing bookcases at the back of the room. “Okay, I don’t agree with keeping this from him, but if there’s someone hiding here in Aïdes who can help us then we’re going to find them.”

“Thank you.”

“Alright, so I’ll flip through the documents and books and see if I can find anything about the High Lord or Ladies, you make a stack of maps,” Alyvia says, getting down to business. She points towards a semi-clear spot on a nearby table. “You put your maps there, I’ll clean off a space for the books, that way we won’t be guessing if we’ve already looked at something or not.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Immediately we both dive in. I begin on the floor, determining what looks like a map and what doesn’t. Some of the ones I’ve seen previously in this room are torn or shredded thanks to Rowan’s powers. He must have been in a complete rage when he tore through here.

Scooping up several maps from the floor, I go over to the clear spot Alyvia pointed out and begin placing the maps of Tellus on one side, placing maps in a clear spot on the floor of places I don’t recognize, and maps of Aïdes I don’t think will be helpful.

Glancing over at Alyvia, she’s flipping through books steadily. A few go back on the shelves while some get piled next to the maps on the table. It feels like minutes before we’re shifting to the next table and picking everything up as we go. An hour seems to go by in a blink and we’re already making more progress than I expected.

Another hour and the room is almost the same as before, except the broken pieces of furniture I’ve moved to one side of the room to be out of the way. There will be no hiding from Rowan that I brought someone in here to do research, but I don’t imagine he’ll be furious with us.

Once the room has completely been gone through we reconvene at the table where our maps and books are scattered over the surface. Alyvia’s pile of books is thinner than my pile of maps. I wasn’t expecting much to be in here in regards to the High Lords or Ladies, so the fact she managed to find at least seven documents is astounding. Then the pile of maps Rowan has in here is far beyond anything I’ve seen. Dozens upon dozens of maps, all varied slightly in locations of towns or mountainous regions.

“That’s a lot,” Alyvia says, pointing to my stack. “Those are all of Tellus?”

Sighing, I flick a corner of a map and nod. “Yeah. None of them are correct. There’s a few that are close, but they have Districts outlined wrong. Some of the mountains aren’t in their proper placement. Most of them barely have anything on them to be honest. I wonder if whoever made these was trying to guess based on the memories of people who ventured over there during the Province Wars?”

“Most of the people who went over didn’t make it back,” she says in a low voice. “After Lord Rowan’s brother was killed, some retreated back across the sea but I believe most were captured and killed.”

This is news to me. “Rowan and his brother fought in Tellus?”

“Yes. They went there to prevent the Lords and Ladies from gaining access to the Cliff of Embers.” She pauses to think for a moment. “I know they came back over here for a few years, and when they hoped to do a final blow to end the war, went back over the Blood Sea to Tellus. Except his brother didn’t come back.”

My heart pangs for the lonely journey Rowan must have gone through to return without his brother. “I didn’t know that. I assumed they were here fighting.”

Alyvia shakes her head. “From my knowledge, most of Tellus’ warriors were sent here but only a few District Lords and Ladies came over. They sent what was supposed to be the deadliest to clear a path for everyone else. Clearly they underestimated the people here.”

None of her comments about Tellus' ideas during the war surprises me. While I didn’t expect Rowan and his brother to cross the sea, I fully expected Tellus to send in their dirtiest fighting warriors so the bulk of Lords and Ladies wouldn’t have to get their hands filthy. “So the part of Rowan’s soul that was stolen is in Tellus.”

“That’s what everyone is guessing.”

But no proof. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Does everything in your homeland make sense?” Alyvia counters with a laugh.

Her remark gives me pause. She has no idea about what happened in the Cliff of Embers or after. “I left–” I start to say but she cuts me off.

“I know. Everyone knows. Lord Rowan was absolutely blinded by rage. There was no pleading with him.”

Blowing out a breath, I apologize. “I’m sorry. We talked about things and I realized my actions weren’t entirely well thought out. My intention wasn’t to hurt anyone when I left.”

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