by K. A. Linde
They bustled into the city on brick-paved roads that rattled them worse than the dirt roads. Kael wrenched back the curtains once more and showed her her city. And what she saw was…horrifying.
Her once clean and prosperous city looked beaten down and filthy. Desert sand coated the streets. Beggars stood on corners. Signs hung in taverns that read, Water supply low, with a number beneath it that she had to guess meant how much anyone could have at any given time.
“What’s happened?” she whispered, aghast.
“It hasn’t rained.”
“In how long?”
“Not a day since you left.”
Cyrene’s head snapped back to Kael. “Not a drop of rain?”
“No rain. No snow. It was as if…you took the water with you,” he said with a raised eyebrow.
She sat back in the carriage and let that thought sink into her. Is it possible that I pulled the moisture from my homeland just by being away? Could it be that being bound to a place rather than a person could devastate an entire country in such a manner?
That sinking depression hit her fresh anew. It was as if everything in this lifetime was her fault. Even the drought.
They clattered onto the castle grounds and to the front of the Nit Decus castle. Kael exited first and offered her his hand. She took it and stepped out to the place she had thought she would never see again.
Her eyes found Kael’s for a brief minute. He seemed to sense both her excitement and caution. She took a steadying breath to try to regain her strength.
“The world is yours to take, Cyrene.”
He bent down and placed a kiss on her hand where he had helped her out of the carriage. She watched him the entire time that he did it with that low buzz in her stomach from his touch. Then, she felt a great swell, as if her insides were sizzling, and she whipped her head toward the front entrance of the castle.
And there, standing in all his glory, was King Edric.
Edric had changed in a million ways and yet not at all.
His dark hair was cut shorter than normal, and he was shaved smooth, making his cheekbones more chiseled. He stood with all the regal authority of a sovereign who had ruled since the tender age of fifteen. His figure took up the door, despite the milling crowd that appeared around him. Yet it was clear that he was the person of importance. He radiated with it.
And the bond between them crackled like firecrackers. Having both Kael and Edric in the same vicinity was almost overwhelming. She didn’t know how to shut it off or turn it down. She wished she could eliminate it entirely because, at that moment, she felt inexplicably drawn to both men.
She feared Edric could sense it, too. For his eyes, those Dremylon blue-gray eyes, held dual flames of intensity. They were locked on the place where Kael was touching her. Her hand in his. His lips on her. If Edric could have slain his brother with one look, that would have done it.
At the same time, the last year all seemed to dissolve between them. They were back in that same spot. Both the king and prince competing in their own for her favor. Her naïveté about the world and court shining like a beacon. The last time she had seen the king, he had invited her back to his chambers…and she never returned. She did not know where that put them now.
“Cyrene,” King Edric said. His voice was a calling card, pulling her toward him.
Kael cleared his throat, and she came out of her trance. He walked her forward, knowing the image that they made before the king, before the man who had wanted to be her lover.
“Your Majesty,” Cyrene murmured before dropping into a curtsy.
Kael gave a slight bow. “Brother.”
Edric stepped down to her level, and a hush fell over the audience. Cyrene hardly recognized anyone other than Consort Daufina. And she and a man in a black guard’s uniform both looked incredibly displeased.
“The entire court and all of Byern are incredibly relieved to see an Affiliate returned to her home,” Edric said for the entire crowd to hear. “The throne welcomes you back to court. We all hope that you will feel safe once more behind these walls.”
The audience applauded lightly for his short speech.
But Cyrene stood there, straight as a board, clutching her skirts. This feeling…it had to be the bond. What she had felt for him all along must be from the magic. Because what else could explain the pull I feel, standing before him, when I knew in my heart that I did not love him while I was in Eleysia? How could I love someone who held so much power over me? Someone who had forced me to return to a place I did not want to be? How could I not blame him?
Yet she couldn’t escape this feeling.
Edric took another step toward her and held out his hand. She reached out and placed hers within his.
“Welcome home.”
Cyrene swallowed hard at the touch. He bent slightly at the waist and placed a kiss on her hand, as Kael had done. She gasped at the connection and could feel Kael tense next to her. Then, she felt Edric slip something into her hand.
Her eyes widened in confusion and then recognition. He had just given her her pin back. He’d read her letter. She breathed a sigh of relief. Ahlvie and Orden had made it. They were safe. She hadn’t done everything wrong.
Edric straightened and smiled at her. That was when everything really seemed to hit her. Staring into Edric’s eyes on Byern soil with other Affiliates and High Order, she really was home.
Home.
Emotions rippled through her, and then, as if a dam broke, a tear slid down her face. Just one tear.
That was all she would allow.
She had that moment of relief in a wasteland of grief.
And then thunder rolled in the distance.
Cyrene jolted. Edric and Kael jumped to attention. The entire crowd faded to silence and shock.
“Creator,” she whispered.
She tilted her head up to the sky as clouds rolled overhead, and it began to sprinkle. The darkening clouds promised big, fat raindrops. More rain than they had gotten in months…since she left. And with her…came the rain.
“Rain bringer!” someone shouted from the crowd.
“Cyrene has brought the rain!” another person cried.
“It’s a miracle!”
“She’s blessed!”
The shouts became so numerous that she couldn’t even make them all out. The crowd was cheering for her. They thought she had brought the rain with her return. But…that couldn’t even be possible. She could hardly even use her magic, let alone control the weather in her condition.
Yet, as she reached down into her core, she found that she could touch her magic. That, if she dived down into the depths, she could be ablaze with power. It wasn’t the same as before. The depths of her grief were deeper than the well of her magic, but being home had cracked through.
She laughed as more rain fell on her clothes. Perhaps she was the rain bringer. Perhaps she had been blessed by the Creator.
“Enough!” Daufina cried.
Cyrene stared at her in shock. Daufina never stepped out of line, especially not with Edric.
“No Affiliate can bring the rain. It is just a coincidence. She is not even one of us anymore after denouncing our very people!” Daufina strode forward and stared at Cyrene with venom in her gaze. “She is not an Affiliate. She is nothing to this country. She turned her back on us. We should not exult her for a coincidence. The rain was meant to come today one way or another. Just because she arrived today means nothing.”
Daufina slashed her hand down in disgust. Rain droplets fell into her perfect dark hair and on the purple dress with its many tiers, changing the colors so that it was so dark, it was almost black. Fitting for her death speech.
Cyrene clutched the pin that Edric had given her tight in her hand. She could put it back on, walk into those halls, and continue her life as she had. Except that Daufina was right. She was no longer an Affiliate, based on the letter that she had sent to Edric. No matter that she had done it out of love for Dean. Th
at she had desired to stay for him above everything else. A fool’s notion to choose love over power.
She would be an Affiliate if she had to be.
But the rain itself spoke that she could not be thrown down. She was a force to be reckoned with. She would not allow Daufina to cast her aside.
“Edric, you cannot stand by and ignore the harm that she has caused,” Daufina continued. “And how she has spat on your name by turning away from you.”
“You’re right,” Edric said.
“Brother,” Kael said, attempting to intercede.
“No, Daufina is right,” Edric said. “Cyrene is no longer an Affiliate.”
Cyrene swallowed at Edric’s declaration. He was the king. He could make that decision. He could cast her down, just as she had seen in her vision. Throw her to Third Class and set her adrift.
It was possible. But she would not allow it. And it made no sense. Why spend all that time attempting to get me back if he only wanted to humiliate me in front of the entire court?
“My King,” Cyrene said, keeping her voice steady. She was ready to plead her case.
She knew Kael would stand by her. Daufina could not be the only voice that mattered.
“Cyrene, the rain bringer, our own returned home, is no Affiliate,” Edric said.
Edric turned back to face her. His eyes were alight, and he wore a smile. But she could never have prepared herself for what came next.
“That is because she is to be our new consort.”
Cyrene’s mouth hung open.
He wanted her to be…the consort.
To be his consort.
To replace Daufina.
She knew it was possible to replace the consort, but it was so rare. Usually, it happened as the result of a death. Very rarely did it happen because the king wanted a new advisor. The consort, much like the queen, was a life term.
Edric breaking from that tradition was unprecedented. And the shock on everyone’s face said as much. The crowd was a mix of confusion and uncertainty. They didn’t know how to respond to this news.
Kael looked livid. It was as if everything he had been planning, whatever he had been planning, had just been obliterated. It was the first time since she had gotten on that ship to return home that she could actually feel his dark magic brewing inside him, ready to release. She knew he had used his magic on her when she was vulnerable on board but not like this. Not this sinister.
But it was Daufina’s face that said it all. She had not known about this. It seemed likely that no one had known about this…not even Edric. He had just decided on the spot when he saw her. Daufina would have murdered Cyrene then if she could. Cyrene gave her credit for holding on to her decorum though.
It was only Edric who looked happy about his decision.
The only person, including Cyrene.
She was not happy about this.
Becoming consort might have been her dream, but now, it felt like a death sentence. A way for Edric to keep her close even though he could not make her queen.
“Come,” Edric said, offering Cyrene his hand. “We have much to discuss and an Investiture to plan.”
Cyrene could do nothing but accept his hand with everyone looking on. No didn’t seem to be an option.
He led her into the Nit Decus castle just as the skies completely opened up behind them. She could still sense Kael’s presence and the darkness rolling off of him as he followed behind them, but she could pay no heed to him. She had to deal with this situation first.
The Investiture for the consort was essentially a coronation without a crown. The consort was the highest position in the land, save royalty. She was the king’s greatest advisor, his strategist, his companion. Many past consorts had been the lover or mistress of the king. Some had borne him children. Others had been best friends and closest confidants. The woman was to be brilliant, beautiful, and charming. She was everything you could want in the person standing at your side. While the king rarely was able to pick his queen, he chose his consort, and he chose well.
It was a great honor to have been chosen. Yet, with everything she had endured, everywhere she had traveled, all the kingdoms she had seen, Byern felt quite small, especially if she never had the opportunity to leave again.
“How was your trip?” Edric asked. “Pleasant enough, I hope, while on a warship.”
Cyrene tilted her head. Is he really going to ask basic pleasantries? “Fine. The ship was fine.”
“Did you spend much time with my brother?”
She measured the set of his jaw and the anxious tell in his eyes. He wanted the answer to be no.
“There was no one else of equal rank.”
He nodded. Surely, he took that to mean yes. Though he could never know that she had spent the last couple of weeks in Kael’s bed. Even if nothing had ever happened, she could see now that he would not take well to it. She was extra pleased that Kael had suggested removing her ring. Another thing Edric never needed to know.
“Now that you’re back, we have much to discuss.”
“Indeed, My King,” she said.
“Cyrene, call me Edric.”
“Of course.” She took a deep breath and then continued, “Like you making me consort.”
“It’s brilliant,” he said at once. “I should have considered it sooner.”
“Edric, please, think about this. What about Daufina?”
“Don’t worry about her. What’s done is done. We will figure out the details at a later time. For now, I just want to relish in your return.” He drew her out of the entrance hall and down a hallway. “It was dark days when you were gone.”
The same darkness that came from Kael’s magic seemed to lick at Edric when he mentioned her disappearance. Yet there was no magic on Edric. She couldn’t sense a thing.
“I’m anxious to understand all the changes.”
“Yes, much has changed since you left, but you will fit right into my inner circle. You will be at the center of everything from now on, Cyrene. Allow me to show you.”
A guard opened a door to a chamber Cyrene had never seen before, and she followed Edric inside. The room was expansive with intricate molding circling the upper and middle of the room. A long, rectangular table ran down the center of the room, laden with maps and charts and an interactive display of much of the known world. It laid out all the stations for the military, where their ships were, and all potential enemy armies.
She could tell right away that this was a place that few had access to. Only Edric and his most trusted advisors were ever brought in here. The weight of the consort sank onto her shoulders, the further she stepped into the room.
“This is my war room,” he told her.
“We have not been to war in three hundred years.”
“Small skirmishes easily handled in that time, but you are correct, no full-blown wars. Nothing that could make the everyday person fear for their safety. However, this has been the same room through the generations. Viktor Dremylon himself stood at that table to wipe out the remaining Doma,” Edric said, pointing to the head of the table.
Cyrene body would not move another inch. Her eyes were fixed on that spot. Right there, the man who had loved Domina Serafina and still murdered her for power had strategized how to slaughter her people. Cyrene’s chest ached.
No matter what she had decided about her own mission, she had chosen to be Doma. Her magical powers were a part of who she was. They made her Doma. Yet Edric didn’t even know about magic. He didn’t know that Viktor had killed Doma because of their magic. He thought, as most citizens of Byern, that magic was a fairy tale, and Doma were unfair conquerors. But they were her ancestors. And, though she might not care that some ancient prophecy said she was important, she couldn’t help but feel the pain of those who had been lost.
That, by working with a Dremylon in this room…she was betraying her own people.
Cyrene took a step back and then another. Edric was almost to the head of the table.
He was still speaking, telling her about the history of the room. The importance of the room. Yet she couldn’t hear a word he said.
Then, he was standing there. In the very spot she had imagined Viktor Dremylon—who, from her visions, she knew looked so much like Edric—and all she saw was betrayal. More betrayal. She couldn’t handle that. She couldn’t go through that again. She had nearly backed out through the door when he glanced up at her, as if he had finally realized that she hadn’t spoken.
“Cyrene?” a voice said behind her.
She felt a light brush against her back, and she knew it was Kael.
“You’re white as a ghost.”
“Are you all right?” Edric asked at once. “Guard, bring her a chair.”
Cyrene was pushed back into the Death Room and forced into a seat. Edric and Kael were arguing already. Cyrene wished she could block it out.
“She’s had a long journey. She needs rest,” Kael said.
“We have matters to discuss.”
“You don’t know what she’s been like.”
“Her health is my first priority, but we need information.”
“You’re putting her at risk.”
“Stop,” she said, looking up at them both.
“Cyrene,” Kael said, “you need rest.”
“I’m fine.”
“We will be brief,” Edric said.
Daufina and the man Cyrene had noticed in the black guard uniform both entered then. Daufina turned her nose up at Cyrene and marched to the opposite side of the room. The other man went straight to Edric and stood with his arms crossed in protest.
“You’re not fine,” Kael said.
“I was overwhelmed with everything that has happened. That is all.” She narrowed her eyes, telling him without words to let it go.
Kael nodded, as if he understood, and backed off.
“First, introductions,” Edric said. He turned to the man in the black uniform. “This is Captain Merrick. He is the head of my personal guard. All royalty has been assigned guards. You will be given a team at your disposal, and they will report to Merrick.”
Cyrene hated him on sight. Everything about him from his inky-black hair slicked back off of his face to the curve of his nose and to the beady little eyes with a malicious glint in the irises said that he was her enemy. She did not want guards that Merrick would pick and who would report her every move to him. She would have to figure out a way around that.