Page 65

Since their conversation, Myra had ensured that Kallie was well-suited for her “secret” meetings with the king. If Rian noticed Kallie’s change in appearance—the perfectly braided hair, the elegant dresses which were, in Kallie’s opinion, unsuitable for lounging about with a book—he did not make it known.

Sitting on the chaise, Kallie closed her book and sauntered to Rian’s table.

The pile of books in varying languages gathered in front of him only ever seemed to grow. Tomes were never removed but instead stacked on top of each other. A precarious tower balancing atop the dark oak table. Some books lay half open, with another sitting in the middle, flattening the pages. The question wasn’tifthe stack would fall but ratherwhen.

Kallie picked up one of the books written in an unfamiliar ancient script. The pages were thin and fragile, the text fading from wear. “You can read all of these?” Kallie asked.

Rian looked up with wide eyes. Shaking the shock from his face, he shrugged. “For the most part,” he mumbled, returning his gaze to the text on the table.

Kallie studied the script. “Is this one about Frenzia?” The book’s title included a word etymologically similar to Frenzia, but she couldn’t make out the rest.

Rian tapped his quill on the table. “That one in particular is about ancient myths.”

“Myths?” With a hand braced against the table, she leaned forward, the strap of her corset slipping down her shoulder. She peered at Rian’s notes. His penmanship was dismal at best. Scratchy lines scattered the pages, and random lines struck through phrases. From afar, there seemed to be some organization system for the ideas Rian had pulled from the various texts, but Kallie couldn’t decipher it before Rian covered the notes up with an arm.

The bump on his throat dipped as his gaze caught on her collarbone.

Kallie pressed her weight on her hand, blinking.

A blush rose to Rian’s cheeks. He dropped his gaze, coughing. “The myths of old are extensive.” He tugged at his collar. “While some of the myths have survived today and can be found in our tales and religions, there used to be more. More stories, more reasons why our world is the way it is.” He pointed at a book with his quill. “That book goes over myths that predate our own.”

“Such as?”

Rian leaned back in his chair, rolling the quill between two fingers. “Are you familiar with the story of the gods? When they first visited us?”

Kallie nodded but said nothing more. Since becoming acquainted with the Pontians, Kallie now knew of two different stories about the gods. The story that made Pontanius appear to be a villain and the story that made Pontanius a victim. She was curious as to which one Rian knew.

“Do you recall how they came to walk on our lands?”

“From the stars?” That was what the stories Kallie had learned growing up had said, at least. Now, she knew better than to believe everything she had been taught.

“Not quite,” Rian said, his lip twitching. “The gods ripped apart the sky, disintegrating the veil that separates their world from ours. This is where some of our stars come from. Holes in the veil. According to these books, the gods had help though.”

Kallie asked. “By whom?”

“Not by whom but rather by what,” Rian said. Rifling through the books spread across the desk, he grabbed one of the old, brown leather-bound books where the paper was thin and frail. With a gentle hand, he flipped through the pages until landing on an image. He pushed the book forward, pointing at it. “The gods rode down on dragons. According to this, the dragons’ fire was hot enough to melt the veil separating the gods’ world from the mortal world. When the gods ripped apart the sky, they rode down on never-before-seen beasts that were at least six times the size of the average human. Their wingspan was said to have spanned over forty feet.”

“Where are they now?” Kallie asked. Outside of the Frenzian crest, Kallie had never seen a dragon. Most believed dragons were extinct—if they believed in their existence at all.

Rian shrugged. “That is what I’m trying to figure out. When the gods disappeared, so did the dragons.”

“But you do not believe that to be true?”

Rian scratched the scruff lining his jaw. “I’m not sure what I believe.”

Kallie pulled the book closer and observed the faded drawing of the winged beast. Apparently, the Pontians were not the only ones who believed in mythical beasts. The ancient script beneath the image danced on the page. It almost looked familiar, but Kallie couldn’t figure out why.

“And all of this,” she said, referring to the books on the desk, “pertains to your research?”

“Some.” The tapping continued.

“But not all?”

Rian took the book from Kallie and shut it. “My interests are vast, you could say. This is only a small portion.”

Her brows drew together. “But why? Why put this much effort into it?”

Rian sighed. “I wish to make my mark on this world.”