Page 56 of Duskbound (Esprithean Trilogy #2)

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

The two men remained locked in their deadly stance, neither willing to yield first. Slowly, Laryk's emerald eyes slid to me, and I watched realization settle across his features. The dagger lowered as he took a step back, his gaze darting between Aether and me.

Then he threw his head back and laughed, the sound sharp as it echoed through the chamber. "Oh, this is rich ." His smile didn't reach his eyes. "Well, it all makes sense now. Your sudden shift in allegiances."

"That's not what this is about." I moved to stand beside Aether, my shoulder barely brushing his arm.

Laryk's eyes tightened at our proximity, but his smirk only grew crueler. "Although, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You seemed so passionate about your place in the Guard after that night in Emeraal. So eager to please once you'd been satisfied." The look in his eyes had me burning at the accusation. "You do remember that night, don't you, Fia? I certainly do—in vivid detail."

Aether surged forward, shadows pouring out of him, but Laryk didn't flinch. He simply twisted the dagger through his fingers and cocked his head to the side. "He makes quite the guard dog, I'll give you that."

"Better than the last man meant to protect her," Aether's voice was deadly smooth despite the rippling of his tightened muscles. "The one who hesitated, who watched as she was taken."

"Let me guess…" Laryk's voice dropped lower, that dangerous edge returning. "You're the shadow I saw that night. The one standing beside her." His eyes fixed on Aether with renewed interest. "The one who took her."

"Took her?" Aether's shadows pulsed. "Or saved her from a realm that would have killed her once they discovered what she was?"

"And what exactly is she?" Laryk's gaze cut to me. "Since you seem to know so much about her now."

"More than you ever did." The words carried ice.

Laryk's hand tightened on his dagger. "I trained her. Shaped her into?—"

"Into a weapon." Aether's interruption was sharp. "Into something you could use."

Laryk barked out another laugh, but this one held no humor. "I cared for her. Which is more than I can say for whatever this is." He gestured between us. "Tell me, Fia, did they break you? Turn you into their weapon instead?"

"That's enough," I demanded.

"Is it?" Laryk's emerald eyes burned. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you've simply traded one wielder for another."

The shadows in the room darkened at his words, and I felt Aether's rage building beside me. The air grew thick with it.

"Both of you, stop." My voice tore through their posturing. I wanted to say more, to tell them I wasn't a weapon for anyone to wield, at least not anymore. But it wasn't the time—not if we were going to convince him to work with us.

I stepped between the two men, turning to face Laryk. "This is bigger than all of us. Personal feelings aside, I've seen what's happening beyond these borders. I've watched children starve, families lose everything. This is life or death."

His eyes bore into me, and behind the mask, I could see the pain—the grief of what he was witnessing, of losing something he had been searching for. He was lashing out like a wounded animal, but I had to try everything to get through to him. To get us back to that place where we were only moments ago.

"You said to me once that you believed Sídhe made mistakes in the aftermath of the uprising." I studied his face, searching for any reaction. "So it leads me to believe that if they were doing something terrible, you would not stand for it. Would fight against it."

He looked away, jaw tightening.

"You've always known something was off. Even before you saw the figure through the darkness in Emeraal, even before you argued with Mercer, argued with the King?—"

"You saw that?" His head snapped back to me.

"Yes." I took a step forward. "I saw you trying to tell the others that there was more to this war. But nothing about it has ever sat well with you. The scar on your face, your ability to anticipate their moves—you've always known something was wrong, Laryk. And you were right . This whole time."

He stared at me, something breaking in his expression before that careful mask slipped back into place.

"I know you probably hate me right now. But don't let that interfere with doing what's right."

His jaw tensed, a muscle ticking beneath the skin.

"Could you really go back, now knowing what you know?" The words came out as a plea. "You could keep helping Sídhe drain a realm who has done nothing to provoke such a theft?"

"I have no proof of that." The growl in his voice betrayed the look in his eyes.

"Laryk," I began, my eyes glossing over, "You believed me only moments ago. What changed?"

"How am I to be certain you haven't been manipulated?" His eyes cut to Aether. "That all of this isn't some elaborate lie?"

"I don't have any way to prove it to you other than my word. You can't even get into my mind—you think I'd let anyone else do that to me? I didn't want to believe it at first either. I fought the truth with everything inside me. But then I saw it. Lived it . It's real, and it's only going to get worse." My voice steadied as I continued. "All the pieces are there, Laryk. You just have to want to see them."

Heat filled my voice as the words poured out, "It will continue, this greed, this oppression. The King is never going to stop. Not unless we break this cycle."

Doubt flashed across his face as he turned away, dragging a hand through his copper hair.

"I want us to work together. Because if we don't..." I swallowed hard. "If we don't, then real war is on the horizon. Not these attacks on arcanite. Real. Bloody. War. The kind that destroys continents."

He spun back toward me, head tilted. "Is that a threat?"

"It's not a threat. It's an inevitability." My voice carried steel now. "Umbrathia is growing restless, people are becoming desperate. There's not many other ways for this to end."

Laryk's emerald eyes moved to Aether, studying him.

"You understand the weight of what you're asking me to do." His words hung heavy in the air. It wasn't quite a question.

"I do." I met his gaze. "And I wouldn't be asking if I thought there was any other way."

He stared at me for the longest time, his face morphing slightly as something warred within him. A part of me wanted to reach out and comfort him, to save him from the pain he was feeling, but the thought of it was selfish and cruel. Not when it would mean something to him that it didn't for me.

Finally, he nodded.

"If I agree to this, all attacks from your realm must cease. Immediately," he spat the words in Aether's direction.

"We haven't attacked in months. Not since the night we found her." Aether's voice was deadly calm.

Laryk's lip curled. "You want an alliance, yet you continue to lie."

I turned to Aether, but his expression mirrored my confusion.

"The last one was quite horrific." Laryk's voice dropped lower. "Different than your normal game of shadows. An entire settlement wiped out, throats slit, drained of blood, their bodies left coating the ground. Civilians ."

The realization hit me like a physical blow. Draxon's soldiers. Valkan hadn't been lying. They had been here.

Aether's jaw went rigid as our eyes met in silent understanding.

"That wasn't us." His voice was a low rumble.

"Valkan—a disgraced Lord. He led an army of rebels who sought to end this war themselves, by any means necessary," I said. "He does not represent the views of the rest of Umbrathia."

"A brutal massacre, nonetheless." Laryk's hand tightened on his dagger, his eyes never leaving Aether. "Committed by monsters from your realm."

"They're taken care of." Aether took a dangerous step forward. "Their leader is gone."

"Convenient." Laryk matched his advance.

Shadows deepened beneath Aether's skin. "I killed him."

"And I'm supposed to take your word for it?"

"He did it to save me." The words rushed out before I could stop them.

"To save you?" Something changed in Laryk's voice as his eyes swept over me, falling on my neck. His gaze caught on the scars beneath Narissa's fresh burns—evidence of Valkan's torture still etched into my skin .

Something cracked in his expression before rage flooded his features. He whirled on Aether. "You let this happen to her?" The words came out as a snarl, his knuckles white around the dagger's hilt.

The accusation struck Aether and I could see him physically recoil as his golden eyes fell to the floor.

"Laryk." I moved between them again. "It's not his fault. And we are running out of time. You don't have to worry about Valkan's men anymore. We will take care of them. And if you agree to work with us, there will be no more attacks. You have my word."

Laryk sighed, turning to grip the edge of his desk. "Even if I wanted to believe you, you can hardly make promises for the actions of an entire realm. An entire army. You don't have that kind of authority."

For the first time, I felt the weight of my birthright settle over me like armor. "Yes. I do."

Confusion rippled across his face.

"She outranks our Generals." Aether's voice flowed past me, settling on Laryk.

"My father, the Kalfar I told you about?" I took a steadying breath. "He was the son of the ruling Queen."

Laryk simply blinked.

"I'm his heir." The words felt both strange and right on my tongue.

Aether moved to stand beside me. "She will inherit the throne of Umbrathia and become commander of the realm's forces. All of us answer to her, and her alone."

Laryk was stunned to silence, his gaze raking over me with a newfound respect that made me want to roll my eyes. Perhaps we should have led with that. The revelation seemed to shift something in him. He was a strategist, after all.

He paced the room, attention focused on nothing in particular as he rounded the desk, placing his palms down on the wooden surface.

"So, what exactly did you have in mind?" All emotion had drained from his tone, leaving behind the calculated General I'd come to know so well.

Relief washed over me, but I didn't hesitate. "We need to destabilize Sídhe from the inside out," I said, matching his tone. "The Guard is unaware of what's really happening. People need to see the truth, to be given the opportunity to decide for themselves—whether they will continue risking their lives for a King who has done nothing but lie to them."

"It's going to be difficult with such few allies on this side of the tear," Laryk pressed.

"There's more than you think," I countered, glancing at Aether. "A resistance already grows in Sídhe."

Laryk's brow raised.

“Both civilian and those within the Guard. People who have been able to see through the lies."

“Is that so?” he asked, tongue sliding over his teeth. “And who is the leader of this rebellion?”

“They’ll be in contact soon,” I said, “to strategize."

"The strategy is clear." Laryk shrugged. "Whispers are dangerous things after all. Especially now that the blood-oaths are destroyed."

I looked over to Aether, who simply nodded despite the skepticism in his eyes.

"Placing doubt in the right minds, taking advantage of the frustration that's already begun simmering throughout the factions." He laughed. "I control the deployments. I can keep them all here. If you're true to your word, and no attacks descend on our Western strongholds, that frustration could easily be bent to something stronger. Something sharper. "

He gestured around the room with his hands, almost flippantly.

"I can play my part—causing fractures in the foundations that hold this place together, turning loyal soldiers against the crown. That part will be simple—you can leave the specifics to me," he said, "It is, after all, my greatest gift. The art of manipulation."

I nodded, fighting back the hope now coursing through me.

"You can tell no one else. For my seeds of doubt to develop organically, you have to leave now, go back to Umbrathia, and wait for my signal."

"But Raine, Briar?—"

"You cannot tell them anything. Not only does it put them at risk of being named as traitors if things go badly…" He trailed off. "But you also have no idea who you can truly trust. I know they're your friends, but when it comes to matters such as this, you'd be surprised how fickle people can be."

A part of me wanted to fight back, to demand that they be told the truth, but something stopped me. I didn't want to doubt them, but what if he was right? I thought of Briar's odd behavior back in Luminaria—his possessiveness over Raine when it came to our friendship. And then I remembered how Raine hadn't kept my secret about private training with Laryk. Even if I thought I knew them, could I be sure of what they'd do in the face of their entire worlds being turned upside down?

Guilt gnawed at me.

Laryk paused, eyes fixed on something just over my shoulder for a few moments before his gaze slid to me, his emerald eyes growing deadly serious.

"You need to understand the gravity of what it means to overthrow a kingdom, Fia. It's not going to be easy. Difficult decisions will await all of us. But if we're going to prevail, we can never doubt one another. No matter what happens, you have to trust me. Trust that I'm doing what I must. "

I matched the intensity of his stare. "I do trust you."

Laryk stood then, taking a few slow steps around the desk until he was facing me. In the corner of my eye, I saw Aether shift closer, but he stopped himself from intervening.

Those emerald eyes settled on me again, something sad crossing them as he reached out and tucked a stray curl behind my ear. "But I want you to know that I'm not doing this to save a realm. I'm doing it because you asked me to. Because it's what you want."

His hand lingered on my jaw, his fingers trailing across my skin softly. The touch sent memories of shivers across me.

"I'll prove myself worthy of you."