Page 23 of Fate of Echoes and Embers (Heirs of Elydor #3)

MAREK

“You almost look respectable,” Kael said as we walked toward the Celestial Hall. I’d been given directions but still managed to lose myself in the vast corridors of the palace.

“I brought it.” I gestured toward my high-collared naval coat that every officer in the Thalassari fleet wore.

Its fitted tunic was adorned with silver embroidery reminiscent of cresting waves and a sash bore the Tidebreaker Fleet’s insignia.

“For this meeting alone. It’s not every day you find yourself in the Aetherian palace about to meet with a king.

” And then it occurred to me. “You, on the other hand, are the son of such a king. I forget the fact, oft-times.”

As we passed gleaming white columns that soared above us, Kael frowned. “My father is a very different king than Galfrid.”

“Meaning?”

He shot me a look, for pressing him, no doubt. “I was blinded by the fact that he was my father for too long.”

It was as much of a concession that Galfrid was the better king than Kael was likely to offer. That he served here, and no longer for his father and his own men, told me more than Kael’s words ever would.

“Too long, but not forever. I admire your courage. It could not have been an easy decision.”

Kael did not take compliments well. “One I’d not have made if it weren’t for Mev.”

Fair enough.

“As for women showing us the right path…” His sidelong gaze was not subtle. I thought back to what I’d said to Issa and would not regret it, even if speaking the words aloud did little to simplify our relationship.

We slowed, the hall where we were to meet the king apparently in front of us as evidenced by two guards standing in front of the tall doors where there were none at any other corridor.

“I’m not certain she will ever fully forgive me,” I said finally.

“Do you want her to?”

“Of course I?—”

“Don’t answer too quickly, Marek. If she forgives you, there is naught standing between you.” His eyes narrowed. “And Issa is no man’s paramour.”

Though it was an insult, it was well-deserved. I would think the same of anyone with my reputation.

“No,” I said. “She is not. As for what stands between us? Everything. Her mortality. The fact that this mission has never been attempted successfully. Most importantly…”

His brows lifted. “More important than her mortality and you facing your own? Do go on.”

I was about to brush off his question when Kael looked me in the eyes, dared me to dismiss him. I sometimes forgot he knew Issa, perhaps better than I did. They were friends and had been for some years. She was the only human he truly cared for, before Mev.

“I am in love with her,” I said, knowing it was no true revelation. “I’ve loved her almost from the moment we met.”

Kael didn’t laugh, as I expected him to, but he did study me at length before speaking.

“You’ve risked your life for your clan, for information, for gold.

And yet, the one thing that makes all that worth it, the one thing that might make you whole, you would turn away from out of fear?

” His lips pressed into a thin line. “You’re braver than that. ”

Was I? If I closed my eyes, I could see my mother’s hair floating in the water. If I reached out, I could feel it. Humans were braver than any immortal. They experienced the pain of losing loved ones and still carried on. I’d prefer to lose my own life than experience that again.

With those words, he gestured for the guard to open the doors.

The chamber was a breathtaking combination of elegance and power, a space that seemed suspended between the heavens and the earth. Towering columns of smooth, iridescent stone framed the vast room, their surfaces laced with glowing veins of Aetherian magic.

Above, the vaulted ceiling was open in places, revealing glimpses of swirling clouds and cascading waterfalls. A long, curved, white marble table stretched across the center of the chamber with cushioned chairs, embroidered with sigils of noble houses and ancient lineages.

The most striking of all… Issa.

She sat beside Mev, a vision in a gown clearly borrowed from her friend, the princess. Sky blue with billowing sleeves that turned to white near the edges, the bodice of her gown fit snugly enough that I needed no imagination to conjure what was beneath.

Most surprising of all? Her hair was down, in waves behind her back. She looked entirely different, just as beautiful as before, but… different. Staring at her, I nearly forgot to bow to the king. Thankfully, I remembered my manners and did so, King Galfrid bidding me to stand immediately.

His long white hair and blue eyes were not unique to Aetherian men, but Galfrid’s presence was very much so. He struck equal measure of fear and awe in most who met him, a true leader of a proud people.

“Captain Marek of Thalassaria.” The king gestured for me to sit beside Issa as Kael sat on her other side, next to Mev. “It is my pleasure to introduce Lyra of Aetheria, a former member of the Gate Council and advisor to myself and my daughter.”

“My lady,” I said, knowing she was also of noble birth, her parents a preeminent family in Aetheria. Her eyes were as piercing a blue as the king’s, her long silver hair and graceful movements not surprising given her station. She inclined her head as the king turned to the one beside him.

“And this is Commander Eirion, a former general of the Aetherian forces, once the Council’s enforcer and now my closest advisor.”

A brilliant mind and fierce warrior, all in Elydor knew of Eirion, who also inclined his head, though less deeply than Lyra. He mistrusted me, and I could not blame him. We might both serve our clans, but the commander and I were as nearly different as a native Elydorian and a human.

“It is my pleasure to meet you both.”

“The pleasure is ours,” the king replied, gesturing for the cup bearer to fill the goblet before me before he left the chamber. “I understand you have volunteered to retrieve our most sacred artifact from the Maelstrom Depths, if indeed Balthor has somehow managed to hide it there.”

“I have, your majesty.”

“Why?”

His bluntness didn’t surprise me, the king’s reputation preceding him.

“Queen Nerys is a friend,” I said. “And now my liege.”

“He is a most skilled Navarch,” Mev cut in. “Nerys believes Marek is uniquely qualified to enter the Depths and survive them.”

The king remained skeptical. “Yet you still volunteered for this mission.”

He knew as much already, the king’s statement less a question than a thought spoken aloud. I wanted to drain the goblet in front of me but didn’t dare touch it before King Galfrid took a sip of his own. My mother may have unknowingly raised a smuggler, but she’d taught me proper decorum too.

“So you risk your immortal life because Queen Nerys… is a friend?”

I respected that the king would have me doing this for the right reasons, but I would not lie to him.

“I believe in the human cause, in their rights as Elydorians. I believe the Gate should not have trapped some here unwittingly. I also wish for Mev to be reunited with her mother. But aye, your majesty, my primary reason is because Nerys wished it and, as I said, she is a good friend of mine. Has been for many years.”

The king sat back, as if taking it all in. I chanced a glance at Issa, who sat wide-eyed beside me. By the tides, the woman was lovely.

“You are a loyal friend, Captain Marek.”

“I like to believe so, your majesty.”

“We are lucky it is so as there are few, if any, who would dare such a feat. A toast, to the bravery of Captain Marek of Thalassar,” he said, using the more ancient term for my clan.

You’re braver than that.

I lifted my goblet along with the others, Kael’s words coming back to me.

Drinking deeply, I considered them, knowing he was right. If I could face death for the sake of a friend, could I not face the inevitable loss that would come with loving Issa?

I looked at her, wondered what she was thinking.

Wondering, after everything, if I did survive… would she even have me?