Page 37 of Fate of Echoes and Embers (Heirs of Elydor #3)

ISSA

I opened the door. Sure enough, Master Aeolis stood there, waiting for me, as he’d instructed.

I hesitated. Though the garment I’d been given fit perfectly, it was unlike anything I’d ever worn before.

Form-fitting breeches, soft, knee-high boots, and a teal fitted tunic with silver thread in wave patterns were capped off with a wide, leather belt, adorned with pearlescent inlays.

“I look Thalassari,” I said, realizing I did so aloud when Aeolis grinned.

“You would not be the only human in the palace to do so,” he said.

I pulled the door of my chamber closed. “A human king of Thalassaria. I never thought to see such in my lifetime.”

As we made our way through the corridors, water flowed everywhere. Beside the walkways, cascading waterfalls like the one in my bedchamber were oddly comforting.

“Times are changing,” Aeolis said. “More believe in the human cause than cling to the old ways.”

“I’m glad to hear you say as much,” I admitted. If only Hawthorne bordered these lands and not those whose king continued to poison his people with hate.

“A meal will be delivered to Captain Marek’s quarters,” he said, stopping before one of countless chamber doors.

I glanced at the guard.

“The queen is inside,” Aeolis explained. “She may enter,” he said to the guard. “On orders from the captain.”

With a nod, the guard opened Marek’s door. I stepped through, thanking Aeolis.

At first, I didn’t see them. Realizing Marek and the queen sat on the balcony, similar to the one in my chamber, I made my way to it, stopping at my first glimpse of Nerys.

She sat on a wrought-iron chair in a gown of teal and silver, sheer in parts and as beautiful as the woman herself.

Mesmerized as she looked up at me, I nearly forgot that she wasn’t alone until Marek came into view.

He looked… magnificent. Official, much as he had in Aetheria.

Marek stood as I made my way to the door. A small shiver ran up me at his appreciative perusal, from my head down to my toes.

“Lady Isolde,” Nerys said before also standing and holding her arms open to me. I was about to curtsy when the queen pulled me into an embrace.

“Thank you,” she said, squeezing me. “From the very bottom of my heart and soul, thank you for what you’ve done for my friend and for Elydor. It was so very brave.”

It was like being embraced by a long-lost friend and not royalty.

When Nerys let go, smiling at me, she indicated I should sit between them.

Though Marek’s chamber was smaller than the one I’d been given, his expansive balcony was positioned at the corner of the palace with views of both the sea, to our left, and the palace grounds to our right.

I wanted to obey the queen, but was drawn to the balcony railing.

“It is so… beautiful.”

“Marek, ever demanding, chose this view for himself. But if I accept his resignation, I am unsure I can justify reserving this chamber for him.”

Resignation? I spun toward Marek, whose steady gaze confirmed the queen’s words.

Sitting, I addressed the queen. “Forgive me, your?—”

“Oh no, there are no formalities between us. Nerys, if you please.”

“Forgive me, Nerys, but I was not aware of a… resignation.”

“Marek?” Her reproachful tone made me smile.

I pushed my own chair back so that I may see both Marek to my left and Nerys to my right. Inhaling deeply, the salt air as calming as the distant sound of gulls over the water, I waited impatiently. Why had he not mentioned this to me?

“I would serve Nerys in a less official capacity,” he said. “As Navarch of the Tidebreaker Fleet, I am often required on long missions and many days at sea.”

“I see.” Though I didn’t. Beyond the hammering of my heart, I couldn’t think straight.

“You two have much to discuss,” Nerys said, standing once again as I made to do the same. “Sit. I will see myself out. Lady Isolde?—”

“Issa,” I said, offering her the same informality as she did to me.

“Issa, it has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I know you are anxious to return to Hawthorne Manor, but I would request you break your fast with us in the morn so that I might introduce you to Rowan, who is away from the palace right now.”

“Of course. It would be my honor.”

“Thank you again for keeping my friend alive. Despite myself, I am quite fond of him. As it seems you are too.”

How much had he told her?

“At times,” I responded, to which Nerys laughed, making her way back inside.

“Oh.” She turned back toward us. “I am sending a fleet along with you to Hawthorne. Though I have confidence King Galfrid’s men can secure your home against the usurper, Lord Draven, they are Aetherian, after all, and all of Elydor knows Thalassari warriors are superior.”

“That is very gracious of you.”

“It is the least that I can do. Issa. Marek.” With that, she sauntered back inside, the very height of elegance and grace.

“There is a meal inside for you,” she called back. “When you are ready.”

My stomach responded to her words. We’d eaten very little of substance these past few days. But I was interested in something more than food at that moment.

“You look beautiful,” Marek said, before I could ask the obvious question.

“Thank you. I would repay the compliment. You are every bit the dashing Thalassari Navarch this eve. A role you will be giving up?”

“With the role comes many responsibilities,” he said.

“I took it because it was my mother’s dream, for me to rise through the ranks.

I never desired fame or riches, though. Freedom,” he said, “is worth more than coin to me. Sailing with you reminded me of earlier days when I had no crew to command. Exploring, letting the wind take me…”

He let his words hang there, and I understood the deeper meaning.

“It is different for me,” I said finally. “If left to its own devices, Hawthorne would fall into the hands of Gyorians who still resent that land being taken from them.”

“That land was King Galfrid’s to give when he first opened the Gate.”

“I would agree but many Gyorians would not. Prince Terran?—”

“Can rot in the Depths. He is becoming more like his father every day. It’s a wonder Kael was able to get out from Balthor’s grip on a bitterness that has infected his people for too long.”

A conversation of Elydorian politics only masked the deeper discussion. One I was not yet prepared to have. Marek’s resignation was surprising, but as I said, our circumstances were not the same.

“Shall we eat?”

I could tell the question disappointed him, but Marek did not press the issue. Instead, he rose and held his hand out to me.

I took it, falling easily into his arms for a kiss that was sweeter and softer than most others, one touched by the breeze and blessed by Thalassa, who must surely be out there, looking after us, Marek and I having survived such an ordeal.

A kiss that felt a bit too much like goodbye, the talk of his future a reminder that our paths were anything but intersecting.