Page 31

Chapter 30

Callan

"I ’m going to win,” Scarlett announced, bouncing on her toes in the yard.

“Not everything is a competition, Love,” Sorin sighed, rubbing at his temples as if he had a headache.

“Don’t be stupid,” Eliza retorted. “Of course everything is a competition.”

“In that case, I am going to win,” Razik drawled lazily.

“I will do anything and everything in my power to make sure that is not the case,” Eliza spat back.

Razik’s gaze shifted to her, a half-grin forming that was sure to rile the general. “Anything?”

Callan choked on a laugh at the colorful words that came from Eliza’s mouth while Razik’s grin became a full one, a clear challenge alighting in his eyes.

“They are a riveting group,” Hale said from a few feet away, observing all the Fae and Avonleyans gathered about.

“I often marvel at the fact that they are the leaders of such powerful Courts and Kingdoms,” Callan said, watching Scarlett and Prince Azrael bicker about where the starting point should be.

They were all gathered at Hale Coventry’s estate around the huge hedge maze. Everyone outside of Rayner, who was with Tula, and Kailia, who was presumably watching Rayner. Hale had had the maze modi?ed over the past few days, just as he’d said he would. It had been brought up at dinner this evening, immediately intriguing the queen, and now here they all stood outside the maze as the sun was setting. At some point after they’d arrived, it had become a competition as to who would reach the center ?rst.

“No magic,” Cassius was saying. “That’s an unfair advantage over the mortals.”

“And those of us who cannot get airborne,” Auberon agreed.

“There are four entrance points,” Azrael said. “We draw to see who starts from which spot.”

“Azzy, I did not know you were so competitive,” Scarlett said, batting her lashes at him.

“Fae are naturally competitive,” he retorted. “It is in our being.”

“What is the prize for winning this thing?” Sawyer asked.

“It needs to be something good,” Cyrus agreed. “Maybe a super special mirror .”

Sawyer’s eyes narrowed on the Second, and Callan had no idea what that was about.

“Do we really need something other than bragging rights?” Sorin asked.

“Yes!” rang out from so many people, Callan couldn’t decipher who had all shouted the word.

A minute later, Azrael was walking towards them with what appeared to be stems in his ?st. He held the bunch out to them. “A ?ower will bloom when you draw,” he explained. “Whichever color blooms determines which entry point you use.”

“Did they decide on a prize?” Drake asked, reaching out and taking a stem. A blue ?ower immediately opened at the end.

Azrael looked back at the group of Fae engaged in a heated discussion. “It appears that is still being discussed.”

Callan took a stem, the ?ower blooming red, and Hale took the next, his blooming purple. Azrael extended the stems to Tava, who had quietly been standing next to her brother, but she held up a hand, taking a step back. “Thank you, but I think I will pass, Prince Azrael.”

Azrael shrugged, moving on to the others.

Hale turned to Tava. “You do not wish to see the maze?”

“It seems overwhelming, your Majesty,” she replied, her cheeks coloring as she looked at the ground.

“You may still call me Hale,” he said warmly.

“That was before I knew you were a king. I could not possibly,” she replied, her head shaking in refusal.

“You could. I insist,” Hale said. “I also insist you try the hedge maze. I swear to you, you will not get lost, especially with so many of us in the maze tonight. And now we are all on even footing.”

“I know that was my reasoning before, and I am sorry you went through all this trouble—”

“There is no trading ?owers!” Scarlett cried, her voice carrying over to them. “That defeats the entire purpose of drawing them!”

“By the gods. This is madness,” Drake muttered.

“Yes,” Tava mused. “One would think centuries old beings would not be so...”

“Childish?” Callan supplied, as Scarlett and Cyrus began to squabble again.

A laugh bubbled from her lips. “Yes. I do believe that is the perfect word.”

She met his gaze for a moment before her eyes darted away again, but for that brief moment, the impending night hadn’t seemed so dark.

Hale was waving Azrael back over, two stems left in his ?st. “Just take one,” he said to Tava. “If you change your mind, then you have it.”

“If you insist,” she said with a polite smile. She reached out, plucking one of the stems, and a purple ?ower immediately bloomed.

“There. See,” Hale said, nodding at the ?ower that matched his. “Now I can personally ensure you do not get left alone within the maze.” When she still looked hesitant, he teased, “You just sailed across the Edria Sea, and you are fearful of a maze? I thought you were more adventurous.”

If he only knew what kind of adventures the Lady got into back in Baylorin, he would not be teasing her. Sneaking out to the slums and getting them necessities in the dead of night. She might be pure light, but she wasn’t afraid of the dark by any means.

“I am not fearful of it,” she chided. “I simply wish to casually wander the maze, not partake in a competition to win... whatever the prize is.”

“A sword,” Commander Tybalt announced. He had been standing off to the side, observing the melee with amusement. Callan had met the Commander at dinner. He had been different from what he’d expected, warmer and more welcoming than his adopted son, but there was no doubt that if trouble found him, that calm exterior facade would shatter instantly. The fact that he was related to Razik, and apparently Cassius, only served to confirm that fact. He had never seen Razik use his magic, but he’d heard what -Cassius had done during the battle with the seraphs, and he’d never accessed his magic before. He could only imagine what his father and cousin could do with centuries of training.

There was a burst of dark ?ames from which the Commander drew a sword, and it was a sword unlike Callan had ever seen. The blade was a deep shade of blue, the hilt silver with a sapphire the color of the blade embedded in it.

“What kind of material is that?” Sorin asked, stepping closer. All the magic-wielders were ?xated on the weapon as if they were about to brawl over it here and now.

“Material not found here,” Tybalt replied, balancing the sword on both palms and holding it up for them to inspect. “It was brought from another realm eons ago.” In a blink, the hilt was in his hand, and he slashed it through the air, black ?ames igniting down the blade.

“It is like the spirit sword,” Eliza said, jaw dropping open.

“It is a spirit sword,” Tybalt replied with a smile.

“How many are there?” Scarlett asked.

“What do you care? You already have one,” Cyrus said, eyeing the sword. “In fact, you should be disquali?ed. Who needs two spirit swords?”

“What? No!” Scarlett cried in outrage.

“He has a point,” Azrael cut in.

“I will show you my point,” Scarlett growled, shadows twisting into snakes at her feet.

“Love,” Sorin sighed, a hand coming to her back.

“Do not Love me,” she snapped, jerking away from him. “I’m still mad at you.”

Sorin tipped his head to the darkening sky as though he was asking the gods for patience.

“Whoever makes it to the center ?rst wins the sword,” Tybalt said. “Seems fair and simple enough.”

“No magic. No Traveling or portals. Feet must remain on the ground at all times, which means no climbing the hedges to see from the top,” Cethin said, looking at Razik as if this had been an issue in the past. “With the Ash Riders absent, we do not need to set speci?c rules for them. Anyone have any objections or additional rules that need to be discussed?”

“I will patrol for anyone who tries to get creative,” Tybalt said. “Get organized at your starting points. I will place the sword and be back to signal the start.”

He disappeared a moment later. Scarlett threw a handful of white ?ames into the air, and they hovered above the maze, illuminating the area as the sky got darker. Azrael started directing towards starting points, calling out ?ower colors.

“What shall it be, Tava?” Hale asked, extending his elbow in her direction. “We do not need to throw our lot in for that sword. We can simply wander the maze. The longest I have ever been lost is three days, but I do not think that should be an issue with so many others inside.”

“Three days?” Tava gasped, a hand ?uttering to her chest.

“I jest, Tava,” Hale said with a chuckle. “Tybalt will make sure none of us gets stranded within.”

Callan watched as she glanced quickly at Drake before linking her arm with his. “If you insist,” she said with a small laugh.

“Solgard.”

Callan turned at the sound of his name, ?nding Prince Azrael by the south entrance, a red ?ower in his hand. He sighed, moving in his direction as Tava and Hale disappeared around a corner. A moment later, there was a burst of black ?ame that signaled the start of the apparent race. Azrael, Cethin, and Sawyer took off at sprints into the maze, and Callan ventured in himself at a much slower pace.

He was so godsdamn tired. He was sleep deprived, unable to get more than an hour of sleep at any given moment before waking to memories of Finn and Sloan. They weren’t even always memories of their deaths. Just memories of training together. Their friendship. The normalcy it all once was.

Or memories of his parents. Of time spent at one of their private estates, just their family and personal guards. Of his mother telling him stories when he was younger. Of his father taking him riding and teaching him to hunt.

Of Alaric slitting their throats.

All these years spent preparing him to take the throne, but no one ever prepared him for this. He’d been taught how to strategize and plan for battles. He’d been taught proper manners and the history of his kingdom. He’d been taught politics and the art of negotiation. He’d been taught numerous dances and artful fencing and what type of nobility would make a partner suitable enough to be queen. Why hadn’t anyone taught him how to deal with this?

Why hadn’t anyone taught him how to manage grief when your loved ones were murdered in front of your eyes? Why hadn’t anyone prepared him for the possibility of having to raise his younger sister? Why hadn’t anyone prepared him to make the hard call of staying and dying or abandoning your people to go get help? Why hadn’t anyone prepared him for godsdamn real life?

A streak of silver hair raced past the intersecting paths he was coming up on, laughter tumbling from the queen’s lips as she took a corner at speed.

And for the briefest of moments, Callan envied her and her upbringing.

How much of a mess had his life become that he was envying being raised by an Assassin Lord, taught to take and kill, instead of being raised in the comfort of a castle?

He was so tired of all of it.

He’d been wandering around the maze for at least twenty minutes when voices carried to him. They must have been directly on the other side of the hedges.

“Have you traveled much among the continent?”

“No,” Tava answered. “I rarely left Baylorin. My father was rather protective.”

It was subtle, but Callan could hear the in?ection in her voice when she said “father” and “protective”. As if the words were questions rather than part of her explanation.

“Going to the Black Halls was the ?rst time I had ever left Windonelle,” Tava continued.

“And here you are. Across the Edria Sea,” Hale replied. “How are you liking Avonleya?”

“I have not seen much of it,” Tava answered. “Other than the trip from the docks when we ?rst arrived.”

“Well, that will not do. You ?nally get a chance to see some of the world, and you are sequestered away to estates.”

“I suppose that is the nature of my position.”

Callan halted. He hadn’t realized he’d been moving along beside them on this side of the hedges.

“It would be my pleasure to take you into Aimonway in the next day or two. Let you see some of the city,” Hale was saying, his voice getting farther away as they continued on.

“That sounds lovely,” Tava said. “As long as Lynnea is provided help in my absence.”

“You enjoy being with the children each day?”

“I do not mind it,” Tava answered. “It is a place where I can contribute and help. One less thing for the others to worry about. Or at least I hope that is the case.”

Callan hurried to catch back up to them as they moved farther down the path. He had been trying to spend at least a few hours at the Coventry Estate each day and helping where he could. But he was also training intensely with Eliza for a few hours every day, attending various meetings, and getting updates from the others. Tava, however, was normally there before the sun was up and stayed until she returned to get ready for dinner. Rarely did she attend any meetings anymore, and it never failed to bother Callan some. She should be there. She had insights that they tended to gloss over or not even see. She was just as valuable to those meetings as the rest of them.

“You seem close with Princess Eva,” Hale said.

“Perhaps too close,” Tava said. “Perhaps I have overstepped in that area, but I know what it is to grow up without a mother. I know what it is to have a father or brother trying their hardest but wishing you had a mother to talk to. I do not wish to replace her mother, and Callan is wonderful and is doing the best he can. I just... want her to know she has someone else.”

“And Callan?”

There was a pause in their conversation, and Callan found himself holding his breath.

“What of him?” Tava asked.

“Princess Eva seems to think you will marry him.”

Another pause, and gods, Callan wished he could see her face. He would know where to look, what little tells to watch for as she answered.

“I can understand why she would think that,” Tava said slowly. “It is all quite complicated for something that should, to be frank, be so simple.”

“That can be said of many things in life,” Hale replied.

“Indeed it can.”

Their voices trailed off as they continued on whatever path they were wandering. Callan, however, found himself at a dead end, unable to follow, and wasn’t that godsdamn poetic?

“Are you sure she didn’t cheat?” Razik grumbled, his eyes ?xed on Eliza as she slashed the spirit sword she had won through the air, her orange ?ames swirling around the blade and arcing with the swing.

“You know she didn’t, Razik,” Commander Tybalt said sternly, eyes narrowed on his nephew.

“You are just upset she beat you to it by mere seconds,” Cethin said with a dark chuckle, slapping Razik on the back as he made his way over to the Fae princes.

They had all eventually found their way to the center, which housed a large fountain with several benches surrounding it. Callan had been sure he would be the last to arrive, immediately spotting Hale and Tava seated on a bench across the clearing when he found the center, but to his surprise, it was Sorin and Scarlett. Who arrived together. Smirking like fools.

Apparently after Eliza made it known she had won the sword with her celebratory ?re into the sky, the king and queen had found another prize to claim, ending whatever feud they’d been having.

Cassius was taking a turn with the sword, Cyrus standing nearby speaking with Auberon, but his eyes kept darting to the Queen’s Hand. Razik stalked off towards them. He was about to turn and ask Drake if he was ready to go back to the other estate where they were staying, when Scarlett appeared at his side, making Callan nearly jump out of his skin. He hated when she did that.

“Drake, I was hoping to speak with you and Tava.”

Drake’s brows rose. “Sure. Of course.”

“I know it is late. I meant to speak with you after dinner, but then the maze and well...” She was aimlessly braiding her hair as she spoke, and she shrugged as she trailed off. “I thought we could all use some fun amid the chaos.”

“Let me get Tava,” Drake said, looking for his sister.

“This cannot wait until morning?” Callan asked.

“You do not need to attend, Callan,” she replied, tying off the end of her braid. “But I think this is something Drake and Tava would prefer to learn privately and not around a breakfast table or in a council room full of others.”

Drake reappeared with Tava, curiosity sparking in her turquoise eyes. A little later, Scarlett was Traveling a small group of them back to the estate and directly into the sitting room of her suite. She immediately bent down to remove her boots, Sorin snagging them and moving them to a spot beside the door. Cassius and Cyrus had joined them as well, and Callan’s interest was more than piqued at this point.

They were all settling into armchairs and onto the sofas when Scarlett approached with a book in her hand. She perched on the arm of the chair Sorin had settled in, his arm instantly sliding around her waist.

“Before we start,” Cyrus said, “I just need to clarify. You agree with Cassius on this?”

Scarlett rolled her eyes. “For the hundredth time, Cyrus, yes. I agree with Cassius.”

Cyrus crossed his arms, a look of dismay on his face, but he didn’t say anything else. Scarlett’s attention shifted to the Tyndell children, who occupied a sofa to her right, while Callan was seated in another armchair. “This is going to be a shock for you two,” she said bluntly.

“At this point, I would expect nothing less,” Tava said, her feet tucked up under her as she leaned into her brother’s side.

“That is a fair point,” Scarlett agreed. “But this... Well, just look.”

She opened the book to a page she had marked with a piece of parchment and held it out to the siblings. Callan couldn’t see what they were looking at, but Drake went utterly still and Tava’s face drained of all color.

“What is this?” Tava whispered, her hands shaking as she reached for the book.

“A book of mortal bloodlines,” Scarlett said, her voice quiet and sympathetic.

“But why is this drawing in here?” Drake asked, sounding hoarse as Tava drew the book to them, placing it in their laps. The siblings both leaned over it, Tava’s ?nger tracing over something Callan could not see.

“That was the last Queen of Rydeon,” Sorin said. “Cyrus and Cassius found this book earlier today in the library. We believe she is of some relation to you, for obvious reasons.”

“Are you saying they are related to the Rydeon royal line?” Callan asked, moving to the edge of his chair to try to get a better look at the book.

“It would certainly appear that way,” Sorin answered.

“What was your mother’s name?” Cyrus asked.

Drake looked up while Tava continued to run her ?nger along the page. Drake was shaking his head, his lips pressed into a thin line, clear denial in his eyes. “No. There has to be some other explanation for this.”

“There might be,” Scarlett answered. “But as of right now, that does not appear to be the case.”

“What was her name?” Cassius asked again, more gently than Cyrus had.

“Octavia,” Tava whispered. “Our mother’s name was Octavia Tyndell.”

“That is not a coincidence,” Cyrus said, sitting back on the sofa, an arm spreading across the back behind Cassius.

“The last queen died before Tava was born,” Cassius said. The exasperation in his voice told Callan this had been discussed several times already.

“That we know of,” Cyrus countered.

“We thought she might have been a sister of your mother’s or some other close relation,” Scarlett said. “But if her name was Octavia...”

“This is not possible,” Drake said harshly. “Our mother died of a wasting disease shortly after Tava was born.”

“The Middell Family supposedly died of the same,” Tava said softly, her eyes glued to the book.

“The last Rydeon king had a son who also died when the queen died,” Drake retorted, and Callan was certain he had never heard him speak to Tava like that. “There was no Rydeon princess.”

“I do not see another reasonable explanation, Drake,” Tava said calmly, turning the page to read.

“Tava. There is another explanation,” he snapped.

Her eyes ?ashed up, connecting with her brother’s. “Are you telling me you know something of our mother I do not?”

“No, that is not what I am saying,” Drake said. “But if there is not another explanation, then you are— And I am—”

“Well,” Tava said, snapping the book shut and pushing to her bare feet. “I do believe the only person who could give us another explanation has been pretending to be our father for the last -twenty-some odd years.”

“We can keep looking into it,” Sorin said. “We can speak with Cethin. See if he knows of any other records we can compare those to.”

“I would like to assist with that research,” she said, hugging the book to her chest.

“Of course you can, Tava,” Scarlett said gently.

“I need a moment. Excuse me, please.”

They all watched as she hurried from the room, Drake moving to follow, but Callan was already up and striding to the door. “I willgo.”

“I do not think that is the best idea,” Drake said, reaching his side. His voice dropped low. The others shouldn’t have been able to hear him, but with their damn enhanced hearing, they would. “She told me of your conversation.”

That didn’t surprise Callan. The siblings were close, and who else did she really have here? She and Scarlett were friends, but Tava had said before they were not close, especially with Scarlett constantly being pulled into meetings or off risking her life.

“You are both reeling after some unsettling news,” Callan replied. “You are both upset. Let me go talk to her.”

“If she tells you to go...” Drake warned.

“I will do as she wishes,” Callan agreed.

Drake nodded once, and Callan slipped out the door before he changed his mind. He went down three doors, stopping at hers and knocking softly, hoping this is where she had gone. If she went anywhere else inside or outside the manor, it would take some time to track her down.

“Tava?”

There was movement on the other side that told him she was there, and a moment later the door opened a small amount. She still wore her dress, but her hair was down and ?owing over her shoulders. Her face was ?ushed, and she had de?nitely been crying.

“May I come in?” he asked.

He thought she was going to argue, to tell him no, but then her shoulders curled inward and she pulled the door open, turning and retreating back into the room. It was the same layout as his, large and spacious. A sofa and armchairs before a hearth. A small table and chairs were along another wall. A door at the back leading to a bedchamber.

Tava moved to stand in front of the sofa, hugging herself tightly. “What can I do for you?”

Callan shoved all the awkwardness of what they had become aside before he could think about it, and in a few long strides, he was before her and pulling her into his chest. She stiffened for the briefest of moments before melting against him, her face burrowing into his tunic. He stroked her hair as he slowly lowered them onto the sofa, not saying anything. The book was lying open on the cushion beside them, a drawing of a woman who looked nearly identical to Tava staring back at him.

“This is incredibly embarrassing,” she murmured after several minutes, her words muf?ed as she spoke into his chest. She pushed back, wiping at her face. “I apologize.”

Callan blinked at her. “There is nothing to apologize for, Tava. Anyone would be feeling numerous things at learning what you did tonight.”

“Yes, well,” she started, smoothing her hands down the skirt of her dress. She cleared her throat. “This is inappropriate behavior for a Lady and even more inappropriate behavior for royalty, if that is indeed what I am.”

“I thought we agreed a long time ago that we were past such formalities?” He reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear, but she leaned away from him, and his hand fell back to his side.

“That was before,” she said faintly. “Before everything changed in that throne room. Before our talk on the ship. I am not yours to worry about anymore.”

Callan swallowed thickly. “I know things between us are unknown right now, Tava, but that does not mean I do not care. That does not mean I will not be here if you need me.”

She reached for her throat, for an amulet that no longer sat there, before her hand fell back to her lap. “Do you know that when I sleep at night, I see you?” And, gods, the knife in his chest twisted in a little farther. “I see you on your knees as Alaric slowly drains the life from you. I know I should be haunted by the murders, by the violence that took your parents and Finn and Sloan, but I’m not.” Her voice broke in a small cry. “I do not sleep because I see you dying before me when I close my eyes, and you have not been here for any of that, Callan.”

She moved to stand, but Callan caught her hand, keeping her on the sofa. “I am sorry, Tava. I—”

“I am not seeking your apology,” she interrupted. “You are going through things just as horri?c. More than horri?c. I am not sel?sh enough to demand something of you when you are processing your own grief. I just cannot have an in-between, Callan. I cannot handle being able to depend on you for some things and not others. I cannot handle only having you when you allow me to.”

“Tava,” he breathed. “I did not know. I did not—”

“How could you know when you would not come around?” she asked, more tears spilling over. “And maybe I am sel?sh for wishing you would have come around more, but I waited. I told you I wouldn’t wait, but I had been. I waited, trying to give you space and time, trying to help with Eva, trying to do and be what you needed. But the waiting hurts, Callan. It hurts, and I wish I were strong enough to endure it. I wish we did not have to leave things the way we did on that ship, but it seemed like the fastest way to end the hurt.”

She was speaking so fast, nearly in hysterics, more and more tears coursing down her face. Her eyes were wide and full of the pain she was speaking of, and Callan had never seen her like this. He had seen her bright and full of light. He had seen her frustrated and irritated. He had seen her so upset she had thrown a teacup and shattered it against a wall. But he had never seen her so raw and inconsolable.

That entire conversation on that ship had new meaning, and he should have seen it then. He should have seen the double meanings in her words, what she was truly trying to tell him. Another failure to add to the list as of late.

But right now, he would not fail at this. He pulled her back into him, and when she tried to resist, he held her tighter, dragging her right into his lap. She settled against him, her entire body shaking with her sobs, and he was fairly certain this was the ?rst time she had cried since that throne room. She’d held herself together, trying to be what everyone else needed her to be, trying to be what she thought he needed her to be.

He didn’t know how long he held her until she fell asleep. What he did know as he stirred the next morning, Tava still in his arms on that sofa, was that it was the ?rst night he had slept for longer than a few hours at a time.

The sound of movement had his eyes ?ying open to ?nd Drake asleep in Tava’s bed, and he had no idea when he had come into the room. Drake shifted in his sleep again before falling still once more, and Callan worked to keep his breathing slow and even, not wanting to wake Tava.

The book still lay open across the sofa, turned to the page of the drawing of Octavia Middell. The Tyndell siblings could try to deny it all they wanted, but as he stared at that picture, there was little doubt in Callan’s mind that he was holding the Princess of Rydeon in his arms.

The real question was how had they gotten there, and why had Lord Tyndell saved them?