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thirty-one

Ereon

“ R eports from Midaeliea, Prince Ereon.” A young messenger comes running up to me, his teeth chattering with the cold.

“What of Antalis?” I ask him, looking down at the map in front of me on the dark table inside the council tent.

“I gave Ambassador Thylas the correspondence from Antalis.” He looks around nervously, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “Should I have brought it to you first?”

If I were my father the answer is a resounding yes. I’m not him, though, so I’ll let the boy keep his head, a blessing my father wouldn’t have given, no matter his age. “No, you may go.” I wave my hand at the boy and he bows before leaving the tent.

Thylas will be here soon and hopefully will report how things are in the kingdom by the sea. The tension between us is noticeable to everyone, I’m sure. Almost worse than when we left Antalis. I thought we had come to an understanding and, in a way we had, before she woke up. Now I watch him. If he isn’t looking at Carnaxa with longing, he’s spending time with Anara. I grind my teeth, because Anara is still avoiding me. Even when we were all out in the snow. I tried to pull her away from the others so she would talk to me. She is refusing to be left alone in my presence; I watched as her eyes slid to Thylas and then he told her Carnaxa requested her presence. Maybe she did, but it seemed like a way to get leave without talking to me — and he helped her.

But after everything Anara and I have been through, the way my heart felt towards her the first time I saw her … I need to talk to her. I don’t care what my father said, she should know better than anyone. He is the last person I would trust.

I stand up and stretch my back. I don’t know how we will ever be able to help everyone who needs aid, all while still figuring out the personal mess we are all in.

“The King is sick.” Thylas comes bursting through the tent’s door. He’s chosen to wear his Antalian armor since arriving at the base of the mountain range. It’s a good idea, and I should change into the cold metal too, but for now, the furs are warmer. He’s shaved recently, which is interesting considering he almost had a beard as full as mine. Maybe Anara is a better friend to him than I thought, and for that I’m thankful.

“Which king? There are several on Ashonera.” I turn to him, praying to the Goddess or even Ra Syam that he means my father. But I notice the letter in his hand, the gold seal with a trident in the middle. No.

“Clennom. He’s come down with the deluc,” Thylas says, his face now pale.

“How bad is it?” This will gut Carnaxa. Thylas sits down in the chair in front of the table, rubbing his head between his hands before he looks up at me and just hands me the letter. I let my eyes glance over it quickly. “Fuck!” I throw the letter across the room. Healers report they don’t expect him to live much longer than two, maybe three moon cycles if they don’t find a cure. Most of Antalis is gone now, thanks to the deluc — their bodies carried away by the sea.

“Who knows?” I ask him.

“Just us, I hope. I have told no one else yet.” He runs a hand over his face and moves the stray strands.

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Don’t, not yet. You can tell Rhenor, but no one else. We will have to tell Ryehro —” I cut off myself off as he jerks his head at the slip of my name for her. “Carnaxa.”

Someone will need to inform her, but in her current state — who knows how the message will be received. I just hope the message was only sent to me, and not to Shaston as well. I don’ t need my father hearing of King Clemmon’s illness, and I pray he hasn’t already. I just need to gather the men from here and send them south to see if they can help Midaeliea and Antalis, with or without his approval. The sigil of the other letter the young boy delivered catches my attention, fitting considering I was just thinking of the Kingdom of Midaeliea. I tear it open. Well, if things can’t get much worse for the Northern Continent ...

“The khind are now raging inside Midaeliea. Queen Natala and King Elino have sent most of their people to hide in the forest that surrounds them. They built their houses high and are hopefully protected enough.” The first time I saw the tree houses, I was astonished. They make the living spaces into the trees themselves, building them as well as any castle elsewhere on the continent.

Thylas grabs the decanter of brown liquid from the corner of the desk, not even bothering with a glass as he takes two quick swigs. Silence falls heavily over us as we wait for the others to arrive. Everything that once was is gradually fading away, slipping from my grasp as I struggle to hold on. Sure, my life wasn’t great — Shaston wasn’t perfect — I would lie awake at night thinking if I had been born somewhere else I could have been happy. Now, those places are transforming into the same nightmare I grew up in.

I crack my neck and think of all the trouble that awaits us. I just hope the kukhe will remain in their ice prisons so we don’t find ourselves fighting on all fronts. However, with the reports I’ve received … I don’t think that’s what we will find. It’s why I’ve stalled our travels, trying to bide time to come up with a plan. And pe rhaps, we should abandon this journey and head to Antalis. A chill runs down my spine as I think of the kukhe . Their bodies are half-decayed and larger than any creature should be. No one truly knows what they are, but the stories that surround them are of death. Legends are told of once great men turned traitors and this is their punishment.

Thylas pulls another swig from the bottle before he looks at me and holds the drink out. “Is she okay?”

There’s no need for me to ask who he means. I confidently reach out and grab the bottle from his hand. As I take a swallow, the liquid burns down my throat, preparing me for the upcoming conversation. “She’s scared ... She says she remembers fragments, but nothing fully yet. She’ll come back to us, and to you.”

He nods his head. “ Ryehro is a fitting name — my moon. She looked happy today — truly happy — in the snow with you. I haven’t seen her smile like that in a long time.” He chuckles sadly to himself and a piece of my heart aches for him. I didn’t know he knew Shamlilish, but since he was born here, it makes sense. “Naxa’s not been eating the breakfast you’ve been bringing her. Every morning after you leave, she tosses it. Word of advice, she’s eaten the same thing since she was twelve: a piece of toasted bread with almond butter, a peach, and a glass of goat’s milk. If you can’t find that, choose cheese. She loves cheese.”

I look at him now. My fingers graze against the shell embedded in my sternum. I once thought I would have taken her only for myself, but I know now how much love was between her and Thylas. I would have found a way for them to be together. I wouldn’t have liked it at first, but I would have let them have each other.

“Thank you.” I take another drink, needing to have questions answered myself. “How is she ?”

He looks up at me, his eyes quickly moving back and forth as he carefully selects his words. “Anara is ... different. I don’t think I’ve ever truly met someone like her.”

I nod in agreement. There aren’t many like Anara. Antalis may let their women speak their mind, but Anara has her own way about her. She doesn’t just speak her mind, she speaks with a wisdom even some elders don’t have.

“Be her safety, Prince. She’ll need you when I fix this.” Thylas’ tired gaze meets mine as he wipes his hand wearily across his face, he then rises from his seat and heads towards the distant wall.

I open my mouth to ask what he meant when he said he’ll fix things, instead the tent flaps’ movement catches our attention and I quickly hide the message from Antalis. Rhenor comes in and bows to me while looking suspiciously at Thylas. Thylas just shakes his head before the rest of the council comes in to talk about how we are going to survive the next few days as another snow storm is upon us.