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five

Thylas

“ P rincess Carnaxa has awoken. Bêlit Siphonie sent me to find you, Ambassador Thylas,” a servant tells me, but judging by the shackles on her feet, she’s a nlottir, those held against their will. I rapidly place my dinner on the table and race towards Carnaxa’s room.

My heavy, leather boots slap the floor as I run across the sandstone, servants, nlottirs , and soldiers scurry to clear a path for me. I push past the healer leaving Carnaxa’s room and can’t control myself as I rush to wrap her up in my arms, kissing her temples. “ Noh? .”

I shower her with tender kisses, moving to her cheeks, and finally landing on her forehead. Unable to grasp reality, I run my hands along her back, hoping to ground myself in the moment. I feel her push against me. Realizing I’m gripping her too tightly, I reluctantly release my hold, causing her to stumble backwards. She looks up at me as she takes a few steps away from me, uncertainty in her features.

“I’m sorry ... who are you?” Her voice takes on a formal tone.

I look around the room wondering if there is someone else here she wouldn’t want to know about us. But I see only Ereon and Siphonie in her room. They both glance between us, confusion written across their faces.

“Baby girl, that’s not funny.”

It would be like her to irritate me right after falling ill, probably mad I wasn’t here beside her when she woke. I left her to go grab something to eat. I haven't left her since we arrived and had no intention to, but I knew Ereon was in his room next door with his woman. Where is she, anyway? I release the thought, it doesn’t matter.

My heart lunges toward her as she steps even further away from me. “I do not understand why you would call me a small child? Please leave my room. I’m a bit disorientated after waking and unsure who you are and why you are here.”

Siphonie steps forward taking Carnaxa’s hand. “Naxa, you know Thylas. ”

Carnaxa looks back at me. She squints as if vaguely remembering and asks, “The boy from the sea?”

I reach to take her hand, but stop as a sliver of fear flickers through her eyes. “Yes. I’m the boy from the sea. Don’t you remember? You’re my savior, my noh? , my bab —” I stop myself, not wanting to make her any more uncomfortable. Why doesn’t she remember me?

“I remember ... saving you, and I remember you around the castle as a boy. Are you one of my guards here in Shaston? Could you tell me when we arrived here? Is there any news from my father?”

“Princess ...” It’s Ereon now who steps forward. “Thylas is Ambassador of Antalis. You don’t remember him? Do you remember crossing into Shaston?”

She shakes her head, tears brimming her eyes. “I’m sorry, Prince Ereon, I don’t. Antalis doesn’t have an ambassador. What is happening?” She puts her head into her hands and sits back down on the bed. Siphonie steps in front of me and kneels in front of Carnaxa.

Ereon and I share a glance and walk to Carnaxa as well. I feel my heart beating heavy in my chest from frustration, from not understanding what has happened to her.

“Leave, both of you. I want to talk to my cousin.” Siphonie looks over her shoulder at the pair of us.

Ereon nods and puts his hand on my elbow, pulling me toward another doorway. The one that must lead to his room. I pull my arm away from him, but I see Siphonie shake her head before addressing us again, saying, “Go. I’m not asking ... give us this.”

“Ereon?” a woman’s voice whispers through the darkness as we make our way into his bedroom. I haven’t been in here since arriving in Shaston. I haven’t had a reason to be, especially since I spent all of my time with Carnaxa.

“It’s me and” — he looks back at me before lighting a sconce near the main entrance — “a friend.”

I hear a sigh come from his bed in the middle of the room. The large, ornate, black frame and matching bedspread take up most of the space. It’s significantly bigger than the room they have me in, which is slightly bigger than the one I stayed in in Antalis. Ereon goes from corner to corner of his room lighting sconces along the wall before stopping in front of the fire and stirring it with a piece of iron.

I stand, shifting my weight from side to side, feeling completely out of place. I glance back at the door we entered from, straining my ears to catch the faint murmurs of Carnaxa and Siphonie.

“Is everything okay?” the small brunette asks as she shuffles from his bed, and I roll my eyes. Of course, he found his way to her and we’ve barely been here a day. “What happened to the Princess?”

“Thylas, stop standing like a scared child by the door. Come have a drink. I promise she doesn’t bite,” Ereon calls, motioning toward a table with a glass jar of amber liquid and drinking glasses. The woman walks up to him and he looks down at her, pushing her hair behind her ear. “Princess Carnaxa is awake, but she seems to be having some trouble gathering her bearings. Surely it’ll all work out soon.” He reaches out, handing me a glass.

“That’s simple enough for you to say. She at least remembers who you are,” I counter as I snatch the glass from him.

“And who are you?” She turns to me and looks up through her dark lashes. It’s then I notice the bloodshot eye and the bruises covering her body. She looks worse than even the women in training. She meets my stare and a slight tilt of her lips catches my attention.

Ereon blinks before waving a hand to me. “Anara, meet Captain Thylas of the Antalian Ke Neye and Antalis’ ambassador. Thylas, meet Anara from a small village in San’doma.”

I bend at the waist in greeting. “So you are the other woman.”

She looks at me and raises an eyebrow. “Well, I have certainly been called worse, but before he left, I was his only woman.”

I let go of her hand and look at Ereon, who now leans against the wall. He just shakes his head. “Be nice. Both of you. Yes, Captain, she is the one I told you about.” Ereon pushes off the wall and walks back to stand slightly behind Anara.

“But back to what we were discussing ... I don’t think Carnaxa does know who I am. Not really.” He runs his hand across the small of Anara’s back and she looks over her shoulder at him. “When she stumbled into my room, she seemed different, scared, and out of sorts. I wouldn’t have thought much about it until she called me ‘Prince’ Ereon again. We agreed a while back to forgo the formalities, but when I went to her, she stepped away from me.” His eyes flicker to Anara. I am guessing he hasn’t told her everything that happened while he was away. “She differed from the last night we were all together.”

I run my hands down my face and take another drink. “But she doesn’t remember me at all — not really. Even if she had forgotten the last few weeks — the moments we shared — I have been in her life since she was seven. She should still have at least those memories.”

“The mind is a mysterious place, Captain, or is it Ambassador? Either way —” Anara says as she sits beside the fire coming to life in the hearth. She takes her fingers and acts as if she is playing a harp, and I swear the tips of the flames move in sync as she does. “Give her time. The gods work in their own way.”

“I know what god is worshiped here, but he is not my god. I pray to the Goddess alone.” I roll my shoulders and remember the stories my mother told me of the bloodthirsty god they call Ra Syam. She told me I was to not give into the rituals many would expect from a boy of Shaston.

Anara looks up at me, a small smile crosses her features. “I can see why she likes you. You are loyal, I can tell already. Where I come from, we have stories of toneos and of the original four, and the Creator before them. What was a world originally blessed by four and created by one has been changed and will change again.”

Her gold-flecked eyes watch me as if ready for an argument and maybe I would on a different day, but today I don’t. I strain to listen to the room adjacent to me, hoping for the moment when Carnaxa will remember me and come running into my arms .

“You are welcome to stay here if you want to be near her,” Anara says with barely a passing glance towards Ereon. “Ereon says you haven’t left her side and I don’t expect you’ll want to now. There is a blanket on the chaise there.”

“I don’t think ...” My words trail off as I realize how ridiculous my refusal sounds, given the proximity of Ereon’s room to Carnaxa’s. I would rather stay outside in the hallway than watch him with this woman or listen to any sounds that may filter through the night air.

Ereon’s voice pulls me away from my thoughts, “It’s fine. Stay and wait, we all need the rest. Siphonie will retrieve us if we are needed, but until then, we are useless in her room.”

I nod my head. Ereon leans down to whisper into Anara’s ear before disappearing behind another door I assume leads to the bathing facilities.

Anara sits down, crossing her legs and staring intently into the fire. “Don’t worry. I don’t talk as much as he does and I won’t bother you. Get some sleep. We have tonight — tonight we are safe.”

Her words are so similar to the ones I told Carnaxa just a few short moons ago.

“Just tonight, baby girl. We have tonight.”