Page 129 of Between Fear and Favor

“You’re safe,” Marella said, confusing my silence for fear. Although that’s exactly what it was, wasn’t it? Fear that Saski’s ominous words had already come to pass? “Since Papa, the soldiers have been overbearing. I’m glad for it, but gods, it can be a pain.” She smiled, giving me a weak laugh, and I nodded. I attempted to smile back, certain it was more a grimace than anything. When she tugged me toward the fortress once more, I let her guide me.

“Yes, I’m sure you’re right. I’m just...used to him being nearby, I suppose. Did he say where he was going?”

With a wave, one of the guards ushered the two of us toward the cliffside path which led to the entrance of the fortress. Loose pebbles on the steep trail made walking more difficult, so I concentrated on my steps, not wanting to fall to my death into the sea below.

“Jeb, my father’s second-in-command, had a letter for him from the king. Dewalt might be gathering supplies to leave.” Marella kicked a pebble from the path, and I watched as it skipped over larger rocks, falling down toward the unforgiving water.

“To leave?” The air in my lungs went cold.

“To check in with the soldiers my father sent north.” At my confusion, she continued. “He wanted to make sure the plains people were protected if the Nythyrians somehow came from Lamera. The farthest soldiers are over a few days north of here. Jeb sent word of...of what happened to my father.” She swallowed, jaw tight. “But we haven’t heard back from them. Dewalt might have gone to check on what happened to the messenger. Maybe that’s where Aida is.” She wrung her hands. “We’ve searched the caves, and we’ve come up empty.”

I stopped my own selfish questions, instead asking, “So you think she might be hiding at one of the encampments?”

“I can only hope.” Marella stopped, turning to face me. “I just hope she is safe. I’ve been sick with worry.”

I blinked. “You hope she...what?”

“She didn’t do this.” She snapped, indignation making her voice louder. “There was too much blood to only be my father’s. I think they were both attacked, and she managed to get away. I-I can’t bear the thought of losing them both.” Marella’s dark hair was in a loose braid hanging down over her shoulder, and she played with the end of it as she refused to meet my eyes. “The soldiers all think she murdered him. Jeb thinks I’m crazy. But I know she didn’t do this to him. She loved him. She loves me and Jesper. Aida wouldn’t do this to us.”

Whatever expression I wore must have disappointed her because she turned, walking faster up the path. A single sob bubbled up her throat, and I felt horrible.

“I believe you,” I called out. I wasn’t sure if I thought Aida was innocent or not, but I was certain Marella believed every single word she’d said. I couldn’t diminish her hope when everyone else was doing it for her already.

“Told you he was leaving,” she said, not bothering to respond to what I’d said. She pointed to the fortress, motioning for me to move as a half-dozen mounted soldiers came our way down the rocky path. Dewalt, in the rear of the group, slowed as they approached. I wasn’t sure what I expected of him. An invitation? I didn’t belong on a trip like this. But I expected us to speak about what we’d done in the earth lodge. What it had meant.

“Marella, Nor,” he murmured, eyes stuck on mine. His face was tight, as if he were in pain. “I’ll need you both to stay within the fortress while I’m gone.”

Marella made a disgruntled sound, and all I did was raise my brows as I stared at him.

“Back to giving me orders,general?”

His nostrils flared but he said nothing, instead digging his heels into his steed. I didn’t let myself cry as I watched him grow smaller, leaving me behind.

Chapter 56

EMMELINE

Hurrying down the spiral stairs,I focused entirely on my surroundings. Far beneath the oppressive obsidian fortress the Myriad had built, I used each of my senses to search for the font. When Rain and I had drunk from it, bonding our souls together under the Supreme’s watchful gaze, I’d been soothed by my ability to access my divinity. Perhaps that was only possible in proximity to the divine, life-giving waters. If I could access that deep well of power Hanwen had gifted me, maybe I could stop the Supreme—for good.

Before utilizing Veda’s home, Rain and I had tried to pinpoint the spot where the font bubbled up from a crack in the ground, but it had been too long since our visit, and we were too uncertain about the location to rift. We’d failed, and run out of time. But, considering Veda’s husband planned to leave the next day, it was a good thing we pressed forward. Whatever the Supreme planned, he’d do it tonight.

Now though, as my fingertips trailed along the damp, stone walls, I wished we’d tried harder. Fear and something more insidious crept through me, whispering and watchful.

I had no intention of finding the Supreme and the child—not yet, anyway. I wanted to find the antler god’s tomb.

While part of me thought to hide nearby, lying in wait for the Supreme, another wanted to do more. Why allow the man who had done nothing but destroy and deceive to have a chance at raising the god?

Why not do it myself?

I carried the Supreme’s bones in a pouch around my neck, unbeknownst to my husband, and my own blood pumped furiously through my veins. But without the bloom of the betrayer, was there anything I could do? And more importantly, did I want to? Was it possible to raise Iemis, use his divine power to stop the Supreme and Nereza, and then lock him back within the obsidian tomb?

I knew I shouldn’t try, especially without speaking to Rain. But gods, was the idea tempting.

The antler god was a danger I could not risk. The wars he had waged might have been fueled by vengeance in the beginning, but by the end, no one was safe from his ire. Even Rhia, the goddess he loved, had suffered his rage. All that Iemis had done was sow discord and destruction. Even after his entombment, despite Rhia appointing the forestborn as the Wardens of the font, the damage had been done. Conduit stood against forestborn and seaborn alike, and ordinary humans, untouched by the divine, were left to weather the endless storm.

I wondered if things might have been better when the gods walked these lands—at least before Iemis forged his path of ruin. So many things had changed since the gods lived amongst us. Gone was the large pond that Rhia had rested beside while maintaining her mournful watch over her former lover’s tomb. Lush greenery and tall trees no longer stood silent sentry nearby. The font had nearly dried up, reduced to a slow trickle branching outward from a single bubbling source. The Myriad had changed nearly everything about this land since the time of the elven Warden. The forestborn had once thrived within the shelter of Lamera’s enormous trees—elves and fae alike.

And now all of that was gone.

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