Page 52 of The War of Wings
And the next morning, when we woke up tangled together, for one moment, there was no evil. There was no lie I was telling, no secret I was keeping. There was no Malosym. There was simply me and Petra and the world I so desperately wanted to give her.
Chapter 20
Petra
“You ready, Miles?” Cal called to where his brother stood preparing Gehenna for our flight to Araqina. I narrowed my eyes. Had Cal ever called him Miles before? It was always Tobyas.
“Just about,” he answered, bending down to tie his boots tighter.
Shaking the thought from my head, I double-checked the fastener keeping my bag in place on Adorex’s side. It would take us about two hours to get to Araqina. It felt like the blink of an eye, like I didn’t have enough time to prepare. And yet it felt like a lifetime, too, when every moment was one closer to the unknown hour Malosym was sure to call.
“Maybe we should try to enter through the gates first,” I said, the words spilling out too quickly as I absentmindedly dug one foot into the sand. “We can try and request a meeting with the King and Queen.”
Cal was strapping his bag to Obitus’ side and paused to look at me. “Why do you say that?”
Anxiety was a monster ripping through my insides, hooking its claws into every part of me. “I just…” My head dropped back. “What’s the point anymore? If he has the ability to create drivas…we’re fucked.”
“So you think the answer is to give up? Admit defeat before the battle even starts?” Cal asked, resuming his task. His voice wasn’t outraged or antagonistic. It was a genuine question.
“I’ve been fighting battles my entire life. In Inkwell, every single day was a battle against hunger. Then, after you…” I swallowed hard, squeezing my eyes shut as a phantom pain rang through my chest like the toll of a church bell. “After I thought you died, I fought against my own thoughts. I clawed my way out, even though every single day I wanted to end it all. Then, after we moved into the castle, it was the Board of Blood. It was four months of preparation and then Initiation. And now… Now I’m the Daughter of Katia, and I’m…”
“You’ve always been the Daughter of Katia. You’ve won every battle you’ve ever fought.”
I scoffed, turning away. “You call Eserene a victory?”
“You survived it, Petra. He wanted you dead, and you survived. You survived the Darkness Beyond and found your way back here. Maybe it’s not a victory, but it sure as hell isn’t a loss.”
“And after all that, I still have to beg other kingdoms to listen.”
He looked me square in the eyes. “Then don’t beg them.Makethem.”
???
Why did Araqina have to be located in the middle of the Saints damned desert? Why not closer to the shore, where it wascooler and green? Why not to the south, where Cal told me there were forests and rain?
The green shoreline gave way to arid mountains, which morphed to barren desert. Araqina’s walls appeared to ripple and swim in the heat that radiated from the sunbaked ground. They were so high, we could see them from miles away, even with the heat-distorted view. The sun was unforgiving, and I clung even harder to Adorex for fear the sweat gathered on my palms would soak through my glove and I’d slide right off. Though, I couldn’t blame the heat for all the sweat. Half of it was nerves, and my stomach roiled the closer we got to Araqina.
Sending letters asking for aid felt safer than demanding it in person. Hiding behind the pen and parchment made it easier to ignore my inadequacies, making them feel less prominent, less like a glaring, toothy monster that would eat me alive. And even though I was the Daughter of Katia, those inadequacies were very, very real. I didn’t know how to rule. I’d led an army into a losing battle. I had three of Katia’s drivas here with me and two back in Taitha, all at my command, but I was scared.
I was so damn scared.
Adorex. Sunshine, I heard in my head.
“You like the sunshine here?” I asked her, raising a brow.
Yes. Good.
“Well, that makes one of us,” I sighed, daring to remove one sweat-slicked hand from its glove to drag it over my equally damp forehead. “Okay,” I murmured, pulling my glove back on and patting Adorex on the neck. “Let’s make them listen to us.”
A low rumble sounded from Adorex’s throat as her wings began to beat faster.Petra. Adorex. Power.
“Yeah,” I answered, forcing myself to smile in an attempt to soothe my nerves. “Let’s show them our power.”
The spires of Araqina’s castle peeked over the walls as we neared, my sights set on the tallest one. “Alright, Adorex. Just like we planned.”
We soared over the wall, Cal and Miles close behind on Obitus and Gehenna. The screams from below sounded immediately as people looked up to see three drivas flying over the city. Adorex dropped, a rumble starting deep in her chest as her jaw opened and she coasted low over the buildings. She let out a bellowing roar so loud, dust stirred from the ground and floated into the air.
The streets were crowded, crawling with people scrambling for shelter. They had no idea the beasts that circled above them posed no threat, that the real threat was somewhere far away, growing strong enough to decimate the entire realm.
