Page 137 of The Eye of the Fifth
She returned it, but there was a cold sadness in her earthy eyes. Exhaustion plagued her; it radiated like an extreme heat. ‘You should sleep, Kyra,’ Naal said. ‘Allow your body to rest. It will be hours before we reach the Frozen Tides.’
Kyra rolled her neck and said tightly, ‘I’m fine.’
It wasn’t just that she was avoiding her eyes… it was that her demeanour was entirely hostile. Angry, even.
A thick unease began to settle on Naal’s heart, though she could not quite figure out why. ‘So be it,’ she replied coolly.
After warning both Earth and Water Warden to hold on tight to Kawai and the boat, Naal sped them away as fast as she could fly, holding onto the prospect of feeling the homely crunch of snow beneath her feet very soon.
Chapter Thirty Nine
Begrudging Diplomacy
???
Phaenon, Nythanor.
Gedeon.
Gedeon had long since lost count of the days that had dragged past when two Eternal warriors came for him. Not to shove frozen meat and water through the thick bars of his cell as they had done each night at the first rise of the moon, but to bring him out of his imprisonment.
Which could only mean one thing: Naal Westerra had finally returned to Phaenon. And with her, he was sure, was the Earth Warden.
In the same place as he was. For the first time.
He was unsure how that knowledge made him feel.
It had been some time since their last projection. He was fairly certain her continued absence had something to do with the fact that Naal Westerra had shared that he was locked in the ice cells. As though, perhaps, the prospect of him and their inexplicable connection was too close for comfort. Too close to home.
He felt the lack of those projections. No matter how sporadic they had been thus far, her presence, even in distrusting spirit, had piqued his interest in a way he could not explain. Could not understand. And yet, her piercing green eyes had slyly taken up residence in the dark corners of his mind, even when his thoughts were upon something else entirely.
Perhaps the weakness plaguing his body had addled his sanity.
The coarse hair that covered his chin and neck was now an overgrown clump of frozen ice. Had they left him there any longer, Gedeon was sure his insides would have ended up the same way.
He had never known cold like it. It would not kill him, but it was both mentally and physically debilitating. He may have even succumbed to that descent into madness, had they not come for him.
The only way he had avoided such a fate was because he had not for a moment let his inner sight deter from the tiny flame that was burning within.
Burning with hope.
Hope that had no roots. No clear purpose. Yet still it burned. Bright as the sun.
Not in the literal sense, for his magic had not seen the light of day since his dear brother had cursed him. Fire, darkness, and even mortal magic remained imprisoned in his own body.
The iron around his wrists may as well have been wood for all the use it would do. Sekun’s curse was far more powerful than those feeble shackles.
He dared not try to wield his magic at all. Nor had a single word passed his lips since the Eternal archer, Nysari, had threatened to cut out his tongue. He did not doubt for a moment that the female had every intention of following the threat through should he fail to comply with her simple demand.
So he’d stayed silent, very much wanting to keep his tongue rooted in his mouth.
Walking was an arduous task to say the least, as the two Eternals marched him through Gallena’s temple. An icy grip seized his muscles, but it was thankfully softening with the gentle warmth of many a flame throughout the great temple; dancing in torch brackets on the walls, flickering on the wicks of a hundred candles, burning through the drywood of a hearth in a healer’s chambers.
He’d expected to meet with the Air Warden. But standing before him now was certainly not Naal Westerra.
Short in stature, with masses of blonde-grey twisted dreads atop her head, the female stared at Gedeon with brown, untrusting eyes, beforeturning her attention to the warriors either side of him. ‘Thank you, Ruven, Bryran. You may go.’
The Eternal to Gedeon’s right bowed his head, but the one to the left did not move. ‘I think it unwise to leave you alone with the prisoner, Second,’ he said. ‘For your protection, I advise you to let us stay.’
