Vines held stone and mortar in place, as if Cadaith, herself, was not quite ready to let go of the greatness that Credula once was. Of what it could have been.
As they moved into the grounds, Ilias began his search.
Kaya hovered by a pillar that supported nothing, her eyes scanning what she could only guess was once a throne room. She drew in a breath, placing her hand upon the quartz pillar at her side and closed her eyes for just one moment—hoping to feel something. Anything that could possibly ignite the feeling of security in her chest.
She felt nothing.
So she waited.
Ilias stormed through the palace grounds, turning over rock and stone, flipping tables, opening ransacked chests and wardrobes. But he found nothing. In the book he finally found that mentioned the Relics, it was said that the final piece to his puzzle rested in the heart of Driikona. And this—this palace—was what it lead him to. And there was nothing.
Absolutely. Nothing.
A growl of frustration surged through his chest, his eyes blazing as he stormed into the throne room. Kaya’s slumped form perked to life, her eyes wide as she watched him pick up a weathered statue and hurl it across the room.
This wasn’t like him.
Something was terribly wrong.
She pushed herself off of the pillar and ran towards him, shoving at his chest before he could pick up another large object.
“Ilias!”
He stopped.
His anger, his frustration was gone—the moment she placed her hand upon his cheek, he felt it dissipate. It was a peace he was not quite ready to accept. But for her, for her fear, he stopped.
“Look at me.” She whispered. He couldn’t. Not like this. “Ilias, look at me.Please.”
Chapter 9
His features softened. His jaw, once tight with anger was now slack. His eyes rounded from the narrowed slits he had used to scope his trail. “Look at me.” She said it again, but it was more of a plea than before—a plea so desperate that she immediately pulled her hand from him and took a staggering step back.
Because the true terror was in the way he looked at her. The true terror was that every fiber of his being was ready to rip the world to shreds but, when helookedat her, all of that anger simply…
Fell away.
And the thing that was most frightening was that she wanted it. She wanted him to look at her like she hung the moon and the stars, like she was the answer to every single prayer he whispered to the moon. If she was going to be a blessing in the eyes of anyone, she wanted it to be his. But the cold, hard truth was that she believed he only softened in that way because he saw her as a child. Despite what they had done mere weeks before, despite how she now carried his name with her own, and the matching runes on their wrists—it was so evident.
“Kaya, I don’t have time for this.”
“We have time to talk about what the hell happened back there, Ilias. Now, tell me what happened. Why are you so angry?”
“Because it’s gone.” He grumbled, throwing his hands up in defeat.
She had no idea what he was speaking of. She was surprised there was anything that could go missing in these ruins. There was nothing but rubble and crumbled stone laying around—the bones of the Credulan Palace leaningand threatening to topple at any moment.
What could possibly begonefrom this place that hadn’t already been destroyed?
She drew in a deep breath, trying to slow the rate of her heart, but to no avail. “I’m going to need a little more context if I am to properly help you.” She stated.
Ilias stilled in his pacing, meeting her gaze. “Help me?Who said that I needed your help?”
It ached. Deep in her chest, right behind that organ that betrayed her in every way possible. And although she did not wish for this ache, it wouldn’t go away. With every insult, straightforward or not, the hurt just kept growing.
“Then why did you bring me with you? Is it that I am seen as no more than a weapon to you? Something you could strap to your side and carry along with you on your little quest—just silently hanging at your belt?” She strode forward, the tone of her voice causing Ilias to stand straighter.
He never had the desire to want to defend himself before he met her. He fared well allowing people to assume the worst about him, but Ailikaya Aesa just keptdiggingat him. With her accusations and assumptions as tools, she dug at a side of him that wanted to scream his truth from the rooftops. He fucking hated it. “You think that you knowso muchabout people, don’t you?” He scoffed. “You know nothing. No matter how many books you have read or how frequently and closely you observe people, you knowabsolutelynothing. Especially about me or my intentions.”
