“I’ll get to that shortly, but I must beg a question before I answer. It will… affect what I share.”
Terena barked out a laugh. “Indeed!”
“Come. One question, and I promise I will tell you anything you wish to know.”
The silence thickened as she thought on his words. Curiosity got the better of her.
“All right, then,” she said with a lift of her chin. “Ask.”
Rydon shifted his weight and turned toward her, leaning his arms against his knees as he regarded her. “Are you a god?”
Terena was stunned by the question, blinking at him for several seconds. “What?”
Rydon gestured at her with his palm up. “You have powers. We’ve seen it. You know this,” he said, his lips pressing tightly together. “But there are stories too of the… gifted, being able to use god powers.” He splayed his hands. “Magic, yes? The powers the gods bestowed on some of their favorites. But the king asked for you specifically and tasked me and Gabriol to find you. So my question is, which are you? God or gifted?”
“I am neither,” she spat.
“Aye, and I am the next emperor of Heylisia. All right,” he said with a huff. “Ask me your questions. Might make more sense why I asked mine.”
Terena cocked her head. “Who sent you to find me?”
“His Majesty, the King of Olympus.”
Terena blinked. “King of Olympus. Tell me another.”
“No word of a lie,” Rydon said with a wry grin.
“Ambitious man. Does this king have a name?”
Rydon ducked his head. “He asked me not to say. He wishes to tell you himself.”
Terena scoffed. “You promised to tell me anything I wished to know.”
“I apologize,” Rydon said with sincerity. “I am sworn to him and he specifically impressed upon me not to. You’ll see why when you meet him.”
“Because I’ll know him?”
“Aye.”
Terena’s pulse raced. “And what does he want with me?”
“I did not ask, of course,” Rydon said with a shrug. “But I assume it has something to do with the others he’s looking for.”
“Others?”
“Aye. He has more men like me and Gabriol—mercs—searching for people. Specific people.”
“And we have something in common, I assume.”
“You assume correctly,” Rydon said. He leaned closer and pointed a finger at her. “They are all rumored to have powers such as you have exhibited.”
Terena snorted. “I told you, I have none.”
Rydon’s lips thinned. “Terena, you may not recall, but I was standing next to you in Metilai. You used your powers in that square. It was actually timely. You covered our escape with the chaos you created.”
She looked at him with a blank expression, and he waved a hand dismissively. “Look. I know the other marks—the people he’s searching for. We all talk, you know. Us sell swords. So I know who the others are His Majesty wants found. They have powers. And according to the guards back at the White Palace, you used powers on them as well, and on the prince, Isher. They swore it to a man. Ask your cleric.”
He rose and tossed the stick he’d been playing with into the fire. He walked toward her and stopped as he passed. “Deny until your faceturns blue, goddess,” he said with a mock tip of his hat, “But I am not buying.”
