“No wonder you lost the war.”
Dead silence greeted her words which fell heavily in the air around them. Daris’s heart thudded wildly, his chest full of pride at the young woman’s bravery.
“Watch yourself,” Hermes snarled, edging closer to the wolf shifter on the ground. He bent and snatched at Leander’s hair and lifted the man’s face to Sonah. “Or I will kill him right now.”
“What will you use as leverage then, I wonder,” Sonah spat, her eyes manic as she glared back at Hermes. She didn’t spare a glance at the shifter.
Hermes did not respond and a moment later, Sonah’s smile turned wicked.
“You know,” Sonah said in a soft voice, although still loud in the stunned silence. “I thought you’d be more powerful. You’re a god, thousands of years old and yet… you’re threatening me with the death of this boy.”
Daris dared a glance at Melanos, who was grinning at Sonah.
Hermes did not reply, but his face betrayed him. Daris looked between the two and noticed a flash of panic before it disappeared from Hermes’s face, so fast Daris must’ve imagined it.
Sonah took a step closer. “You’re the only Olympian in this realm,” Sonah continued, narrowing her eyes. “You’ve been here awhile, I think. But chose to stay in the north until Terena found you.”
Still, Hermes said nothing, fuming in silence as he glared back at Sonah.
“Even now that you’ve found us…” She cocked her head, shifting her eyes to the ground. When she looked back up at the god, she frowned. “You’re not as powerful as you were before, are you?”
Daris noted the subtle shift in the air around them as Hermes’s soldiers looked at one another. Hermes looked as if his eyes were about to burst from his head. Melanos’s grin widened.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” Sonah asked in a voice more thoughtful than inquiring. “You can’t use your powers, not like before, am I right?”
“You are killing him with every word out of your mouth, Sonah,” Hermes growled.
“Aye,” she said, her eyes turning sad. “I believe you. I don’t want you to hurt him, so you have me. For now.”
Sonah sighed, and for a moment looked older than her years as she glanced behind her at Bethana. When she turned back, her eyes found Daris, and she gave him a tight smile.
“But the others are to leave to help Terena in Metilai,” she added.
“No,” Hermes ground out, his grip tightening on the shifter.
“Do you know how negotiations work?” Sonah sneered, stepping closer to the god. “At the very least, let Leander go.”
Hermes dropped his hold on the shifter, who fell over onto his hands. Sonah moved to his side with a glare at the god.
“I will never forget this,” Sonah whispered up at him, and Daris wasn’t sure if it was gratitude for Hermes releasing Leander or a promise of retribution to come.
Chapter 41
METILAI
The fanfare with which Lerek was greeted upon his return rivaled that of royal weddings. As he’d passed through the gates of the White Palace, a shower of white rose petals rained down on him, catching on his borrowed cloak and on his lap as he gazed up to the stairs where his father stood.
He frowned when he noticed it was not his mother, Empress Adanna, at his side, but rather his second wife, Serephina. Her son, Lerek’s half brother, was shifting from foot to foot at her side, trying to grab her hand. Lerek opened his mouth when he caught sight of the bundle in her arms. Serephina watched his progression with a neutral expression.
Lerek dismounted when he reached the courtyard, the crowd roaring at his back. He pulled the edges of the wool cloak around his chest as a strong breeze shook him.
“I wouldn’t believe it until I saw you for myself,” his father, Emperor Solon, said, his voice shaking. He reached out with trembling hands to grip Lerek by his shoulders. A second later, his father pulled him roughly into an embrace that threatened to choke Lerek.
Thumping his father on the back before pulling away, Lerek’s smile did not reach his eyes. His father’s eyes were glassy with unshed tears. Lerek couldn’t recall ever seeing his father this emotional.
“It is you,” he whispered, and pulled him in for another quick embrace. Lerek closed his eyes and allowed it, but stepped away before his father was ready to release him. He glanced at Serephina, then the baby snuggled close to her chest. When he caught her eye again, Serephina tightened her grip on the bundle, giving him her signature nasty glare. He inclined his head as he put his hand over his heart.
“It is, father,” he said curtly as he moved past the emperor toward the castle doors. The Imperial Guard posted near the doors stepped aside as he strode forward.
