“I love you,adelfos,” he whispered.
“You, too,” I responded, squeezing him back.
We took all the bodies and moved them to the nearest courtyard outside the base on what would turn out to be our last day on Heraklion, the job made easier by the use of our powers. TheChrysalishad arrived, and we gathered with all of the other remaining Mageians from the Machi. The Somas who crewed Betts’ ship stood a respectful distance away as we gathered, except for Hel, who refused to leave my brother’s side.
We had already found and burned the bodies of the few Mageians who had been killed during this Machi. The only bodies that remained were of the soldiers who had invaded our base. I hadgathered what remained of our brother’s body and brought it out to the courtyard, refusing to let anyone else perform the task. I needed the confirmation that Maalik was dead and could never hurt us again.
Illyrians and Legionnaire’s had this in common: we burned the bodies of our honored dead, and we’d burn the bodies of the soldiers. They hadn’t known the truth about what Alexandria was doing and we hadn’t been able to give them the opportunity to switch sides like we had the Mageia in the Machi. Maalik, however, would not be among the ashes. Fuck him. He could rot.
Elex walked past the collected pieces of the corpse of our tormentor with a final glance, then paused. He pulled an envelope from his pocket. He stared at it for several moments without moving, the other Mageians around us quiet. He looked up at me, uncertainty plain on his face.
I had seen Elex writing something earlier that morning, but I hadn’t read it and he hadn’t shared it with me then. I didn’t know what it contained, but I could guess.
“I don’t know if I should leave it,” he said, glancing at me, his eyes shadowed. “It might just make things worse.”
After several long moments he handed me the envelope. It was unsealed. I looked at Elex questioningly and he nodded. I pulled out a thin sheet of paper and read the writing.
Cyrius,
Maalik was your son, but he was never our brother.
Allyour children should have mattered to you.
The world will know Alexandria’s treachery.
The note was signed“Elex Taulos Lapydes”.
The wind blew gently, the sunlight warm on my skin. It was so different from the cold I felt in my heart when I looked at my father’s name.
“Give me your pen,” I said, holding my hand out to Elex.
He looked at me for a long moment before handing me a pen from his pocket. I scrawled my name below his, then paused before adding a few lines below our signatures, not entirely sure why I felt the need to add them, but it felt…right. Once I was done, I put the paper back into the envelope and knelt, tucking the missive between Maalik’s dead fingers.
“I want him to know,” I heard myself say.
“Want who to know?” Helios asked from behind my brother.
“The King,” I said bitterly. “I want him to know he failed, that he didn’t kill us, and that we’re coming for him.”
I turned to the other Mageia.
“Do you hear me?” I yelled. “The Elusians have subjugated our people for too long! We have fought, bled and died for them for centuries. No more!”
From my belt I yanked the metal and stone knife I had created when Maalik had attacked Elex. It was also the knife that had ended up severing Maalik’s head from his body. I jerked the fabric of the shirt I wore where the Alexandrian log was embroidered and brought the knife down across the cloth, cutting cleanly through the material.
“No more! No surrender!” I yelled, holding the scrap of cloth aloft.
“No retreat!” thundered the voices of the Mageia around us.
I dropped the scrap to the ground. The crowd was quiet for a moment, then Deliah stepped forward and repeated the gesture. One by one, the Mageia who had joined us in Heraklion walked up, cut the logos from their shirts and dropped them to the ground at my feet in front of Maalik’s bloody corpse. By the time they were done there were logos from Alexandria, Greece, and Nova Roma fluttering in the breeze.
I left the courtyard without a backward glance, the words I’d written blazing like fire in my brain. They were the same words I’d spoken years ago when my powers had first manifested.
Under Elex’s signature I had added my own. Not quite certain why, I had added “Sons of Hecate” beneath.
I’d never call him Father again. Fuck you,Cyrius.
Chapter 4
