The balcony is the only one positioned on this side of the castle. Little wonder, since it stretches over the vast Abyss below. Surrounding the whole castle is a faint, silvery aura—it must be the bubble I saw around it when I first arrived in the Eversea. It’s identical to the hazy barrier that surrounded the Duchy of Spears. I suspect that, in addition to the anamnesis, there is another spear, like Dawnpoint, lending its protection.
I’m even closer to the surface here than in Ilryth’s estate down by the trench. Perhaps only a one-story building’s worth of depth, would be my guess. The moonlight reaches me in brighter beams, but that’s not the only source of light. Swaying high, high above the surface of the water, like silvery clouds are the boughs of a massive tree that I can only assume is the Lifetree.
Its roots plunge through the water and emit the familiar red haze the farther they sink into the depths, running unfathomably deep. The underwater shelf arcs around, back and away from the castle, half the tree perched on its sheer ledge. The other half stretches into oblivion.
Down, into that deep, deep darkness of an ocean so vast that it has never known light, there’s the faintest outline of movement. Massive tentacles glide through the rust-tinted water like the tattered cloak of Death itself. I move to the railing of the balcony—utterly unnecessary underwater and entirely for aesthetic. But it gives me something to hold onto. It helps me feel as if there is some barrier between me and that yawning abyss that threatens to swallow me whole.
A flash of green briefly breaks through the gloom and, for a moment, I know the eyes of an old god are upon me. It can sense me. It knows I’m here and that soon I will be ready to meet it.
I cannot suppress the chill that runs up my spine. Clots my throat with the taste of bile. Soon…I will be given to the darkness. Soon it will have me in its clutches.
Come to me, I can almost feel it say.Come to me, and know Death.
CHAPTER26
Dawn breaks,shining through the archways that lead to my balcony, turned a reddish aquamarine as it filters through rot and ocean. I spent the night in my bed trying not to worry too much for Ilryth, or to think of the beast lurking beyond the barrier. Yet, with the sun, I’m drawn to the railing again. If only to confirm my suspicion from last night.
Light truly doesn’t reach into the Abyss. The sun’s rays illuminate the trunk of the Lifetree, but the glow quickly fades as the wood splits into roots. The water changes from a pale blue-green color at the very top, to a deeper, richer blue that’s tinted with red, then, ultimately, to the color of the sky between the stars as the rot transforms the ocean into a deep, swirling purple.
Oddly, Krokan is somehow less visible in the daylight. Perhaps he slumbers. Or maybe I didn’t see him at all last night. Perhaps it was just fear and anxiousness at finally being presented with the Abyss I will be cast into. I grip the railing of the balcony tightly. What stops the god from coming to claim me now? Surely not the flimsy, silvery barrier. That might keep out the rot, but I suspect it’d do little against a primordial god.
What else lurks in those depths? More emissaries of Lord Krokan? Probably. Lost souls…waiting to cross to the Beyond but unable to because Lord Krokan bars them in his rage. Souls that will become wraiths as they steep in that sea of death.
The thought makes my mind wander to my crew. Did they all become those haunted spirits? Or are some of their souls down in that realm of eternal night? Trapped and waiting to be led to the Great Beyond? Guilt courses through me yet again for them. No matter how many times I try to rationalize their loss—rightly or not—the feeling of fault won’t completely abate. I doubt it ever will.
I swallow thickly and wrap my arms around myself, fighting a sudden chill in the water. If they are down there…I will have to face them yet again.
Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh. There’s only ever been one challenge in my life I abandoned—Charles. He was the one mistake that it was better to step away from, rather than throwing good time and effort after bad. But, after him, every other challenge has felt surmountable. If I could thrive after him, I can do anything.
I open my eyes once more and stare into the darkness, hoping that Krokan feels me as keenly as I felt his presence last night. Let the old god know I’m ready for him. That I have faced death before and I am not afraid. He is nothing more than one more storm to charge into.
“Your Holiness.” Ventris breaks into my thoughts. I turn to find him and two warriors on either side at the entrance to my room. “I trust you have found your accommodations comfortable this past evening?”
“They’re fine.” I swim back through the archway and into my bedroom. “What of Ilryth?”
A slight smile works its way onto Ventris’s lips. It doesn’t seem sincere. “I would expect you to be more focused on communing with Lord Krokan, now that you are before the Abyss, than thinking of the Duke of Spears.”
“It is hard to commune when my duet partner is far and the future of my anointing is uncertain.” I speak as though that should have been obvious to him, a small, unperturbed smile playing on my lips.
“You doubt I would see to your anointing?” Offense is heavy in his tone.
“Calm yourself, Duke of Faith, no need to be so emotional.” Expectedly, that sets him off more and I gain no small amount of pleasure from it. “I simply do not know you.”
“Well that is actually why I am here,” he says hastily. As though he wants to prove me wrong. Ventris is young and obsessed with his power—challenge him and he’s going to overcorrect. “The chorus is gathering now to discuss his crimes—”
“He committed no crimes,” I remind him.
“That is for the other dukes and duchess to decide when the chorus meets for song.” Ventris clasps his hands before him, trying to be the vision of poise. I see right through it. “In the meantime, we should continue readying you for your offering. There is little time and many markings still to be made.”
“We can make these markings after I see Ilryth,” I insist. The greatest leverage I have here is my compliance—or lack thereof—with their rituals and preparations.
In truth, I don’t think I’d have it in me to postpone this duty that’s been thrust upon me for too long. Now that I have seen the Abyss, all I can think of is the possibility that some of my crew might be in those depths, wandering and lost. More will drift back through the Gray Trench, trying to return to the world they came from. In my mind’s eye, they’re lost and confused and Ilryth’s warriors are hunting them. No wonder ghosts lose all emotions beyond hatred and anger. They likely don’t understand what’s happened to them, all they want is to go home, and now people are trying to kill them for a second time.
They need me. All the souls down there need me to quell Krokan’s rage and restore the natural order. I can’t abandon them. But I can feign nonchalance if it helps me get to Ilryth. He’s the only one I think I can trust here, and without his guidance I shudder to think what trouble I might get into in this strange world.
“There is little time before the chorus gathers.”
“But thereistime.”
