Surely, an argument Dren could agree with since love had cost lifetimes of peace.
“It has the ability to transform us, aye. As it did your brother. And father. Though in very different ways.”
“Enough.”
Dren sighed heavily. “The Council warned your father of Thalassari raiders off the southern coast.”
“Odd. We’ve not dealt with them in many years.”
“Precisely. But the waters around the Maelstrom Depths seem to have calmed, making them more daring. Your father is sending men to investigate.”
Interesting.“First, the Gate reopens for the lost princess to return but then promptly closes once again. Then a new Thalassari queen is chosen and now anomalies around the Depths. Not to mention signs of a new imbalance. One my father seems overly concerned about.”
“Concerned?” Dren snickered. “Not the word I would use for your father’s recent behavior.”
“Obsessed, then,” I said, acknowledging Dren was right. “I will speak to him.” I was convinced there was more to the situation and not trusting recent events were isolated. Coincidences, I’d learned in the hundreds of years I’d been alive, were rare.
With one final glance at the growing bed of flowers being summoned, I turned toward the palace, each step I took toward the formidable structure, and the man who reigned over it, heavier than the one before. The burden of calming the King of Gyoria—my father—and his increasingly erratic actions was heavy before Kael left. Now, it was nearly unbearable.
But it was my duty. And unlike my brother, I’d not forsake it.
4
LYRA
“I leave you here.”
Mounted beside Ilyas, I thanked him for his aid. “You’ve been invaluable,” I said, the smuggler an unlikely ally in our mission to reopen the Gate. “Thank you, Ilyas.”
“Had Marek not saved my life, I’d still be glad to serve you. Unlike my family, I understand the value of diplomacy and believe, as you do, the key to survival in Elydor is to foster alliances, even with those who have been enemies for generations.”
“I don’t consider you an enemy,” I said honestly. “Even if others disagree.”
The warrior sat straighter, turning his mount back toward the coast. “Nor do I.” With a fisted hand over his heart, the Gyorian greeting and parting signal of respect, he spurred his mount forward, leaving me alone on the road.
Precisely as planned.
As I began the trek to Thaeron, one that would see me reaching it before nightfall, I thought back to the day our final phase of the mission that could finally see the Aetherian Gate opened and its unlikely gathering of individuals at King Galfrid’s Council table.
For days, the debate had raged. Kael wanted to return, to be the one to confront his brother and father. It took everyone present to convince him that was the least likely way to retrieve the Stone of Mor’Vallis, the remaining artifact needed to open the Gate. Especially after the disaster that was his last visit.
In the end, it was the king and his daughter, Mev who had devised a plan, one similar to my own in the days after Marek and Issa returned Aetheria’s Wind Crystal back to its rightful owner. I would visit the palace as an emissary. It would raise few suspicions as I’d done so many times. I’d been trained, as my parents both had before me, as an Aetherian diplomat.
And also trained well beyond that role too in another few knew about.
The spies we had in place knew me well. It had taken some time for me to convince the others to allow me to travel alone, but since King Balthor was highly suspicious of all Aetherians and tolerated my presence, they had finally agreed. Marek and Issa would escort me to Grimharbor, and Marek’s friend Ilyas Rho would take me as far as he could without being spotted by palace guards.
We’d quickly set the plan in motion. The easy part was complete.
Gaining entry to the palace would be easy. It was retrieving the stone that would prove a challenge. Kael thought his brother could be turned. The others disagreed. But all trusted me to assess the situation, make contact with the Aetherian spies, though only one now remained, and decide how to proceed.
“I know what you’re thinking, Lyra. Do not do it.”
Kael’s warning rang clear in my mind as I approached the formidable structure built into the side of a mountain. Impenetrable. A fortress like none other.
How Kael had known the secret plan I hatched, I could only guess. Apparently, I was not the only one who noticed the way Terran looked at me throughout the many years we’d been thrust together. Though I dealt more often with Kael, or even the king himself, Prince Terran and I had had many, many encounters.
“My brother cannot tolerate a liar,” Kael had said. “Be honest with him from the start. Convince him to join us. But do not do it under the guise of mock-interest.”
