“If Lazaros is compromised, then Atlas won’t see it until it’s too late. And of course, brother three is, and will remain, a non-existent entity in his mind until it is too late. The enemy within that will deal what I imagine will be his hope of a deadly blow. One you know that the King won’t see coming until the snake strikes, Aster. Not when he is overcome with guilt and pain once the act of vengeance has been delivered by his hand.”
Though I already knew this, my chest still tightened at her words anyway.
“Exactly, which is why we need to go…Now.Every second we waste here, every minute we wait, it could be the difference between whether Lazaros lives or dies.”
“Hold on,” Uncle Rick said, his arm now on the inside of my elbow as if at the ready to hold me back from running from the room. “Aster and Bronte just pulled you out of a basement where that bastard tortured you with a blowtorch, and you want to jump straight back into what could be another trap? No way, not happening, Alex.”
I could see every muscle in his jaw working as he fought to keep calm. That was something I definitely learned from him.
“Uncle Rick…” I started, my frustration about to bubble over.
“No.”Not surprisingly, this came from Aster. The word ‘no’ came out like a father scolding a reckless child. Even Uncle Rick’s eyes widened at the authority in Aster’s voice.
“Your uncle is right, Alex. We also don’t know what could be waiting for us on the other side of the Rift,” Aster added, folding his arms once more, as if this added weight to his order.
I could feel my heartbeat speeding up to an unsafe level and sweat forming on my palms.
“Just as Atlas didn’t either, but he still left me!” I shot back, sharper than I intended, the shock of my own words hitting me hard before I tried to mask them as a mistake. “I mean… he still left us all, to… to… try and end this.” I fumbled with my words, but it was no use. The damage had already been done to my own heart, and Aster knew it. Because for the first time during this conversation, his expression softened, and I hated the pity I saw in his eyes.
“Alex, Atlas is the King of Theïkós. He had no choice but to leave,” Aster said, his voice now as soft as his eyes, as if he were dealing with a fragile heart.
“I… I know this,” I forced myself to say, my mind instantly going back to when Atlas left. To his expression when he handed me back my journal and told me goodbye. It was as if some secret part of him knew he wouldn’t be making it back to me, despite his promises. As if he had known this was the end because duty took precedence over his heart. A fact I didn’t want to face, and one Aster was forcing me to despite the fight in me to hide from it.
“He was once the General of the Kingdom’s army. He is used to facing the unknown, to navigating danger that would break the rest of us.”
“I know this, Aster,” I stated again, more firmly this time, swiping angrily at the tears that I felt escape unwanted. The frustrated gesture only softened him further.
“Good, then you will understand that whatever was on the other side, he will have dealt with,” Aster said, driving his point home, but I had one to make of my own, and I stepped toward him, adding emphasis to my words.
“And what of killing his own brother, Aster? What about taking that last step beyond the point of no return, huh? What about that? How many times has the great General of your kingdom’s armies faced that?”
Aster flinched back slightly before tearing his eyes from my water-glazed ones.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I snapped, his silence speaking volumes. “Look, I managed to survive the Rift without any of you,” I said, looking to Tiff and then my uncle, silently letting them know that I didn’t mean to hurt them with my words, but it was a necessary argument I was forced to make. “I faced things that still had the blood from their last kill stained in their fur, their scales, their smoke-covered flesh. I did whatever I could do to survive, but it was all for nothing if I walk away from this… walk away when I am needed the most. So please, Aster, at least give me some credit here.”
Aster let out a sigh, his shoulders slumping.
“And what of Atlas?” he asked me, surprising the breath from me with the question.
“What do you mean? He needs me,” I stated firmly, but he started to shake his head and finally let his big arms fall to his sides.
“Yes, he needs you to be safe, something I gave him my word would happen. Which means that despite failing him the first time, I am not about to do it a second time by willingly taking you into danger.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation, letting out a growl that wasn’t entirely my own. It came from the panic rising inside me.
“We are losing time! Why don’t you understand? If Atlas kills Lazaros, then…” I swallowed hard, the words catching in my throat. Saying it aloud felt like giving it form, like it would make it true, and it wasn’t something I was ready to face.
“Alex. I understand your frustration,” Aster said, softer now. “I get it. I do. He’s my best friend. But time works differently over there. It will take him weeks to get to the castle.”
I stuttered on my next argument, my words of objection quickly fading away in favor of new ones.
“What do you mean, time works differently over there?” I demanded, my eyebrows furrowed. Aster exchanged a quick, knowing look with Bronte and Uncle Rick, as if they were about to repeat something top secret.
“We call it a time fracture,” he said finally,
“The Rift doesn’t just open up between worlds, but it also separates time. For every day that passes here, only one hour passes in Theïkós.” I narrowed my eyes, scanning all three of them in disbelief.
“How do you know this?”
