“Because she’s a good person who has the weight of a clan on hershoulders,” Cypherion added. “She’s trying to see circumstances from every side before blocking out possibilities.” He looked to me, understanding and encouragement bundled in one slight nod. “As a good ruler does.”
That had me sitting higher in the saddle as Sapphire ascended an incline between two sloped walls.
“So, Dax, I want to trust you. But I need you to give me some reason that makes you two trustworthy.”
Dax’s eyes stayed on Barrett, thirty feet ahead. He watched his body sway easily with Elektra’s movements as he rode with Jezebel, muttering in her ear the entire time. My sister waved him away like a pesky fly.
“He’s good, you know.” He adjusted the place where his dark green leather sleeves met his manacles, tucking the metal away. Unlike the prince, who wore loose, casual clothing, Dax dressed like a soldier. Ready for combat. “He’s not like his mother.”
“How can I believe that just because you say it?” Never mind the affinity gnawing at my gut after my conversation with Barrett last night. Wanting to trust them wasn’t enough.
Dax continued tracing the chains around his wrists, grumbling something beneath his breath. Then, in a soft voice, he said, “He had to kill three of our own guards to get here.” My hands tightened on the reins. “The queen—I think she knew what he was planning. Or suspected him of something. She had me sequestered.”
“Why you?” It was a gasp, almost, but I kept my eyes on the outline of the mountains stretching against blue sky in the distance. The clouds brushing their peaks.
“She thought he was going to run.” Dax’s eyes narrowed, wary fury breaking through. “And she knew he wouldn’t go without me.”
“He killed them to get you out,” I finished for him. And with that, I saw a bit more of myself in the prince. That inability to leave behind someone you loved. The carnal need to shield. And I realized, just because he was raised under a wicked regime, did not mean he himself was wicked. Barrett’s heart beat with hope just as mine yearned to.
If I could crack open all of his actions like this, pick them apart to their barest of bones, the motives were not much different than my own. Protect the one he loved and ensure a peaceful future for his people—one with as little bloodshed as possible.
“Why did she care that he ran?” Cypherion asked. “If she truly only used him as a pawn and didn’t share plans with him, why would it matter?”
“She needs an heir,” I said, but it didn’t sound convincing, even to my own ears.
“Her Majesty does not fare well with loss,” Dax said. “The only time we’d tried to leave before, she locked Barrett up for a week. He hadn’t seen her in two months before then, but when something disappears from her—or threatens to—she loses any essence of control.”
I pondered that, wondering how it tied into her desire for me above all else and what her true motives could be.
Despite that, though, as Dax’s story worked its way into my thoughts on the remainder of that afternoon’s journey, a small piece of me was growing to understand these two Engrossians.
Stars winkedinto existence on the second night, and I wanted to imagine they were waving good fortune to us for what waited tomorrow. That they weren’t sowing discord along the path of my future.
We’d rest tonight, spend a few hours traveling to the outpost where the Engrossians were rumored to be stationed, assess their camp, and strike at nightfall.
“Any idea what they have in store for us?” I asked Vale as I sat next to her around the mystlight lantern, looking to the heavens. Everyone had gathered to review tomorrow’s plan once more.
But it was Erista who answered from across the way. “I bet they’re quiet in preparation of the Apex Moon.”
“The what?” Tol paused his writing in the journal propped on his knee, turning curious eyes to the Soulguider.
“Starsearchers don’t much believe in lunar lore the way Soulguiders do,” Vale explained. “The Apex Moon shouldn’t affect our sessions.”
“Interesting,” Erista observed, head cocked with that feline gaze. Whatever she was thinking, though, she didn’t say. Instead, she turned to Tolek. “The Apex Moon is the night of the month when the connection with the Goddess of Death, Artale, is the strongest. The souls venturing home that night find it easier to pass through thebarriers between life and death, and our predictions are clearer—essentially she pulls back an opaque curtain to us.”
“How does the connection with her work?” Collins, one of the warriors Danya had chosen to come with us, asked. He was a large man, twice her age at least, with thick brown hair to his shoulders and an eye-crinkling smile that softened my nerves every time he flashed it to me.
Like right now. Despite the eerie topic of Artale, I was lighter when I grinned back.
“We are mere conduits. Deliverers of her children back home to her, no matter what realm they end up in after ours.” The mystlight lantern seemed to glow brighter as Erista spoke. “The network of streams through our deserts carries them to the afterlife.”
With that responsibility came the premonitions, I knew from my grandmother. Soulguiders were gifted visions of one’s future—particularly feats leading to their demise. Unlike the Starsearchers’ readings, they couldn’t be spoken of.
“And what of Xenique?” I asked after the First Soulguider, now their Angel.
“Xenique was the first with this connection, born of unique circumstance. But we, like the other warriors, honor her above all else. Without Xenique, we would not be blessed with the responsibility of guiding souls home, despite Artale’s power.” Erista spoke slowly and chose her words carefully, clearly avoiding the private pieces of lore. “She was the driver behind everything we are today, breaking barriers that were otherwise unchallenged in order to earn her power.”
Cyph spoke up, aiding the Soulguider, “I once read that Xenique obtained the goddess’s blood and it’s been passed down her line since.”
