“If we push through the night, we should be in Ursae before sunset tomorrow,” Araes replied, averting his eyes. He needed to lock these feelings down. There was no room for lingering gazes.
“Yes, but we must be smart. If the city guards catch wind of our arrival, we risk word reaching the west. It’s been a long time since I’ve entered the northern realm, no one will recognize me, especially not in common clothes. When we get there, you’ll no longer be a Venian lieutenant, and I’ll no longer be the spring queen. We’ll just simply be travelers,” she said, nodding to the carefully folded sets of civilian clothes beside her.
“Got it. And what shall I call you?” he asked.
“Pardon?” Tethys threw him a quizzical look.
“Well, if we’re simply highborn citizens, I can’t call you ‘my queen’ or ‘Goddess.’ Have you picked a name forthis mission?” Araes smirked and gods he swore a hint of a smile curved at the corner of Tethys’s mouth.
“Maybe I’m your wife,” she said, her eyes darkening. “Or maybe I’m your lover, and we’ve run away together.”
Wife. Lover. It didn’t matter, so long as she kept staring at him with those fucking eyes.
“Let’s stick with wife. It may be a bit less scandalous,” he said, raising a brow.
“Hmph. No fun, but suit yourself, Lieutenant.” She shrugged and shifted her gaze out the window. Gone was the broken woman from the night before. Her casual demeanor, as disarming as it may be, was more than certainly a facade. A shell she’d carved to protect the delicate threads that stitched through her heart. How exhausting it must be to pull oneself together time and time again? Araes knew. He’d rebuilt his walls more times than he could remember.
“What are you thinking about, Goddess?” he asked, leaning against the cushioned bench. They’d crossed the Eastern River and now were traveling through the northern section of Serpens. By the city’s tenth bell, the chariot would be well outside Venia’s walls.
“I was thinking about visiting Serpens again after we return home. I’ve only traveled through a handful of times, and the people—my people, deserve to be heard.” Her voice felt distant, as if she were somewhere far from here, and as she spoke, her eyes glimmered with a hint of sadness masked almost perfectly.
“I’m also beginning to think that the mortals who built this city were strategic in their division of the two districts. The river is no more than a wall keeping over two-thirds of the city out,” Tethys said. The chariot continued north, carrying them past unkempt shrubbery and roads littered with potholes.
In the past, the infrastructure in Serpens was at least maintained, but as the battles became more gruesome, andthe war demanded more resources, it was quite evident what pocket of money the council pulled from.
“Those families deserve more than just recognition, but it’s at least a start.” Tethys bit her lip, scowling under her breath as the chariot passed a frail-looking woman and her infant seated against a faded townhome’s exterior.
“We’ll bring their children home, my queen.” Araes reached for her hand, now limp in her lap, but thought twice before returning it to his pocket.
“How can you be so sure?” she asked, brow wrinkled with anguish.
“Because you won’t stop until they’re safe. That much is clear,” he said, smiling softly at her. He meant it, too. She’d be relentless in her search, if only to bring the motherfucker behind these kidnappings to light. Beneath that thick, hardened layer, Tethys was a fair queen.
You’re no queen of mine, he’d once said. He flinched at the thought of those bitter words. How had he been so wrong?
“That much is true,” she said. The goddess tucked a loose curl behind her ear and continued watching the city as it passed them by. It wasn’t the fresh morning light highlighting her blushed cheeks or the way her golden eyes bent and refracted from the incoming sunbeams that Araes found the most beautiful. In this moment, maybe it was the faint trace of compassion that wrinkled in the crows of her eyes or the subtle bravery that curled at the corner of her mouth.
Here and now, she was his queen.
Chapter 30
Just before the next day’s sunset, they arrived at the tunnel marking Ursae’s entrance. The city, bordered by snowy mountainous peaks, had one passageway extending for miles through the mountain range.
Tethys felt a chill settle deep in her belly as the carriage carried them further into the winter city. She wondered if her siblings felt as uncomfortable as she did straying too far from their realms. Just as in Canissa, now crossing the border into the northern realm felt as if she’d left a piece of herself behind.
She couldn’t quite pinpoint what caused the sense of dread blooming in her chest as they traveled through the dimly lit tunnel, but it grew until her hands trembled and the color drained from her cheeks.
“Are you alright, my queen?” Araes asked, orange light flickering across his face with each passing torch.
“Yes, it’s just difficult for me to be this far from Venia. I’ll be fine,” she said, reassuring herself more than thelieutenant.
The carriage crossed the final gateway into the city, and suddenly the world was illuminated again in pale shades of lilac and white. The snow that blanketed the north was so pure, so pristine, even the faint fading sunlight bounced off its frozen surface was nearly blinding.
“We’ll go straight to the Temple. If I know my sister at all, she’ll be somewhere in the archives with her nose buried in an ancient ledger,” Tethys said, watching the city folk pass by. Araes nodded, entranced by the newness of the foreign realm.
“I’m guessing you haven’t visited Ursae before,” Tethys chuckled, watching the lieutenant’s wide-eyed gaze as they traveled through the city’s bustling square. Hearth light poured from the passing tavern and shop windows, now opaque with a creeping frost.
“I haven’t gone farther than the fields between Venia and Canissa, but this place is…” He trailed off, taking in the sheer size of the central Ursaean mountain peak.
