They were all like birds huddled together in a tree, hoping it was strong enough to survive the coming storm.
She flew down the spiral stairwell behind the banquet hall, the sounds of her footsteps reverberating against the stone walls and making her ears ring.The entrance hall opened before her, new pillars stark against the ancient flagstone tiles; at its end stood a full moon door leading outside, minded by two sentries.
Ione strode to them, her head high, ice crystals brimming around her hands in case she needed to fight her way through.
“Ione.”
The ice melted.Ione spun, her heart jolting at the sound of her mother’s voice.
Penina clicked her tongue from the doorway leading to the great hall, the impatient noise setting Ione’s teeth on edge.“How did I know – ” She stalked across the cavernous hall, her husband trailing after her.“ – that you would try to leave again?”
Her mother lunged for her, but Ione jerked back, turning, only to be met with a wall of ice.
“Don’t you dare,” Penina rasped, her posture bowed under the weight of the rare feat of magic.“Not again.”
Ione peered through the ice to the guards, who just watched back, unmoved.Sighing, Ione pivoted.“I’m insulted you think a little ice will stop me.”
Penina smiled grimly.“I nearly wish thingswerethe way they used to be, when you could hardly boil a kettle.”She lifted her chin, and on her, it looked scornful.Frigid.“You were far easier to contain then.”
“I’m leaving whether you like it or not, and as you can see – ” Ione lifted one hand and turned her wrist; in an instant, the ice melted to a puddle of slush at their feet.“ – I can handle myself.”
Her father Ronan edged forward.“Against an army?”he asked, wringing his hands together.“It’s not just one or two Moths out there, Bunny – ”
Penina held up a hand; unsurprisingly, Ronan fell silent.“Ione, please,” she said, her tone suddenly cloying.“We’re just about to meet Reka and Dian.Let the rest of them fight this out at the bottom of the mountain.”
Ione bristled, shame heating her face.
“We’ll have some tea and wait this out.”Penina managed an encouraging smile, inching closer, one hand out like she was trying to charm a wailing infant.“This isn’t our battle.Not anymore.And isn’t that better?”
Her hand closed over Ione’s wrist and her smile widened, triumphant, before Ione wrenched her arm back.Anger flashed – there was a blur of movement, a stinging pain as she slapped Ione hard across the cheek.
“Penny,” Ronan hissed, pulling his wife back, but Penina shouldered away from him.
“I almost lost you once to the Moths!”her mother shouted, throwing her fists down.“And I am not about to let you out of my sight again, especially not for some fleeting obsession with the Moth you dragged intooursafe house.”
Ione didn’t deign to respond, her arms still at her sides, her face smarting.
Penina emitted a mean laugh.“She disappears just before they lay siege on Oseidos; you run off to Soliz, only to return with her.”She crossed her arms.“I wanted to be wrong.I wanted to believe all the nice little stories Cynthia told us about your attendant.I wanted, gods help me, to believe my own daughter wouldn’t be so stupid.”
“Penny, honestly – ”
“I watched your Moth walk right out of this shrine, and I let her go happily.If she wants to die by Menon’s hand, then let her.”Her mother stooped, face level.Close enough for Ione to see the fear in her eyes.“You are not leaving.You are staying here, where you aresafe.”
It was what she’d said to Lina.Even in the name of protection, it was a grave insult.
She was Lina’s heliade.And if she wanted to protect her, she needed to be standing beside her, not chasing her down and fighting to hold her still.
“I didn’t just bring a Moth into Caelos Shrine,” Ione said, finding strength in the softness of her voice, quiet where her mother had shouted.She smiled, and she could see it rattled her parents.“I brought Sowelan.And as Sowelan’s heliade, my place is with her.”
There was satisfaction in the way her parents’ shoulders dropped, the way their mouths fell open.Even the guards behind Ione stirred; they muttered between themselves, questioning, like they weren’t sure whether to throw her out.Traitor, she heard them say.Ione laughed, a rippling peal that she sensed frightened them all.A high priestess’s daughter could still be a traitor.
“No need to apprehend me,” she called behind her.“Just open the door and I’ll go.”
“No –no, don’t move,” Penina commanded them.Finally she, too, laughed, disbelieving.“You have been so blinded,” she uttered.“So bloodynaïve– ”
“Penny.”Ronan laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder, his expression grave.He sucked in a breath, taking the stage for the first time Ione could remember.“Let her go.”
Penina’s eyes went huge.“Ronan, what –No.”She waved up at the guards.“Nobody heard any of this.We will all return to our room, we willwait– ”
