Fuck. This was off to an inauspicious start. “The raid should’ve been successful,” he said, and then hurried along his explanation because he saw the sneer beginningon Uther’s face. “And it would have been. But a fucking shooting star or something impacted nearby. Many of the men were rendered unconscious, and once we assessed the situation, all the villagers had gone. We left it on fire, though, so it wouldn’t surprise me if most of it is severely damaged now.”
Uther’s brow lowered, but not in anger. He appeared curious, his eyes unfocused. Zane kept his surprise reigned in. But he did not relax yet—his father’s emotions were known to be transient. Curiosity could switch to anger in the span of a blink.
“Interesting…” said Uther. “Was there a young woman involved in this, by any chance?”
“There was a woman,” said Zane. Although he was confused, he somehow instantly knewwhichwoman was important. “But all she did was shout during the raid. She didn’t fight or interfere in any way.”
Uther nodded, stroking his beard, still lost in thought. “I need you to bring her to me. I trust you’d recognize her?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, but I don’t understand—”
“You’re dismissed,” his father interrupted, waving his hand towards the door.
Now Zane was truly shocked, but he wouldn’t question his father’s motives. He’d take the boon and run. Nodding his head again and relaxing his fingers, he swiveled back towards the doorway. Maybe he’d go lay up in his room for the rest of the day—take a bath and read a good book. Then he would head out again as quickly as possible. On his way to the door, he tripped over something. Looking behind him, he saw his father’s gray tabby cat, Cain.Fucking cat, he thought. Cain continued to walk into the throne room as if he owned the place. And, honestly, Uther treated the cat better than he did Zane. Not wanting to linger any longer than he already had, he slipped out the doors. His personal retinue fell into step behind him, and he let out a breath of relief. This time, he had escaped unharmed.
Uther
Cain jumped into Uther’s lap, and, purring, curled into a ball. Stroking his fur absentmindedly, the emperor of Athusa smiled wickedly.
A star had fallen in Arinem.
Finally.
Chapter 12
Iyana
After two days of fretting around the village—tending to lingering wounds or injuries, checking on newborn babes and their mothers, and asking multiple times if everyone wasabsolutelysure they wanted her to go—Iyana and Altair walked out of Imothia. Although she knew there were no horses to spare, given there were only two, and they were needed for farming, she still excessively complained about walking the entire distance to Athusia.
“Can’t you just, I don’t know, super-sprint us there?” she’d whined to Altair.
“Super-sprint?” he asked, his brow raising.
Waving her hands around, she said, “Yeah, like when you ran us from the crater to here.”
He chuckled. “I don’t remember that being a pleasant experience for you.”
“It wasn’t,” she said, kicking a pebble with her bare foot. “But I’d prefer it to any form of exercise.”
Altair nodded pointedly towards her dusty feet. “You know, walking may not be so unpleasant if you wore shoes.”
Iyana wrinkled her nose in disgust. “No, thanks.”
Chuckling again, he said, “I guess I could…” Altair reached out to draw her in closer to his chest, reminiscent of when he had carried her before. “But I won’t.”
Iyana deflated. Altair smiled with pity and gently ran a thumb along her cheek. Heat spread from the small touch. “Sorry, my star, but I do need to train you during the journey. If I transported us there too swiftly, we’d be forced to train in the city.”
“So?” she asked, pouting.
“So,” he replied, again brushing his thumb along her pouting lip. Iyana tamped down the desire to bite him. “That’s much more dangerous. Don’t forget Uther is aware of the Aztia. He may not know whoyouare, but someone would report us, and you’d be captured before you are ready.”
“Fine,” Iyana groaned. “We’ll do it your way.”
Only one short hour into their journey through the desert, Iyana realized she had over-packed. Despite the lower temperatures darkness brought, sweat dripped down her back. Her panting breaths were so loud in her ears she barely heard the buzzing of cicadas or distant yips of coyotes. Wanting to be prepared for any eventuality, she’d loaded any ingredients or pre-made medications she thought might be useful. Along with clothing, this made her pack extremely heavy. She made sure Altair also carried a bag of supplies, but he didn’t appear burdened in the slightest. Maybe she could convince him to carry hers. Or he could carry herandthe bag, and then she wouldn’t have to walk anymore.
“I’m not carrying you. Keep up,” Altair said over his shoulder.
Jolting out of her daydream, she sped up slightly to walk by his side. Was it still considered daydreaming if it was nighttime? Probably, since if one is awake then they aren’tdreamingdreaming. There should be another term for night daydreaming…
