Iyana had worried that Kaz or Talon would choose to stay behind with Emmeric, even though Altair was convinced the shifter was coming with them. But the next morning she found both of them and Zane packing their belongings and readying their horses. Kaz was going to ride with Talon, so Emmeric had his horse at the library in case he needed to leave for any reason.
Without speaking directly to Emmeric, Iyana and the group planned to converge at the small winter town, meeting up with Geoff and Gordon after two weeks had elapsed. If there was an emergency at the library, Emmeric was to ride hard for the Dead Lands, leave a message at the dock, and then head into Istora. If the rest ran into trouble, they would return to the library.
Once they were ready to depart, Iyana climbed atop Pryn in front of Altair. Emmeric approached them.
“Please be careful, Mouse,” he said softly.
Iyana wouldn’t even spare a glance at him. Altair kicked the flanks of the horse, spurring him into movement. She didn’t look back.
Emmeric
He tried to let Iyana’s dismissal roll off his back. But after their first fight, their second fight, and her complete, unfaltering trust in Altair, and then for her to not even acknowledge him when she left? It stung. Not to mention he’d now opened his heart and spilled his emotions at her feet twice, only to be rejected.
Twice.
His best friend and his…whatever Kaz was to him had elected to go to with Iyana. A woman they had only met a few weeks back. Granted, he and Iyana had known Kaz the same amount of time, and he understood her reasons for wanting to continue her adventure. Talon, though? That one hurt.
Emmeric trudged back through the snow to the gigantic library doors after watching his friends (and Altair) until they were out of sight. Tal and Kaz had turned to wave, but he kept his gaze on Iyana, willing her to look back; one glance to tell him he meant something to her. But she never did. He glanced up at the larger-than-life statues of Imera and Elena, a sensation of goosebumps skittering over his body. Making sure nobody was lurking behind him, he reentered the warm library foyer and closed the door behind him.
Hours later, he was dozing on a sofa with a book face-down on his chest. He knew he had promised to find information on the astmina—and he meant to keep that promise—but Emmeric was never one for academic pursuits, and the studying always put him to sleep. He rubbed a tickle on his nose, then settled back into the soft cushions. Less than a minute later, the tickle came again, and he waved his hand, thinking it was a fly. Then something hard rapped against his forehead.
“What the fuck?” he yelled, bolting upright on the couch, the book tumbling to the floor. The owl that had been harassing him flapped its wings in annoyance but didn’t move from its perch. Emmeric raised his brows at the bold animal. Flicking his hands at it in a shooing motion did nothing. In fact, the owl hopped closer. That was faintly disconcerting, and Emmeric shifted away from the bird. Maybe it was sick. Oh gods, could humans catch an illness from a bird? He really didn’t want to find out. Moving to his room and closing the doors was the safest course of action, so Emmeric stood to do just that, but the owl hopped closer still. He walked backwards keeping the owl in his sights, and it continued to follow him—fluttering from couch to chair to table. Emmeric stopped moving and so did the bird, cocking its head and staring at him with large yellow eyes which appeared more intelligent than they should be. It really was a beautiful animal, with a speckled brown and white body, tufts of feathers extending from its ears, and a vicious-looking beak.
“Hello?” Emmeric said hesitantly, feeling foolish. The owl clacked its beak, turning its head until it was almost completely upside down without moving its bodyat all. It flew up to the seventh floor, perched on the railing for a moment, then returned to its place in front of Emmeric. He frowned, it seemed like…
“Are you trying to tell me something?”
It clacked its beak again.
“Can you understand me?” Emmeric swore the owl rolled its eyes. “Okay, let’s try this. Snap your beak once for yes, twice for no.” It only blinked at him with its third eyelid; the semi-transparent one that still allowed him to see the yellow coloring.
“Are you trying to tell me something?”Clack.“Do you want me to find something that would be helpful for me?”Clack.“You know what my friends and I are searching for, correct?”Clack.Gods, he hoped he wasn’t going crazy and talking to a normal bird. “Does it involve the astmina?”Clack clack.Emmeric perked up. “Okay, no, then. Does it involve the Aztia andKanaliza?” The owl turned its head to the side and clacked once. “Is that supposed to mean sort of?”Clack.“Does it involve the gods?”Clack clack.“The stars?”
Clack.
The stars.
This might be his chance to learn why Altair was always so cagey with his own history, and the ‘conflict’ the original Aztia and Kanaliza had faced. Hopefully, for Iyana’s sake, it showed the stars were trustworthy beings who decided to go into the sky on their own, same as the gods chose to sleep. A small part of him hoped he found something to convince Iyana that Altair wasn’t who she thought he was. Gods, that made him feel guilty. Emmeric rubbed at his chest, the bond already stretching as Iyana moved further away. He wondered if, at a certain distance, the bond would forcefully draw them to each other despite their opinions on the matter.
Meanwhile, the owl had flown back up to the seventh floor and hooted at Emmeric. To him, it sounded likehurry your ass up. He ran up those seven flights of stairs, taking the steps two at a time. As soon as he caught up, the owl began to glide on silent wings through the stacks of books. The group hadn’t made it up to this floor before everyone left. For a group of people supposedly dedicated to the Goddess of Knowledge, they’d had an abhorrent organizational system. The owl eventually landed on top of a bookcase. It was nothing special, nothing to make it stand out from the rest of the library. The bird clacked its beak three times, whichEmmeric took to mean he was supposed to search the third shelf. Starting at his left, he ran his finger over the books until the owl hooted. The large tome under his finger readThe Great Conflicton the spine.
Emmeric’s heart raced, and a tingle went down his spine. This book would change things. He could feel it.
Unlike before, this book captured Emmeric’s full attention, and he didn’t so much as yawn while he read. He allowed himself bathroom and food breaks, but the book was lengthy and most of it was long-winded and irrelevant. Still, he persevered, reading through the night despite the increasing ache of the bond. As his candle melted down to a stub and the early morning sun shone through the glass ceiling, Emmeric sat up straighter.
His eyes sped over the pages. He reread it to make sure he was understanding the words correctly.
“Oh, fuck,” he whispered. Iyana. He needed to find Iyana. Grabbing the book, he flew down the stairs, snatched up his cloak, and ran out the doors.
Iyana
Iyana tried to ignore the stretching ache in her chest.
As they rode through the snow and winds towards the Dead Lands, Talon and Kaz kept up most of the conversation, talking and laughing with each other, but Iyana knew they were wearing joviality as a mask to hide their pain at leaving Emmeric behind. Zane would partake in the conversations by occasionally speaking up, but he mostly remained silent, sneaking glances at Talon. Iyana smiled to herself. While she hated to admit it, the crown prince was growing on her. Especially seeing him so vulnerable around Tal. She was pleasantly surprised that the reputation she’d always heard of the womanizing, aloof prince was false. Instead, it seemed like an acthe put on in order to spend his time pursuing his own interests without his terror of a father breathing down his neck. Iyana couldn’t fault him for that.
Iyana and Altair rode quietly, only speaking if a question was directly addressed to them. It was late into the afternoon when Altair finally murmured in her ear, “Do you want to talk about it?”
She nodded meekly and Altair slowed the horse down so the others wouldn’t overhear. “It just…doesn’t feel right.”
