He couldn’t help himself—Emmeric brushed a lock of her hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.Iyana’s typically golden tan skin was pale, and there were purple circles beneath her eyes.“Why would I say that?”he whispered, his frown deepening.
Tears welled and spilled over.Emmeric wiped them away with his thumb, giving her the space to finally feel something, even if it was an overwhelming sadness and despair.
“Because you told me repeatedly that you didn’t trust him.I believe your words were,‘He’s blinding you with a handsome face and pretty words.’And you were right.So, so right, and I dismissed you every time instead of listening to your concerns like I should have.So, say it.I deserve it.”
Gods, he wanted to.His instincts had been correct, and instead of hearing him out, Iyana had continued to push him away, forcing him to regain her trust again and again.Emmeric remembered the day out in the woods after they had lost Zane, when he had confronted her with the information he’d found in the library.And she had blindly taken Altair’s side without any proof from the star that he could be trusted.And she had shouted that she loved him.
I’ll drop it.But this is on you, Iyana.I’d hate to say ‘I told you so’ someday.
Now that ‘someday’ was here, Emmeric found the words rising up his throat, only to turn to ash on his tongue.This woman had been through too much in such a short amount of time—her village had been attacked, her grandmother had died, she was captured and tortured, and then, to top it all off, the star she loved had betrayed and almost killed her.Everything that her life used to be, everything she thought she might become, had changed literally overnight.Were he to say those four words, so innocuous when separate, but together…Those words would break her.
So, instead, Emmeric shook his head slowly and dried more of her tears.“Mouse, I can’t say that.I won’t.”
They stared at each other, caramel-brown eyes looking into intense blue ones, as fatigue, fear, anger, sadness, betrayal, and confusion all flowed freely to Emmeric.Gods, he didn’t realize one person could feel so many different things so intensely at the same time.The flood of emotions from Iyana made it impossible for him to discern his own, and he didn’t especially care what she felt coming from him.Not when she was gazing at him like that.
Somebody clearing their throat brought them back to the room, the others staring at them raptly.A small smile played on Kaz’s lips.
“I know we all need to get some rest,” Talon said, “but the part of the story I’m missing is how you had enough magic to heal me, Iyana, after Altair had stolen all of yours.”Zane had stiffened when Tal alluded to his death, but the redhead drew slow circles on his arm and, eventually, the fledgling emperor relaxed back into him.
Iyana glanced up at him.“Right before I was pulled back to the tomb from my visit with Les, she gave me the instructions for how to imbue things with magic,” she said.“Em and I discussed it, and decided to ‘store’ some of my magic within him, like Altair had said I could.”Her voice held strong and steady, not even cracking at the mention of the star.
“I thought you were adamantly against that, old man.”And it was Tal saying his nickname that made Emmeric fully realize how close he had been to losing his best friend; how close he had been to Talon never calling him that again, never hearing his laugh again, never wrestling over a piece of bacon again.His sinuses burned with unshed tears, and Iyana gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“I was reluctant to try then,” Emmeric said.“But there really wasn’t anything else we could imbue, and we came to the agreement that it would be best to have some of her magic elsewhere.Our thinking was in case she couldn’t master the amulet or ran out of her stores too quickly, then I could give her a better boost than simply channeling towards her.We didn’t know what was happening outside—we didn’t know that Uther had already found us.”Emmeric looked down upon his Aztia again.She was drooping further, leaning into him more with every minute.They really needed to wrap this up so they could all sleep.“By the way, Mouse, that was smart thinking when you didn’t accept the extra magic I tried to shove at you.Even though it terrified me at the time.”
“Well,” she said, yawning, “I wish I could say it was from a superb moment of foresight, but it was really only because with all the magic from the amulet, any extra was going to essentially turn me into a murderous goddess.You barely pulled me back when I first used the amulet, Emmeric.I didn’t know who or where I was, only that I felt like Zaya reborn.I could have accidentally hurt any one of you.”
She had absolutely seemed like a goddess.Emmeric thought back to the battlefield when he had sensed Iyana tap into the magic of the amulet.A silver light shone around her, and she’d hovered a few inches off of the ground, her hair spread around her as if she were underwater, and her irises had become a molten silver.It was similar to how she had appeared in his dreams when they first began, but infinitely more intense.He could tell she was losing control, and was about to kill every single person and monster within that small area, so he did the only thing he could think of—Emmeric had placed himself directly in front of her, pushing a warm calm down their bond, praying to all the gods who would listen that he could break through to her.And she had recognized his call and come back to him.
“Anyway,” Emmeric said, “I was able to take that magic she had stored within me and channel it back to her.If we hadn’t taken the time to do that in the tomb, she would be dead.”
“And so would I,” Talon said softly.He and Iyana shared a brief smile.Two friends who had come so close to death and evaded its grasp.
Iyana yawned wide again, her eyelids fluttering closed.“We have at least five days on this ship until we reach Arinem,” Emmeric said.“Let’s get some rest and we’ll discuss this more later.”
Zane stood off of the couch, Talon following close behind him.They remained constantly in contact, neither one seeming to want to stray far from the other.“I have no desire to sleep in my father’s rooms.Emmeric, you and Iyana stay here.The rest of us will find other accommodations.”
Emmeric glanced at the woman sitting at his side.“Are you okay staying in Uther’s rooms?”he murmured.
“Honestly?It’s the least he could do after all the shit he put me through.”
He clasped her shoulder gently, relieved that the room itself wasn’t dredging up terrible memories for her.
Once their three companions had left, Emmeric locked the door behind them.Realistically, a mere lock would be nothing to any of their enemies, but it gave him a small sense of safety.Then, he scooped Iyana off of the couch and laid her gently on the massive bed, tucking the blankets in around her.He thought she was asleep until he went to move away and she grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t leave me,” she mumbled, her eyes still shut.Emmeric’s pulse increased at her words and touch.He brushed her hair back from her face.
“I won’t, Mouse.I’ll be right here in a chair, okay?”
“Promise?”
“I promise, Mouse.I’ve got you.”He continued to lightly comb her hair until her breathing changed, and he knew she slept.Exhaling deeply, he flopped onto a nearby chair to keep watch over her.It would be a long while before he was comfortable letting her out of his sight.
Forthenextfivedays of travel across the Aptua Ocean, they all focused on simply surviving.Eating, drinking, and bathing were the only actions any of them seemed capable of.If they spoke, they carefully avoided the topics of what had transpired, instead sticking to less emotional subjects.Needless to say, they did not speak much.
Emmeric and Iyana continued to occupy Uther’s old space.He would sleep in the chair while she slept on the massive bed.While it was plenty large enough for both of them, Emmeric did not want to make her uncomfortable.She had asked him to stay that first night, and she would search for him every morning when she first awoke—the feeling of relief at his presence blooming within her, then quickly dying down to the numbness she felt most days.Well, numbness and seasickness.The journey out to the Dead Lands had not been pleasant for her, but at least she’d had her healing supplies.In all the chaos between Uther and Altair, her bag had been lost, and so now she continued to suffer, alternating between sleeping and retching in the bathing room.Emmeric had tried to get her onto the deck one day, but her face turned a pallid green color and she ran back to their room.He didn’t try again.
Occasionally, while he slept, he would have nightmares.Visions of Iyana dying in his arms; of Talon motionless.The overwhelming sense of powerlessness.There would be flashes throughout his dreams of Uther and Altair leering down upon him, and those were the parts that unsettled him the most.He knew Iyana was not sleeping well, either, but Emmeric did not want to share his own nightmares with her, lest they drag her further under.For the moment, he was simply trying to keep her afloat.
