If anything, based on the coldness in his eyes, I’d believe he was unfeeling, unbothered, and completely unconcerned by the world around him or the choices that might lie ahead of him.
But the rest of his face is telling me…
He’s worried. Frustrated. Uncertain. Troubled even.
It’s startling, and I wonder if he’s so used to wearing a mask over his features, only his eyes exposed, that he hasn’t learned to control the rest of his face.
He’s holding me too tightly for me to twist and reach up to his jaw, to brush my fingers across it, but I tip my head back to see him as best I can, a certainty in my voice. “You need to fix your armor.”
He jolts, his focus flashing to me. It looks like he’s about to utter a quick retort, but then a muscle in his jaw twitches. “After we greet my mother, we will go to the Iron Forges,” he says, making me wonder if this was the choice that was worrying him. “That is, regardless of what Mother might have planned now that I’ve returnedwith you.”
Carefully, I ask, “Does she often dictate your choices?”
I’m fully aware my question may be inflammatory, but he seems willing enough to answer.
“You will soon learn,” he replies, “that I control the Iron Army, the forges, and the farms. In fact, I’m responsible for the rest of the kingdom, but my mother controls the Starlit Court, which is contained within the Constellation. The moment we land, we’ll be within her jurisdiction.”
It’s an interesting division of power. “Why?”
“Because our kingdom’s safety relies on her power.” His lips twist, a bitter tone entering his voice. “If it’s true you don’t already know that, then you will see it for yourself tonight.”
I consider pressing for more information, but the immediate problem is how close we are to landing. I’m certain I’ll need to face Antony’s mother soon enough, but I’m not looking forward to a power struggle between them, especially if it threatens my life.
I study the white towers, and what I can now see is a group of fae gathered on top of the highest platform.
It looks very much like the scene Antony told me to expect. Guards line the platform’s edges while two fae stand separately from them, closer to the platform’s center.
“Well…” I purse my lips. “If your mother controls the Constellation, why not land somewhere else?”
My suggestion is greeted with silence.
Then Antony bursts into laughter so suddenly it startles me.
It seems to shock his bird, too, because the animal jolts and its wingbeats falter. The other eagles also jerk mid-air, as if they, too, were startled by Antony’s raucous laughter, their riders trying to get them under control even as his bird resumes its steady path.
Antony doesn’t seem to care about the ripple of surprise he sent through his troops.
“Fuck me,” he declares, shaking his head, his eyes gleaming at me. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
I’m not sure how disconcerted his sudden happiness should make me.
Or how worried I need to feel when he leans to the right, and his eagle responds by turning in that direction.
Probably extremely worried.
At least on our previous path, I knew what I was headed into. After all, he was good enough to tell me.
The bird cuts sharply across the path of the eagles on that side, causing them to scatter. Their riders seem determined to stay with us, adjusting their path to follow, but Antony roars at them. “Back to your towers!”
They must be trained to obey his commands without question because, despite their suddenly wide eyes and the glances they take at each other, they immediately break off from us and turn around, several with backward glances.
Other than the shift in Antony’s body weight, it isn’t clear to me how he’s directing his eagle’s path.
It dips, sailing across the tops of buildings that glimmer in the sunlight.
There are perhaps hundreds of white roofs, all blindingly reflective, forming a sea of infrastructure.
Soon enough, though, it’s clear we’re headed toward the Iron Forges situated in the Constellation’s shadow. I relax a little since it makes sense that Antony would want to go there. He needs to fix his armor.
