“You told me that the best time to strike an opponent was when they were distracted, so I distracted him.” What other tricks did this woman have up her sleeve? She was bold, Dimitris would give her that.
“It was a lapse in judgement, my friend, one that will not happen again,” Elias muttered as he took a long drag of his drink.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, General.” Dafne leaned into the table, pressing her fingertips to her mouth and blowing a kiss in Elias’s direction. His cheeks went instantly rouge.
Bold, bold woman indeed. It must be a familial trait.
“As much as I appreciate the blade, I cannot accept it. That blade was crafted by my uncle many years ago, and there is special significance in the weapons he forges. If you won the honor, I must insist you keep it.” Dimitris pushed the dagger back across the table.
“I must agree with Dimitris on this,” Thalia exclaimed, clutching her sister’s hand in her own. “With war upon us, you can use all the luck and protection you can get.”
“Well, I guess I can’t say no. Now, General, would you do me the courtesy of walking me back to the castle? I think it is time I go to sleep.” Dafne stood, brushing out her glittering onyx dress under her thick fur cloak.
“Of course, my lady. I would be happy to.” Elias stood as well, but before he rounded the table he leaned down toward Dimitris and whispered, “Perhaps I should not have gone drink for drink with Sebastian.”
Shaking his head, Dimitris replied, “No, brother, perhaps not.”
As the two walked away, both stumbling slightly, Dimitris let out a laugh. Elias was in for it with that one, but he couldn’t bemore happy for the general. After losing his wife a year ago, Elias had never looked this unburdened. He deserved happiness, even if it was just for this night.
Thalia and Dimitris remained at the table, surrounded by other soldiers, yet seemingly alone for quite some time after their friends had left. The bonfire still crackled in the distance along with the torches staked into the ground around the many tables that lined the colosseum’s stage. Firelight created shadows along Thalia’s face that danced with the ebb and flow of the winter’s breeze and Dimitris couldn’t help but suck in his breath every time he glanced up at her. The seer was silent, nodding her head along with the string music that played nearby, tapping her fingers against her goblet of wine with every beat.
Pulling out the present Dimitris had hidden in his pocket, he fidgeted with the wrapped velvet box. Amber liquor racing through his veins emboldened him just enough that he placed the object in front of Thalia, peering up through his eyelashes at her as she stopped thrumming her fingers against her glass.
“Am I to assume this is for me?” she asked, tilting her head to the side, her lips parting ever so slightly.
Dimitris only nodded, words escaping him at the moment. Thalia pulled at the twine, the parchment falling to the side as the string came undone. Slowly, she lifted the top of the box, her violet eyes widening as she pulled out the broach.
“This is beautiful,” she whispered, hand trembling ever so slightly that Dimitris almost didn’t notice. Her fingers traced over the amethyst and deep sapphire stones that made up the arrow broach. “Where did you find it?”
“A jewelry cart down in the market,” Dimitris lied, unable to share that he had specifically asked for this piece, picking out each stone by hand, waiting as the woman in the shop welded the pieces together. “There is something else there as well. It is more of a gift for Mykonos—I have become strangely attached to the creature,” he admitted.
Thalia shuffled through the wrapping before pulling out the rolled piece of parchment. It made a crinkling noise as she undid the roll and flattened it on the table. Her nose crinkled and her brows furrowed in concern.
“Do you not like it?” Dimitris asked, gesturing toward the sketch he had drawn of Thalia and Mykonos at the helm of theAphrodite. It had taken him quite a while to do and his heart sank at her reaction, such a stark contrast to her opening the piece of jewelry. Maybe she only liked the sparkling gemstones and not the intention or thought behind it—or maybe the drawing had taken it too far.
“Did—did you draw this?” she replied, ignoring his question.
“I did. But if you don’t like it, I will burn the very thing in the bonfire. No need to ever see it again.” He was a damned fool.
“It is not that at all. I do…like it, that is. It’s just the handwriting…yourhandwriting, I have seen it before.” Dimitris could see the way Thalia’s mind spun as traced the curve of his script with her eyes. “You must come with me.” She rolled the piece of parchment back up and placed it and the velvet jewelry box in the pocket inside her cloak before hurrying around the table to his side.
“What do you mean you’ve seen my writing before? Where are you taking me?” he croaked out as Thalia grabbed his hands.
A smile lit across her face. “The archives, of course. To Alexander’s journals.”
She had read his brother’s journal. And not just any journal, but the one Dimitris had translated himself—or had tried to. The dialects Alexander encountered on his travels over the years, few knew the translations of—even his brother himself. If Thalia had seen his writing, then perhaps she knew which journal contained the code he needed to finish the translation—the key to theEleusínia Mystéria.
His heartbeat quickened its pace at the thought that he might finally solve what Chloe and Farah were really sent to Hespali for. Dimitris knew it was not purely a hunt for an alliance with their aunt, but his brother was always particular about which secrets they shared.
And as they ran toward the archives, his heart raced even more knowing Thalia had not flipped over the piece of jewelry and looked closer. That she had not noticed the words inscribed.
Psychí mou.
A small piece of him wished she had.
Chapter Nineteen
Thalia
