“What’s it like,” Andrian asked, “being the consort to a goddess who doesn’t need protecting?”
Callamus chuckled, though it didn’t carry any humor. “I know you worship her like she is,” he said, “but your queen is not a goddess. And you should pray she never becomes one.”
Andrian’s skin prickled with unease. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
But Callamus was again shaking his head. “To answer your question”—he sighed heavily, glancing up at the sky— “I love my Rulene. She is the day sky to my night. But the consort bonds between the gods are different. The title is shared, but we did not choose each other; not as the Onitan Queen does. Us gods were paired together. Our fondness has bloomed from time and the close relation of our magic. And that is true for all of us…except two.”
“Zadione and Kol.” Andrian’s unease grew stronger. Mariah had shared enough about the Goddess of Death’s relationshipwith the God of the Sun. None of it did much to shake the disquiet always present in his chest.
What he and Mariah had was different. It had to be. History would not repeat with him.
Callamus nodded. “Yes. Their beginning was different from the rest of us. But that is not my story to tell.”
Dusk had fallenover the mountains, casting the peaks in hues of purple and blue. Callamus lead them now, Matheo and Signe following. Andrian and Mariah brought up the rear, their legs brushing as they rode close together.
He’d been quiet since his conversation with Callamus. And Mariah hadn’t pushed. When she’d dropped back, she’d taken one look in his eyes and joined him in silence, an understanding grimace on her face.
These gods and their vague words. Why couldn’t a single answer they gave be simple and not wrought with a dozen layered meanings and secrets?
He’d been trying hard not to let his mood sour too much today. But between the hay fever and everything else…fuck, was it a struggle.
He tipped his head skyward, breathing in a lungful of air not tainted by thebrusihe rode. No. There was no true reason to be in a foul mood. He had his queen, hisnio, beside him, and that was all he needed.
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“What?” Mariah’s question caught him off guard. He blinked in surprise.
Something he wasn’t prepared to see glimmered in her green eyes, Kodie’s ears tipped back toward her in concern.
Fear. She was afraid.
“What if it doesn’t work?” Mariah repeated. “What if we go all this way, and I go through thisstaor, but Callamus was wrong? What if whatever is wrong with my magic—whatever is wrong withme—” She closed her eyes, dragging in a great pull of breath. “What if I can’t be fixed?”
Andrian’s chest cracked.
“Nio. Look at me.” He reached across the space between them, clasping her hand in his. Her skin was feverish.
“There isnothingabout you that needs to be fixed. There is nothing about you that’s wrong. You will get your magic back tomorrow. And even if you don’t, it doesn’t change a gods-damned thing. You’re still strong and fierce and capable of bringing any being—god or otherwise—to their knees.”
Mariah’s bottom lip wavered, a show of emotion she hardly allowed anyone to see. “I can’t defeat him without my magic, Andrian.”
“Then we’ll find another way. You still have mine. And you have Callamus and Rulene. Not all of this has to fall on your shoulders,nio.”
She nodded and glanced away, gaze sweeping over the ridges of the mountains.
Andrian released a frustrated sigh, keeping his hand on hers. What did he have to do to get her to believe in all the things he did? Fuck, he was the most pessimistic person he’d ever met. But even he knew, in whatever soul he had, that she would find a way to defeat Kol once and for all.
He believed, with every fiber of his being, that there was nothing Mariah Salis couldn’t do.
“We’re here.” Callamus’s announcement rang out. A few startled birds jumped off the branches of the trees, flying into the evening sky.
They halted their beasts in a small clearing just off the path. The trail continued to the top of a grassy rise, the sky beyond it empty. Callamus nodded toward the end of the path. “Thestaoris just over that rise, but we will make camp here. The magic of this place can be a bit unsettling, but it is quieter off the trail. If you go closer, you will understand what I mean.”
Andrian and Mariah shared a glance. They dismounted, quickly untacking. Andrian’s eyes burned by the time he was done. He left hisbrusito graze, sneezing three more times—each of which ignited a giggle in Mariah’s chest.
Fine. The allergies were annoying, but at least it brought her a little joy. For that, he supposed he could tolerate it.
“If you mention awordof this to Quentin the next time we see him,” he told Matheo quietly as he strode past the other man, “I will shave your head in your sleep.”
