He looked tired. Not the physical kind of tired but the one that wasn't fixed by sleep. I wondered if this was how he looked before the crown, before he had felt a grief deep enough to change his entire personality.
Rhael must have felt my gaze because his eyes slowly lifted to meet mine, holding it there as something unspoken passed between us. It was a testament to the strange equilibrium we had found, of the line we circled but did not cross. At least not out loud.
The moment shifted and he looked back down, the moment slipping away lost in the silence as he focused back onto the pages of his book.
The days passed like that easily, until the morning his sister was due to leave. It seemed as though everyone was awake before dawn, with Penny waking me up as the sun breached the horizon, to dress me for such a momentous occasion.
Servants moved with a hushed urgency, guards stood straighter at every doorway. Olesia was leaving to become a bride and what should have been a momentous occasion, had filled me with an impending sense of dread.
As they packed up their belongings and prepared to leave I stood beside Rhael in the courtyard. My place at his right, where he instructed. Penny had dressed me in a dress so dark blue that it appeared black, unless in the sunlight. Mourning the Fae Princess’ departure along with everyone else.
My hair was braided back so tight I was sure it was going to give me a headache before the morning was over. Every inch of me was arranged, structured, unable to move an inch.
The air was cold, especially for summer, with the wind biting at my skin even though the sun was filling the space. Horses stamped and snorted, clearly impatient to leave.
The dragons would leave on horseback and travel a few miles closer to home before they transformed into their true form. Part of me was disappointed I would not get to see the dragons, I had never seen one before. Seeing the great beasts of Pyrhador in person would have soothed a want I had harboured since I was a child.
However, it wasn't an option. Rhael had cut off the request that morning before the sentence had even finished leaving my mouth. Claiming that the beasts were too dangerous, that during transformation there was a risk they would lose touch with theirhumanity for a half a second. A half second he was not willing to risk.
Olesia stood in front of her brother, bowing her head in goodbye. I could only assume that their familial goodbye had been done that morning, because this seemed cold and informal for a brother saying goodbye to his last living sibling.
However, when it came to me Olesia stepped forward, taking my hand in hers. She looked regal, almost unyielding. As if she had committed herself to this decision from the moment the words came out her mouth and she refused to go back on them no matter what.
“Remember what I told you Elara. You have more power here than you know,” she whispered. Her fingers clutching mine before she stepped away nodding her head to her brother once more.
“Take care of our home brother.” Olesia whispered her eyes lingering on his face as if memorising one last time.
“Come back to it,” Rhael said equally as softly, with an incline of his head. He was keeping his posture, but I could see the tightness of his jaw, the way his fingers curled slowly into his palm before forcing themselves to relax.
Then she was gone, the gates closed behind her with a finality that echoed long after the sound itself had faded. Rhael did not move, and neither did I.
My instincts told me to reach for him, to say something, anything, that might cut through theweight settling over him. But I did as commanded, I stayed still, unmoving in silence.
It was only later, when the castle had resumed its careful existence that I went to his office. Rhael was there, as always, standing at the window back to the door. His shoulders rigid beneath his dark tunic.
“What are we doing next?” I asked when he did not turn around, breaking the silence with words that seemed too simple for the day's emotions.
“I have already sent word,” he stated as he rested his hand against the window, as if looking for any sign of the dragon envoy. Almost as if seeing them fly across the sky would convince him that his sister had really gone. That she had chosen to leave him.
“To whom?” I ask, stepping forward, my brows knotting together. It should not have surprised me that he had acted without telling me. It was what he did best, but somehow it stung all the same.
“The Siren Queen.” He said finally turning to face me, his eyes red rimmed as if he had spent time crying. But I didn't question it, instead I focused on the ripple that ran through me at the mention of the only female ruler in Alasgad.
I had heard stories throughout my lifetime of the Siren Queen. How she had lived in cold water for centuries, trusting no one and keeping humans in her thrall.
Of all the stories of Alasgad, that one had terrified me most. She was said to be cruel, manipulative and valued power above all else. It madeher more dangerous than any of the kings, she had nothing to lose.
“She has agreed to meet us, on neutral ground,” he told me, causing my eyes to widen as I realised that he had not only made arrangements for himself to travel, but for me also.
The Siren Queen was dangerous, especially for a human, and the idea of being stood mere feet from a woman who had single handedly consumed my nightmares as a child made my usual defiance stop in its tracks.
“Us?” I questioned, needing to hear him say it.
“Yes, unless you have forgotten your end of the bargain so easily.” Rhael mused, a playful look on his face despite the cold distance in his eyes.
“Of course not,” I scoffed. He knew I would not forget our agreement, the thing that kept me tethered here. The piece of string holding us together that, in the back of my mind, I now knew I had the option to break.
“Good, then you will be coming with me to the human slums. She has requested we meet in a tavern closest to the shore,” Rhael’s tone remained plain.
