“In part, because the biggest threat to our kingdom is finally gone. King Embenar died, and the throne passed to King Malgath, his most sensible son. Not twisted by fear or the need to control like his father before him. We’ve steadily worked to build up our defenses, so that when we do reveal ourselves, we will be safe. And because we were blessed to have Corvin. Lastyear, the inauguration gateway first appeared. And I decided then that it was time. To shed our glamour and declare ourselves the Kingdom of Zroterra, so that the entire realm might know of our existence.”
“An entire hidden kingdom, floating in the sky…”
“Enough about our history. For now, I’m more interested in your story. In what brought you here. Please tell me more about yourself. How are things going? As the Midnight Sovereign? Years ago, before I met Corvin’s mother, I was close friends with one of your predecessors. Luciana was her name. She encouraged me to keep fighting for a place to call home. Helped the Zrocan to survive. I owe her a great deal. It’s a regret of mine, the position declining. She loved that island so much, and her service to this realm was admirable. I was so focused on growing the Sky Kingdom, I never realized the Midnight Sovereign was being threatened until it had already diminished. How is it that you came to live on the island? Do you still have a nest of homing ravens living there? I helped Luciana start that flock, you know.”
His eyes were alight with genuine interest, his voice entreating. And so, I told him. Told him about my life. “I was born in Solaris and spent my early years in an orphanage…” Told him about the island. About my childhood with Kaylin. Then, I told him about the last few moons. About her death and feeling lost. About his son showing up at my doorstep. About my efforts to understand who I was meant to be and reclaim the office I’d inherited.
He listened attentively to everything I had to share. Until a spasm visibly racked his body.
“Forgive me,” he said, panting with pain. “I find I must rest my eyes for a while.”
“Of course. I could also use a nap,” I replied kindly as he laid his head back against his pillow.
As my eyes began to shut, I thought I saw a faint trace of magic pulsing across King Ravenell’s chest, constricting him like chains. I blinked, opening my eyes, but it was already gone. Fast enough, faint enough that I immediately doubted whether it had been there at all or if it had simply been a trick of the light. Blinking a few more times, and noticing nothing, I let myself rest.
A shrill caterwaul penetrated my ears, frightening me awake.
Nix stood at the end of my bed, hackles raised, every hair on the back of his head standing on edge, loudly voicing his displeasure at the infirmary door, which slowly creaked open. As he continued to wail, a winged tiger padded into the room. The tiger took a seat just inside the doorway, but otherwise, made no move to approach. With the way Nix was carrying on, I would have frozen in place too.
The tiger’s horns twisted away from his head, ending in twin, sharp peaks. But his wings were tucked, his body language submissive. Orange-and-black striped fur grew in a thick, shiny coat across his body, except where it withered to tufts, disrupted by the myriad of scars and burns visible across his flank. I stared at the tiger’s face, his expression noble and somehow also deeply sad. He possessed only a single eye, his left eye socket just an empty pit.
“Ajax,” Nix spat with cold venom in his voice. “I knew it!I knew I smelled your odious stench on Corvin.”
“Peace, Nix,” the tiger responded in a calm, solemn voice. “I mean no harm to you or your ward.”
Nix didn’t relax a single muscle in his coiled body. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be cowering by Ramon’s side?”
“I know that name—” I muttered, echoes of the assassin’s cruel voice ringing in my ears. “Nix, why do I know that name?”
His stance relaxed a fraction. “It’s good to hear your voice again, Little Moon.”
“Who’s Ramon?” I repeated, my voice growing more distraught.
His tone was enraged. “He’s the man targeting the Midnight Sovereign.”
“You knew? You knew who was after me all this time?” I asked through the hurt and confusion.
Deep regret saturated his reply. “Yes, I knew. I didn’t want you to go after him. I was afraid you might try and confront him before you were ready. I was afraid you would be killed. That your tenacity would be the death of you. And I couldn’t bear to witness another death. I thought biding our time was the better move. I was wrong. It wasn’t safer to avoid him in the end. I am sorry, sorry I wasn’t brave enough to tell you what you deserved to know.”
“Who…who is he? And why did he try and kill me?”
“Heusedto be the Archlord of the Spring Court. Supported by tyrants and cowards alike.” He spat the last as a directed insult at the winged tiger in the doorway. “As for why he tried to kill you—Ajax should be able to answer that.”
“My allegiance has long changed, Nix,” the tiger replied in a voice wracked by guilt and grief. “Ramon’s cruelty made it impossible for me to stay.”
Nix yowled and King Ravenell shifted in his bed, stirring awake. Nix’s voice dripped with the same heavy combination of guilt and grief I’d detected in the tiger’s words. “HowDAREyou speak to me of Ramon’s cruelty. I’ve been living it—over and over these past centuries, I’ve been living it. My fur is drenched in the blood of those I swore to protect. Killed by the manyouserve.”
“Served.” The tiger amended sorrowfully. “I’m sorry, Nix, for the cruelty you’ve suffered at his hands. That you’ve lost your wings. I’m sorry too that I failed to act sooner, that I was too blinded by loyalty to accept what I felt to be true. I tried to end his life, when I chose to leave, even though it would have meant the end of my own existence, but I was not successful. That was the night he took my eye. Though he’d already taken so much more from me and from those living within the Spring Court.”
Nix’s breath came out in angry, shuddering pants. “What are you doing in Zroterra?”
“I ran away after failing to kill Ramon. I flew and flew, wishing to perish alone. That’s when King Ravenell found me adrift in the sky and nursed me back to health. He offered me a place here, the chance to serve a new kingdom. And I’ve been here ever since. The Sky Kingdom is my home now, and its people are my wards. Now I serve a great man, somebody who has proven himself worthy of my devotion, so unlike Ramon, who only ever rewarded it with senseless cruelty.” As he finished speaking, the tiger leapt softly up onto King Ravenell’s bed, curling up at his side. The king’s eyes fluttered as if he was struggling to fully regain consciousness.
“Lost your wings,” I interjected, staring at my own loyal companion. “Nix—you’re one of the Dentaria, aren’t you? You’re not becoming a dog after all.You’re the jaguar!The jaguar from my dreams. I dreamed about you before, you know, prowling the island. Wait a second, are you going to get that big?” I looked at the tiger’s massive frame and then back to Nix. “I think we’re going to need more fish,” I muttered dazedly.
He nuzzled my hand with his nose. “Yes, I am a Dentaria. And you, Elvira, are my beloved ward.”
“I love you too,” I told him. “I still don’t understand though. How did Ramon lose his throne? And what does that have to do with me?”
