My steps marched after him, but Drystan was so calm and composed.
“You might have ruled from this city for a century, but you were never locked inside. Being a prisoner breeds a particular obsession to discover every inconspicuous way out.”
“You weren’t locked inside,” I argued. Though as I said it, I realized I’d never learned about Drystan’s life with those walls after I was gone.
He said, “Nyte was the one with the freedom. He was useful to our father, especially with how destructive he became in your absence. I think my father knew that Nyte would turn on him and the city if he tried to keep Nyte by his side. Instead that was my role. The perfect prince, always poised and pretty in the castle, the one who would take over his throne someday and for whom he’d arrange a marriage for political advantage.”
My heart sank for him. “I’m glad it never came to that.” It was a pitiful statement, but I didn’t have much else to offer.
“It nearly did. He desperately wanted me to wed one of the elder vampires to gain their allegiance.” He chuckled in reflection, though it was bitter-coated humor. “She never would have agreed, so my father made me try tocourther, make her fall for me. It wasn’t the first time he suggested I win people over that way. Nyte was his weapon as good as steel, while I was his weapon as good as a courtesan. I guess you could say we’re both very good at what we do.”
I’d stopped walking with the terrible upset that hollowed my stomach. I stared after him with pity, though I knew he would despise seeing it. Drystan was so beautiful, and the way he could speak and lure someone in with carefully mastered stares alone made the realization slam into me.
“We don’t have time for rest,” Drystan said, turning back to me with hard eyes.
We both knew it wasn’t why I stopped, but he didn’t want to talk further on the matter.
“When you found a way out of the city… where did you go?” I asked; the question hung between us as fragile as glass.
“Anywhere. I couldn’t get far, of course, but you’d be surprised by the many wonders that can be found somewhere you think is too familiar to be worth deep exploration.”
It was the first time I’d felt a spark of inspiration for anything other than my rage and retribution. I wanted him to show me, to go with him and explore what he’d found, and then when the war was won… we could go anywhere.
I followed when Drystan turned and walked again. The tension between us felt thick, but there was a light I wanted to reach for.
“You wouldn’t go on these ventures and not take note of them,” I said, offering a token of conversation that might add a stitch or two on the cracks of our friendship. “Is that what you write in your journals?”
“Among other things.”
I envied his ability to slow down enough to take in his surroundings and findings, then make sure he could revisit the memory anytime he liked.
“Would you ever show me?”
His brow hooked as he peered back at me. Then he drew a long breath.
“If we make it out of all of this, I might consider showing you. Or better yet, taking you.”
I broke a small smile even though he didn’t see it. I held onto those words as a promise, which added more determination to triumph in this war.
Drystan led us, ducking cautiously down the hill and around the city wall. A distant noise caught my attention, like the wind was on fire heading straight to us. Instinctively, my sight tracked up and my eyes widened.
“Shit,” Drystan swore, taking off in a run, and I didn’t hesitate to follow.
“The stars…” I trailed off in a panting breath as the snow made our retreat so much more laborious.
“The wrath of your parents, perhaps,” Drystan deduced.
We’d only seen the fireballs from afar and sometimes felt the ground quake with their impact. This was the first time we ran from being the direct target of one.
With gritted teeth of frustration, sweat began to trickle down my spine as I thought we wouldn’t clear the blast radius in time. I cast my magick out with heat, melting the snow beneath our feet, which allowed us to push our legs faster.
“You shouldn’t have done that; your light is like a beacon,” Drystan hissed.
“Would you rather we become buried a hundred feet under?” I snapped back.
I hoped anyone who might have seen the flare I tried to keep small would believe it to be related to the flaming ball hurtling toward our land. The red hue cast over us from the crimson moon along with the falling stars turned our world into a land of blood and fire. I didn’t know how long we had before the destruction started to lay waste, leaving nothing for us to salvage if we managed to defeat Auster then the gods.
At least this star seemed small and would land outside the city where thousands of citizens lived.
