Kings Isle. Yuna’s Ruins. We were one step closer to my claim being fully recognized by the gods. One step closer to calling myself king—and more importantly, Leena queen. Things had gone smoothly at Tyrus’s Ruins, at least for me. I hadn’t even been aware of the beast fight that’d been occurring right over my head. Instead, I’d been floating in nothingness—the same, quiet expanse where I’d communed with Oslo. Tyrus had appeared, a ball of warm light, and spoke at length about what it meant to be a ruler. How important it was to possess a strength of spirit, a resilience, and a dedication to one’s people. These values, he said, were reflected in the child, mother, and elder statues outside of Yuna’s Ruins. And, they were reflected in me.
I wasn’t entirely certain of his assessment, but I knew that Leena possessed those qualities and more. So I received his blessing without argument, because I knew that with her on the throne, we could begin to heal our divided world. There was an unshakable heat in my chest now, as if the mage himself was guiding me toward that last ruin site. Yuna and the gods were waiting.
We crossed the cobblestone street and pushed through the door. An elderly woman with deeply tanned skin and wrinkles hooding her eyes stood behind a sturdy podium, scribbling notes onto parchment with her quill. She looked up at us through the tops of her glasses, then drew her gaze back to the paper before her.
“How many rooms?”
“Just one,” I said.
She sat down her quill and yanked open a thick guest book. Dragging her finger down the page, she nodded. “I have one available that’ll do, if you don’t mind sharing beds. Two aurics for the night.”
Slipping my hand into my coat, I dug a coin purse out of one of the inner pockets. Thank the gods I’d kept it on me instead of stowing it away in our bags. I pressed the bits into her open hand, and she stowed them in a locked drawer before leading us to a set of cramped stairs just off the tavern. Once at our room, she handed over the key.
“It’s late, but you should be able to scrounge up some food from the bartender.” She narrowed her eyes, taking in our disheveled appearance, and snorted. “There’s a bath down the hall. I have some spare clothes left behind by travelers. I can’t speak for where they’ve been, but they’re a right lot cleaner than what you’ve got. I’ll leave ’em outside your door.”
“Thank you,” I said. She left without another word, and we piled into our room. Cramped but surprisingly clean, it was more than sufficient. Leena collapsed on a bed big enough for two and let out an elongated sigh. Calem and Ozias made for the bunk beds, each of them sinking onto the lower mattress and kicking off their boots.
“I’m more muck than man,” Calem said, running his hands along his dirt-covered coat. Dust sprinkled to the sheets around him.
Ozias shoved him gently. “You just officially claimed this bed. I’m not sleeping in your mess.”
Calem let out an indignant huff. “You’re too big for the top bunk. It’ll come crashing down on me while I sleep.”
Leena laughed—the sweetest sound I’d heard in days—and for a moment everything was fine. We were safe. We had a place to sleep. To eat. To recover. We knew where we were going and how we were going to get there. And even though we’d spent more time on our journey than anticipated, we still had some time before the anniversary of Celeste’s death. With a tired smile, I sank onto the bed next to Leena. She leaned her head against my shoulder.
“I wonder how everyone is doing,” she mused aloud.
A weight settled deep in me, and the temporary happiness that had filled my chest deflated. Gaige. Kost. All our brethren. “I’ll shadow walk and find Kost. Once I inform him of our location, I’ll come back and he can shadow walk here and fill us in. In the meantime, go freshen up. Relax a little.”
Planting a kiss on the hollow of my neck, she said, “Okay. See you in a few.” And with that, she, Ozias, and Calem all left, and I reclined on the bed. Giving way to the shadows, I felt my consciousness separate, and I sped through the night in the direction of Hireath, eager to see for myself that my family was okay.
* * *
Kost stood before us in a plume of shadows as his form wavered at the edges. There were only two candles in our room, one on each bedside table, and the flickering, low light of their flames made Kost appear even more ghostly—in part due to his shadow form, but more so because of his gaunt expression. Bags had formed beneath his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in days. His usually styled hair was lank and unkempt, and his shoulders were tight. Leena sat on our bed twirling the chain of her bestiary. Arms crossed, Ozias leaned against the wall and looked at Kost with as much concern as I felt. Even Calem was uncharacteristically still. He’d perched on the edge of his bed, forearms braced against his knees.
Standing by Leena, I slipped my hands into the pockets of my trousers. “Kost, what’s going on?” I’d waited long enough. After shadow walking to Hireath, I’d found him quickly. He’d been standing outside the library looking at nothing at all. Simply staring. When I’d asked what was wrong, he said he’d prefer to tell us all at the same time.
“Gaige is gone.” His words were soft. Broken.
Leena’s hand froze against her collarbone. “What do you mean, ‘gone’?”
“Gone. No longer in Hireath. We don’t know exactly when he left. We don’t know…why.” He swallowed thickly, as if unsure of his own statement. “We don’t even know where he went. He’s just…gone.”
“Shit.” Calem dropped his head into his hands.
Leena squeezed her eyes shut. “Gaige…”
“Both assassins and Charmers have searched for him, but something’s not right in the Kitska Forest. The monsters are more agitated than usual.” Kost removed his glasses and stared at them for a long moment. “Our sentries returned for their own safety.”
“We’ll find him. He’ll be okay,” I said. But my words felt hollow when we were so far away and without a means to make good on them. “I doubt he’s in any danger.”
“Right now, the only danger he’s facing is himself.” Kost blinked at his spectacles, as if he’d forgotten why he’d removed them in the first place. After a beat, he slid them back on his nose without polishing them. “Unfortunately, we can’t spend any more time searching for him. We need to focus on stopping Yazmin.”
“True, but…” Leena peeled her eyes open, and a tear slid down her cheek. She wiped it away with shaky fingers. “Wewillfind him, Kost.”
He gave a tight nod. “We will. But Yazmin comes first. To which, I have news.” He cleared his throat. “I think I know what the final ingredient is for her spell.”
I knew he was emotionally drained, thanks to Gaige’s disappearance. But I expectedsomesort of positive reaction with that discovery. A slight smile. A look of hope. Instead, he remained as tense as ever. So much so that instead of joy, all I felt was a deep, unsettling weight in my gut.
