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My breath caught, and hope burst through me, bright and overwhelming.
Oh gods…This angel of a female…
“He’s the General of Zurie’s army… Blonde, tall, built like a warrior…fae.”
She pulled back to quirk a brow at me.
“Is he uh…. A former flame of yours?”
“No… He’s… My closest friend and ally.”
“And that’s all? You never had any feelings beyond… friendship? I’m just asking because I imagined Nakoa won’t be inclined to show mercy to a male he feels would challenge him.”
“Our relationship has always been platonic but… He would like it to be something more.”
Pomona scrubbed a hand down her face.“Akash... Let’s pray they haven’t reached the city yet… I’ll check the outskirts for any signs of a camp… And if I find him, what would you have me do? I doubt your friend will be keen to turn his soldiers around at the drop of a dime. Not to mention what Zurie would do when she finds out…”
“You can’t take me with you?”
She shook her head. “Unfortunately, my power tofoldhas limitations.”
My mind raced… What could I say with only a few words that would get him to betray Zurie and abandon his task…
“Tell Malekai I said, ‘Leave Vyssini so we can watch the world burn.Katadamna kaza.’”
Her brows lifted in surprise. “… Alright… I’ll do my best.”
“Thank you, Pomona. Words can’t express my gratitude.”
She gave a nonchalant shrug. “You’re the one who just saved about two dozen of The Uprising’s most influential members, outside of us. It’s the least I could do. And if it spares us all some bloodshed, then even better.”
I couldn’t help but worry for her now… Throwing herself into one of Zurie’s army camps. Even if she couldfoldout of it in the blink of an eye.
“Be careful, please…”
Pomona gave me an appreciative smile and a wink. “Piece of pie, love… But perhaps we should just keep this between us for now, yeah? If Famei asks where I went, just tell him I went to the bathroom.”
She turned and disappeared down the hallway. I found myself watching her back, sending a silent prayer that theyallwould be ok.
I returned to the kitchen where the rest of Nakoa’solana kah’heiwere. All were blessedly distracted, pouring themselves drinks, except Vesper, whose gaze was fixed on me as I made my way over.
Wearing a mask of stoic neutrality, I sat beside Vesper at the kitchen island’s bar top. Her brows pinched that I’d dared to do such a thing. Granted, it was perhaps bold, considering I’d spent an entire year hunting her people down and… killing them. My stomach twisted into a knot of guilt and shame. The person I was then versus the person I had now become was genuinely staggering. Then, I’d still been wilfully ignoring how utterly morally corrupt my actions in service to Zurie had been. I’d been more like Malekai in my ability to pretend that what we were doing was just. That anyone and anything who threatened the crown must be eliminated to preserve the peace of Atratus lest anotherGreat Divide,and the violence preceding it, befall us.
According to history, and those who had survived it and still lived among us, before The Great Divide, Atratus was a lawless place. Tension betweenwieldershad been higher than ever, and violence was a constant normalcy even in the smallest villages. Raids were frequent, and death in the streets even more so.Aetrawas unregulated, which Zurie claims was part of the Atratusian downfall, and made the violence occurring all the more devastating. Though I highly suspected that was a falsity.
But in this moment, my mind was too preoccupied with its concern over Nakoa, Malekai, and Pomona. Each pounding beat of my heart was like the ticking of painfully long seconds. I couldn’t help but feel like I’d doomed all of them. Nakoa by telling him of Zurie and her soldiers infiltrating Vyssini, and in turn, Malekai… And now Pomona.
Roderick sidled up next to me, two glasses of amber liquid in his hands, and pushed one towards me. “You look like you could use this…”
I took it gratefully, lifting it to cheers him. “Thank you…” The rest of hisolana kah’heiturned towards me raising their glasses. Everyone except Vesper that is, who remained nearly as stoic as I was.
Famei gave me a beaming grin. “To Nakoa’s soulbound, Mareina… And thusly, our peace.”
Famei, Lokus, and Roderick chuckled as they took healthy swigs of their drinks. Even Rayne gave a slight grin.
I felt like a traitor as I plastered on a small and raised my glass.
Hah. If they only knew.
