However, unlike the other princes, Zane came across as extremely confident, and much less dependent on his father. Somehow, his choice to release Fiona started to feel more like an act of rebellion against Shaytan, rather than anything else. Chances were that the king had no idea about the whole Fiona incident.
“Ah, my wayward son,” Shaytan huffed, slowly raising an eyebrow. “Unless you have something useful to say, I have no time for your bleeding-heart nonsense.”
“What bleeding-heart nonsense is that, father?” Zane replied, stopping in front of the king and his counselors. “Perhaps you’re referring to my repeated warnings about underestimating the outsiders? My plea for you to stop with all this nonsense and act like a king, for once in your life?”
“I am more of a king than my father before me, and I am more of a king than you ever will be,” Shaytan shot back, gritting his teeth. His canines protruded menacingly, a sure sign of aggression. Zane clearly had a way of getting on his father’s nerves. Shaytan then smirked, his arrogance making my stomach churn. “Then again, chances are you will never be king, anyway.”
“Yes, that’s fine.” Zane rolled his eyes, as if having heard this before, one too many times. “Nevertheless, my warnings ring true, and you know it. Stop chasing the outsiders. Keep your distance, and mind your business. Do not engage them. You haven’t seen what I’ve seen. Do not underestimate them—that is all I am saying.”
“My son, I am still baffled by your lack of faith in my ability to not only rule this magnificent kingdom, but also to handle a bunch of unruly outsiders who seem to think they are better than us, and who are sticking their noses where they do not belong.”
“They are not to be played with.” Zane shook his head. “For how long do you think you’ll be able to keep that dragon in his cage? They are fast, and quick learners. Before you know it, they will turn you into ashes, and we all know that our world is not ready for Cayn.”
“And you continue to not only insult me, but your brother, too,” Shaytan scoffed, looking genuinely disappointed. Clearly Zane and his father had a bit of a tumultuous relationship, and the king wasn’t exactly happy with his youngest. If he knew what I knew, Shaytan would’ve probably been much angrier at this point.
“I don’t wish to insult you, Father, but you are being incredibly stubborn. I keep telling you that I’ve seen them in action back in the gorge, that I know what they are like, and I am telling you, for the millionth time, that you are in over your head.”
“Your Highness,” the first counselor replied, his tone gentle, echoing the patience of a parent. “We all understand your concerns, but the king knows what he’s doing. He has been leading our people for thousands of years, longer than any monarch before him. There is a reason why he still stands on the throne, and the people both love and fear him. A bunch of outsiders will not get the best of us, and they will certainly not get the best of the king.”
I stifled a groan, my fists balled so tightly that my nails were digging into my skin to the point that it hurt, but it was that pain that stopped me from going out there and drawing my swords. It took every ounce of common sense that I could find to hold it together.
Caspian must have felt the tension building up inside me, somehow. I felt him gently squeeze my shoulder, as if reassuring me that he was there, and by my side.
“My son.” Shaytan pressed his lips into a thin line as he glowered at Zane. “I would like, at this point, to remind you that you are not involved in this, per your choice. In fact, if I catch you meddling with my affairs in this matter, you will be exiled or worse.”
“Worse? What is worse than this?” Zane scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest in a defiant stance.
Shaytan didn’t say anything for what felt like maybe a minute, but his red eyes spoke volumes in the place of words.
“I have plenty of sons to take your place on the Council,” he replied. “And you know what it takes for a prince to be replaced on the Council, don’t you, my son?”
“So, what you’re saying is that I should not care or get involved in this suicidal master plan of yours, or I will get kicked out, or worse, killed,” Zane voiced the conclusion.
“This is the underground, Zane. True Neraka. The real Neraka. The land of daemons. There is no room for sympathy or weakness, and you are displaying both when it comes to those puny outsiders,” the king shot back. “Now, be a good boy and go serve your kingdom, like a good son. Make your mother proud and stop getting on my nerves.”
Zane watched as his father and his counselors walked away, the king’s footsteps heavy on the black marble floor. He shook his head slowly, unable to take his eyes off Shaytan, until he disappeared behind a corner, farther to the south.
I wondered if it would be a good idea to approach him. He clearly didn’t get along with his father, but I had no guarantee that he wouldn’t turn us in if he saw us. I couldn’t rely on an assumption that, if he’d let Fiona go, he was an overall good guy. Like Hansa had said, we were at war.
Zane stood there for a while. Caspian and I waited for him to go anywhere, as long as it was as far away from us as possible. We had a meranium box to get to, less than two hundred yards away. But he didn’t move. Instead, he took out his red lens, and turned his head to look directly at us.
For the second time in less than fifteen minutes, I felt my heart stop.
“Oh, crap,” I muttered, my hands instinctively reaching for my swords.
“Relax,” Zane replied, exhaling. “If I wanted you dead, I would’ve given you away five minutes ago.”
“You mean to tell me you knew we were here?” I asked, sensing the tremor in my voice that was uncharacteristic of me.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Zane grinned, “the king definitely didn’t know you were here, so your covert skills are not too bad, but they’re not good enough to fool me.”
A couple of seconds went by as I went over all our options, given this new development. Would we simply part ways, pretend we never saw each other? Or would I be able to persuade him to help us rescue Blaze and Caia?
“I’m guessing you’re here for your friends?” Zane pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow at us.
“Well, at least you’re the sharp one out of the bunch,” Caspian muttered from behind me. I gave him a subtle nudge with my elbow, enough to stop him from talking. His sarcasm, while at most times refreshing, wasn’t going to help us in this moment.
“Have you seen them?” I asked.
“Yes. They’re both fine, for the time being. However, they’re trapped, and your friend—you know, the big one that spits fire? He can’t exactly go dragon. Not without crushing the other one. The feisty one.” Zane chuckled lightly.
His description of Blaze and Caia was surprisingly blunt and accurate.
“Can you help us? Can you help us get them out of here?” I crossed my fingers behind my back. Not that I was superstitious in any way, but we sure needed a stroke of luck this time.
“Didn’t you just hear my father?” Zane retorted. “He doesn’t have a habit of making empty promises.”
“Would he really kill you?” I still had a hard time imagining that. Blood is thicker than water, after all.
“Well, I haven’t exactly been the model citizen, nor the perfect son.” Zane shook his head. “I am easily replaceable. You don’t know him like I do.”
“But he doesn’t even need to know,” I insisted. “You can just take us to them. I know there are two meranium boxes in this palace, but I don’t know if we are in the right place.”
“You’re in the right place,” he confirmed. “They’re over there. A hundred and eighty yards down this hallway.”
“Are you afraid of your father?” Caspian interjected.
Zane narrowed his eyes at him, stifling a smirk.
“Haven’t you seen the guy? He’s huge, and he commands our entire army.”
“Listen,” I said, “I understand if you’re afraid, but how can you possibly live
with yourself, if you leave two innocent creatures to get their souls eaten like that? Is that how you people live?”
“Okay, first of all,” Zane shot back, taking a couple of steps forward, “your friends are nowhere near innocent. They’ve killed hundreds of my people. Second, the only person I’ve ever been happy around has been myself. Leaving you and your insanely reckless clique to rot in this place won’t change that.”
I raised my hands in a defensive gesture, feigning resignation.
“None of us would ever kill a daemon just for the fun of it. Everything we do is to defend ourselves and those who need protection, those who are vulnerable. All life is precious, and that is what we fight for,” I replied. “Everything that Blaze and Caia did was either in self-defense, or to save innocent lives. But, anyway, I understand. You don’t want to piss off your dad, and I get that. You’re not the rebellious type. It’s cool.”
I moved to walk away, taking Caspian’s hand in mine. It only took about twenty seconds for Zane to let out a frustrated groan, prompting the both of us to stop and turn around to look at him.
“Okay, fine,” he said. “I’ll help you.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
“Don’t thank me. I’m not doing it for you. You’re lucky I’m pissed off with my father and I’d love to ruin his day. Besides, you two have no idea how to bypass the charms on that box,” Zane scoffed.
“You won’t regret it.” I tried to offer something in return, anything—even some kind of assurance. “My team will be made aware that you helped us. Whatever comes after this, I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
“Oh, gee, thanks. I’m already regretting it. But I promised I’d help. I’m a daemon of my word,” he said. “Anyway, get moving. Stay close to me and keep quiet. I’ve got some business to take care of before I can show you to your friends.”
“Are you sure we can trust him?” Caspian whispered in my ear, his hot breath knocking me off my focus for a split second.
“You can go ahead by yourselves, if you want to,” Zane replied, his hearing as sensitive as I’d imagined. I figured Caspian knew that, too, and had wanted him to hear. “But you’re helpless with those charms.”
“You heard him,” I said, keeping my tone even. “He’s a daemon of his word.”
With no other choice but to accept that one of Shaytan’s sons was on our side, Caspian and I walked over to Zane and assumed positions in his proximity, taking advantage of his broad frame to stay out of sight from other daemons passing by.
Less than a hundred and fifty yards away was a meranium box, and my friends were in it.
I was ready to partner up with whomever I came across, if it helped me get them out of there. Somehow, Zane didn’t strike me as such a compromise. I was willing to bet that his daddy issues ran much deeper than what we’d already witnessed.
Scarlett
(Daughter of Jeramiah & Pippa)
The Spring Fair was an interesting event to explore. Almost half of the city’s fourth level had been slightly adjusted to fit dozens of market stalls, the streets lined with warm white lights strung beneath the massive textile awnings that kept the sun out.
Merchants from all over the city had gathered to sell a variety of items, from books, quills, and artisanal inks to works of art, miniature sculptures, perfumes, soaps, fabrics, and jewels, as well as fashionable garments, fine furs, tools and instruments, and plenty of local food and drinks.
It was truly a pleasure to walk through the streets, perusing every single stall and wishing I had five bags full of gold coins to spend in this place. Both the Imen and the Maras had developed a fascinating culture here, complete with a plethora of significant objects and customs. From what I could see, the Imen were more focused on the gastronomic side of things, along with the raw materials for different handcrafting and art projects, while the Maras devoted most of their resources to the end results, offering visitors an impressive range of decorative objects. It was a much-needed distraction that didn’t really alter Azure Heights’ regular functions, but rather enriched them, as people could skip work for an hour or so, just to browse through the stalls.
Patrik and I wandered through the fair for a couple of hours, looking around while searching for the ingredients he needed for his ambitious spell aimed at the asteroid belt.
I occasionally stole glances at him as he exchanged words with different herb and crystal sellers. The memory of our kiss from the day before refused to go away.
“So, when are we going to try this spell, provided you find everything you need here?” I asked, as Patrik thanked an Iman merchant and we resumed our slow walk through the fair.
“It will definitely have to wait until evening,” Patrik replied. “We need a clear night sky for this to work. The asteroid belt needs to be visible.”
I couldn’t help but gaze at the crowd around us, watching as both Imen and Maras went about their business, buying and selling to one another, offering brief smiles and compliments over the quality of the merchandise on sale. There was a noticeable difference between the two species where demeanor was concerned.
The Imen were soft and humble, as opposed to the sharp and confident attitude of the Maras. The contrast was interesting to watch in a large crowd, as I could observe different groups displaying similar patterns of behavior. The Maras clearly considered themselves superior—one could tell from the way they looked at the Imen, the short periods of eye contact they made with them, and the comparatively few words they used when addressing them.
“I mean, it’s still a long shot, but it’s worth a try,” Patrik continued.
We walked around for a little while longer, wondering how much of the Imen’s softness was genuinely theirs, and how much of it had been implanted via mind-bending. It was reasonable for me to question the reality at this point, knowing what we knew about the complicated relationship between the two species. After all, we knew for a fact that the Maras had been using their mind-bending for more than just psychotherapeutic purposes.
The silence between Patrik and me started to feel awkward. I had nothing and everything to tell him. And yet, as much as I wanted to address what I had done yesterday, I couldn’t find the right words to form a single coherent sentence.
He seemed to sense my internal anguish somehow. He looked at me and exhaled, putting his hands in his pockets. “Scarlett, I… I’m sorry I haven’t brought this up. We should’ve talked about this already, but… I haven’t been able to find the right words.”
The more he stuttered, fumbling through the phrases as he tried to talk about our kiss, the more I realized that Patrik was having a hard time expressing himself on the matter. If anything, he was just as nervous as I was about it, maybe even more so. It was downright adorable, watching him—the tall, devastatingly handsome, and intelligent Druid—trying… well, endearingly failing to talk to a girl. Specifically, a girl he’d already acknowledged that he could see. And we both knew what he’d meant by that.
“I mean, I just wanted you to know… Scarlett, what you did—what we did yesterday… I didn’t expect it to…” Patrik tried again, just as clumsy an attempt as the first one.
I, on the other hand, was feeling braver than ever before. The energy I’d felt flowing through me the day before, back at the library, had come back, stronger and brighter. It was enough to jolt me into doing the unspeakable again.
“In fact, I just wanted to… I don’t know why it’s so difficult to—” he muttered, and I moved to face him, stopping him in his tracks. I cupped his face with my hands and pulled him into another kiss.
The moment our lips touched, I closed my eyes and welcomed the incandescent sparkles invading my consciousness. I held my breath, as he opened his mouth and became an active participant, taking over and completely dazzling me.
He responded, deepening the kiss and wrapping his arms around me. He pulled me closer, and I had no other choice but to rest my hands on his shoulders and welcome the amazing taste of h
im. His tongue skillfully worked mine, and my blood simmered, my pulse starting to race through my veins.
This changed everything. I wasn’t really sure what I had intended by kissing him again, but it had resulted in something truly extraordinary. I melted in his arms, feeling echoes of his thudding heart inside my chest as he kissed me with everything he had. It was as if he’d been waiting forever to do this, much like me, for that matter.
From the moment I had first laid eyes on Patrik, I’d felt my heart flutter and my stomach tighten, and the more time we’d spent together, the more intense my feelings toward him became. I couldn’t help but shudder in his embrace, so happy that this was happening, and yet still wrapping my head around it. He felt that, and tightened his grip, bringing one hand up to hold the back of my head as he pulled me even closer, and even deeper into our kiss.
It didn’t matter that we were surrounded by strange creatures, some of whom could be hostile, as far as we knew. It didn’t matter that we were stuck on this planet with no means of reaching out to GASP or our families. It didn’t even matter that there were daemons out there, eager to eat our souls and destroy the city.
In the midst of it all, Patrik and I had somehow found each other. And for the first time in months, he seemed to have put the thought of Kyana aside and followed his instincts. More importantly, for the first time in my life, I was kissing the creature I had hopelessly and irrevocably fallen in love with.
I knew that we were going to have to talk about it, at some point. But, for the time being, all I could do was welcome him into my life, and into my heart, as we kissed in the middle of a narrow alley at the Spring Fair.
Avril
(Daughter of Lucas & Marion)
After we were done with our in-depth study of Lemuel’s archives, we stashed the scrolls and ancient registries away, pulling the bookshelf back to cover the opening in the wall. We then snuck out, making sure to lock the door to the old Iman’s studio after us.