Strength (Curse of the Gods #4)(63)

Fourteen





Cyrus caught up to us when we entered the main hall. Up till that point, I’d been silently dragging Emmy along, unable to carry out any conversation with all of my worry. When Cyrus joined us in the uncharacteristically quiet hall, he broke that silence.

“How was your trip to Topia?” he asked, sounding casual. “Did you get what I needed?”

I shrugged. “Funnily enough, the panteras didn’t have anything of yours. They said you must have been mistaken.”

They hadn’t exactly said that, but … whatever.

Cyrus didn’t react. No anger, no annoyance, no slow boil of disbelief followed by fury … in fact, his eyes were very clear. Less bloodshot than usual. Maybe he really had cut back on the drinking.

“Hmmm,” he murmured. “I could have sworn there was something there for me. Maybe I left it somewhere else.”

I doubted he had been confused like that about anything. Which made me wonder if he’d set the entire thing up just to get me to the panteras. I mean, I never would have expected that much help from Cyrus, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’d tried to be of use. In his own, unique way—a way that usually wasn’t that helpful.

“Did you learn anything while you were there?” Emmy asked me.

“Actually, I did.” I halted for a moment, so I could focus on what I was about to say. “Can you tell me anything about the history of Minatsol’s royal family? How long ago was that? Oh, and … what happened to destroy the monarchy?”

Emmy just blinked a few times at me. A quick look at Cyrus told me he was doing the same thing. I barely resisted an eyeroll. “Come on, I like to learn things every now and then.”

Emmy recovered enough to snort laughter at me. “Willa, you literally fell asleep during history class every single rotation. You never missed a nap.”

True. Very true.

“It just never felt relevant. Plus, it was always so sol and god focused. I really didn’t care to listen about how great the world used to be for dwellers—since everyone was one in the old times—only to now be living in a world where we were relegated to nothing more than slaves. Where our world was slowly being leeched of life, and the expectation was that one sun-cycle there would be nothing left of Minatsol.”

Emmy shook her head. “You’re missing the point, though, Will. You learn about the past to change the future. Nothing stays the same, ever, but the past often repeats itself. History can teach us a lot. Important things.”

“So teach me these important things then. I want to know about the monarchy.”

She narrowed her eyes on me. “Cyrus has an entire library just off his office. I doubt he’s ever stepped foot in there because I’m almost positive he can’t read, but that’s a good place to start looking.”

Cyrus smiled. An actual real smile. His eyes were locked on Emmy. “You amuse me little dweller,” he said slowly. “You would have made a very interesting god.”

I caught the slight flush of pink to Emmy’s cheeks before she turned away. “A god is the last thing I want to be,” she murmured, before her voice grew louder. “Come on, the infirmary is this way.”

She continued on without looking to see if we were following. I narrowed my eyes on Cyrus as he fell in behind her.

“Stop smiling,” I muttered to him. “It’s creeping me out.”

The smile turned into laughter, and I threw my hands into the air and hurried my steps to fall in next to Emmy. Creepy Cyrus was not someone I wanted to be alone with.

Emmy led us through the maze of training rooms and out into the elements. We passed down to another level of the mountain—where the dining hall was located—and then further down still, to another main hall. It was on the western edge of the cliff, positioned far back from the trail, so that you had to pass through a tunnel of rooms to get to it. I could see the ocean through the large, round windows spanning the rock wall.

“Patients respond positively to fresh air and sunlight,” Emmy explained when she saw me gawking at the view. “It’s very peaceful here.”

There was a peaceful feel to the room, and I wanted to spend more time enjoying the water beyond, but my mum needed my help.

Two healers met us near a front desk.

“Can we help you?” the first one asked. She was a pretty woman with strawberry blonde hair hanging in ringlets past her shoulders.

“Uh, yes, I hope so. My mum was recently brought in … Donald?”

She blinked at me for a click, before turning to the man at her side. He ran a hand through his inky black hair, letting it fall in disarray around his face. He had a nice face, kind of boring, but not as mean as a lot of sols. The healing-gifted ones were more compassionate in general.

“Your mum’s name is Donald?” he finally asked me.

I tapped my fingers on the bench. Nice face or not, I didn’t have time to mess around. “Trust me, it’s better than Mole. Her name really doesn’t matter. Is she back there?”

They both jumped to attention.

“Yes,” the woman said, “she’s right back here. We tried to heal her, but … Donald, isn’t responding to anything so far.”

The sick feeling I’d had in my gut since we crossed burst back to life. “I’d just like a few clicks with her,” I told them, and no one held me up any longer.