Golden Age (The Shifting Tides, #1)(110)

Zachary reached out to take Dion’s hands. His touch was strange, and then Dion realized why. It was no different from the touch of any other person.

‘Your mother, who was the healer, came up with a desperate solution. She dyed her silver hair black and went to Xanthos. That healer became Thea. And from then on, until she died, that is who she was.’

Dion’s breath came in gulps. It must have been a terrible secret for his mother to carry.

‘When she reached Xanthos she was comforted by the king and given time to acclimatize to her new world. If she acted strangely, all forgave her. They put a golden chain around her neck, as is your people’s custom, though it must have hurt her every day.’

Zachary’s eyes moved down slightly to Dion’s neck, bare ever since he gave his necklace to the farmer. ‘I see you do not wear your chain. Did it ever cause you pain?’

Dion started to shake his head, but then slowed and finally stopped. He thought about the naming ceremony of Nikolas’s son Lukas, and his own naming ceremony. When the magus called him to silver, he hadn’t come.

‘Your mother married the king, who, as is tradition, asked what gift he could give her. She asked her husband to hunt the wildren as he must, but not to seek revenge on the eldren. Over time she brought about peace between us, and together we cleared Xanthos of the wild ones.’

Dion remembered his mother dyeing her hair. She’d always said it was to cover gray, but now he knew the truth.

‘My mother was an eldran?’

‘She was.’

He remembered his difficulties learning swordsmanship. The only iron present in archery was in the heads of the arrows. Sailing was about rope, cloth, and wood. He felt strange.

‘But I’m only part eldran. It doesn’t change anything. I’m the same person I’ve always been.’

‘Of course you are,’ Zachary said.

He had a sudden thought. ‘When the attack came, why didn’t she change? She could have helped, couldn’t she?’

‘I believe that if she had asked to have her golden chain removed, and changed, your father would think he had been betrayed, right to the end. She loved your father, Dion. She died with him, rather than lose his love.’

Dion felt his eyes burning, but Zachary’s steady expression kept him strong. He removed his hands from Zachary’s and turned away as he thought about all he had lost.

There was still something he could do to help.

And it was standing right next to him.

Dion turned to Zachary and the eldran tilted his head to the side, waiting for him to speak.

‘You know what the Ileans did to my mother. Will you help us against our enemies?’

‘This is a dark time for your people.’ Now it was Zachary who looked away from the fire of Dion’s gaze. The eldran stared into the trees in the direction of Xanthos, as if seeing the blood that would soon be shed dripping from the low branches. ‘But it is not our war.’

Dion knew Nikolas. He knew his brother would lead the army down from the Gates of Annika and try to retake the city.

For Nikolas was now the king of Xanthos.

‘But eldren are fighting on the side of the sun king,’ Dion persisted. ‘That makes it your war. Triton—’

Zachary’s eyes narrowed as he interrupted. ‘Did you say “Triton”?’

Dion nodded.

‘I have not heard that name in a long time.’

‘He says he is your king.’

‘Untrue,’ Zachary said as his wizened features curled in a scowl. ‘He has the blood of Marrix, but many can make that claim. He may lead those from the Waste, but only if he reclaims our homeland can he call himself our king.’

The pieces fitted together in Dion’s mind. Only now did he understand the truth. There was more at stake than the survival of Xanthos and Phalesia.

‘Triton needs the horn of Marrix,’ Dion said. ‘The horn is inside the Ark of Revelation, at the Temple of Aldus in Phalesia.’

Zachary drew back and his eyes went wide. ‘How do you know this?’

‘The two myths,’ Dion said. ‘They overlap. The story of King Palemon says he stole a magical horn and put it in an iron box, for eldren magic fails when confined by metal. The Ark of Revelation is said to contain holy tablets, and must never be opened or all will suffer.’

Dion waited for Zachary’s reaction, but it was a long time before he spoke.

Finally, the eldran nodded. ‘We know this. We’ve known this for a long time, and we’ve watched over the ark. But we did not know that Triton knew.’

‘He only just discovered the ark’s location,’ Dion said, remembering Chloe’s story. He hesitated. ‘The one thing in common with both tales is that if the ark opens then humanity is lost. What does the horn do?’

Zachary’s eyes stared into the distance, unfocused as he watched the surrounding forest, seeing something else altogether. ‘It would give Triton control over the wild ones. There are many more wildren than eldren. It would give him power over them all. Long ago, our people and yours fought. For Triton, that war never ended.’

‘And you?’

He looked at Dion. ‘We have no wish for more war between humans and eldren.’

‘If you help my brother retake Xanthos, together we will be able to save Phalesia. Nikolas has thousands of men under his command.’