Reign the Earth (The Elementae #1)(56)

I heard a shrieking call and turned to see Osmost, flapping his wings to slow down and land on the railing beside me. “What are you doing here?” I murmured, smiling at the bird. He sidled closer to me, and I petted his head slowly. We were used to each other, but Osmost had always made it very clear that he was still a wild animal, and I had the scars to prove that.

Watch the skies, Kairos had told me. I shook my head with a smile—he had sent his hawk to watch after me when he couldn’t. And this Oculus closely resembled a human bird’s nest, so Osmost was fairly delighted.

I dug my fingers into his feathers, scratching the base of his wings, and he raised them a little, making a fond clicking noise at me. I could see the town that Galen mentioned—the only place around the wide harbor with structures that weren’t made of stone, sweet little buildings that looked like they had been there forever. Off one of the docks, it looked like people—maybe even children—were running down, jumping high, and splashing into the water.

I sighed, leaning on the railing. It was nice to know there was a little happiness in this bleak city.

Osmost’s head cocked, and his wings fluffed once before he leaped back from the balcony, diving low and out of sight. Galen rounded the corner a moment later, not coming close to me. “You should eat,” he said. “My men brought some food for you.”

“What about Calix?” I asked, turning to him.

“He never has a good sense of time when he’s with the quaesitori,” he said. “He may be a while. But I’ve had the men clear the barracks—you can sleep here.”

This made me feel foolish for having demanded a different location than the Summer Palace, though I know he didn’t mean it that way. “I’m sorry to displace your men,” I said.

“You are their queen,” he said, his face nearly hinting at a smile. “They’d jump off the balcony for you, so this is a small request.”

“Still,” I said, and walked toward him, going into the room, where a tray of food sat on a table covered with maps.

Theron stopped when we entered the room, a chicken leg sticking out of his mouth. He hurriedly pulled the bone out and dropped it onto a plate as Galen snorted. “Has the queen stopped feeding you?” Galen asked.

I smiled at him as I sat, and he looked to Galen. “No,” Theron said, “but the king was quite fixed in his attention, and I don’t believe the queen has eaten all day. Which also, incidentally, means I haven’t eaten all day.”

“Then we shall remedy that,” Galen said, also pulling a chair over as Theron sat back in his own, going to work again on the poor chicken. I took a piece of chicken, though I attempted to eat it slightly more delicately than Theron. There were also bread and fruits and cheeses, and Galen poured us wine.

“Are we leaving tonight?” Theron asked Galen.

“No, I believe the king wants to go in the morning,” Galen replied. “I’ve sent word to Zeph and the rest of the Saepia. They should be here by then to properly escort the queen.”

Theron nodded.

I leaned back, looking to Theron with a smile. “Speaking of Zeph,” I said. “Why don’t you have one of those giant sword things?”

Theron huffed. “It is not a giant sword. It’s a khopesh, and frankly, I’m hurt, my queen. I thought you, in your infinite wisdom, would have seen the limitations of such an unwieldy weapon. Knives, however, are suitable for any occasion.”

He gestured to his knife-lined breastplate, where at least twenty thin, deadly stilettos gleamed back at me. I laughed. “I think the point of such a weapon is that it frightens enough people that it’s rarely used,” I returned. “And I like it because it resembles a scimitar.”

“Ah,” Galen cut in. “But the curve is for an entirely different purpose. Did you notice the notch behind the curve?”

I shook my head, and he gestured with his fingers, showing a little hook right before the long blade curved outward.

“Here,” he said. “It’s meant to snare people and swords so he can slice through them with it.”

“No,” Theron interjected, pointing a finger at Galen. “It ends up just trapping people so he has to use something else. And the big oaf isn’t fast enough for that.”

I laughed. “I’m sure you could learn to use it too.”

“It’s too heavy for him,” Galen said with a smile.

Theron tossed down his piece of bread. “Three hells. It’s an inferior weapon; when will people understand that?”

I ate a piece of cheese, laughing happily to glimpse the boys inside the tough warrior men.

Before long, it was dark and Calix still hadn’t returned. Galen left us to go check in on him, and I felt tired enough that I went to the empty barracks room in the tower. There was another door out to the balcony there, and I curled up under two blankets, staring at the moon, which looked like she was waiting just outside for me.





Sailing in the Dark Sky

There was blood in my dreams.

That was the only thing I was aware of as I woke with a scream, the world bursting and shattering around me.

“Get down!” Theron yelled, pulling me off the bed and throwing a blanket over my body on the stone floor. A moment later he was beside me, his arm covering my head.