Maw of the Devourer, page 28
A small voice whispered in the back of his head. Lyon brightened his Illumination until the world slowed down. He moved sluggishly through the world, though it seemed as if his movements were a little smoother than when he had last used the ability. Lyon knocked Saris off balance and he stabbed his wooden sword into her gut—though he stopped it short so that it did little more than press into her stomach.
Lyon dropped his Illumination, panting, and Saris did the same. A small cheer rose from Tristrim and Selene, and, though the others did not join in, they seemed to appreciate his victory. Lyon swore he saw even the usually grim and serious Sulaine crack a smile, though that could have been his imagination.
“Those were some good movements at the end.” Saris lowered her sword and nodded to Lyon. “If only you could move like that all the time, then you wouldn’t lose so often.”
“Sure.” Lyon rolled his eyes and finally caught his breath.
Lyon felt a shiver run down his spine and turned with a frown. Solalyn stared at him with ice in her eyes. What’s got her so upset? Just because she had to wait her turn to train.
Saris noticed his gaze and bowed to Solalyn. “Your Highness.” Solalyn acknowledged the greeting with a shallow nod, and Saris turned back to Lyon. “I should be off. It was my pleasure to spar with you, Lyon.”
“No, it was mine. We will have to do this again. If only to give me a chance to break our draw!”
“Haha! It’s so nice of you to offer to lose!” Saris strode from the courtyard before Lyon could think of a witty reply.
Once Saris departed, Solalyn stepped out into the centre with Sulaine. The two sparred, both Illuminating to practice using the Blessing in combat. Lyon stepped to the side and watched them for a time. Sulaine was as methodical as always, though Solalyn still appeared discontented and it showed through her reckless attacks. Lyon did not know what was going on there, but he doubted he could figure it out by himself.
The sun reached its zenith, and Lyon shook his head. He rushed from the courtyard and made for his rooms. He had promised his mother that he would have lunch with her today and had all but forgotten that once he had met Saris. She wouldn’t be too annoyed if he was late… probably.
When Lyon reached his rooms, the scent of something delicious greeted him from his sitting room. His mother must have already arrived and ordered the servants to set everything up. Lyon took a deep breath and opened his door, stepping in to see his mother seated patiently on a couch. She looked up when he entered and, while she didn’t look outwardly angry, Lyon could see the little signs of annoyance on her face.
“Sorry, I’m late.” Lyon hurried across the room to hug his mother. “I just got caught training with Lyn.”
“I can tell,” Lauren said, with a pointed look at Lyon’s sweaty clothes. Lyon looked down at his shirt and sighed. He hurried to his bedroom and stripped it off, then replaced it with a new one. When he stepped back into the sitting room, his mother nodded at him approvingly—she always preferred that he looked presentable, even in private. “How is the princess? I have not had the chance to see much of her since your father and I arrived at the palace.”
“Uh, she’s fine.”.
“Really?” Lyon’s mother had always been good at telling when he hid something from her. “What is wrong, Lyon?”
“Um…” Lyon hesitated. He knew Solalyn was close with his mother and it felt weird to talk about Solalyn behind her back. But he needed some help him figure out what was going on. “Something’s up with Lyn. She’s been acting cold sometimes and giving me weird looks.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing!”
“Really?”
“Well… not that I can think of. It happened again just before I came here, too. I was just sparring with Saris Rarrendis and when we had finished, Lyn looked annoyed at me.” Lyon shrugged his shoulders, but his mother just looked at him with an amused expression.
“There are some things that you need to figure out yourself, Lyon.” Lauren said; her tone matched the one she gave him as a child when she taught him something obvious. Lyon opened his mouth and Lauren shook her head. “Ah! I’m not helping you.”
Lyon sighed and reluctantly dropped the matter.
***
Lyon felt the edge of Solalyn’s glowing wooden sword scrape along his arm and winced at the light pain it caused.
Solalyn still seemed distant from him, but he had convinced her to spar with him this morning and she seemed to have returned to her usual self after a little time. She had avoided him for two days after he and Saris had sparred, but she had been alone when Lyon had first arrived in the courtyard early this morning and he had taken the chance to act as if nothing was wrong. Then they had cycled between sparring and resting; the process had reignited their long-standing rivalry and Solalyn had boasted each time she won. Lyon might have done similarly when he had won as well, though he didn’t want to admit it.
Now, he and Solalyn sparred for what they had agreed would be the last time that morning, and both were determined to win. What had started as a simple wager about doing something that the other wanted to do—one he had made to convince Solalyn to spar with him—had escalated. They matched each other’s Illumination and danced across the courtyard with the sharp grace only Chosen could manage. Each time Lyon thought he held the upper hand, Solalyn forced him to dodge.
The combat protracted until both Lyon and Solalyn panted and dripped sweat. Lyon felt a faint surge of happiness at the wide smile on Solalyn’s face, though he focussed on watching her for her next move. He had no time to think about how he had missed her cheery expression.
Lyon surged forward and unleashed a flurry of swipes at Solalyn. She held her own for a moment, but he pushed her back. Just as she neared the edge of the courtyard and the stone wall loomed behind her, Lyon stumbled. His eyes widened, and he recovered quickly. But that moment was all Solalyn needed. Her sword snuck past his guard and landed a jab in his gut to claim victory.
“Ha!” Solalyn threw her arms up and beamed as bright as the sun. “Now you can’t doubt I’m leading in wins!”
“Hey now!” Lyon said. Solalyn arched an eyebrow, frozen mid-cheer, and he relented. “Well… fine, you’re up by one…”
“As if! I count at least three victories my way!”
“I wouldn’t go that far!” There was only so much that he would concede to be nice! “I don’t know about your education, Your Royal Highness, but three wins for me today and four for you equals one difference!”
“Pah! You’re forgetting our previous record!”
“I thought we agreed to wipe the slate clean now that both of us can Illuminate.”
“You suggested that. I ignored it!”
Lyon narrowed his eyes and stabbed his sword into the dirt. “Well, if we’re counting our record, then I’m up by five!”
Solalyn rolled her eyes. “Fine. We’ll only count today, so you can’t delude yourself into thinking that you’re winning.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. You are so gracious…” Solalyn stuck out her tongue at him and Lyon sighed dramatically. “So, what do you want?”
Solalyn made a show of contemplating for a moment, but Lyon knew she had decided upon her prize the moment she had accepted the wager. “How about we go around Solare looking for rumours on the Followers or the Amber Eyes or something?”
“Really? That’s what you want? Nothing embarrassing for me or anything?”
“I could hardly ask the Lord of Light’s Moon to run about the palace naked or something.” Solalyn spoke as if that was common sense—which it was, though it concerned Lyon that she had even thought of the idea. “But if you insist, you could do that…”
“Rumour hunting it is!”
“Haha! A fine choice! Though the alternative is still available in case you want to put on a show…”
Lyon rolled his eyes and put his sword back. “Do you want to go now?”
“Now? Sure. But let’s go freshen up first, okay? Meet back here in half an hour?”
Lyon nodded and rushed back to his room. He changed his clothes and wiped himself down quickly. Once he was ready, he rushed back to the courtyard and waited for Solalyn. When she arrived, she led him away from her courtyard and towards the closest exit of the palace. Along the way, Solalyn chatted quietly, but she stiffened when they neared the exit. Saris walked in their direction and she distracted Lyon from Solalyn. Saris remained as gorgeous as ever, and her face lit up with a small smile when she saw him.
Without thinking, Lyon angled towards Saris. “We are headed out into the city. Want to join us?”
Solalyn bristled in the corner of his eye, and Saris turned to the princess. “Is that okay, Your Highness?”
“Of course,” Solalyn said with a stiff expression. “There is no reason that you should not join us, Lady Rarrendis.”
Solalyn strode ahead and Lyon hurried alongside Saris to catch up. Saris glanced at him, but he shrugged. They left the palace without an escort; no one would have reason to object when they knew that the three of them were all powerful Chosen, though Sulaine would have insisted. As they walked away from the palace, Lyon glanced between the two. He could tell Solalyn disliked Saris, though he didn’t know why. It seemed strange, given how they shared similar interests.
Lyon turned to Saris. “Have you had any more thoughts about utilising the Moon Marks in the army?”
“Not really, I’m afraid,” Saris said. “Most of my tactical knowledge comes from the ‘Art of the Border War’, so I would only regurgitate someone else’s work if I tried to give you advice—apparently my family has a long-standing reputation of failing to study more than basic tactics, though I hope I have made efforts to change that.”
“You’ve read that?” Solalyn asked.
“Yes, I’ve found it quite helpful when serving on the border, as the title would suggest.”
Despite herself, Solalyn got dragged into a heavy discussion with Saris about the tactics discussed in the book, and Lyon watched them with a smile. But it only took a moment before they forgot him and relegated him to acting as a silent audience. Admittedly, he had nothing to add on the subject, but he still felt a little sorry for himself when neither woman looked his way for half an hour.
Despite their original goal, neither Lyon nor Solalyn actively searched for any rumours regarding the Followers or the Amber Eyes. At first, Lyon assumed it was because Solalyn did not want to reveal their goal to Saris, but he eventually realised Solalyn had forgotten their goal during her discussion with Saris. They moved through a market, leisurely perusing the wares as they walked. Every merchant perked up when they took in their attire, but they bought very little. Until Solalyn caught sight of a bracelet sporting a large fang and she haggled intensely with the merchant. Solalyn’s odd taste in jewellery aside, she finally left him alone with Saris.
As Lyon stumbled on what to say, Saris turned to him with a smile. “Thank you for inviting me, Lyon. I honestly did not expect to enjoy this trip as much as I have, and I am thankful for a chance to speak properly with Princess Solalyn.”
“That’s good…” Lyon nodded; he didn’t know what else to say.
“I should also apologise…”
“No! You have nothing to apologise for!”
Saris held up a hand with an awkward smile. “No, I do. I might have approached you to shut up some of the more vocal members of my family—the ones who are overly concerned about me being unattached. I thought acting friendly with you would quiet them while still letting me do what I want. For using you like that, I apologise.”
“Oh, um…”
“But I genuinely enjoy your company and am happy we became friends!”
Huh, Lyon thought. Why does the word friend annoy me?
Solalyn finished her haggling and emerged victorious with her fang bracelet. She walked back towards them, a wide smile on her face that stiffened when she noticed the awkward atmosphere between Lyon and Saris. But she didn’t seem as cold as she had before, and her face softened a little when she saw his expression. Lyon turned away to recover, and he was thankful when Solalyn set off again with Saris. He trailed behind them slowly.
It was not long before they started the long trek back to the palace. By the time the palace came into sight, Lyon felt better. He noticed a servant wearing the colours of the Sunset Palace waiting at the gates and the man motioned to Lyon. Lyon said his farewells to Solalyn and Saris, and walked over to the servant.
The man bowed politely. “The Lord of Light asks for your presence at the Sunset Palace, Lord Moon.”
***
Azure sat across from a younger Veyor, a campfire crackling between them.
She was nearly seventeen and had led the Azure Sky Mercenaries for years now. They had just helped raise a barn in a small village; it was hardly the work one would expect mercenaries to do, but it had paid in shelter and food—which was what they needed. To her surprise, the newest member of their troop, Veyor, hadn’t complained even a single time during the arduous work. She wouldn’t have blamed him, as the Azure Sky had yet to do anything remotely mercenary-like since he had joined. But he hadn’t.
The man appeared to be only a year or two older than her, but he seemed very mature for his age. Still, he liked to tease them all—which Azure would hardly call mature. He had even got along with the other members of the Azure Sky quicker than any other new member had in the past, and Azure wondered whether he would stick around for long or leave them as the others usually did. The core members hadn’t changed over the years, though others had come and gone.
The others had already gone to sleep, and it was only Azure and Veyor left awake. She had been drinking some ale that Old Ned had bargained for in the village, and she already felt drunk. A terrible hangover was likely waiting for her tomorrow morning, but that was a problem for later. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was the weird calming aura Veyor gave off, but Azure felt a desire to talk about her past with him. Which had only led to more drinking to ignore the awkwardness she felt.
“They tried at first, I think.” Azure stared into the fire as she stumbled over her words. “But when the others were born, they cared less and less about me. Still, that was better than everyone else, you know? You know how Dracalia is with Chosen and when you’re born in a small village, you can’t keep a secret. So, everyone knew about the weird girl who was some kind of Chosen.”
“Hmm.” Veyor nodded, but Azure couldn’t meet his eyes.
“Everyone but me… I didn’t know, of course. How could I? I thought if I behaved and did things to help everyone, they’d like me. That was how it was in the stories, you know? Achieve something great, save the day, and everyone loves you.” Azure lifted her eyes to Veyor, and they watered at the calm acceptance he showed her. That he could look at her like that when he barely knew her… well, that was something else. “But Dracalians just hate Chosen and, the older I got, the more I realised my parents hated me too. Because everyone treated them poorly because I was born and a stupid bird picked me… No one cared how hard I tried to make them happy…”
Azure grew quiet, too focussed on the terrible memories. The despair that accompanied them still felt fresh, even all these years later. The heavy silence protracted, and she regretted even opening her mouth. Then Veyor spoke in a wistful voice. “I can understand to an extent—not fully, of course, but some of it. My family despised me, too. They threw me out as a child and I had to survive on my own for a time—which I did poorly, if you must know.”
“What happened next?”
“I was lucky, far more than I ever deserved. Trust me. I found a family—well, one found me. And they all but forced me to join them. Haha.” Veyor stared into the distance and Azure leant in, enthralled. “They, the parents that chose me, took the boy cracked by despair and forged a man out of him. One capable of functioning, despite how hard things may get.”
The contented smile Veyor showed her struck something in Azure, and her eyes watered. “You were lucky. I’d have liked something like that…”
Veyor smiled at her with a look of confusion on his face. “You are just as lucky as I am, Azure.”
“No, I’m not!” Azure’s voice carried across the silent night, drowning out the crackling fire for a moment.
Veyor shook his head and motioned all around them. “I may not have been with you for long, but I can tell the Azure Sky is your family. You have a grandfather, an aunt, sisters and brothers.” Veyor’s grey eyes caught the light of the campfire and shone with something otherworldly as he stared into hers. “As long as you cherish them, then the Azure Sky is—and always will be—that family you desire!”
The quiet intensity of Veyor’s tone pierced right through Azure and struck her core. She shivered, filled with emotion. But then the world darkened. She could barely make Veyor out, despite the campfire between them. Blood dripped slowly down his head and he groaned in pain. As she watched in horror, his body broke and contorted, crushed by an unseen weight.
Azure screamed.
And woke drenched in sweat. She heaved in breath after breath as her heart raced in her chest; despite experiencing the nightmares every night, she never recovered from them any quicker. What made it worse this time, though, was how the nightmare tainted a memory she had cherished so deeply. Now, she could only see Veyor’s contorted body and hear the sounds of his bones breaking.
Azure’s heart was a tempest of emotions, and she forced herself to ignore every single one of them. She grabbed her lyre, working by the faint glow of the coals left in the campfire to find where she’d dumped the instrument earlier in the evening. She tried to play, but the notes sounded wrong and they grated on her ears. There was no merriment to be had from music tonight…
Eventually, she gave in and stowed the instrument. She sat there and drifted unwillingly into the memories. Despite how sickening the nightmare had been, how it had tainted her precious memory, it had reminded her of better times. The Azure Sky Mercenaries had changed after that night; the first evidence being how tenderly they had all treated her hangover. It had taken each of the members a few days to admit they had been awake during Veyor’s speech. Old Ned had never admitted it, of course, but the old codger had always smiled when he thought no one was looking. That, and how he looked at them all with such pride in his eyes, made Azure certain he’d been awake too.
