Chapter 7 ~ In the Dark Hours

 Azael didn’t linger in the stairwell after Tissaia left, knowing it wouldn’t be long before Gaelen came after him. He returned to the main corridor and hurried to the nearest flight of stairs, then ducked down the first servant’s passage he could find. He could easily traverse the palace through them and he knew which ones were usually empty.

    He’d spent his childhood mapping every hidden passage within the palace. All but the one his mother had fled through. No one had even known it existed before then. He’d recovered some sense of rationality, but not enough to keep his father’s accusations at bay, and they continued to plague him as he wandered aimlessly through dark corridors.

    So did the recollection of the mark on Tissaia’s arm. A mark not from Kaius. He knew she’d been sincere in that. She only ever called him Darling when she was being sincere, but as he’d said, it didn’t matter. She could give herself to whomever she wanted. Soon enough, she’d be free to.

    He kept to the passageways until evening fell and the palace began to grow quiet once more. Only then did he emerge and set off towards his rooms. He hadn’t gone far, however, when three familiar scents caught his attention. Azael’s mouth curled sideways as he peered down the dark hallway. He knew there was an alcove at the end of it, and that was where the scents seemed to be heading.

    Azael cocked his head and against his better judgment, slunk towards the hidden area. When he could just make out what each of the voices were saying, he crouched beside a towering suit of ancient armor, making himself as small as possible. It was times like these that made him detest his long limbs and broad shoulders, and wish for a more lean form like Talarion’s.

    He perked up as Kaius began to speak, his voice low and hesitant. “It’s come back to me a little bit,” he began. “Like I said, I saw Drenusha. I thought I was dreaming at first but…it was more than that. It was a vision.”

    “What did she tell you?” Tissaia prompted.

    “She started by telling me that she wouldn’t be able to visit me regularly. She only dared to yesterday because it was Aerstar, and she could more easily slip into mortal dreams. She did warn that she could send me other dreams though, like what those gifted with her Sight receive.”

    The male broke off and Azael strained his senses further, waiting in anticipation. The Phoenix had been visited by a goddess? That meant something important undoubtedly, and if it was something that could affect Asterria, he needed to know. The male continued shortly and Azael all but held his breath.

    “She gave me a quest. There’s something lost in the mountains that I need to find. The goddesses fear that Hadeon’s spawn is going after it, and whatever it is, they don’t want it falling into his hands. Drenusha didn’t say what he could use it for, but she seemed afraid.”

    “Hadeon’s spawn,” Talarion echoed. “I thought he was only a myth.”

    Kaius’s voice grew fainter. “He’s as much a myth as the Blood Fae.”

    Azael balked at the words. Blood Fae, the creatures who had left his mother in the brutal state she was found in. The same creatures who had left Kaius’s body decorated with scars when he was only a teenager. “Did Drenusha tell you what it is you’re supposed to find?” Tissaia asked.

    “No. She only gave me a glimpse of where I’d find it. There was a cleft high in the mountains, and a domed entryway extending from it. It looked like a temple of sorts.”

    “You’re going to look for it, aren’t you?”

    “I have to, even if I don’t understand half of what I can remember.”

    There were a few muttered curses before Talarion spoke. “Well, you’re not going into the mountains alone. I’m coming with you.”

    “We both are,” Tissaia corrected.

    “No,” Kaius protested immediately, and for once, Azael agreed with the male. “I don’t want to put either of you in danger.” There was a note of hesitation in his voice that none of them failed to miss.

    “You already saw us with you,” Talarion realized. “Why don’t you want us to come? Did something happen?”

    “I didn’t see anything happen to either of you, but I can’t ask you to come with me. The vision was so vague, but I got the distinct impression that there will be danger I can’t protect you from.”

    “When did you hear us ask for your protection?”

    “And who will protect you if we don’t come?” Tissaia added. “Neither of us are in a hurry to get back to Lochren and we’re certainly not letting you run blindly into danger on your own. Don’t bother trying to argue. You know we’ll just follow you.”

    There was only a resigned sigh in response. “Father is planning to leave tomorrow morning,” Talarion said. “If we want to avoid him trying to stop us, we’ll have to leave before them.”

    “All right. Then we need to spend the rest of tonight preparing. And…I think we should tell Azael.”

    He started at the sound of his name. Azael sucked in a breath and held it, waiting anxiously for the Twins’ response. “Why?” Talarion asked slowly.

    “He was in my vision too.”

    “We don’t need to get him involved,” Tissaia snapped, and Azael winced. “Odds are he’d just tell his father what we’re planning and then the whole court will be breathing down our necks.”

    “I don’t think he woul…”

    “We’re not telling him.”

    “All right,” Kaius agreed. “Fine. We should decide who’s in charge of getting our different supplies.”

    Azael was already creeping back down the hallway. He didn’t need to hear any more of their plans. His own were already made. He couldn’t help but smirk when he thought of how Tissaia would look when she saw him come morning. She’d be furious. Even more so when she realized he’d been there the whole time and she hadn’t noticed.

    No doubt they’d do their best to make each other’s lives miserable as a result, but if he had been in Kaius’s vision, there had to be a reason. Drenusha always knew what they did not. If the goddess believed he would be needed on this quest, then he’d make sure he was there, whether or not he was wanted.

    His smile faded with a sobering thought. No matter their differences, he did not want Tissaia to return to him like the last person who hadn’t told him she was leaving.

•༻☽☾༺•

    It was long past midnight and into the wee hours of the morning before Azael finished his preparations, save one. The hallway outside his father’s chambers was devoid of guards, but the lapse would be short lived. He could already hear the next rotation on their way down the distant steps.

    He estimated an eight minute window before they would arrive, meaning he had four minutes to sneak into the room, grab what he’d come for, and get out before the guards would spot him. He was confident he could make up a plausible excuse if it came to that, but he’d prefer to avoid it if possible.

    Azael waited until the previous guards were past his hiding spot, then dashed down the corridor on silent feet. He was inside the doors of his father’s sitting room in a heartbeat. He eased the door closed, leaving only a sliver between it and the latch so it would make no sound when he left.

    Azael hurried back to his father’s bedchamber and paused at the next set of doors, ears pricked for any sign of movement. When only silence greeted him, he nudged the door open and slipped inside. The only light within the chamber came from a partially covered window on the other side of the room.

    There was no fire on the hearth. No candles glowing overhead. Azael peered about the room until he spotted it. He kept his footsteps light and undetectable as he approached Orilight. The goddess-blessed blade was secured within its sheath and leaned against the wall beside his father’s bed.

    Azael lowered himself to his knees as he drew closer to his father and silently wrapped his hand around the sword’s hilt of delicately woven gold. The small diamond-shaped ruby inlaid in the crossguard reflected the pale moonlight back at him. His heart pounded against his sternum as he traced his fingers across the sheathed blade.

    Never once had his father allowed him to hold it. He didn’t even know if it would shine for him. Maybe not, since he was technically stealing it, but if he was going on a quest ordained by the goddesses, it couldn’t hurt to have a blade blessed by their power. At least he would be using Orilight for its intended purpose, not as a despised decoration like his father.

    He inched backwards and slowly rose once more, keeping a tight hold on the blade. Just as he was about to leave, a faint sound escaped his father. Azael froze, staring at him in horrified expectation, but the King only shifted slightly and remained asleep.

    For a moment, Azael watched him, striving to remember the male he’d been when he was a child. King Mavron had never been particularly affectionate, but there had once been a time when he was more than what he was now. But there were no memories that came to him. No memories like the ones he shared with his mother.

    There had only ever been the King. Never just his father, Mavron. He’d always known it, and that was why he’d promised himself, before he received the prophecy that changed everything, that his own child would know both sides of him.

    His child would’ve known the King, and he would’ve known his father. Two halves of a whole. But there would be no child now, or ever. Azael tightened his hold on Orilight and crept out of the room.

•༻☽☾༺•

    The palace was still dark when Tissaia approached the Prince’s rooms, his mother’s necklace clutched tightly in her hands. The first rays of dawn had begun to gleam outside, but nothing stirred within his chamber. Judging by the lack of guards outside his door, she guessed that perhaps the Prince had already risen, or maybe he’d never gone to bed. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since she left him in the stairwell.

    Tissaia let herself into the room quietly and made her way back to his bedroom. She found it empty as expected, his bed still made and his scent a few hours old. She drew a deep breath and paused beside the bed, setting the necklace on his pillow. She also tucked a folded note beneath it. It was only one line, but it said enough.

I loved your mother too, Darling, and I know she would want you to give this to the one you love, when you find her.

~T. L.

    No doubt when word got out about her, Talarion, and Kaius’s departure, her betrothal to Azael would end. And should their father ever track them down, she knew it would end in bloodshed.

    This journey would change everything. She knew without a doubt that neither she nor Talarion would be willing to go home when it was over, and if Roshan attempted to make them, they would both fight to the death rather than submit. Tissaia closed her eyes, drawing one more breath of Azael’s warm scent, then left the room.