I can feel Candra becoming anxious through the aether. She says nothing, but sends her restless energy, making me aware of how impatient she is to finally capture Xarion and become an immortal.
A god.
She has nothing tying her to the Ptolemies. Not like the Kythan, who’ve been serving them for over three-hundred years. To her, that time is but a blink. She may be new, but she’s connected to something that has been in existence since the beginning of time. And she plans to outlive even it—turning the tide and having the humans serve her.
I’m only thankful it doesn’t appear she or her Leymak minions have been able to form an alliance with any other guardian. Phoenix assures me there is no talk among the Narcos of revolt. I trust my friends and Habi, and nearly all of my kindred Shythe. As Phoenix once stated, the Shythe are content. We have no reason to start a rebellion. But I may have exaggerated my words then for his benefit, claiming we’re no different than the Narcos.
We are.
And I can’t trust that the fiery-tempered Narcos wouldn’t have a moment of weakness where they’d trade their soul for a chance at freedom. It’s best they never discover her theory. Because deep beneath my own fears, I do believe that all should be equal. I was afraid to want another life for myself, scared to want a love with Xarion that could never be. However now, I desire that freedom to choose my own path with my whole being. And all should have the right to choose that for themselves. But breaking the Kythan binds shouldn’t be done by Candra. Not like this. Not at the death of another.
And I don’t trust her.
Regardless if she’s able to awaken the old magics within the was scepter and free the Kythan, I don’t trust that she’d release them from her control. She’s too power-hungry, too superior. I’m unsure what level of power would be enough for her. If any.
One thing is certain: she has no power over the pharaoh’s Kythan. And she should never possess that power.
Phoenix, Lunia, and I go over our inventory once again in the queen’s secured rooms. We pack lightly for our trek across the desert’s rough terrain, quietly reviewing our supplies, as we wait for Xarion to join us—and our moment.
After seeing the was scepter in the queen’s hand, commanding her guardians for war, I considered taking the amulet with us, to get it as far from Candra’s reach as possible. But it would be like a bright beacon, a target on Xarion. We can’t have it anywhere near him, but at least I was able to explain Candra’s demented scheme to Cleopatra. And I discovered our queen is not only fluent in many different languages, she’s a prodigy.
I only pray there’s never a need for her reserved plot to be evoked.
Glancing at the door, I wait nervously for Xarion. He’s across the hall saying his goodbyes to his family. After struggling with how to leave his siblings—with or with no last words—he decided if he should never see them again, he wanted to be remembered for who he was, not how Octavian will depict him.
I fight the urge to go to him, to reassure him that he’ll reunite with them again, when he enters. “It’s almost time,” he says. Darkened half-moons frame his eyes. He rakes a hand through his hair. “Habi announced that the warships entered the breakwaters just minutes ago.”
“We need to move,” Phoenix says, grabbing his sword.
Lunia and I share a look. Alarm storms her eyes. We tuck our sacks under our arms as Xarion pulls on a neutral-colored robe, tugging the hood around his face. Then we follow Phoenix through the door.
Xarion halts just outside, waiting for me. I slip my hand in his as I move beside him, and he squeezes my fingers reassuringly. As we travel silently through the dark corridor, we do not make promises of returning home, or declarations of finding a safe, new home of our own. We don’t speak of the future, and what it could mean for us. Or what it may change.
There is only now.
My duty to protect him.
We reach the outside of the palace and the sky is overcast, dimming the world in shades of gray. As if the gods have painted the scenery for the show to come. Lightning flickers in the ink-swollen bellies of the clouds. Thunder cracks, and a loud boom shakes the ground.
“What—?” Lunia begins, her words cut short by a whirring hiss.
It grows loader, stronger as a gale picks up around us, blowing our hair and shifts. Sand needles my skin, and I bat at the annoying grains, my hand halting mid-swipe. There is no sand on the paved island, at least not enough to get swept up in the storm.
A white flash blazes across the skyline just past the city walls, and my head whips around. I tighten my hold on Xarion’s hand as the wind batters us and the sky lights up like Poseidon’s triton.
The flicker grows brighter, and my eyes latch on to the dark figures hovering above the wall, their hands blinding white. Whirling billows of air lifts their forms from beneath. Fear stabs my chest. The Leymak hold their suspended position, their fierce glowing eyes and arms a beacon in the dark storm, as they summon the aether—controlling the elements.
I can’t pinpoint Candra, but I know she’s there. Watching us. Waiting for Octavian’s legions to break down the crystal barrier; their opportunity to infiltrate Alexandria. As I’m searching the wraith-like beings, another boom rocks the ground.
A ball of fire lands mere feet from our party.
“The ships are breaching our defenses,” Phoenix shouts. He points past the harbor. “They’ll be within the city limits in minutes.”
Although I’m scared to turn my back on the hovering Leymak, I know they can’t yet cross the barrier, and I force my eyes to seek the battle happening on the sea. Pharos lights up, the Narcos in its tower illuminating their power, and a stream of Flame reins down like a fiery whip across the water. It sets the sails of a quinquereme aflame, then hunts another warship as it slowly moves over the sea.
My instincts say to go now—run for the underground tunnel before Octavian’s forces get any closer. But I was ordered to wait for the queen’s diversion. And with the Leymak’s eyes upon us, I know I can’t chance it, even if I could disobey her command.
We need the Leymak inside the city, fighting the guardians, before we can disappear and escape their reach unnoticed.