The raven camp was still beneath the moonlight as Lyana crept through hastily erected tents, leaving the royal quarters behind. The meeting with Helen had been quick. They were leaving for the House of Paradise tomorrow, which meant she had one final night to enact the plan she’d been concocting for days, the one she'd conceived as she used her magic to calm the House of Song and spotted a handful of knowing eyes among the crowd. Unlike in the past, she'd already filled Xander in and acquired his approval. Not that his disapproval would have stopped her, but still—she was trying to be better, fairer, more open than the king she'd left to stew in the mist.
"I have an idea, Xander," she'd told him after Helen left their spacious canvas palace. The sight of a space far too large for just two people had left them feeling guilty when ravens were still sleeping beneath open skies, not even a pillow to rest their heads upon. "I'm not sure it's one you'll like, but I want to be honest and I don't want to go behind your back anymore."
His brow had furrowed. "What?"
"I want to put a personal guard together."
"That sounds wise."
"…formed of mages."
He'd gone rigid.
"Hear me out. No one needs to know they're mages—not yet, anyway. But I want ravens with magic to understand we support them. And we're going to need every soldier we can get as more of the eggs hatch and the rift widens. I can help train them. I can—"
"Do it," he'd cut in, no ounce of doubt in his tone.
"Really?"
"Yes. If you're able to find a mage among our people, do whatever you can to help them."
"I'm glad you said that." She'd paused, pulling her lower lip into her mouth in a moment of hesitation before blurting, "Because I already identified five."
His eyes had about fallen from their sockets with disbelief. Lyana explained how she could sense the power in their spirits, and how she'd spent the past few days quietly using bits of magic around camp and searching for awareness in people's eyes. He didn’t understand what she meant until she described the secret beauty of magic and the golden sparks dancing around her fingers, invisible to him, yet so clear to her—so clear to any mage, including the woman who would be her first visit of the night.
Lyana stopped beside a tent near the outskirts of the clearing and called upon her magic, letting it simmer beneath her skin. A single soul rested at peace on the other side of the canvas, alone and sleeping, exactly as she'd hoped. Pushing her hand through the flaps, she ducked inside. The woman woke immediately, her heart leaping in her chest as her spirit filled with fear. Recognition sparked in her deep brown eyes and she stumbled from her cot. Waves of ebony hair spilled over her shoulders, blending with her wings, as she swept into a deep curtsy.
"My queen."
"Please don't be frightened," Lyana hastily whispered. "I'm not here to hurt you. What's your name?"
The woman swallowed, her lips pursed and her throat tight. She was older than Lyana by a few years, but age didn’t matter when speaking to a monarch. Despite her obvious reluctance, she answered. "Amara, my queen."
"Amara," Lyana said as she stepped farther into the shadows of the small tent, letting the flap fall behind her. The sounds of the forest slipped away, replaced by tense silence. "Do you know why I'm here?"
Awareness sparked in the corners of the woman's eyes, like diamonds in the dark, but she shook her head in a silent no.
"I know you've seen my power." Lyana lifted her palm and released the smallest tendril of her magic. Brilliant gold sparks flared to life, illuminating the space between them and casting a sunlit glow upon Amara's pale skin. The raven dropped her gaze to the display, then jerked it back up, alarm written across her face. "I know you have magic, too."
"Your Majesty, please. I don't—"
"It's all right," Lyana crooned, aching to use her power to calm Amara's spirit. The woman's hands trembled. Her dread dug into Lyana's soul like claws. But unlike Malek, she would give people a choice, and if they chose terror, the fault lay in her. "You don't need to say anything. You don't need to explain. I won't even ask what type of magic you have, though I sense the earth in your spirit. Unlike most people in our world, I didn't come here to hurt you. I know the terror of living with our secret, but I also know magic is a gift from the gods, and I don't want the mages of our world to live in fear any longer."
She waited for Amara to relax, but her body remained as tense as a bow held taut, one second from snapping. It had been her intention to sit with the woman and practice some magic, to prove she meant no harm, but it was clear that would be too much for tonight. Instead, she made her offer, hoping the hours alone would change Amara's mind.
"I came here tonight to ask you a question, and if you say no, then I will never bother you again. Your secret will be safe, and no one will learn the truth of your power from me. You'll be able to go on living the way you always have been. But if you are tired of living in fear, if you are tired of hiding something that feels as much a part of you as the raven who shares your soul, if you are tired of wondering what you could do once freed of the chains that bind you, then please consider my words. I'm looking to form a personal guard, and I'll be visiting four others tonight who share our secret. If you want to learn how to use your magic, if you want to unleash your power, if you want to fight at my side to save our world, then come to my tent at dawn and pledge your allegiance. We'll be flying to the House of Paradise at midday, and I would be thrilled to have you by my side. I know the idea of discovering who you really are and what you're truly capable of might be terrifying, but embracing my magic is the best thing I've ever done, and I want to give every mage I can the opportunity to find their inner strength as well. It may be a while before our people understand, but I assure you, the gods are on our side."
While she spoke, Lyana's power filled the tent, spreading more and more, so that when she finished they were surrounded by the shimmering beauty of her magic. It was the sun and the stars. It was Aethios come to life. And even after all she'd experienced, the sight of it left her breathless with pride.
But that was her journey.
This was Amara's.
Difficult as it was, Lyana pulled the power back beneath her skin, snuffing out the light. Amara studied her as the glow faded, those dark eyes missing nothing yet giving even less away.
"If I don't see you in the morning, please know you can always change your mind and I'll be there waiting whenever you're ready."
Then she departed, leaving the woman to her thoughts. The hour was late, and she had four more souls to visit before dawn broke, chasing all her time away.
Despite her best efforts, the meetings all passed in similar fashions. The older man she visited next held his cards even closer to his chest than Amara had. The older woman was intrigued, but just as quiet, her gaze darting almost constantly to the corner of the room where her toddler slept. The youngest of the night, a boy of fifteen was the most eager, perhaps through the folly of youth, though Lyana sensed in him a kindred spirit. He was the only one to confess to his magic, revealing himself as a hydro'kine. And her final stop, a man around the same age as Amara, still young enough not to be mated, had been calmer than the others. She wasn't sure if that was better or worse.
All in all, the night had gone less well than she'd hoped, yet better than she'd expected. By the time she crawled back into the royal tent, she was ready to collapse for a few short hours of sleep, but the gods had other plans.
Cassi's spirit hovered invisibly over the bed.
With a sigh, Lyana stepped quietly around the edge of the room, careful to avoid Xander's slumbering form. Just as every night before, he'd left her the large cot in the corner and stretched out upon the hard floor, forgoing comfort for propriety no matter how many times she told him not to. The bed was big enough to share, but their past loomed larger for him. Or perhaps he really was just that polite. In truth, she couldn't tell.
"I hope you have good news," Lyana muttered as she curled on her side and dropped her head upon the pillow. She couldn't see it, but she could feel a snort riffle through Cassi's spirit, and it brought a smile to her lips as sleep took her.
The dream formed quickly. One moment, she was in the makeshift raven camp on the outskirts of the House of Song, and the next she was back in the crystal palace of Sphaira, overlooking the ivory landscape of her icy homeland. Longing panged deep in her chest, but she stifled it as she turned to her spy.
"Please tell me you have good news.”
Cassi crossed her arms. "Only if your idea of good is an earthquake in the House of Paradise."
Lyana groaned. "No. Definitely not."
"Too bad."
"Tell me anyway."
Cassi launched into the tale, recounting the terror that betook the citizens of Hyadria as their isle trembled beneath them. The damage to the city wasn't severe, but it was an omen of things to come. Now that the earthquakes had started, they'd continue until the House of Paradise fell from the sky.
Lyana asked questions, Cassi supplied answers, and when the topic was exhausted, they moved on to the rest of the isles and the world below, same as they had every meeting before. Turned out the relationship between a queen and her spy was much the same as the one between a princess and her best friend—sarcastic, teasing, and most of all, comfortable. So comfortable, there were moments Lyana could almost forget everything that had happened, everything Cassi had done, as though these translucent walls weren't a dream, but real, and they were two girls back home on some grand adventure.
Then she remembered, and the truth of Cassi's betrayal cut anew, stealing her breath until she had to look away to escape the pain. Forgiveness was a fickle thing, swinging like a pendulum, so close one moment and so very far the next. As a single name spilled from Cassi's lips, a burning ache cleaved Lyana's chest in two, sending all thoughts of reconciliation into the stratosphere.
"I have news of Rafe."
Rafe, whom Cassi had maimed. Rafe, whom Cassi delivered into Malek's fiendish hands. Rafe, who was now his own worst nightmare come to life, all because of the woman standing before her.
Lyana spun and pressed her palm against the crystal wall for balance. Her world swayed as flames danced before her eyes. Deep within the inferno, she imagined his face, and the determination in his vibrant blue eyes pulled her back, freeing her the way he always did.
"Is he all right?"
"I'm worried for him."
"Why?" Lyana swallowed her pain and turned back to Cassi. "What's happened?"
"Malek is closing in. He's had people following them ever since the ship left Karthe, and they can only evade his mages for so long. Eventually they'll run out of supplies. Eventually someone will get hurt. And though it won't be Rafe, I'm not sure what the loss, what the guilt, will do to him."
It would destroy him.
"What can we do?"
"I don't know."
"Where can he go?"
"I don't know."
"Then why—" Lyana froze as an idea sparked like metal to the flint, a bright flame flaring in the deepest dark. "What's the one place Malek would never send his mages? What's the one place he wouldn't dare bring this fight?"
Cassi knitted her brows, her silvery eyes as vacant as the fog. In an instant, they sharpened into blades. "The world above."
"Exactly."
A laugh escaped her spy's lips at the sheer audacity of Lyana's newest plot—to bring a man who was half-dragon to a world entrenched in their fear of the beasts, to bring a ship of mages to a land riddled with a hatred of magic. It was ludicrous. It was absurd.
Cassi grinned. "It's brilliant."
"I know."
"But where—"
"To the raven guest quarters on the outer isle of the House of Peace," Lyana interjected, her thoughts already racing ahead. Meant only as a rest stop for traders and diplomatic convoys, the guest quarters weren’t large enough to house an entire populace, which was why she and Xander had brought the ravens to the House of Song. There was, however, more than enough space for a small crew of mages to reside in. "Malek wouldn't dare bring another magic fight so close to the god stones, especially against a crew of experienced mages, and with trade come to a standstill now that the House of Whispers has fallen, the rooms will be empty. I asked Luka to have the guest quarters for all the houses stocked before he left, just in case, so there should be plenty of food. Rafe will be safe there."
"Assuming he goes along with it."
"Well, yes," Lyana muttered, plummeting back down to earth. "There's that."
To a ship full of wingless mages, escaping to lands floating precariously among the clouds might not be ideal. If they didn't go, Rafe wouldn't either. He was too loyal to leave them to face Malek's wrath alone.
"You'll just have to convince him."
"Right." The hesitant edge to the word made the hairs at the back of Lyana's neck stand on end. Her spy was hiding something. She was hedging.
"Cassi, you have spoken to Rafe, haven't you?"
Silence.
"You spoke to him days ago, right? When I ordered you to go to him immediately and tell him about the shadow beast, and the eggs, and the truth of the god stones. You did as I said, didn’t you?"
The owl opened her mouth, then wordlessly closed it.
"Didn't you?"
"I— I—" Panic drained the color from Cassi's cheeks. She darted her gaze about the room as though searching for any way to delay, and then a molten streak in her irises flared. Cocking her hip to the side, she jutted out her chin in a stubborn look Lyana recognized. "Have you told Xander the truth about Rafe, the way I asked you?"
I tried, sort of… Lyana bristled. "That's different."
"How?"
"Because the fate of the world doesn't depend on my honesty."
"Doesn't it?"
"Cassi!" She growled and flailed her arms in frustration. "That thing could be after him, and he's totally unaware. I'd be far more afraid of that than of Malek's mages. You need to tell him everything. Now. That's an order from your queen."
"Oh, is—"
Before Cassi had time to finish her snappy retort, Lyana snatched her spy's spirit and flung it from her mind. The dream ripped apart and she jolted awake, sucking in a sharp breath as she jerked to a seated position. Her heart thundered, but she ignored the pounding and lifted her face toward the spirit cowering in the shadows.
"Now," she demanded.
Cassi fled and Lyana dropped her head into her palms.
"Now, what?"
"Xander!"
She leapt about five feet in the air at the sound of his voice. If not for her wings, she would have fallen over. As it was, while she righted herself a wind stirred in the tent, rustling their meager supplies. Her king was no longer on the floor, but hunched over his desk, a finger saving his place in the middle of an unrolled scroll. One of his brows lifted.
"What are you doing awake?" she asked, her voice still breathy with shock.
"It's past dawn."
"It is?"
Forgetting Xander, and Cassi, and the dream that wasn't really a dream, Lyana darted across the room to fling open the tent flaps. Peach light chased the darkness away and cast the canvas sea in a rosy glow, the trees around the meadow silhouetted by the sun. Standing in the grass before her, their feet wet with morning dew and their eyes wary, were three of the mages she'd met what felt like days and not hours before.
A wave of relief washed through her.
They'd come.
Not all, but enough—the beginning of her army.