3

The main level of the palace was shockingly vacant.

The remainder of the King’s Court was nowhere to be seen. Looking up, Sayr could see Court officials and guests lingering around the railings past the cylindrical open space above, not taking any notice to the newcomers down below. 

“They’re probably up with the king,” Addy said, as if they were all thinking the same thought. 

Dimitri called a Royal Guard to notify the king of their arrival. The Royal Guard scuttled up the many stairs before them, heading towards the king’s quarters.

Dimitri turned to Sayr and Mar. “Let’s get you back to your chambers. I’ll let the king know about the intercepted letter.”

As one, the group all climbed the never-ending stairs towards their chambers, towards the king.

 **

Sayr and Mar sprawled across Sayr’s guest chamber, waiting for word from the king to meet with both of them. Their chambers looked just as they had before they’d left for Therod.

Still, they hadn’t seen any other member of the King’s Court besides Addy and Dimitri, or the king for that matter, at all. Sayr was growing fidgety, and she resorted to pacing around the room.

Her eyes landed on The Elemental’s History of Magic still sitting on the loveseat by the fireplace. She gently ran a hand over the book’s cover and spine and mindlessly flipped it open. 

“Do you really believe they’re gone?” Her gaze slid over to Mar sprawled on the canopied bed. “Just like that?”

Mar sat up on the bed and crossed her legs. “The king wouldn’t have called us back if there was any risk of the Visarian royal family still lingering around the palace. Dimitri and Addy made sure we took the safest route without the risk of being intercepted by anyone loyal to Her Majesty. She’s gone, Sayr. They all are.”

“I just can’t see her giving up so easily,” Sayr whispered.

“I’m not saying that it’s all over,” Mar admitted. “Who knows what Queen Cheralin will do once she’s back in her own territory. What I am saying is that you’re safe right here. We’re within the king’s protection once again. Right now, our biggest concern is deciding what sort of impact we’re going to have in Creobe. In this Court.”

Sayr nodded and released a long breath. Mar was right, King Mylan had agreed to send them away for their own protection, he wouldn’t have gone through all the effort just to bring them back into Queen Cheralin’s grasp. They were safe in the Western Palace.

And yet, a strange emptiness sat inside her chest.

A small piece of her felt as if it had been forcefully ripped out. She had no regrets in leaving the Eastern Court, but part of her mourned for the life she’d lived, no matter how false it was. She mourned for the eight years she’d given up. She mourned for the girl who’d risked everything to earn a place for herself in the Eastern Palace. She’d never return to the place where she had first met Mar, or walk the busy streets of the City Center, or sift through the sand and jump into the waves of the beachy shores again. Her throat tightened at the realization of what she had lost, what she realized was never really hers to begin with.

She flipped through the pages of The Elemental’s History of Magic to try and distract herself. She’d never admit so out loud, but she’d missed scanning through the book’s pages each day. She’d learned more about the continent, about herself, through these pages than she ever had in her seventeen years.

I guess that’s the reality of being lied to all your life, she thought to herself.

She lifted the book in her hands and turned to Mar. “What sort of impact do you want to have in Creobe?”

Mar tilted her head, her bronze eyes studying the ceiling as she thought aloud, “I want to be a remedy healer, like Addy, but not partake in the King’s Court. I think I’ve been around a royal long enough for my liking. Maybe King Mylan will let me oversee new recruits in his army.”

Sayr smiled at the thought of Marenda yelling at new recruits to run faster, fight harder. Mar had been a great mentor to Sayr in the Eastern Palace, and she’d love to see the fear in the eyes of anyone who came across any soldier under Mar's command.

A soft knock thumped against the door.

Marenda slinked off the bed and over to the door, pulling it open just enough to peek one eye out. She muttered something under her breath—something Sayr couldn’t understand yet knew all too well it was not pleasant—and pulled the door wide open.

Dimitri stood in the hall. His eyes quickly inspected the room before landing on Sayr, and Sayr realized he’d never seen her chambers. He’d likely seen the room before she and Mar had made it their own, but heat suddenly crawled up her neck and cheeks as she took in the clothes flung over the furniture, boots discarded at the foot of her bed, and the wrinkles in her comforter from where Mar had just sat. 

Thankfully, Dimitri didn’t seem to notice as he smiled at her, still outside her door. 

“Come in.” The words spilled over one another as she beckoned him inside.

Dimitri let out a small chuckle as he stepped into her chambers and closed the door behind him. “I was just coming to check on the two of you.”

“The king hasn’t asked for us yet?” Marenda asked. She’d returned to her spot in the center of Sayr’s bed, staking her territory. 

Dimitri shook his head. “I’m told His Majesty is occupied with meetings the rest of the day. He’s postponed his meetings with any of the King’s Court until tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Mar started. “Tomorrow, when?”

“I don’t know,” Dimitri admitted with a slight shake of his head. “None of the King’s Court was invited to tonight’s meetings. I’ll try and meet with him first thing tomorrow, before he calls on either of you, to see what all of this is about.”

His gaze turned again to Sayr, and a small mischievous grin curled his lips. “I was hoping you’d take a walk with me.”

“Of course.” Sayr’s answer was automatic, and her heart fluttered a beat. She turned to Mar for a moment, a half-question in her eyes.

Mar hopped off the bed and pulled on her boots. “I’m going to see if I can sneak into Addy’s workspace on the medic’s level.”

Sayr flashed her a knowing grin.

“Say hi to Callum for me!” she called as Mar left her chambers.

Once she was gone, Dimitri took Sayr’s hand and led her out into the hall. 

** 

The two lounged across a chaise near one of the infinite balconies that jutted out from the stone walls of the palace. The night sky was clear of clouds and the stars shone brightly above. They remained behind the threshold of the balcony, away from the crisp autumn winds.

Sayr dangled her legs across Dimitri’s lap, and he mindlessly traced circles around her knees as they looked out at the starry sky. 

They had fallen into a steady rhythm in Therod. So many days away from the politics of Court and scheming between the royals had chipped away the barriers between them. They’d begun to learn each other’s routines.

She’d learned he was a morning bird, always awake long before the rest of them in Therod. He was also the last of them to fall asleep. While she needed rest, he seemed to thrive on an endless energy that burned inside him. She envied him for it. 

Sayr found herself studying his face as he looked out beyond the balcony, searching for the familiar twitch in his jaw before he spoke or the crease in his brow when he focused on something, anything, a bit too hard. 

When he turned towards her, she recognized the all too familiar tug that pulled down his lips whenever he was about to say something serious or anxious. She’d seen it each time he’d returned to the townhome with news from the palace about the Visarian royals and the fighting between the Courts. 

“I need to be honest with you,” he started. 

Sayr’s gut twisted. Was this why he had wanted her to walk with him? Had he had preconceived intentions to come check on her and Mar?

“Okay.” Her tone was hesitant, guarded. 

Dimitri’s gaze flicked to her, then back to the mountains. His throat bobbed as he swallowed the first set of words, then tried again. 

“I’ve never… bonded with anyone like this,” he started. “I’ve never told another soul outside of the King’s Court and Julen and Hoshi about Dema or my position in this palace… or left that position as the king’s mercenary for so long.”

His gaze landed on her again. “I did not hesitate to do so with you. It all felt right, at the time. I knew you and Dema got along, and I wanted you to know who she really was to me. I wanted you to know who I was. What it is that I do for the king, no matter how dark. When the Eastern Queen came to the palace, I couldn’t think of anyone else who would protect you from her like I would. So, I left my position here to be with you.”

His voice suddenly dipped, and he twisted his body to face her. His hand gripped her knee, no longer tracing faint circles.

“When you told me the truth about your gifts, I couldn’t help but think of what I would’ve done before I met you, if you were anyone else. I would’ve told His Majesty everything. I am loyal to the king; I always have been. But with you… everything feels different. And I don’t want to mess it up.”

Sayr’s heart stirred. “What are you saying?”

Dimitri looked down at his hand on her knee. “When I asked you if you were spoken for, in the king’s quarters, I was so certain you would say you were with the crown prince. When you told me you weren’t… I felt a change between us. Something more in me than just as your instructor.”

“Oh?” Sayr leaned forward, eager for him to continue. She found a small satisfaction at watching him struggle to grasp for the right words. 

“But I don’t want to pressure you,” he countered. “I know there is so much lying ahead for you in the coming days, and I don’t want to cloud your judgment in any of it.”

“Okay,” Sayr drawled again.

Don’t backpedal now, she silently pleaded. Say it. Please, just say it.

Dimitri cleared his throat again. “What I’m trying to say is, I don’t want you to think of me these next few days. I want you to think of yourself. Worry about the life you’ll make for yourself here in the palace.”

“I’ll still be here after it’s all over,” he promised. “I can wait for you while you figure out what your life’s going to look like from here on out.”

There it was. That thin promise, no matter how much he fought not to say so directly.

Sayr’s eyes scanned every inch of his face. His jaw twitched as he clenched it shut; his eyes bounced anxiously from her to his hand grasping her knee. He waited in anxious silence for her answer.

“Dimitri…” Sayr teased. “Are you saying you want me spoken for?”

A nervous laugh escaped his lips. “I’m saying that I’ll be here for you when you’re ready, as long as that’s what you want.”

He hadn’t phrased that last part as a question, but Sayr knew that it was. He would wait for her, only if she wanted him to.

He had done so much for her. Not just in this last week, but in the past months. Everything he had revealed to her, the truth of Visaran’s past, the seen and unseen elements, his true life here in the Western Palace. And when she had offered her secrets in return, he’d kept them safe for her. They trusted each other.

Sayr had known her answer long before he dared to ask it.

She made a show of pursing her lips and tilting her head to one side. “How much time do I have exactly? It may take me a while to get acclimated here, a very long while. Or I might start to enjoy watching you silently pining for me.”

She let out a small laugh and Dimitri flicked the tip of her nose.

“Smart mouth,” he murmured as he leaned in and kissed her.