The Beginning After The End

Chapter 499: Firm and Lasting Alliances

ARTHUR LEYWIN

Veruhn’s spell pulled at the ocean water, which flowed upward in a single tentacle-like stream. This tentacle of water curled in on itself, spiraling counterclockwise until a roiling sheet of living seawater hung in the air before us. The water grew clearer and clearer until it was like looking in a mirror. Between one breath and the next, the mirror twisted strangely, becoming a window.

Instead of looking at ourselves, we were seeing through to someplace else.

Veruhn Eccleiah, smiling happily in his dotty way, gestured for me to go first through the portal.

I glanced back at the procession that was to follow. My mother and sister stood just behind me with Sylvie and Regis. Behind them was Zelyna, who was flanked by a dozen more leviathans of high standing within the Eccleiah clan.

Taking a deep breath to settle my nerves, I stepped through the portal.

The salt and brine of Ecclesia gave way to smoke and the sweet scent of mountain flowers. A cheer went up from a crowd all around me.

Before I could make out any other individual detail of my surroundings, my gaze was swallowed up by the scene to my right. I was standing on a high balcony, and a brass rail was all that separated me from a plunging cliffside that seemed to descend forever. The distant ground was nothing but a green and brown blur, devoid of detail or a sense of distance.

“Lord Leywin.” Novis of Clan Avignis, lord of the phoenix race, reached out and took my hand.

I instinctively stepped forward, adopting a political smile and looking around at the source of the cheering.

The city of Featherwalk Aerie and its people were an astonishing sight.

Dozens of phoenixes in their humanoid forms gathered on balconies and drooping rope bridges that connected various platforms and buildings. Most were dressed in bright clothes the color of fire and ornamented with feathers and leaves. More than a few also wore feathered masks and waved bright streamers. Wild cawing and crowing punctuated the cheers, and bursts of flame shot overhead like fireworks.

The city itself was built directly into the cliffside among a forest of gnarled trees that seemed to break straight through the rock and into the sun. Some of the dwellings were treehouse-like roosts nestled in the branches of these trees, while others were carved into the cliff face or settled carefully within the folds of rock.

Mom stepped out of the portal behind me, followed immediately by Ellie. The two gaped in utter surprise. The crowd quieted only slightly as heads bent together and fingers pointed toward my family.

Rai of Clan Kothan, leader of the basilisks, stood off to the side with a procession of noble phoenixes and basilisks. He greeted me in a similar fashion as Lord Avignis went to meet Mom and Ellie, and then Sylvie behind them. Our entire group was folded into the noble procession. A young phoenix woman with citrine eyes and smokey, braided hair took my arm, and then we were all led away through row after row of excited onlookers.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting such a…vocal reception,” I mused, looking around and waving.

“No one alive can remember a time when a new race was named into the asuran family,” the young woman said, beaming up at me.

Novis clapped me on the back. “My daughter speaks the truth, but I’ll admit, I had an agenda.” He grinned broadly as he reached out to take the hands of several phoenixes crowded against the rail to our right as we passed them. “So far as I’m aware, you’ve experienced only the danger of Epheotus, both in the wilderness and the conference chamber. I wanted you to see who we really are, Arthur. Who you are, now.”

I considered his words in silence as the progression continued. The sound of harps followed us, and then a soaring melody as first dozens, then hundreds of voices joined together in song. There were no words, but the song conveyed a sense of harmony and togetherness no less effectively for their absence.

The procession delivered us to a huge semi-circular platform that extended out from a fortress of woven wood, dark stone, and ashen tiles that crawled up the cliffside. An enormous bonfire had been prepared in a ring of black stones twenty feet wide.

As we approached, the young woman guiding me smiled and indicated the conical structure of dark wood. “Please. Light the fire, Lord Leywin.”

I glanced around for some kind of tool but realized quickly that the phoenixes would have little use for such implements. They would expect me to be able to light the fire with mana.

Realmheart activated, conjuring amethyst runes along my body and beneath my eyes. I felt my hair begin to float up from my scalp. Taken by a moment of theatricality, I let my body float up from the ground as well, pulling free of the young woman’s light grip. I rotated to face the singing crowd, which had followed us through the city.

“Thank you for such a warm and welcoming reception,” I said, my voice ringing clear even through so much noise. “My family—my clan—and I are honored to be here in your beautiful city. While the addition of the archon race to the asuran family tree may be unprecedented, so will the prosperity to come for all asura.”

The crowd roared. I raised my hands out to my sides, and behind me, invisible particles of aether were wrapping around the dense fire-attribute mana in the atmosphere. With aether, I drew the mana into the heart of the unlit bonfire, sharing my intent. The mana condensed, growing hot as it did, until—

The bonfire roared back at the crowd with an explosion of heat and light.

My feet touched down on the smooth, dark wood that made up the platform. Lords Avignis and Kothan, along with their retinues, applauded politely, encouraging further cheering from the crowds of people.

Seconds after the fire was lit, more asura began to pour out of the fortress. Tables and chairs levitated into place around the bonfire, massive trays and pots of food arrayed on the tables, barrels of wine set at their ends, and in what seemed like only a few moments, an enormous banquet had been laid out.

“Please, feast and celebrate!” Novis announced to his people. “Today marks the beginning of a new age of unification between the asuran races!”

Grinning, he led the way into the fortress, the heavy charwood doors of which were held open by armed and armored phoenixes. His daughter took my arm again and guided me along after him.

‘Seems like you’ve got an admirer,’ Sylvie thought teasingly.

‘I thought opposites attract?’ Regis asked, nearly bursting with eagerness. ‘But this princess sure does attract other princesses, doesn’t he?’

Trying to ignore them, I instead admired the fortress. Although imposing from the outside, the interior was warm and inviting. Natural wood made up the arches and supports, while the walls were crystal-encrusted stone. Thick rugs covered the floor of the grand hall, which had been arranged with a single long table running down the center. A blazing fire crackled in the hearth, and a number of attendants were already waiting.

Novis sat at the head of the table. Rai sat to his left, while his daughter escorted me to the seat at his right hand. I sat, and she bowed respectfully and turned to find her own chair.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t ask your name,” I said, wanting to be polite in front of the other lords.

She smiled broadly at the question. “Naesia of Clan Avignis, at your service, Lord Leywin.” She spun, twirling the red and gold skirts she wore, and hurried to where a couple other young women had already sat down. They all put their heads together and giggled.

Sylvie sat to my right, Mother to hers, and then Ellie. Veruhn was seated across from us, next to Rai. A mixed company of phoenixes, basilisks, and leviathans filled in the rest of the spots down both sides of the long table.

As soon as the table was full, the servants burst into motion to facilitate a steady flow of food and drinks to the table. The fare made the feast outside look like lunchtime back at the orphanage. I was pleased to see that a full tray was also brought to Regis, who lay by the fire and focused on absorbing aether from the dense atmosphere. Novis spoke a few words of greeting, then encouraged everyone to eat and make merry. The hall erupted with the sound of small talk and of utensils scraping against plates.

“This is impressive,” I said conversationally as I sampled a couple of small green berries. They popped in my mouth, releasing a bittersweet juice that was still somehow delicious.

Rai chuckled around a mouthful of charred meat. “It is unfortunate that you chose to visit this old miser first.” He pointed at Veruhn with the chunk of flesh in his hand. “Your visits to the distant clan-homes deserve a certain amount of fanfare, Arthur. Epheotus has a lot to offer you and your clan.”

“Don’t be too hard on Veruhn,” Novis said, washing down a mouthful of food with a drink from his gold, ruby-encrusted goblet. “I’m sure Arthur has learned more about Epheotan mythology in a couple of days than we have in millenia.”

At first, Veruhn appeared not to be listening. After a few seconds, though, he said, “Those who do not learn their history are doomed to repeat it, lords.” His mouth twitched with a suppressed smile, and his milky-white eyes flicked to me, then away again rapidly.

Rai, who seemed outwardly to be much more relaxed than when I’d met him at Castle Indrath, went on to chat about the expectations of membership in the Great Eight. He spoke first about the clan in general, speaking mostly to my mother and sister, then turned the conversation toward my role and expectations.

“As a new clan—and race, for that matter—establishing firm and lasting alliances will be essential.” He stopped to chew, and when he resumed speaking, his voice was quieter. “It would be dangerous to assume that all asura will be welcoming of you. Right now, your clan is small and protected only by you, their lord. In the worst case, you would be an easy target for even a weak clan.”

“Rai,” Novis said in an admonishing tone. “Perhaps we could ease into the cut-throat politics.”

I waved off Novis’s words. “No, that’s alright. That’s why I’m here. I assume as much is obvious. I want to know what dangers really face my clan. It is also dangerous to sugarcoat the situation, which would prevent me from being properly prepared.”

Sylvie bit her lip before asking, “Is that likely? A direct attack? Which clan or race would dare such a thing?”

Rai fingered one of his horns nervously. “This is just a warning, Lady Sylvie. Your presence alone, your connection to the Indraths, gives you a political foothold against aggressive action. Maybe no one would be desperate enough to attack you so directly, so obviously. But I can’t discount the danger entirely…”

I took my time chewing my food. King’s Gambit was partially active, the godrune warm against my back as it redirected a consistent stream of aether up into my skull. Still, I wished I could have fully activated it. “I hope I’m not preemptive, but I already consider the Avignis and Kothan clans to be my allies. And the Eccleiahs as well, of course.”

Novis raised his glass. “As we’d hope, of course. But more needs to be done.”

Regis, having scarfed down his food with obscene speed, sat on his haunches at my side. “Sounds like a political marriage needs to be arranged,” he chimed in.

Novis and Rai glanced at each other, and I felt my stomach clench uncomfortably.

Veruhn cleared his throat and opened his mouth to respond, but at the same moment, an attendant announced: “Lady Myre of Clan Indrath!”

The asuras present in the hall stood as one, and the room went silent except for the continued announcements. “Preah of the Inthirah clan! Vireah of the Inthirah clan!”

Myre stood in the door, silhouetted by the bright light outside. With her were a retinue of dragons, only one of which I recognized.

Preah, the guardian of Everburn, where we’d spent the weeks after first returning to Epheotus, had her hair rolled into tight braids against her scalp. The scales around her eyes and down her cheeks gleamed iridescently, matching the pale gown she wore. Beside her was a younger dragon with the same pink hair and silver eyes. Her daughter, I thought immediately.

The daughter was an inch or two taller, and her hair flowed in sweeping waves down over her shoulders. She wore a gown that was scaled and plated like a battle dress. Teal scales were accented with light gray plates of armor and patches of chain. Her eyes, the color of melted silver, fixed on me immediately.

The group of dragons began to enter, and the announcer said one more name. “Chul of the phoenix race!”

I stood up so suddenly that I nearly knocked my chair over.

It wasn’t until the asura around Myre moved that I saw him bringing up the rear. A boyish grin split his face when he caught sight of me. “My brother in vengeance!” His voice boomed through the great hall like a rockslide, and he bumped Preah’s daughter roughly as he hurried by. The entire room froze as he slammed into me, knocking the air from my lungs. I was lifted off my feet in a crushing hug.

Ellie laughed in delight. Sylvie leaned back against the table, her gaze jumping from Chul to Myre. Her concern leaked into me through our connection.

“I know what you did for me,” Chul said in a low rumble. Suddenly he set me on my feet and sank to one knee, his head bowed. “I owe you my life, my brother. Whatever you need, from now until the end of my days, you will have.”

“Get up,” I moaned, grabbing him by the arm. He did immediately, practically trembling with the desire to serve. His bright eyes, both the orange and blue, gleamed with furious purpose.

I sensed a strength in him that hadn’t been there before. Not just in his mana signature, which was steadier and more pure, but in his spirit, his very presence of mind and body. More healing than just that provided by the mourning pearl had taken place in the Hearth, that was clear.

A smile flitted across my face, and then the reality of the situation came flooding back in.

Two phoenix servants were magically causing the table to grow, extending it in both directions. Two more were carefully shifting the chairs, currently vacant as everyone waited for Myre to take her seat. Most eyes, though, were Chul and me.

Myre was standing across the dining table exchanging pleasantries with Veruhn as they waited for new chairs to be grown for all the late arrivals. This took only moments, and when it was done, Novis and Myre sat simultaneously. Everyone else followed their lead.

I caught Novis’s eye. He was pale, his focus darting from Myre to Chul, his jaw working silently. Clearly, he hadn’t been expecting her arrival. Clearing his throat, he said, “Lady Myre. A great honor. Thank you for joining us in the Aerie.”

A pleasant smile bloomed on her young, beautiful features. I’d only ever seen her in this form around Kezess, but I wasn’t surprised that she also used it to engage in clan politics. I wondered idly how many people saw her in her elderly guise. Had her form just been a strategic choice to make a fifteen-year-old human boy comfortable?

But other, much more pressing thoughts overrode this one. As we finally all took our seats again—Chul being offered one between me and Sylvie—I watched Myre carefully. From the side of my mouth, I asked, “What are you doing here?”

Chul was already reaching for the roasted leg of some beast. He ripped a chunk off the bone with his teeth and answered with his mouth full. “I have a message for you from—”

I held up a hand and mouthed, “Later,” but Chul took no notice.

“—Caera. Weird stuff is happening in Alacrya.”

I let out a relieved breath, glad he hadn’t said Mordain’s name in front of a fortress full of phoenixes. My relief was short-lived as I absorbed what he had said. The situation must have been dire to send a messenger into Epheotus, but I couldn’t wrap my head around why it was Chul. He was in immediate danger here; in fact I was stunned he hadn’t been arrested or killed outright. Not only was he a member of the banished Asclepius clan, he was half djinn as well.

There was a short list of people who knew where the Hearth was, but those who could transcend the boundary between Dicathen and Epheotus were even fewer. Wren or Mordain must know about this, perhaps even both.

The more I thought, the more worried I became.

Before I could answer, though, Novis was speaking. “Lady Myre, who is this guest you bring with you? Chul, you said? An interesting name for a phoenix. And I can’t help but notice you didn’t mention his clan name.” Shifting his focus to Chul, he asked, “Where do you hail from, brother?”

Chul started to answer but couldn’t, as his mouth was stuffed full.

Instead, it was Myre who answered. “Chul is sadly clanless, Lord Avignis. But he has been adopted into the Leywin clan.”

There was some mumbling at that from elsewhere along the table. Veruhn sipped from a clay mug and smacked his lips happily, but Rai and Novis both looked stunned.

“I…wasn’t aware,” Novis said, his brows knitting as he shot me a furtive, distrustful glance.

I resisted the urge to curse.

What the hell is Myre’s game here?

I needed the phoenixes and basilisks to trust me. Was this some effort by Kezess to drive a wedge between us? But then, I acknowledged simultaneously, he couldn’t have accounted for Chul’s appearance. The fact that the half-phoenix, half-djinn warrior was even still alive suggested that maybe Kezess didn’t know the truth, or even realize that Chul was in Epheotus at all. Was Myre here on Kezess’s orders or in defiance of them?

Too many questions, and no way to get answers right now.

‘Focus on what we can do,’ Sylvie thought. ‘We’re here for a purpose. This doesn’t actually change anything, unless Myre makes some other play.’

‘Man, things are getting spicy,’ Regis added from down the table, where he was sniffing around to see if anyone would give him any more food. ‘I, for one, think it’s a power play. Kezess knows Mordain is still out there, and now they’re telling you that they could do something about it, but they’re not going to.’

“Please, don’t let our arrival interrupt the proceedings,” Myre said, breaking an awkward pause in the conversation. “What were you talking about?”

Veruhn suddenly looked down the table, focusing on Vireah, Preah’s daughter. His face softened in a look of understanding.

Rai cleared his throat. “We were just discussing the Leywin clan’s ascension and the need to forge alliances.”

Myre laughed. Perhaps it was my own nervousness, but the sound was simultaneously musical and disquieting. “Don’t tell me dinner has been going on for ten minutes and you’re already trying to marry Arthur off. I assumed we’d have until the first course of dessert, at least.”

My mind snapped back to Regis’s joke and the shared look between Rai and Novis, then to Veruhn’s understanding glance at Vireah Inthirah. I suddenly understood. “I’m afraid there’s been some kind of misunderstanding.”

Veruhn hummed to himself. He leaned back in his chair and wrapped his arms around himself, his cloudy eyes staring into the distance. “It is not uncommon in Epheotus for clans to cement their allegiance through marriage. Asuran offspring take on the aspect of the stronger parental lineage, and then join the appropriate clan. This makes for strong bonds. I understand that such pairings are frequent in your home of Dicathen as well.”

When I didn’t answer, Sylvie stepped in. “Yes, that’s true, especially among the powerful. But…”

“Arthur can’t get married!” Ellie’s voice carried up and down the table, and she immediately blushed bright red. When she continued, her voice was more controlled. “He’s already promised to someone back home!”

“There are matters of the heart, and then there are matters of the clan,” Rai said, hedging. “Arthur, there is nothing you could do that would more firmly establish an alliance with any other clan. In particular, a vow of marriage between two great clans would be particularly impactful.”

“I hope you don’t get the wrong impression,” Myre said, a sad, tight-lipped smile softening her expression. “It would be easy to come to the conclusion that Clans Kothan and Avignis only agreed to all this in order to empower themselves.”

“Of course not,” Novis said, looking equal parts affronted and nervous. Rai was silent, his thoughtful gaze on his hands in front of him. Veruhn, on the other hand, twiddled his thumbs and let his gaze drift around the hall, appearing bored.

I wanted to tell them that a political marriage like they were suggesting was off the table, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

I was angry. Not with them, but with myself. I should have foreseen this, planned for it. I could have had a response prepared.

I thought all the way back to the meeting of the great clans in which they named me archon. Even then, the other great lords had insisted a visit to their clan-homes was expected. I was newly risen, unmarried with a small clan and no heir. It was such an obvious consideration to have made…

Perhaps it’s a good thing that I’ve forgotten to think like a king. Fear tamped down the thought immediately. Fear that my failure to foresee this was due to King’s Gambit, not some change in my internal considerations.

Not for the first time, I worried that I’d relied on the godrune too much. Perhaps I was losing a step without it…

‘Or maybe you’re only human.’ Regis’s mental voice pierced through the noise of my thoughts like an arrow. ‘Who would have foreseen that you’d be propositioned by a whole pack of princesses.’

Sylvie continued to speak in my stead, deftly shifting the subject to other matters. She asked questions about the city and the two clans and shared details of her life in Dicathen.

“Which is why I’ve officially taken the name of Leywin,” she said, feigning nonchalance.

Rai and Novis were stunned, as were the few other asura close enough to hear.

Myre reached across the table to pat Sylvie’s hand sympathetically. “Oh, my dear. As much as your grandfather and I wish you would have been raised in Epheotus among your own kind, we know the truth. You are of Dicathen, and your bond with Arthur is just as deep as the bond of blood that runs in your veins. Your choice is your own to make. We are simply glad to have you back among your own kind.”

No hint of the turmoil that churned beneath the surface of Sylvie’s thoughts showed on her face.

“Thank you, Grandmother. Now, Lord Avignis, I was hoping we could circle back around to the animosity between clans. Perhaps you could enlighten me…”

I abandoned thoughts of this sudden marriage proposal, returning to the problem of Chul’s arrival and the message he carried.

Attempting to be subtle, I turned away from the conversation and made a show of examining an enormous crystal fresco that dominated a nearby wall. Whispering under my breath, I asked, “What happened in Alacrya?”

Chul also turned around in his seat. “Oh, yes, that is quite lovely,” he said very loudly. Quieter, he added, “Some kind of attack, maybe. Pulses of mana that drain the mana from others. Apparently the attack was felt across half of the continent. Some people even sensed it in Dicathen.”

“Caera? Seris?”

“According to the message, which was delivered by Lyra and your pretty elf lady, they were stricken, but they survived. It killed the Scythe, though. Dragoth. Apparently.”

I turned back around, tapping my fingers on the table.

Mom was trying to catch my eye, but I signaled that I was okay.

‘Should we leave?’ Sylvie asked while Myre was discussing several of the other dragon clans and their relationships to the Indraths.

This message had been carried by Tessia and Lyra Dreide together, and Mordain had agreed with them that it was important enough to risk Chul’s life sending him to Epheotus to deliver it. Clearly, this pulse of mana had been dire enough to set the highest powers on both continents into motion.

Agrona could have left some trap to go off in his absence. Many Wraiths were still potentially at large. The djinn remnant, Ji-Ae, likely still existed within the heart of Taegrin Caelum. I had no way of knowing for certain, but I also didn’t know if my presence in Alacrya would even help.

“In this message, were they asking me to come?” I asked Chul as I reached past him for a roll I probably wouldn’t eat.

He leaned over to speak into my ear. “The message was intended to reach you before you left. Lyra said only that you needed to know what was happening.”

I mulled this information over, but I couldn’t simply weigh one danger against the other. Chul’s appearance in Epheotus was a significant complication. By bringing him to Featherwalk Aerie herself, Myre was sending a message. I needed to understand what she was up to, but I couldn’t ask with her sitting directly across the table.

An idea came to me, and I sent my thoughts to Regis. He stood and yawned, complained loudly about eating too much, and then drifted into my body. Immediately, he drifted out again in his wisp form and passed into Chul’s flesh.

Chul flinched hard enough to send his drink tumbling. His cheeks blazed red as an attendant hurried over to clear away the mess with wind and fire.

Ask him what Myre was like when he first arrived here.

There was a brief pause, during which Chul sat unnaturally still at my side. ‘He says he was picked up almost immediately by a patrol of dragons. He claimed to be searching for you, so they took him to Indrath Castle. Lady Myre met him there. She’s been…very nice, he says.’

Does she know who he really is? I sent, using Regis to converse nonverbally with Chul, similarly to how Regis had shared Tessia’s final words when we thought she was dying.

‘Oof. Yeah. Apparently he introduced himself as “Chul of Clan Asclepius, brother in vengeance to Lord Arthur Leywin.” To pretty much everybody.’

I stifled a groan. And Kezess? Does Kezess know?

‘He isn’t sure. Never saw him.’

“Are you okay, Chul?” Myre asked. “You don’t look well.”

Chul cleared his throat and glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “Uh…”

Regis slipped free of Chul’s body and returned to mine. The big half-asura immediately relaxed.

“Thank you, Lady Indrath. I am fine. Just…”

“Overwhelmed?” my mother said, patting his hand. “I’ve felt the same often since first being brought here.”

My eyes met Myre’s from across the table.

This woman had been like a grandmother to me, once. She guided me along the first steps as I learned about aether. But I could no longer trust her.

We can’t leave, I thought in answer to Sylvie’s question. Not yet. Maybe not for a while. We’ll have to trust that Caera and Seris can handle it, whatever it is.

Regis, Sylvie, and I, our minds connected, sat in isolation from all the others, sharing the compounding burden of our worries.