Someone sane would run as far away from this place as they could. But he’d been summoned, and so running seemed more like suicide. Therefore, he stepped forward so that he could kneel before her and bow his head. “Akra.”
She pulled her hand from the black waters and wiped it off in the folds of her gown. “You were incredibly brave today, Urian. A credit to your solren.”
“Thank you, akra. I try.”
“No, Urian. You succeed.” She rose to her feet so that she could approach him. A peculiar air hung around her. One that was unfamiliar to him and left him puzzled as to her mood, which was even more somber than normal.
Cocking her head, she narrowed her gaze. “Should we discuss this?” His shield appeared between them.
Urian’s eyes widened as he realized why she was angry at him. Ah … crap, not this again. Why didn’t I listen to my mother?
“I meant no disrespect, akra.”
Instead of anger, a strange light danced in her pale, swirling eyes. “None taken, but I imagine your solren was quite put out by it.”
That was a mild way of stating his mood. “He said you would be livid.”
She pursed her lips. “I have to say that Styxx of Didymos was no friend of mine. And I find it … odd that you would admire such a beast, given what he did to Atlantis.”
Urian shrugged. “He was strong and resourceful. Fearless.”
“And he almost marched his army up the steps of Katateros, into the hall of the gods.”
“So it’s true?”
She nodded. “But for an act of treachery on the part of Apollo, Styxx would have defeated Atlantis, and this would have been his home. He would have ruled us all.”
“Is that why you hate him?”
“Nay, child. My reasons run much deeper than that. And are far more personal.” Her grip tightened on the shield until her knuckles turned as white as her hair. But after a moment, she let out a ragged breath. “However, I won’t take your hero from you. A boy should always have someone he looks up to. Someone he aspires to be. And as much as I hated that bastard while he lived in the mortal world, I will grant you that he was fair to his men in war. An undefeated commander in battle. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging that even a mangy dog has noble traits when he’s not scratching his fleas or licking his balls.”
Urian wasn’t sure how to take that last bit. Especially when a moment later she changed his shield so that Styxx’s phoenix merged with her dragon emblem to form a unique chimera of the two.
A Daimon symbol.
With a motherly smile, she held it out toward him. “Here, m’gios. You shall form a Stygian Omada of your own and lead it for me. Your army will eclipse Styxx’s and be remembered long after his is nothing more than a forgotten memory.”
Stunned and amazed, he gaped at her graciousness. “Thank you, akra. I shall do my best to honor you both.”
“I know you will.” There was a longing in her gaze that he didn’t understand. It lingered with a haunting pain.
As he started to leave, she stopped him.
“Answer me another thing, Urian.”
“Akra?”
“I know why your brother Paris has no interest in wenching, but I’ve noticed that you refrain as well. Yet not for the same reasons. Why?”
He felt heat sting his cheeks as this inevitable question came up yet again. Why was everyone so fixated on his diet? Or lack thereof? It was bad enough that he was embarrassed by the fact that he was alone. Why did everyone have to keep making him explain it?
“Did you swallow your tongue, pido?”
“I think I died of shock, akra.”
She tsked at him. “Have you no answer for me? Or, like Paris, do you prefer the company of men as well?”
“In truth, I prefer to keep to myself, akra.”
Her look turned dark and foreboding. “You’re lying, Urian. You should never lie to a god. We can smell it on you.”
Shame filled him as he fidgeted with the edge of his shield. This was the one thing he’d never liked to speak about.
To anyone.
“Urian?”
He glanced up to meet her swirling silver gaze. “You know that I’m not like the others.”
“How do you mean?”
“They fear me, akra. Because of my eyes, they say that I’m even more cursed than the others.”
“Your solren has spoken to me of this foolishness and I’ve told him to pay it no heed. Neither should you.”
Tears choked him as his humiliation rose up again to burn like an inferno. “Easy for you to say, akra. And for Solren. But it’s hard when I’m the only one here who has to take my meals from a cup. And everyone knows it.”
“I see.”
But it was Urian who felt the pain and shame of it all. “That is why I keep to myself.… which is fine. Really. I’ve no desire to father children and watch them be faced with the decisions we have to make. I would much rather be alone.”
At least that was the lie he tried to convince himself to believe.
She moved to stand beside him so that she could brush her hand through his hair with a tenderness no one would believe her capable of. But she’d never hesitated to show it with him. At least whenever they were alone.
Sadly, she and his father were the only two who weren’t afraid of him.
And Davyn. For some reason, he’d always been a good friend.
“Poor child.”
He shifted uneasily under the weight of her sympathy. “Why are my eyes blue, akra?”
She cupped his cheek in her cold palm and turned his face so that he met her gaze. “Because you are special, Urian. Not cursed. Special. Never doubt that.”
“I don’t feel special.” He felt like a bastard stepchild. Hated and unwanted.
She tensed and pulled back as if something had disturbed her. “Your father’s looking for you. You’d best go before he worries.”
Nodding, he lifted his shield and bowed to her, then turned to leave.
“Urian?”
He paused and looked back over his shoulder. “Aye, akra?”
“Never doubt your destiny. Greatness isn’t something you feel. And it’s not taking up a challenge or a fight that you know you’ll win. Greatness comes when you’re scared and yet you take action against a greater foe, while others cower in terror and allow themselves to be victimized and do nothing to protect themselves or others. What you did today, both for Davyn and for me … that was greatness. And that you have in spades.”
His heart swelled with pride. Whenever she spoke of such things, he could almost believe it. “Thank you, akra.”
She smiled and this time it reached her frozen eyes. “Trust in your destiny, Urian. For it will find you. Even if you hide from it.”
September 3, 9512 BC
Xyn drew up short as she found Urian in their usual meeting spot on a blanket he’d spread out near the dark falls that fed part of Apollymi’s mirror. While that part wasn’t unusual, the fact that he’d brought food with him was, especially since he could neither eat nor drink it. This was something he used to do for his mother while she lived here.
Not for her.
What is this?
Smiling, he pushed himself to his feet. “Happy birthday!”
She scowled at his words, confused by them. Pardon?
His smile widened to where she could see his fangs. “Well, since you don’t know when you were born and you always take care to remember the date of my birth, I decided that I’d give you one of your own. So I designate today as yours. Happy birthday, Xyn.”
Tears blurred her vision at his kindness. Worse? Tenderness choked her. She didn’t know what to say. No one had ever been so thoughtful before. She almost changed out of her dragon form and back into her human skin, but caught herself.
There was no telling how he might react. While he knew she had a lot of powers, he didn’t know the full extent of them. And she’d never bothered to tell him that she could make herself appear human. In fact, there was much she’d kept from him out of fear of what he’d think and how he’d react if he knew the truth—such as who her parents really were.
He would hate me forever.
That she couldn’t bear. Urian was all she had in this world where she was cut off from everything and everyone. He was her only friend. Apollymi had seen to it that even with her extensive powers, she couldn’t Bane-Cry to her brothers to help her. She had no escape.