Page 205 of Salt in the Seas
“I’d like to take some credit,” Riveran said from behind him.
Gaeren’s laugh burned his throat, but he welcomed the pain. It signified life.
“I thought you were dead, old bird. Did you just get lost trackingdown Aeliana?” Gaeren stroked the hawk’s head, but it still nipped at his finger.
Riveran stood with nearly a dozen winex, including Felk, who held down Gaeren’s mother with Lilik’s help. The look on their faces held more animosity than Gaeren liked, so he stumbled to their side with his dagger. “Thank you for your help, but I can cut her brand out.”
Felk twitched as if holding back his desire to chew the mark out himself. “And then you win?”
Gaeren shrugged. “Something like that.”
His mother fought as Gaeren sliced, and he winced, wishing he had Lukai’s or Aeliana’s ability to heal. But when the brand was removed and his mother had stopped fighting, she sobbed and begged him to do the same for his father. The winex were quick to obey, slinking over to the king to hold him down.
A few leaned in to sniff him, reminding Gaeren they were in a precarious balance of power.
“How did you find us?” Gaeren asked.
The winex didn’t answer, which wasn’t a surprise, but Riveran’s silence made Gaeren glance up.
Riveran’s face was troubled, and his gaze rested on Enla’s still form. “She left me a note. Told me exactly where you would be and exactly what you would need.”
Gaeren’s stomach turned, and he wondered if he might actually throw up after all he’d been through. “Then that means I didn’t change anything by coming here,” he murmured.
“What?” Riveran asked.
“How could she know?” Gaeren continued, louder this time. “I tried to do something she couldn’t have seen. Something that changed after she told me what would happen.”
“Her visions of the future have gotten stronger,” Riveran admitted. “She’s been telling me things no one should know.” He ran a hand over his hair, making Gaeren realize his X was almost completely hidden now.
Felk and Lilik tightened their grips, their nails digging into the king in a way that likely roused him more than held him down. Wasting no more time, Gaeren sliced at the brand on his father’s palm, bringingthe king fully awake. Gaeren winced, trying to block out his father’s raving insults and threats until the skin was finally gone and his father went limp in Felk’s and Lilik’s grasp.
His father’s face had grown deathly pale, making Gaeren wonder if the intensity of it all had been too much. But shallow breaths made the king’s chest rise and fall, and to Gaeren’s surprise, he felt a sense of relief. His parents both looked even older than they had the last time he’d seen them lost in their remorse.
“Thank you,” Gaeren said to Felk and Lilik, gently tugging their hands from his father’s arms. They resisted for a moment, but then they released their hold and slunk to the side of the room, crouching together in a strange huddle with the rest of their clan.
“You’re too weak to fight Mayvus,” Gaeren said. “I need to get you and Enla out of here.”
“We should have handed our rule to Enla long ago,” his father murmured.
Gaeren couldn’t argue, especially since the last time they’d said that, Gaeren had been the one to refuse taking on the throne warden role.
“Can you make it to the hidden pass?”
His father shook his head. “Even if I could, your mother never would, and I doubt Enla would be willing to leave.”
Gaeren frowned, glancing back at his sister’s still form. “Riveran, can you get her awake?”
Riveran bent over and jostled her shoulders before shaking his head. “I’ve never seen her like this. I’m scared waking her could be dangerous. It might be something she needs to choose to come out of on her own.”
“Where is Croft?” Gaeren grumbled.
“He and Danton are organizing the troops,” his father said, then hesitated, as if unable to trust his memory from his time under the brand. “I think Danton might be working with the Recreants. Mayvus seemed to want me watching him. Whereas Croft was too gullible and malleable to concern her.” His face twisted in a scowl usually reserved for Gaeren. “I don’t think he’s branded, but perhaps that’s worse.”
“You think he’s working with Mayvus?”
The king hesitated. “I instructed him to let Mayvus and her army in the palace walls and he obeyed without question.”
Gaeren winced. “How long ago was that?”
