Part 4 (1/2)
”It's time to go,” Dax says, like he won't take no for an answer.
I pick up another rock, toss it up in my hand, and catch it. Dax's words about this being my one chance to prove myself start to edge into my despair. Isn't that the reason I've always dreamed of being Chosen in the first place? Ren had even said that if I succeeded, he'd grant me back my rightful place at his side.
But he'd also made it very clear what would happen if I don't succeed. His oath to my mother prevents him from casting me out of the ranks of the Underlords as he did with Dax. Which means if I fail, he can only do something much worse. My jaw clenches as I remember the feel of Ren's knife on my throat.
I fling the rock out the window. It flies so far that it misses the moat and disappears into the treetops of the orchard. I turn back to Dax.
”What if I fail?”
”You won't,” he says so definitively that I don't want to argue. Dax has always had that power over me. ”Besides, you'll have me to help you.”
I really look at him for the first time since he entered the roost and see that instead of his servant's robes, he's dressed in strange dark blue pants made from a thick cloth, and a short-sleeved tunic, which has a picture of something that looks vaguely like a horseless chariot on it. It reminds me of the odd garments many of the Champions and Boons are dressed in when they return from the Overrealm.
Over his shoulder, Dax carries a satchel that looks like it's packed to capacity.
”You're coming with me?”
He shrugs. ”I convinced Lord Killian that since you are the sole Champion this year, you should be allowed a small entourage for your quest. I a.s.sumed you'd like a guide who's been to the mortal world before.”
I try to stifle a grateful smile. ”But you botched your quest.”
”Then who better to make sure you don't do the same?” Dax puts his hand on my shoulder. ”Haden,” he says, lowering his voice, ”the fact that Killian agreed to letting you take a guide and my hearing what the Oracle said to you about the fate of the Underrealm resting on your shoulders only serve to confirm my suspicions. There is more going on here than anyone is telling you.” I nod. ”The Oracle said that the Boon I am after can restore something that was taken from the Underlords. She said something about a Cypher.”
Dax startles when I mention that word. ”So the rumors are true. . . .”
”What rumors?”
A shadow blocks the light in the doorway and I look up to see one of King Ren's guards leering at us.
”Is he coming with you or do I need to drag him there?” he asks Dax, with a self satisfied grin that makes me recognize him as the harpy who kicked me in the knees at the altar yesterday.
”He's coming on his own,” Dax says.
The guard grunts and moves back out into the hallway. ”What rumors?” I ask again.
”We'll discuss this later-when there are fewer ears to overhear. Now it's time to go.” Panic swells inside of me. ”It's too soon.” I take a step backward, but Dax grabs my arm. ”Leave me,” I seethe at him. I know I am being irrational, but I can't help myself. I'm not ready for this.
Dax lowers his voice. ”Haden, you must go now. It will be worse if they have to force you. The dishonor alone . . .”
I want to strike him and make my escape, but his words about dishonor make me hesitate. Brim paces in the windowsill, growling in a way that makes both Dax and me bristle. The owls flutter and hop in their nests, screeching frantically.
”What is it, girl?” I say, anxious to sooth her. Getting a h.e.l.lcat mad-especially in such a confined s.p.a.ce-is never a good idea.
Then I see three shades come into view over the horizon. Shades usually stay far away from the palace, their moaning the only evidence of their existence, but sometimes hunger drives them into the outskirts of the asphodel fields. Hunger-insatiable hunger-is all they know in this world. One of the shades throws himself down on top of an asphodel plant, shoving the ghostly gray blossoms in his sagging mouth. The other two clamor to get a hold of some of the flowers, but he pushes them away. I wince as their moans morph into shrieking screams. They've turned on each other, clawing and gnawing at each other's faces and limbs. They'd kill each other if they weren't already dead.
This is the plight of those who die without honor.
Heroes, Champions, those who know glory in this life go to Elysium when they die. I hear it is paradise. But those who are never given honor or who have had it stripped away from them, like myself, are doomed to wander the Wastelands for all eternity-trying to fill their cold, empty souls, which cannot be satisfied, no matter what. It's the worst-possible existence, save the fate of those who have openly wronged the G.o.ds.
Yesterday, when my life was in Father's hands, I'd thought I was ready to die if that was what he chose. I'd been resigned to the idea. But this ghastly reminder that dying without honor is a fate worse than death itself makes me realize that I am not resigned at all. I will not accept such a terrible destiny without a fight.
Dax is right; the Oracle has handed me the chance to show everyone what I am truly made of-to have my honor restored.
And I will not allow myself to fail.
I grab my bag, which holds what few belongings I am allowed to take. It is heavier than I remember and I wonder if I am feeling the weight of my quest on my shoulders. I hitch it up, ready at last, and let Dax propel me through the doorway. A loud clank echoes in my ears as he pulls the door to the roost shut behind us. Four guards, who've been waiting in the hallway, flank us immediately. The only path for us now is forward. Toward whatever destiny the Fates have measured for me.
chapter six.
daphne
The next few hours after I agreed to go with Joe are filled with so many firsts that I am not sure my brain knows how or where to process and store it all: my first time hearing the wind whip through the sunroof while riding in a limo down Apollo Canyon. My first time experiencing the cacophony of excited, dreading, and antic.i.p.ating tones of people arriving and departing on new adventures in an airport. My first time on a plane-and a private jet, at that-and listening to the hum and whistle of the engines as we prepare for takeoff. My first time outside of Utah. My first time stepping foot in California, with its soupy humidity clinging to my skin, and realizing sound resonates differently in wet air than it does in dry. My first time seeing LA-granted, it was mostly a bunch of blobs of lights, and traffic noises, as it was pretty late in the evening when we drove past the city, in another limo on our way to Olympus Hills.
But of all the firsts, the one I'm having the hardest time processing is the first time seeing the spa.r.s.e dots of houses and shops in the red dirt as we flew over Ellis Fields from the airport in Saint George.
Because that image meant I had done it-I had said good-bye to everyone I loved.
”Call me at least once a week,” Jonathan had said with a hug and a big kiss on my cheek. ”I want every juicy detail, you hear me.” I could hear low notes of disappointment in him, but he'd managed to keep a smile on his face.
”Of course.”
”I'll pack up the rest of your things tonight and make sure they get FedExed tomorrow. I just expect Mr. Tight Pants here to pick up the bill,” he said with a smirk.
Joe nodded and Marta-the glossy woman turned out to be Joe's ”personal a.s.sistant slash handler slash babysitter” (her words, not mine)-handed Jonathan a card with Joe's address and account information for sending my things.
Indie gave me a melty Twix and half a bag of minipretzels for the plane. A gift I ended up being grateful for later, as the only service on Joe's jet was of the bar variety.
”Do you have everything you need in the meantime?” Mom had asked. It was the first thing she'd said to me since I'd left her office in the shop. I'd expected another plea from her to stay, and almost felt disappointed by her question instead.
”Yes.” I was bringing with me my toiletries, three changes of clothes, my favorite sandals, Gibby, my acoustic-electric guitar, and much to the limo driver's-who had to bungee it to the roof-dismay, my white and lemon yellow cruiser bike. Everything else I could live without for a few days.
”I am still not okay with this,” my mother said when Marta insisted we were two minutes off schedule and ”must go now.” But she still gave me one last hug before Marta pushed me inside the limo with Joe.
As the limo started to pull out, CeCe, who had been called away by the people from the school who had come for the balloon bouquets, came running out of the shop just in time.
She waved both hands frantically, as if afraid I wouldn't see her otherwise. I rolled down the window and shouted, ”I'll call you soon. I promise!”
And then that was that. I'd watched through the back window as we drove away, leaving my old life behind in billowing clouds of burnt sienna dust.
I still can't get the image of my tiny town, with its tiny houses in the middle of nowhere, out of my head as we pull up to the security gates of Olympus Hills. The driver rolls down his window to show his pa.s.s to the guard and I hear a cacophony of voices outside, shouting strange questions. At least half a dozen flashes pop on the other side of my window.
”What is that?”