JUNE ZEILRAN knows one thing: he is destined to live a quiet life in the servant's quarters as a half-blood in a territory of fairies. When the Imperial High Queen offers him a job he cannot refuse, he is thrown into a world of secrets and murder t...
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2412, Tull 15, Briss
June wiped the sweat off his brow, his chest heaving with every breath he took. Damn the heat in Cardina. He shouldn't have gone here. The sun beat down at him without any clouds to block the scalding rays. After spending a week in this barren land, he was almost glad he grew up in Lanteglos where the sky was almost always gray.
His thoughts took a turn for the worst as soon as the Junction City came to mind. There were certain memories of that place he didn't want to go back to. Last night was enough proof of that. It has been several months since he wandered away from Edgerift with his mind hazy with the pain coursing through his veins. All he had were the clothes on his back and the memories of blood and the souls trailing behind him. He didn't know how he got to Cardina. All he knew was that if he kept going a certain direction, the pain lessened, bit by bit.
Then, last night, when the sky erupted into a chorus of lights bright enough to dampen the stars and overpower Crozal's crimson rays, the curse let up. Completely. For a while, June was reminded of what it felt like when he didn't have the stupid curse in him. For a while, he felt something he hasn't in a long time—hope.
Then, he got caught up in one of the regular purges happening around in the Commons and had to run. There's only one sensible thing to do: follow the path that brings the least pain stabbing in his guts. After all, it was because of him Cardina thought it was alright to purge half-bloods from the human territory, following the great example the fairies in Lanteglos set.
All of this was his fault.
June collapsed on the roof he had chosen to spend the humid morning in. It had taken him all night to outrun the blue-clad Civil Guards (as he learned they were called around this area) and another few hours to erase his trail from circling back to this place. He blew a breath which then tickled his nose. He clicked his tongue as he dug around the pockets of his stolen trousers for Silvar's letter.
Of all the odd things that happened in the course of his life, it was the fact that he was exchanging correspondence with the son of a stuck-up noble that almost made him hysterical. Silvar had not only been an impudent prick, he had also been awful towards June and a number of people around him. Perhaps the human's only saving grace was that he was chosen to be June's replacement in the Imperial Palace.
Maybe it was pity or something else entirely, but June couldn't just leave Silvar behind like that. After all, it was also his fault, for not being able to follow through his assignments the proper way, that his cousin ended up in the same fate as him.
A humorless laugh shook his shoulders as he opened Silvar's letter. Of all the humans in Umazure, why had Nevrin gone and fallen in love with a Cassias? How much more ironic must June's life become? Well, no matter. What's more important was that Silvar had been filling June in on the recent events in the Imperial Palace. Things like what Nevrin had been doing the night before and where she was talking with a weird voice with no body at irregular intervals.
If June should be asked, he thought his cousin had officially lost it. Maybe Silvar couldn't handle the job of being the High Queen's dishrag and it had broken him in ways they weren't even aware of. The job they shared was bound to do that to a person, one way or another.
That brought him to his next agenda: the girl.
Since last night, June had tracked the cause of his curse temporarily shutting up. It was a girl with khaki hair, big, brown eyes, and quite a short stature for a human. Then again, judging from the light show she caused the previous night, she was no human. Half-blood, maybe, but definitely a fairy.
That's also the reason why June was hanging out on her roof this early in the morning. Somehow, someway, he had to get her trust, lure her to Lanteglos, and have his curse lifted as soon as she stepped foot in Edgerift. That should set him free. That should be the answer to all his life's problems.
Still, the girl was living her quiet life. Whatever she was, whatever this Virtakios proved to be, she at least deserved to be unbothered. June had asked Silvar about that crucial detail in his mission in one of his letters and his cousin replied with more disturbing information. The Virtakios is an under-researched branch of magic. Even the tomes in the Academy don't offer much.
Why was the High Queen after the Virtakios?
June shook his head. That was the last of his concerns. He has a mission. He should focus on that. Something crashed from below. He rolled over to find a broken door lying like a drunken man on the steps leading to a barren garden filled with crawling ajilte vines. A round of cursing came from the girl who clawed at her hair and stomped her foot in annoyance. It was kind of....cute.
He went back to being sprawled on the roof. His goals haven't changed and they wouldn't ever. He should just ignore the guilt gnawing in his gut. Over the years, he has gotten so good at doing that anyway.
There's also the matter of him going back to Lanteglos. Part of the reason he was glad to be several distances away from Lanteglos and the accrued Imperial Palace was because of the High Queen's Bane now sheathed in his belt. It just seemed like he was trading one curse for another should he meet Nevrin again.
He clicked his tongue, staring up at the bright sky with enough hatred to fry it. The Bane should never be found near Nevrin, not when only he could wield it. He would not kill his own mother, no matter what destiny or what other piss poor god said. Was it too much to ask the world to just...leave him alone?
More minutes passed by with him just staring at the cloudless, blue expanse. Sometimes, a flock of birds with gray feathers flew by in strange migration formations, reminding him of the ferpets he knew of back in the Servants' District. Just like the times Riza found him alone in the house, watching the world go by without him, he reached out at the heavens in an attempt to touch it. He never would be able to, not fully, but some stupid part in him believed he would.
Perhaps I'll be a meaningless dot in the sky when I die.
He laughed at that silly thought. There's no way Pidmena would allow his soul to live without punishment in the afterlife. He had taken too many lives and wrecked so many others without him even trying. Only damnation awaited him. The prophecy surrounding his fate was enough proof of that.
Well, whatever. He shouldn't think ages ahead. One day at a time. One mission at a time. June sat up and slapped his knees. Time to work.
He stood up. Something creaked under his weight. He looked down to find cracks spreading from the brittle shingles lining the roof. Dear Pidmena. What now? He spread his arms, trying to balance himself to not put too much of his weight on the cracks. They continued spreading. Somewhere below, a creature yowled. It couldn't be the girl, could it?
He stepped away from the cracks. His foot hit a more brittle part. The roof caved under him with a sharp crack. Oh.
Rudik's breeches.
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