Symphony for a Deadly Throne (The Mousai) by E.J. Mellow

Author:E.J. Mellow [Mellow, E.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2023-02-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Zimri was regretting a lot of his decisions as of late. Assuredly among them was his most recent one to accompany Kattiva and her companions, better known as tonight’s bed partners, to a Waning Sky party taking place in one of the towering stalagmites within the Thief Kingdom.

The drinks were top shelf but overpriced. The music was delightfully hedonistic, but the disguised guests’ dancing felt lacking. Worst of all, the rooms were small, connecting one level to another by even tighter winding staircases. The intended effect was, no doubt, an intimate atmosphere, but for Zimri it only caused discomfort as the emotions of those surrounding him pressed close. A claustrophobic cloud.

Lust, envy, and excitement mixed sourly in the air along with the escaped bursts of magic from those gifted. It quickly became too much, and Zimri was forced to retreat to the nearest balcony. He took a relieving inhale of the cool caved world as he stepped from the party. The landing was blessedly near empty, and here was where he found the one complimenting piece of tonight: the view.

Gazing from beneath his maroon eye mask, he took in the magnificence of the Thief Kingdom. A twinkling expanse stretched out, other dwellings carved into the soaring and pouring rocks. The weaving of thatched roofs far below and the colorful puffs of smoke lifting from the Mystic District. Nearby loomed the shiny corridor of the Gazing District. The Betting District was a thick dark vein threading through it all, and far in the distance he could make out the cluster of masts and ships docked at port. Farther still would be the waterfall portal they could sail in and out from to an unmapped section of the Obasi Sea.

His gaze snagged on the intimidating onyx palace in the very center. Its turrets reached like talons up to the glowworm caved ceiling. Their world’s sky was dimming, approaching the Waning Sky: hazy stars soon to flicker out before being reborn in a wave of bright blue-green light. The Sky’s Return.

Zimri’s muscles tensed at the reminder. The stars were his slow countdown to his new life, barely a fortnight away. To be married and finally fulfill a childhood promise to his parents. Their home reclaimed.

But at a price. Always at a price.

A future without Arabessa and a lifetime knowing she was near. Working with her father, always to wonder after his eldest daughter. Watching her perform as the Mousai, never to again seek her out after a performance and spin her as she spun him: into madness.

A sharp pain radiated through Zimri’s chest, and he tore his gaze from the fading sky.

He had lost everything once and survived.

He’d do so again.

Was doing so again.

A slither of a voice filled his head. Lies. You suffer. You hide.

A bitter laugh rumbled out of him. Who doesn’t suffer and hide in this kingdom? he challenged before pushing off the banister where he’d been leaning. Despite Kattiva’s better intentions to help him find a distraction to “put some sweet into that sour mood,” attending tonight had been a glaring mistake.

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