She plucked a bloom and tossed it his way. “Erebus and Asclepius slaughtered thousands of harpies here. The tree grew from the blood-soaked ground.”
“A rebirth of sorts,” he said, smelling the petals.
Yes. Very much so. She liked that he understood the importance the tree represented to her people, and to her.
A mix of hot and cold wind blew through the area, and he frowned. “I must admit, I’ve never gotten used to the seasons of Harpina.”
“No one has.” There were eighteen seasons in total. Winter, Fool’s Autumn, Fifth Winter, First Spring, Spring of Indifference, Hurricane, Tornado, Third Spring, Pre-Summer, Summer, Mid-Summer, True Autumn, Post-Summer, Second Winter, Third Winter of Fall, Fourth Winter of Spring, Final Summer and All Seasons Day, which lasted six weeks, except in August and never on Sundays. “As a girl,” she said, patting the limb, “I called this my thinking spot.”
Interest perked him up. “And what did Little Taliyah ponder?”
Pulling her legs up, crouching, she admitted, “She pondered running away.” A secret she’d never shared with another.
Roc did a double take. “She did? Why?”
Shrug. “I was fifteen, and I’d just come home from a successful vampire raid—they’d taken some of our girls to feed on, and we slaughtered them all. I had a history paper due the next morning, so I came here to figure out a topic when suddenly I got hit with a tsunami of panic. Was this going to be my life? Killing, losing friends in battle, then coming home and acting as if nothing had happened? The expected temperament for a General. At the time, my future seemed...too much. I contemplated running somewhere no one knew me. To just...be.”
He listened, hanging on every word. “What changed your mind and kept you here?”
“Family.” She leaped onto a higher branch. “I have baby sisters. The twins were five at the time. At ten, they were to be sent to Harpy Camp to learn to fight, just like I was. The wrong leader takes people down the wrong path. If something happened to my loved ones because I refused to do my duty—to fulfill my destiny...I would never forgive myself.”
“A selfless leader, even then.” Paling slightly, he asked, “Being General is your destiny? You’re sure of this?”
“I am.” And your dissatisfaction? What of that? “I was born to rule.”
Can’t have the crown and the man. You know this.
“I must have been...right?” she asked.
Appearing distressed, he said, “You are the only one with the answer.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong about that. “What was fifteen-year-old Roc like?”
He held up his arms, and she willingly jumped from the branch. Catching her by the waist, he eased her to her feet. As her body grazed his, a moan lodged in her throat.
Hands sliding over her, eyes twin flames of gold, he said, “Fifteen-year-old Roc was training in a sightless, soundless void, dreaming of a time he would meet his gravita.”
* * *
And now you have her.
He had a family. A wife he had yet to claim. He needed to claim her.
His talk with his men had gone better than expected. For a higher rank, each male had agreed to relinquish the weapon prize. All but Ian...at first. His reason had astonished Roc.
You will make a terrible ninth, Roc. I don’t want that for you. But I don’t want you without your gravita, either. So I’ll do this. I’ll agree. Let’s hope you never come to regret it.
Though Roc yearned to kiss Taliyah in the glow of sunlight, he merely took her hand and led her toward the empty shops. “I’d like to speak with you about something important, Taliyah.”
He’d hoped to wait for the most opportune moment to bring this up. As she’d shared tales from her childhood, however, fear took root inside him. Why not do this now? She deserved to make the choice; he had no right to make it for her by keeping quiet. Because she couldn’t make a choice without options.
“Uh-oh. You used my name.” As they strolled, she rested her head on his shoulder. A perfect fit. “All right. What’s up?”
“I have a confession.” Here goes. “I don’t need to sacrifice a virgin, only a bride. By sacrificing a virgin, I receive a special weapon on top of the blessing. If the bride isn’t a virgin, Erebus receives the weapon instead.”
She yanked her hand from his and glared up at him. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’ve been running a side hustle all this time?”
“Not on purpose.” Messing this up.
They’d reached the Well of Wanting, and he took a moment to center his thoughts. Harpies used to come here to make a wish and toss a coin into the water. Some of those harpies received their wish. Most received a warped version of it. None had ever known what they would get until it was too late.