Broken But Unburnt

Chapter 36 - Maverick

Chapter 36: Maverick

Palace of the Equinox Throne: Kingdom of Delos

It wasn't lost on Maverick that someone was still trying to kill him.

It had taken all of his persuasive abilities to convince Aditya and Zephyr not to follow him back to Delos and even more to convince Neva to remain outside of the palace gates. Maverick had to do this alone. Quiet, remaining in the shadows, he made his way into his childhood home through a hidden door on the west side, one that members of the royal family and their guard used to escape in times of siege or distress.

He waited in his mother's room, hidden in the dark shadows of the corner beyond her curtains. Valencia retired late that evening, undoubtedly having been serving her king. Maverick padded forward silently to reveal himself but, before he could, she spoke.

"This is no way to greet your mother after so long away," she purred, her voice like smooth silk running along the edge of the night. Maverick couldn't help but smile as he stepped into the light, watching as she pulled off her jewelry and dropped them onto her vanity table.

"Mother," Maverick spoke, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard despite the fact that they were quite alone in Valencia's room. "It's good to see you."

"And you," she said, finally turning to look at her son with a raised brow. "Though I don't expect you'll be staying for good given the way you've slithered in here this evening."

"No. Not yet."

"Why not?"

She crossed her arms the way Valencia always did when she was preparing for a fight.

"There's someone who needs me," Maverick explained, stepping forward. He reached up and gently took his mother's hands in his own, then he watched her closely as he asked his next question. "How do you know Gabriel Barlowe?"

Valencia's lips parted slightly, the only betrayal of her true surprise.

"I don't know who that is," she lied. Maverick could tell she was lying. He just couldn't tell why.

She wrenched her hands from his grip and strode past him. If Maverick didn't know any better, he could have sworn his usually calm mother was shaking ever so slightly.

"His daughter's in danger," Maverick told her. "I need to get her somewhere safe. This palace has proven to be anything but in recent weeks. I had hoped you would know of a place where—"

"The Duke," Valencia interrupted him, turning back to him and blinking rapidly while trying to hide her shaking hands in the folds of her satin gown. It was so unlike Valencia that Maverick simply froze in his observation of her. "Kael. The Viduran. He can help her. She will be safe with him."

"Mother—"

"King Jareth is dead."

Maverick froze, blinking at her, stunned by the news.

"The Idorian king?" He asked, uncertain if he had heard her correctly but she nodded vigorously in return.

"They're saying the Chaos did it. That Bijan is riding out to meet him in the field. Helios isn't listening to me and Orion is too obsessed with Seraphina to believe—"

"Where is father now?"

"Maverick, don't. He won't listen to reason. He—"

"Where is he, mother?"

"In his room."

Maverick was out of his mother's room and storming toward his father's before she could stop him. She trailed after him for a time, begging him to stop, but gave up eventually and turned back.