Broken But Unburnt

Chapter 43 - Calliope

Chapter 43: Calliope

Palace of the Equinox Throne; Kingdom of Delos

"Where is he?" Calliope had lost count of how many times she had asked the same question by now. Aditya looked up from where she had been smoothing out her skirts at the mirror. Zephyr kept sharpening his blade as though he hadn't heard her at all. Calliope frowned at him, narrowing her gaze until he looked up. He did not.

"You have to be patient, Calliope," Aditya told her. "Here in the palace, the royal family does things at their own pace. Maverick called us here. He will come for us when he is ready. He does have quite a bit going on, you know."

Calliope lowered her head, thoroughly chastised. Of course she knew he was busy. He had become the only remaining son of Helios Aphelion overnight and called them all here shortly after. But they hadn't seen him. Not once since they had arrived and the understanding that Calliope had arrived with, the sorrow for him that he was now grieving a brother and a friend, was all but gone now. In its place was nothing but impatience and a simmering feeling of resentment at Maverick's utter abandonment.

"It's been days," she whined, yet again.

"Neva said–"

"I know what Neva said. That he's been locked up in discussions with his father, his mother, his advisors all day every day, that she hasn't even seen him except for when he's walking from one meeting to the next. I know, Aditya, I know. What I don't know is why he would summon us so urgently only to have us sitting around waiting on him."

Aditya cocked her head to the side, examining Calliope so closely it made her skin crawl.

"Why are you really upset, Calliope?" she asked then, her voice soft, melodic.

Calliope bristled. Zephyr finally looked up from his blade, glancing rapidly between the women.

"What do you mean?" Calliope snapped.

Aditya opened her mouth to reply but before she could, the door flew open and the only person they had seen since arriving in that miserable palace, Neva, stepped through the threshold. She wasn't wearing her usual, simple black ensemble. Today, she wore leather and silk, all clasped and buttoned to accentuate her curves, her hair twisted atop her head. Aditya noticed, an appraising eye narrowing at her entrance.

"You have been summoned," Neva said, looking directly at Calliope.

Aditya and Zephyr's gazes followed hers.

"It's about time," Calliope huffed, standing from the plush armchair she had been sitting in and striding across the room to Neva. Aditya and Zephyr made to move with her but Neva held up a hand.

"Just Calliope," Neva told them.

They exchanged a glance and suddenly Calliope felt far more nervous than she had before. But, before she could object, Neva was leading her out of Aditya's room, down the hall they had come through when they had first arrived, and through a foyer she had never seen. Calliope stared up at the opulent, deep green and amber walls in awe. The floor was shined wood, the ceiling decorated with elaborate murals of birds and clouds. It almost felt as though she was walking through the Belleming Wood. But then they reached the end of the hall and a set of double doors inlaid with gold and carved into the shapes of various woodland creatures and she faltered.

Three guards on each side indicated there would be more within. And Neva was armed to the teeth. Calliope hadn't seen it before because she hadn't seen her as a threat. But now, turned toward her with the rest of the guards, she saw the sword at her hip, the shape of a dagger strapped to her thigh.