Alabaster Cities (Kings and Thieves Book #2)

Epilogue

Epilogue:

Cool liquid seeped up into Lyla's fingers like a soothing balm. There was something therapeutic about the ocean, how it whispered on her skin as she let her hands drag along the waves. Steady, unmoving.

She straightened, flicking droplets off of her fingers, and watched the scene around her. The sky was murky and grey, heavy with a burden that it would not shake.

Crewmembers Lyla hadn't seen in months bustled about— carrying hefty items, pulling on ropes, shouting to each other in languages she didn't understand. She felt a bit useless. She wanted to help but didn't know how. She could only stand stiffly and stare, her hands fluttering to her waist to gather skirts that she had forgotten weren't there.

At first, Lyla wasn't certain if it was alright to wear Aveline's old breeches. It felt disrespectful. But Inez had thrust them into her arms without a word, and only pushed them harder when Lyla had protested. And they were quite comfortable. So here she was.

They had been on the open ocean long enough that Lyla could no longer see the green peaks of Verignes in the distance. She was glad for it. Verignes was like a horrid nightmare that she wished more than anything that she could scrub clean from her mind. And perhaps she could have, if the scars didn't remain...

Everything that had happened after King Cedany's death had seemed like a blur. Lyla had suddenly had to register a thousand things at once. Lyla thought Princess Camille had been driven stark mad. She'd screeched and kicked at the guards that carried her and wailed like someone had run a razor-edged blade through her chest, over and over, and wouldn't let up.

It became fatefully clear, in that flurry of confusion, that Camille was the sole heir of the crown, and her first decree, through tearstained, hateful eyes that Lyla thought would set her aflame if she met them, was to have the monster that had killed her father slain. She would be crowned the official Queen of Verignes in her mourning gown today, Lyla realized now.

Lyla had been in shock for most of this part, but Tristran had filled her in later. He'd tried to reason with Camille, but Lyla knew her better. The day the princess took responsibility for her own actions was the day that the great tides of the Detache would dry up into nothing.

But no amount of royal guards or expert trackers would ever be able to find Aveline. Lyla knew it, and everyone knew it, and deep down Camille knew it too. Consequently, her next edict as Queen of Verignes was to sentence Captain Carondolet for his own crimes against the kingdom. If anyone could find the beast that had killed her father, it was him. He was to locate and execute the creature, or Verignes would consider itself at war.

According to Tristran, Ari hadn't so much as agreed as boarded his ship and left. He would not speak to anyone. Not even to Jamie, whose pleas had fallen on deaf ears. She and Eli had both returned home.
Lyla supposed she could have as well. Everyone had half-expected her to. She'd been through enough during her stay in Verignes. Her own hands were innocent. Her mother wanted her home.

But Lyla couldn't remember there being any inner struggle before she'd climbed up the ramp of The Merchant. She'd followed Ari without question. This was her life now. After all of the wavering and indecisiveness of the past few months, this choice had been unthinking.

Ari hadn't spoken since Camille's birthday ball, save to shout hoarse orders at his crew. Strangely enough, they'd even been void of insults. Raise the sails, please. Let's try to push off in the next five minutes. Inez, will you navigate for us...

As if he was exerting all of his energy into keeping himself together, to captain his ship and to make certain that everyone he was in charge of made it out safely. And Lyla partly understood. Ari was simply attempting to maintain what was under his control.

But then, part of her was frightened by the dead-eyed, blank expression that had seemed to have taken up residence in his obsidian eyes. Sometimes she looked at him and truly saw nothing. That was what frightened her.

It would get better. Lyla clung to this hope. It had scarcely been a day. Besides, Aveline wasn't dead— she was out there, somewhere. Hopefully not munching on human bones, as Lyla wouldn't even let herself think. But Ari was obviously intent on finding her either way. Lyla hadn't dared broach the subject with him since that fateful day on the docks, but she had no doubt in her mind what his intentions were. The only emotion that seemed to brew within him as he went about his duties was a quiet determination towards his impossible task.

Dahlia and Kai had come too, partly because they'd had nowhere else to go after their coven went into hiding, and partly because Ari wasn't in a state of mind to protest. He'd barely noticed. They'd managed to make themselves useful among the crew— Dahlia was an unquestionably skilled medic, which they sorely needed. Kai was strong and followed orders.

The most unexpected addition to their party, however, was Tristran.

He'd quietly asked Ari for permission to board, more out of respect than anything else, Lyla had thought. He'd promised to help in any way he could. Ari had waved him on with a wry twist of his lips.

Lyla had no idea how he'd fare on a pirate ship. She was quite nervous for him- had he even told Benjamin of his plans? But Tristran wouldn't hear any of her or Jamie's protests. He'd spent most of the hours since that evening gazing out on the open ocean, hands gripping the railing as if it was the only thing keeping him grounded.

There had to be a reason he was here, something he wasn't telling her. He wouldn't leave his husband, his kingdom- without a motive of critical value. He was nearly king of Apreuna, and there would no doubt be shock and gossip around his leaving on a pirate ship without announcement. Lyla suspected it had something to do with his mother, and her strange, sudden illness. But it became clear to her that Tristran was not ready to explain himself, and she did not expect him to. Lyla could hardly collect her own thoughts.

She swashed some freshwater on her face, now— it was splotchy and hectic from her restless sleep the night before.

The princess said she'd be checking up on them periodically. Lyla wasn't certain how she planned on doing this, but her feral threats against them had been genuine- of that Lyla had no doubt.

Someone shouted that there was land up ahead, and Lyla was forced to acknowledge to herself that she had no idea what the days before her held in store. She could only brace herself for what was to come.

It was raining, now, so Lyla twisted back around, rested her chin against the wet, slippery railing of the ship, and let the weather whip her blonde hair in every direction.

The ship rocked a steady rhythm into the water, and the wind bellowed, and Ari was shouting directions to the crew. Thunder rumbled a warning, much to the effect of a minimum landslide, and the steady rain kept falling.

**And that's a wrap on Alabaster Cities! WOW. I seriously cannot believe we've made it this far. I owe it to everyone who is reading this now, whether you've stuck with me from the beginning or just stumbled on this series. It's been about a year since I finished the first book, and it honestly seems like yesterday. I hope this one lived up to expectations, and I hope the ending wasn't too surprising... I felt like, from the beginning, it was fairly easy to see Aveline turning eventually, but hopefully her disappearance and murder of the king was shocking enough ;)

The next book, Stars of Ash, will still contain three POV's. It's going to be a little bit different, however. I don't want to spoil too much but I'm BEYOND excited. I have so much in store for Lyla, Ari, and the rest of the crew during their next adventure.

With that being said, it will be a little bit before I start posting Book 3. For now I'm going to focus on my urban mystery novel, All That Glitters. If you haven't read it, head on over to read the synopsis (it's in my profile!) and see if you're interested!! I'll continue posting chapters for that sometime within the next few days.

In the meantime, hope y'all enjoyed the ending. Thank you all again SO SO MUCH. Peace out ✌️