As Rayne said the planet’s name, Elden opened a conduit.
Nox wanted a word with his forefather. His abilities exceeded all those legends hidden throughout the annals and Verses across the galaxy. Who knew what bearing Elden’s nacre was inflicting on Rayne?
Later.
Nox trusted in her capabilities and let Rayne proceed first. She stepped into the blizzard on the other side, and he thought to grab her coat before following. Before taking in his surroundings, Nox draped Rayne’s coat over her shoulders, sheltering the exposed tattooed script of Elden’s Verse on her back.
“Thank you,” Rayne shouted over the howling wind.
Snow pelted them heavy enough to blanket them into their surroundings. The eastbound wind cut like an obsidian knife, but it couldn’t distract from the view. Some of the snow wasn’t snow at all. Among the white fluffy flakes, particles of iridescent shavings fell in a shimmering rainbow. Drifts of the stuff mounded all around them until they stood inside a prism with just enough light to illuminate the repeated diamond carets of ground and sky. The light came from within the planet as no star could pierce the volume of storm clouds above.
Rayne asked, “This is Thailea?”
Nox recognized the scent. In his Verse, Xelan had referred to it as ‘harnessed potential:’ the strike of steel against steel. Metallic and potent, there was no mistaking it. “This is Thailea.”
And it would bury them in the phenomenal snow.
Rayne was up to her knees in it. She put her hood up, muttering, “Why isn’t it cold?”
“It doesn’t need to be if it can smother us to death. We need to keep moving. What direction, your majesty?” Nox reseated his cloak and followed her example, raising his hood, while he considered the spectacle accumulating around his ankles. His boots climbed to mid-thigh, performing admirably, but Rayne…
Through the netted leather material, the ‘snow’ touched her skin. This bothered Nox.
With an attempt forward, Rayne nodded at the west, saying, “Elden brought us close to the coordinates. If we move west for about half an hour, we should find the location in Razor’s dossier. He said it was inside a tree.”
A tree?
Nox looked to the west and barely discerned a faint silhouette of tall structures through the blizzard. Those might be trees. With a glance at Rayne, he opened his wings. “You’ll need to fly.”
A single laugh escaped her as Rayne gestured at her knee-deep situation. “No shit. I’m almost buried over here.” She detracted her wings, so sheer Nox could only see them for the gold flecks twinkling within. “Beat you to the treeline.”
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If those were even trees—
Rayne rocketed to the west.
Nox wasn’t entirely competitive, but he knew it was good for Kings to lose occasionally. With that in mind, he went after Rayne. It wasn’t easy. The wind kept throwing them around like toys, and conduits appeared randomly along their journey. He almost flew into Lukemore, but eventually caught up to Rayne.
Eyes front, she stayed the course, but there was a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. It was enough to make Nox fold his wings down for better aerodynamics. He passed Rayne and beat her to the treeline.
It was, indeed, a forest filled with strange trees. Rather than roots, their bases were colossal pedestals of gray wood. The trunks emerged from these castle-sized foundations and stretched almost high enough to touch the clouds. There, they spread into branches with twinkling silver leaves. Thick and immense, the chrome canopy sheltered the forest from the snow.
Rayne alighted on the glowing forest floor and marveled at the first blossom she met, as blue as her eyes. “I’ve never heard of any place like this.”
Nox agreed with a nod. Xelan had explored so many wonders during his Verse. The second half of his life was so completely removed from the childhood they’d shared that it surprised Nox the Traitor Prince could still care for the Icari at all. Or that he could care for his older brother at all.
The conversations Rayne had left out between her and Xelan involved Nox. He was certain of this. Their back and forth likely centered on Xelan’s disdain for his older brother and any involvement between Nox and Rayne.
Would Rayne admit to bringing Nox to victory with her? Confess to sharing in a rehabilitation unlike any in the galaxy? Reveal she’d resurrected Nox—
“The tree we’re looking for is this way.” Rayne interrupted his thoughts with cheerful optimism in her sweet voice. She’d taken off her coat and stuffed it in her pack. When Rayne turned away and headed further west, her dense braids didn’t conceal the tattoos on her back, despite the considerable volume and length of her hair. Over her shoulder, she called, “I thought we could walk and explore a bit on the way. It should only take us ten minutes to find it, considering how easy the cleared floor is to walk through. I kinda love it. Are there fairies on Thailea?”
Nox was looking at one. He followed Rayne as he always would and tried to keep his focus on the walk rather than Xelan’s Verse or Rayne’s graceful stride.
This went on for an hour.
“I swear—It should be right here.” Rayne clicked her tongue while surveying a tree with one hand on her hip and the other thumbnail to her teeth. “I wonder how we keep missing it.”
Nox offered unhelpfully, “That makes four circles now.” He made sure to sound bemused, sitting on a tree root big enough to fashion an Icarean clipper.
Rayne sighed, and there was so much frustration in it that Nox chuckled. He said, “Patience, your majesty. You’ll find it.”
The next sound she made wasn’t very feminine and reminded him of a growl. “I must be standing right on it.” She thudded her palm against one of the tree’s bases—
“Ow!”
Nox straightened and hopped off the root to her side. “What is it?”
Rayne pouted, beguiling Nox, but the sight of her blood in her palm, bright red and dripping, affected him. He dropped his hands and looked anywhere else. The fallen silver leaves, the glistening gray bark on the trees, the door opening beside them—
Nox pointed.
Excitement glittered in Rayne’s eyes as she wiped the blood on her coat. “Hey! No way! That was almost movie-convenient.”
He shook his head incredulous, smirking. “Complain about misgivings, not gifts, King Rayne.”
The frown returned to her face.
“What is it?” Nox asked.
Rayne shouldered her supplies, ready to enter, before admitting, “I think I’m sad I’m not a King anymore. They’re elected now, and Tempest won. She totally deserves it, but I kinda liked being the first female King.”
Nox bundled his gear, hauled it over his shoulder, and went first this time.
“You’re the only King to whom I’d kneel, your majesty.”