He had vanished in re seconds, and he could return just as quickly. It seed like he was everywhere and nowhere at the sa ti. Daphne shivered, and it wasn’t because of the cool breeze from the open window.
Zephyr’s head popped out re monts later. "Daphne! Are you alright? I just saw sothing fall from your window! Did you fling your pillow overboard?"
"Zephyr." Daphne sucked in a breath and tried to calm herself down. It was a good thing Zephyr had not co into the room when Jean Nott was present. Zephyr was strong, but she didn’t want him to get hurt.
If he fought Jean, there was no doubt he would be.
"I didn’t throw my pillow," Daphne said, "But did you take a closer look at what fell? Did you hear anything happen in my room?"
"No," Zephyr shook his head in confusion, "I was flying around and I thought about paying you a visit since you’re... pregnant," Zephyr whispered the last word like it was a big cursed secret.
If only her own husband had that much sensibility.
"Then I saw so black blur fall out of your room window! What happened? Did you throw your husband out the window?" Zephyr asked hopefully.
"If I tell you this, you cannot breathe a single word to Atticus. Zephyr, can you promise this?" Daphne asked, and Zephyr paused when he caught sight of Daphne’s serious eyes.
"Of course. My loyalty will always be to you, not that bastard!"
Daphne then told Zephyr nearly everything that Jean Nott had said to her, save for his more... obsessive comnts. She wanted Zephyr to be wary of Jean Nott’s presence, not recklessly charging into a fight with him which would undoubtedly happen if he knew everything.
Zephyr barely restrained himself from tearing off into the sky, screaming for Jean Nott’s head on a platter. Daphne considered it a success that he rely let out several ear-splitting shrieks, oddly like a chicken before it was beheaded, before calming down.
"I can’t believe I’m agreeing with Jean Nott," Zephyr said glumly. "Daphne, why do you never attract normal n? Like the butcher back at Vramid’s markets. He wouldn’t have cryptic plans for the world and he would give us an unlimited supply of fresh cuts."
"If only life was so easy." Daphne shook her own head at Zephyr’s naive wishes. If she wanted a peaceful life, the best husband she could have hoped for was Prince Nathaniel. But that ship had left the harbor, and she had to make do with the cards she was dealt.
"I’ll stand guard over you, Nereus and I," Zephyr promised in the end. "You can’t be left alone. Like ever. I’ll sleep at the foot of your bed if I have to. Nereus will guard you in the bath."
Daphne let out an unladylike snort. "Atticus would hate that."
"That bastard Atticus isn’t here now," Zephyr pointed out, "Where is he anyway? Why is he not with you?"
"He said he was going to get food," Daphne said.
"A likely story," Zephyr huffed. "I bet he’s out plotting so sche!"
***
Unknown to Zephyr and Daphne, Atticus was out in the mines, a far distance away from Xahan’s palace. Above him was an entire constellation of stars, shining brightly in the dark night sky.
Out here where there was barely any hint of civilization, Atticus could feel the wonders of nature so keenly it was almost sending his magic haywire. He wanted nothing more than to fly above the mines and use every bit of his power to pull those precious tals out from the dark recesses of the tunnels.
Yet, he had no choice but to tamp down his abilities. King Calarian had made it very clear when they were still on the way. Atticus was still disbelieving until they ca across a tiny deposit, still half stuck in a rock, surrounded by miles and miles of sand.
Atticus pried it open with his powers, causing the entire thing to explode. Thankfully, the amount of iron teorite was too tiny to do any real damage to anyone, but that was enough to demonstrate that King Calarian was not lying.
No wonder he was so eager to promise Atticus the iron teorite! This man didn’t want to expend the manpower necessary to make the long trek to find said teorites, let alone mine them successfully. They had enough in their own stores and it was simply too much work for too little reward, especially when no other kingdom would be crazy enough to steal such a volatile resource.
Now, Atticus had offered himself and his n on a silver platter.
"If you want the iron teorites, by all ans, let know how the mining goes," King Calarian said, waving a lazy hand to the mines. There were only a few n working there, and they kept to themselves, not even bothering to talk to their own king.
Atticus sighed― if he could use magic, none of this would faze him, but if magic could be used, King Calarian would have easily harvested it all for himself. He could only count on his bare hands, and a pickaxe, and if he went down in the mines, he would only have a tiny lantern for light as he had to feel and look out for them.
Simply thinking about the task gave Atticus a splitting headache, but that could be also due to the air quality in the mines. A quick tour had left him light-headed.
All of their crystals were worthless here. The slightest bit of magic use would cause the iron teorite to react, turning it into useless steel if they were lucky, and exploding if they were not. Of course, that was assuming the mine was stable enough to handle excavation. It’s no small wonder why no regular civilians wanted to work as miners here.
"This is just a death trap," Jonah muttered under his breath, loud enough for Atticus to hear while King Calarian and his n took a short break a further distance away, just in case Atticus and Jonah set off the highly volatile deposits. They were good hosts, but they weren’t courting death.
"I would send the worst criminals here just to make them repent," Jonah lanted. "Sand for miles, and all you have is this pickaxe."
"Agreed," Atticus said dully. "At this rate, Daphne will give birth before I even get my hands on a good enough sample!"
"Maybe that’s his plan," Jonah said, discreetly nodding his head in King Calarian’s direction. "If Daphne doesn’t give birth to a healthy child, no iron teorite for us."
Atticus growled. "He’d better not try to worm his way out of this."
Jonah paused. "Are you not going to worry about Daphne instead? Did you even tell her you were going out with King Calarian?"
Atticus blinked; and then a niggling feeling stirred in his gut.
Oh shit.
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