As I hold tight to Kassam, Margo's griffin lands and she slides off its back, landing amidst Seth's men with a dazed expression. They grab her, cheering, and pull her toward the front of the army. She looks a little confused by their excitement, but it becomes clear what they're doing when a tall figure strides through the crowd.
Seth.
His white robes are spotless despite the smoke and the chaos. He lowers an equally spotless white hood down from his head and assumes a pious expression as he gazes at his army. "Inside this last domicile," he says in a lofty voice, gesturing at the hollowed-out tree, "is our enemy. Let us find her anchor quickly and bring him to me."
The men cheer and head for the treehouse, their weapons raised. As they do, Seth continues to give them that munificent smile, as if they're his children on a playground and he's the doting father watching over them. Never mind that they're carrying swords and are covered in blood.
Seth looks over at us, and his smile becomes a little more predatory as he approaches. "It is the final hours. Are you not pleased with how today has gone?" He gestures at the tree. "When we take this, we will have completely broken her under our heels."
Screams erupt from inside the house, and I bury my face against Kassam's chest. "Can't you make them stop?"
"Make them stop? Why would I want to do that?" Seth laughs, and the sound is cruel. "We have her exactly where we want her. Our armies have won. Is this not what we fought for? Is this not what we came to do?"
I look up and glare at him. "You could be kinder about it."
"Kinder?" He sneers at me. "There is no 'kinder' in war, you idiot." He gestures at the tree. "How shall we politely wrest power from her? Shall we curtsy and shake hands before slaughtering her people? Shall we—"
"We shouldn't slaughter at all," I snap back at him. "We're better than that."
"Are we? I thought we were here for vengeance." Seth turns to Kassam. "Is this not what you wanted? What you planned for? To seek your revenge on this betraying, selfish goddess? Here it is." He spreads his hands and gestures at the burning, destroyed city around us. "Your vengeance. Is it not sweet? Is it not what you dreamed of?"
I look up at Kassam, and his expression is…odd. He gazes at the burning platforms around us, at the bodies massacred, at Seth's gleeful men swarming over the fortress built into the tree itself. "I do not know what I imagined when I sought to avenge myself on Riekki," he says, his words slow and thoughtful. "Perhaps I dreamed of this once, but no longer. I am different. I see this, and it does not fill me with joy. It fills me with sorrow, instead." He shakes his head. "I wanted to avenge myself on Riekki, not all of these people."
"These people sheltered under her wing," Seth snarls. "They are her creatures. They would kill your woman just to get rid of you."
"As you did?" Kassam's voice hardens. His arms tighten around me, and I can feel the tension brimming in his body.
Seth's mouth flattens as he flicks a glance at me. "That was different. It was to benefit both of us. We could have won this war quickly with you at your full strength."
Kassam gestures at the trees, their twisted branches that he manipulated to create bridges. At the flames and smoke and dead bodies everywhere. "This was not quick enough for you? There was no siege, no long, pitched battle. We came in here and we slaughtered." He shakes his head again, his silver eyes full of sadness. "And I am filled with regret."
Oh. I take his hand in mine and squeeze it.
"Regret?" Seth spits. His face is contorted with fury, no longer handsome. "Over what?"
My husband sighs heavily, gazing at the carnage around us. His focus moves from the trees, warped and scarred, to the dead scattered on the platforms. "I am supposed to be the god of life. This is not what I am. I have let my need for vengeance turn my focus away from what really matters, and that is what I regret." He looks over at me, his expression soft. "Luckily, my anchor has been steadfast. She shows me the true way of things. She supports me even when I am being selfish."
Seth just rolls his eyes. "You are a god. These people, this place, they're nothing to you."
"You are right," Kassam says, never taking his gaze off of me. "And perhaps that is part of the problem. Perhaps this is the lesson I am yet learning. That I must care about all if I am to do my job properly." He straightens his shoulders, his tired expression turning to one of focus as he looks squarely at Seth. "I have scattered the wild army. They will aid us no longer. The city is now yours. Carly and I will be taking our leave as soon as she is rested and ready."
That catches Seth by surprise. Me too, if I'm being honest. "You're not going to wait to meet Riekki? You don't want to rub it in her face that she has lost?"
Kassam's brows furrow. "Why?"
"Because you have won, you fool," Seth snaps. "At the very least, do you not want to show her who it was that defeated her?"
I watch as Kassam's lip curls with distaste. "You think I am proud of this? You think this pleases me?" He gestures at the burning city. "I am ashamed of what we have done here today. I will take it as a lesson and learn from it." He gives Seth a contemptuous look. "You should do the same."
Seth's expression is pure ice. "You are a fool. We were here to seek power, and we have grasped it in our hands. Take your victory lap. Watch as I strip the power from your most hated enemy and revel in her despair. This is what we have worked so hard for. This is what we have strived to attain!"
But Kassam ignores Seth's rantings. It's like he tunes him out completely. Instead, he turns to me and gently cups my chin, studying my tear-stained face. "Are you tired, little light? Shall we go?" His voice is incredibly gentle. "Say the word."
Oh. "I'm ready if you are," I promise him. "I'm not too tired to leave." The thought of getting back onto the griffin again makes my sore butt want to scream, but if the alternative means we stay in this madness, I'll gladly climb onto the back of anything that will fly me out of here. I want nothing more than to leave this horrible, slaughtered city behind.
And if I do, I can only imagine how badly Kassam wants to get away.
He nods, then gently kisses me on the lips. "Then we will go."
"Fool," Seth calls again, furious, even as more screams arise from the treehouse. "Weak fool!"
Kassam ignores him, leading me over to the waiting griffin. He climbs onto its back with ease, then holds a hand down to help me up. As I wrap my arms around him, I see the conmac melt into the shadows, slinking away, and it seems to me that for the first time, there is approval in their yellow eyes. Then the griffin takes off and we are into the air once more.
I hold tightly onto my husband, and I'm glad this day is over.
48
We don't fly for long. I'm weary, and I can only imagine Kassam is, too. The griffin lands again a short time later, back into the forest. He settles us into a clearing near water, then begins to preen his feathers. Kassam glances around, turning, and then nods. "We will head north in the morning," he tells me. "Tonight, we will stay here and rest."