“Then, once he is secured below,” Dacre continued, and his voice took on a delighted edge, “go and fetch Iris. Bring her to me. I’d like to speak with her again.”
“No,” Roman whispered. The full force of Dacre’s command hit him like a sword, splitting him open. He began to flail. He fought Val’s iron-tight hold. “No!”
He screamed until his voice felt ripped clean from his throat. Val was dragging him to the parlor door, which waited open like a maw, shadowed from the realm below. But Roman made it difficult. He almost slipped away, his skin tingling with bruises, when Dacre loomed over him.
The god lifted his hand and curled his fingers.
Roman gasped as his lungs tightened in response.
The strength drained from his limbs as he began to slump. Stars speckled his vision. But he whispered her name in his mind. He clung to it as the darkness devoured him.
Iris.
{46}
Your Soul Sworn to Mine
Iris opened her eyes, uncertain what had woken her. Her head was propped on Forest’s shoulder, his breathing heavy with sleep.
They were sitting on the couch, and it was dark beyond the window curtains. The tea was still on the table, and the book was open on Forest’s lap. Only one lamp was lit, and its light was a hazy amber, casting streaks on the walls.
It was quiet until Iris heard the water running in the kitchen. There was the unmistakable clink of a kettle being set on the cooker. Someone was in the flat with them, and Iris rose to her feet, gooseflesh rippling over her skin.
She walked toward the kitchen, rounding the corner to see the intruder.
Long dark hair. A homespun dress. A belt made of woven flowers.
“Enva?” Iris said, unable to hide her shock.
Enva turned to regard her. “Hello, Iris.”
“Are you truly here, or am I dreaming?”
The goddess didn’t reply in words, but when she reached for the steaming kettle, the pot melted in her hands.
A dream, then, Iris thought. “Why have you come to visit me again?”
Enva straightened, as if she suddenly felt uncomfortable in a kitchen, seeking to do mortal tasks. “I wanted to see you again. Before you made the descent below.”
Iris studied her a long moment. “How many other dreams have you walked?”
“More than I could count.”
“You’ve visited Attie.”
“Yes,” Enva replied carefully. “I wanted you both to hear the lullaby.”
“What about Forest?”
“A few times.”
“And Kitt?” Iris asked. “Have you visited his dreams?”
“Not in the way you think.”
“How, then?”
Enva waved her hand over the cooker. The kettle reappeared and remained solid as she gripped it, pouring hot water into a teacup. “I helped him remember who he was.”
Iris was silent, recalling the words Roman had typed to her. Every night when I dreamt, I was trying to bring all the pieces back together. I was trying to find my way back to you.
“By which you undermined Dacre,” said Iris.
Enva kept her gaze on her teacup as she doled out a spoonful of honey. “There were a number of soldiers from Oath who I inspired to fight. Your brother was one of them. I hoped they would give enough aid to the west so that Dacre could be killed by a mortal’s hand. But many of these soldiers died in graves I have yet to sing over, and some my husband healed and used for his forces in a twisted way. I could not leave the city in my corporeal form, but I could use Alva’s magic to reach these soldiers in dreams. To help them remember who they were.”
“Why didn’t you kill him when you had the chance?” Iris asked quietly. “If you killed Mir, Alva, and Luz in their graves, why not Dacre?”
At this, Enva turned away. Her posture was rigid as she breathed, and Iris wondered if she was about to dissolve from the dream, choosing to wane rather than answer.
“Have you ever given someone a vow, Iris?”
Enva’s question was so unexpected that Iris merely blinked. But when she closed her eyes, she could still hear an echo of herself, speaking vows to Roman in a twilit garden.
Even then, may I find your soul still sworn to mine.
“Yes,” Iris said.
“When I went below to rule beside him, I gave him my vow as he gave me his. But I didn’t realize that Skyward promises are vastly different from those of Underlings. With my words, I vowed to never end his immortality, but he didn’t grant the same to me. I didn’t fear that he would kill me in those honeymoon days, even as I wandered deep in his domain. I knew that he was charmed by my presence, but one day he would grow weary of me. One day, I would find him holding a blade to my throat, hungry to steal my magic and be rid of me.” Enva drank the tea and set the cup on the counter. She looked over her shoulder and held Iris’s gaze. “I could wound him, though. Humiliate him. Leave his realm if I could outsmart him. But I could not break my vows and kill him.”