Realms of Infamy - James Lowder [93]
Still, Lanaxis could not bear to watch them go, for with them went the future of his beloved empire. "Wait!"
The giants stopped and looked toward the titan. "Accept our fate," advised Nicias. "Let Ostoria die in peace."
"I'm not asking you to move against Dunmore," said Lanaxis. "Only to give me time. Stay until morning. Perhaps I can think of a way to convince Othea to let us save Ostoria."
Nicias and Vilmos exchanged glances, then Nicias asked, "You will raise no hand against our brother Dunmore?"
"I will leave the thane alone," the titan promised. "All I want is time. If Ostoria has hope, I will find it tonight."
The cloud giant nodded. "Then we will all try to think of something." He looked to the other giants. "We meet beside the Well of Health tomorrow at dawn."
With that, Nicias and the other guests entered Bleak Palace. Once they were gone, Lanaxis turned to glare at the mountainous glacier that loomed over his empire.
"Traitors!" Though Lanaxis had only whispered the word, it echoed across the plain as though he had screamed it from the highest mountain. "What do they care for Ostoria?"
"Them cowards!" offered Arno. "They 'fraid to-"
"Quiet!" hissed Julien. "Can't you see Lanaxis is thinking?"
"No-Arno's right," said Lanaxis. "They are cowards-as am I, quivering in Othea's shadow!"
The titan smashed his fist down, so consumed by his growing rage he did not notice when the blow broke an entire section from the veranda railing.
Julien raised a brow. "It's merely prudent to be cautious. After all, Othea is a goddess."
"A demigoddess," Lanaxis corrected. "And I am done venerating her. She is my enemy. I will treat her as such!"
"What?" gasped Arno. "Attack Othea? She butcher us!"
Lanaxis heard the objection only as a distant echo, for the heinous task ahead had already caught his thoughts in its dark web. The titan stood staring at the distant glacier for many minutes, then suddenly spun around and stepped toward one of the archways leading into Bleak Palace.
"Fetch me an empty vial and bring it to my chambers-and be quick. We have much to do before dawn," he said. "Say nothing to my brothers. Let tomorrow's events surprise them."
At dawn, the morning sun hovered just above the snowy horizon, a crimson disk that filled the open end of the colonnade. The orb's rosy rays coursed down the length of the arcade, running almost parallel to the floor, so they just skimmed the Well of Health's bubbling waters and set the pool aglow with scarlet light. Despite the fiery colors, to Lanaxis the colonnade felt as cold as the Great Glacier.
The titan's brothers had already gathered, and none of them raised their eyes to meet his as he stepped out of Bleak Palace. Without asking, the titan knew the giants had thought of no way to save Ostoria. They had left that task to him, and now they would have no excuse for shirking the price.
Lanaxis stepped over to the Well. The ettin followed close behind, bearing a tray of silver chalices, each sized for a particular giant.
"My brothers, I bid you drink."
Nicias and the others finally met the eyes of their host. "Then you have reached the same conclusion we have," said the cloud giant. "Ostoria cannot be saved."
Lanaxis did not answer. Instead, he took the two largest chalices from the tray and offered them to Nicias and Vilmos. "Have your fill from the Well of Health." The titan smiled, taking care that his guests saw that it was bravely forced. "By now, Dunmore has found our mother. She will come quickly."
Nicias did not accept his chalice. "We were all willing to deceive our mother. We should bear the consequences."
Lanaxis's smile remained frozen on his face. He had not expected to endure such pretensions of nobility. Exhausted as he was from his long night of labors,