Chapter 62
Sage
T he library in Clearwell Castle was nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to the one I stood in now.
This library was a palace in itself, made up of grand rooms, sprawling hallways, and towers—every square inch of it saturated with books.
So many, many books. I couldn’t even begin to fathom how many there must have been.
Surely, it was the largest collection in the Mother Realm, if not the entire universe.
Which seemed fitting, considering its owner was the Goddess of Knowledge.
The library smelled musty and earthy, with the slightest tinge of dyed leather.
Von, Artemesia, Folkoln, Kaleb, and I followed behind Naia as she gave us a tour of the vast library.
Each time she turned around to tell us what genre we’d find in this room or that tower, her eyes would twinkle with pride.
After we spent the better half of the morning learning about the library, she led us up to a colossal set of oak doors, flanked by two guards.
“This is my private collection,” Naia said as the guards opened the doors and we all filtered inside. “Every item is the last of its kind. You will find them nowhere else.”
From wall to wall and floor to ceiling, there were custom-built shelves chock-full of ancient tomes. In the middle was a private sitting area, and to the right, a table surrounded by chairs.
Kaleb and Artemesia conversed with Naia.
Earlier, we had a brief meeting in Kaleb’s room, deciding we would ask Naia about the energy stones, and then leave the palace after.
Naia had been sad to hear we planned to leave so soon, but she said she understood.
As the three of them chatted, Folkoln found a wall to brood against. Smoke drifted off him, disintegrating into bits of nothingness.
He tipped his head against the wall, lengthening his masculine neck and exposing his prominent Adam’s apple.
Through his black lashes, he tracked Artemesia like a hunter watching his prey.
Speaking of being watched . . .
I glanced over my shoulder.
Vivid green eyes, the color of leaves after a nourishing rain, met mine.
The mountainous male stood with his heavily inked arms crossed, his muscular body clad in leather pants and a black tunic stretched firmly across the breadth of his chest. He was a demon of a god, a lethal, dark temptation, brimming with unrivaled power.
And he was mine .
My pulse quickened as the rapturous memories of last night returned to me.
His umbra twins had been an unexpected surprise, pleasuring me as I pleasured their master.
Von had been rough with me in all the best ways, and yet this morning, I felt none of it, not a lick of pain.
I suspected he had used his ability to heal me.
Whether he did that last night or when he’d woken me with his head between my thighs this morning, I didn’t know.
Light footsteps sounded at the entrance, pulling my attention to it. A girl, carrying a tray with two teapots and six cups, walked inside. She bowed her head toward Naia and then scurried over to the sitting area. Gently, she placed the tray on the lower, oval table.
“Ah, the tea is here.” Naia clasped her hands together. She walked over to one of the wingback chairs and sat down. She gestured to the cups as she said to the girl, “If you would be so kind, my dear.”
“Of course,” the girl replied, her voice soft.
She reached for one of the nearly identical teapots.
As she poured the tea, Kaleb, Artemesia, and I joined her.
The smell of cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, and something else I couldn’t quite detect permeated the air.
I breathed it in. With it, nostalgia bloomed.
It reminded me of when life was much simpler—when Ezra and I would sit across from one another, a blanket draped across our laps, and hot cups of tea in our hands.
I yearned to revisit those days sometime soon, with Ezra.
Ezra . . . how I missed her.
“It smells so good,” Artemesia crooned as she selected two cups, offering me one of them. The act pulled me from my wistful thoughts.
“Thank you,” I said, taking it. It was hot against my fingers. Steam danced from the golden-colored water, swirling and twirling. Artemesia and I sat down on one of the settees beside one another.
“What kind of tea is it?” Kaleb asked as he took one of the cups and sat down across from us.
“It’s called dragon’s delight. It’s a blend of different spices, but it’s the rubrum draco aroma that makes it so highly sought after,” she answered.
“It comes from the red dragon tree,” Von said, emerging from the shadows. I glanced at him, wondering if he had remembered something.
“Indeed, it does. There was once a time when you were quite fond of it,” Naia answered, reaching forward and picking up a cup. She offered it to Von.
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” he said, taking it as he sat down beside me. I shifted closer, yearning for that constant contact. The pull I felt to Von was gravitational—always tugging me toward him, like the river to the ocean. The tide to the moon. My soul to his.
Naia picked up another cup, extending an arm toward Folkoln as she asked, “What about you, dear?”
“I’m not a tea drinker,” he said, declining her offer as he sat beside Kaleb.
“You are missing out,” she spoke in a teasing tone. She withdrew the offered cup, taking it with her as she returned to her chair. Her attention swung to me. “Now, Sage, dear, I’ve been meaning to ask—have you thought about what we discussed yesterday?”
“I have. I’ve decided I’m going to hold off on it for now,” I replied, resting my cup in my lap. Out of respect for my mate, I wouldn’t put him through that, feeling my pain and suffering as I was cut into. Perhaps Von was right, perhaps sometimes, I could be too trusting.
“That’s completely understandable,” she answered, nodding slowly as she blew on her tea, scattering the swirls of steam.
“There’s another reason why we came,” Von started. “We were hoping you could tell us about this.” Shadows pooled in his flattened palm, conjuring the necklace he had gotten from the giant.
“May I?” Naia asked, setting her cup down beside her on the end table.
“Of course.” On the breath of his wind, he sent it over to her.
“It is a travel stone,” she said as she studied it, rotating it around.
“I believe around sixty-five percent of travel stones came from the Elswaina mines. Due to the stones’ inactivity, the mines shut down.
Now, they are nothing more than a relic, just like all the other energy stones floating around out there. ”
“What caused the stones to become inactive?” Folkoln inquired, tipping his head ever so slightly in that confident, superior way of his. The act was taken straight out of Von’s own book, titled Better than Thou.
“Originally, they were tethered to Alaric. When he died, they stopped working, like so many other things in this realm,” she said, sending the stone back to Von.
His shadows swallowed it. “I thought Alaric died at the end of the War of the Creators.”
“He did,” Naia stated, nodding as she twisted toward the end table and picked her cup up.
“But how can that be?” Von challenged. “The giant who used this very stone to travel to the Three Realms, where we are from, did it centuries after the war ended.”
“Ah, that’s because my sister found a way to make them work for a brief time,” she replied. “Although whatever method she used clearly was not sustainable, because they didn’t last very long.”
“Why did she want them to work again?” I wondered.
“Because she needed a way to send her venum stoomics out to all of the realms to look for a soul and send it back to her,” Naia answered. “Their souls, due to their size, require a lot more magic to send to another realm in comparison to ones like ours, hence needing the energy stones.”
“Whose soul was she trying to find?” Kaleb asked curiously, leaning forward in his seat.
But I already knew the answer—it was the same reason she had sent my soul to the Three Realms. “She’s after Von.”
“Correct,” Naia replied, taking a small sip of her tea.
“Why?” Folkoln asked. “Why is she after him?”
“Only my sister can tell you that,” Naia stated, taking a deep breath.
“I don’t understand.” I shook my head. “If she was after him, why didn’t she just go to the Three Realms herself? Why send giants? Why send me?”
“Before the Creator died, he tied her life force to the Mother Realm,” Naia answered. “She physically cannot leave here, which is why she has to send others out to do her dirty work.”
Kaleb scrubbed at his jaw. “I have a question.” We all looked at him. “If the Creator was the one who originally powered the energy stones, and Sage is his daughter, shouldn’t she be able to power them too?” he asked.
Collectively, our gazes all swung back to Naia.
“It’s quite possible,” she replied.
A small seed of hope planted itself within me—if I could power the energy stones, we might be able to find our way home.
“However, a word of caution,” Naia said, her brows lifting.
“Energy stones consume power at a monumental rate. It took your father many, many years before he was able to get them to work. You should train yourself and slowly build up toward powering them. If you don’t, who knows what it might do to you?
It could drain your soul’s energy completely, something there is no returning back from. ”
A flavor spread across my tongue. It was bittersweet, like lemons and honey.
“I understand,” I answered, sparing a glance at Von. Black lashes lowered, his eyes shifting to mine. In the depths of them, I found confirmation of what flavor I was tasting— worry . The bitter part stemmed from his concern, and the sweet part was because he cared for me.
Naia tapped her chin with one long finger. “Come to think of it. I believe your father had a journal somewhere where he documented how he learned to power the stones. Perhaps it would be of use to you. That is, if it still exists.”
My hand slid into Von’s, and I offered him a reassuring squeeze. Looking back to Naia, I asked, “Do you have any idea where we might find it?”
“I don’t, but I can have some of my scholars look into it. You might have to extend your stay a day or two longer, though, to give them some time,” she replied.
I glanced at everyone else, trying to read their faces. I knew we were all eager to get going and join back up with the others, but my father’s journal could help me learn how to power the stones, which would be our ticket home. “What do you all think?” I asked them.
“The journal could be very beneficial to you and the rest of your group,” Artemesia said, shrugging one shoulder.
Kaleb nodded.
I looked at Folkoln. “What are your thoughts?”
“If it helps us get home, it’s worth the wait,” he stated, dark pools shifting to Von. I followed his gaze.
“Thoughts?” I asked my mate.
“Many,” he answered, but didn’t expand any further. The smallest taste of lemon and honey returned, and I knew his many thoughts centered around me. Von was trying to decide what the safest option for me was, but that wasn’t what this was about—it was about what was best for the group .
If it can help me safely power the stones, it’s worth it, Von , I spoke down the river that linked our thoughts.
Von studied me, reading me as if I were a book. Then, with a hint of reluctance, he spoke out loud, “We’ll stay one more day.”
“Wonderful!” Naia exclaimed, standing and walking over to the table. She poured herself another cup. “Now . . .” She lifted the teapot and smiled. “Who would like more tea?”
Realizing I had yet to try it, I lifted the cup, noting it felt much lighter than before. I glanced down—
It was empty.
Did you have something to do with this? I pushed the question into Von’s mind.
Yes, he answered back, face as unreadable as a blank sheet of paper.
Why?
Von’s attention flicked to Naia. She’s being pushy about the tea. She couldn’t have cared less if we ate the food and drink she had prepared for us this morning, but she went out of her way to offer each one of us a cup. I spoke with Folkoln—he finds it suspicious as well.
Okay, but she’s drinking it too. If it is poisoned or something, why would she do that?
Doesn’t mean anything. She could have an antidote.
He wasn’t wrong.
So then . . . What about Kaleb and Artemesia?
Folkoln already took care of Artemesia’s cup. Kaleb can be the guinea pig .
Von, I scolded him.
He just smirked.
I sighed, watching as Kaleb stood. He extended his empty cup toward Naia. “I’ll have some more.”
“Wonderful,” Naia exclaimed, positioning the spout over his waiting cup and filling it up. “Anyone else?” Her attention swung to me. “Sage?”
“I’m good, thanks,” I said, smiling warmly. The second Naia looked away, I swung my face to Von’s. I squinted at him, shooting little daggers as I demanded through the bond, Drain his cup.
He’s already had one cup. What’s the harm in—
Von ! I cut him off in a harsh growl.
Alright, alright, he replied in a smooth, playful tone, eyes shifting toward Kaleb’s cup.