Chapter 31
History Always Repeats Itself
Griffin
Just Over Four Years Ago – Catastro Sea – Off the Coast of Violencia
“Brother!” Drago clasped his hand, pulling him into a hug.
Griffin didn’t want to return it, but he did anyway. He would keep up this facade, the one where he wasn’t aware of his brother’s involvement with Anadil.
Griffin had just made his way up a ladder onto this ship, and part of him was already missing Violencia.
“It’s been a long time,” Griffin settled on, releasing his brother and stepping back. He examined the man, years apart had aged Griffin but Drago still looked just as young as the day they separated.
Except now there was a wild glint in his eye. One that left Griffin on edge.
“It has. You must forgive me.” Drago flourished his arms. “I had a country to lead, an army to grow.”
Griffin's attention flicked around the ship. The one he had last been on with his father. The crew were all masked and decked in tactical gear.
“There was a Cherished killed in Violencia, it was broadcast for even our countries to see. It caused an uproar in the Sacred Trinity. Did you hear about it?” Drago asked half-heartedly, but there was a serious undertone.
Griffin did not react to his brother’s probing. Understanding processed through him that Anadil was playing a very dangerous game. That his brother was testing the waters. Griffin raised his eyes to his brother’s.
“Just that it was the excuse needed to start the Redemption up for the citizens of Violencia.”
Drago bared his teeth in a falsified smile. “It did indeed.” His brow furrowed as he walked to the edge of the ship, his attention focused on the shore of Violencia as they slowly moved away.
Griffin moved slowly until he was beside him. On shore, there was a figure, but they were too far to make out who it was clearly.
“I found a wife in our time apart,” Drago admitted, his attention focused on the figure even as it turned into nothing more than an ant. “Well, we’re not married yet, but one day soon we will be. When the time is right.”
“Congratulations. Will she be back in Grypheem?” Griffin attempted to push the correct amount of excitement into his question.
Drago hummed, long and harsh. “Unfortunately, no. The High Priestess would never allow me to have a Cherished. I didn’t have much choice than to look outwards.”
Griffin stiffened.
“The people of Grypheem were in an uproar when our father died. They didn’t want me to take the crown. They deemed it should go to his true son. The soul sent from above. Not an unnatural,” Drago scoffed.
“I don’t want to be king.”
Drago laughed heartily, but even still, his attention remained fixated in the direction of Violencia.
Even as the shore went out of view completely.
“I know, brother. It is why it was an easy choice to bring you home. We are brothers. You are a prince and you belong in Grypheem. If only Ana hadn’t killed her sister, she could have been by your side.
It would have been perfect.” Drago shook his head, clasping a hand on Griffin’s shoulder before turning and marching away.
As if you weren’t aware of Ana’s plans. And yet you lie to me, even now.
Ana’s sister. Raven.
The woman he had never met or even spoken to.
The woman who haunted his nightmares, who blessed his wildest dreams.
She was the bane of his existence. The downfall of the Factions. The catalyst who set off a slew of events that led him to this very ship.
The one who could very well be dead.
Except Griffin was of the belief she was still alive and Julian had pressed that truth further into his mind.
Griffin made it his mission then and there, one day they would meet.
But when they did? He wasn’t sure if he would fuck her…
Or kill her.
Or both.
Present Day - Grypheem
He hadn’t expected…any of that.
When he came into this, he knew he was obsessed with the idea of Raven. With the woman he hadn’t been able to save. The one whose fault it was that Oleks was taken. And in several ways, the woman whose fault it was his entire life had imploded.
In the beginning, when he realized she was in the games, he wanted to use her. He wanted to hate her. He wanted her body.
But then she infected him, a festering wound that he had no hope of healing. A Sacred Cherished woman he desired when he would be better off running fast and far away from.
His mother was a Sacred Cherished, and it had only led to his own father’s demise.
History always attempts to repeat itself.
After fucking Raven senseless, he had relocated them to the bed and that is where she slept now in his arms.
The door opening to his quarters had him jumping to attention, but through the dimming firelight, he relaxed at the sight of Julian.
Griffin wrapped the blanket around Raven, placing overstuffed pillows on each side of her before getting out of the bed and joining Julian on the couch in front of the fire.
It was dying now, the light barely illuminating the men’s faces, the embers clicking and clacking as they attempted to maintain life.
“Oleks caught me up,” Julian finally spoke, his head falling forward into his hands.
Griffin reached forward, opening a drawer in the coffee table and pulling out several items. “Here, these are for you.”
Julian looked up in curiosity and took the items from Griffin’s hands in surprise. “This seems silly in the grand scheme of things, but thank you, I really appreciate it.”
Griffin inclined his head, quirking his lips. The olive branch was a necessary lubrication to work up to what they needed to discuss.
Julian made quick work of putting the metal piercings into all the holes on his face and ears.
“It feels like we’ve been in this castle for years, as if my autonomy was stolen from me.
Felix hasn’t even come to speak with me, after our time together, it was as if it was all a farce.
He was just waiting to get here, and now I am dead to him,” Julian unleashed, falling back into the couch and staring at the dying fire listlessly.
“Felix is supposed to be one of Anadil’s, I imagine he doesn’t want to cause you any more issues than he already has. And besides that, my brother will report back any suspicious activity to her.” Griffin sighed heavily.
“You don’t call her Nightingale.”
It wasn’t a question, but Griffin replied to it nonetheless.
“When I met her, it was clear she was a victim,” Griffin admitted. “And the name Nightingale came from the people of Luscinia. It never sat right with me to call her that. It just…she’s not like them. She’s worse in a lot of ways, much worse, but…”
“But at the end of the day she was a victim too.” Julian breathed out roughly. “Yeah, and I get that, I do. But she’s gone past the point of return. She has been playing with all of our lives for years and for what purpose? Nothing has changed.”
“She’s attempting to move mountains.” Griffin grumbled annoyedly, not bothering to explain further. His attention flashed to Raven to ensure she still slept. “Listen.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice as much as he could.
Julian’s eyebrows knitted together in concern at the change in tone.
“We will be forced to complete the pre-marital ceremony.”
Julian opened his mouth, but Griffin hedged forward.
“We will be forced into a chamber filled with cameras. It will be broadcast across the Sacred Trinity. Typically, the woman must be filled with seed. It must be spilled into her womb. Since it is the both of us…”
“We’ll both need to fuck her.”
Griffin hummed. “Yes, but it goes further than that. In order for us to have equal claim, we must do it at the same time.” Griffin advised, his memory flashing back to when he had asked the Priestess this question. He hadn’t known at the time how important the information would be.
It was archaic. The entire ceremony was. But he didn’t have any actual power.
Julian didn’t speak, his face turning ashen as he stared at Raven fast asleep. “What the fuck is wrong with this place?”
Griffin screwed his eyes shut, burying the memories of his youth, the anger, the lack of women. The disgusting secrets hidden.
Eventually, he settled on a single word. “Everything.”