Chapter 29 #2
“I despised Damir. Any pleasure I brought to that man, I assure you, was so I could serve this greater purpose. From what I’ve seen of you, the sacrifice of your power will unravel the division of the first kingdom.
We’ve been given a chance from the gods to begin anew, to learn from the mistakes of the first king.
” Fadey opened his palm to me. “And they’ve given us the power of the god-queen to restore in a new leader the gifts she broke long ago. ”
He was mad.
“Even if I was some warped version of the god-queen,” I said through my teeth, “I would never give the power of every craft to a man as cruel as you. For you, Fadey, are no better than the Wanderer King and his plague of greed.”
Fadey’s lip curled. “You do not know everything I have learned about the burden of melding craft. You do not want it. I will be the melder who will shoulder it.”
“Ah, well, since you put it so nicely, how can I disagree?” I wrenched back on the tether again. This time there was enough force behind it, and Fadey stumbled.
Whether the connection was growing weaker or I was gaining strength, I didn’t know. I pulled again.
He wrapped his fingers around the tattered line between us, his eyes burning with malice. “Think of the lives you will save if you return and face your fate. Think of the pain your hesitation is causing. Poor Darkwin, how he suffers.”
“You harm him, I’ll destroy you.”
“How? Seems the world is against you. As for me, I am merely the stunned captain of the Stav Guard, consoling his bereaved queen at the brutal betrayal of the melder and Sentry.” The bastard sneered.
“Admittedly, the Death Bringer was an unforeseen problem. I never trusted him, always had a sense there was more to his story, but not even I knew of the second Draven prince. Certainly not what his own folk had done to his soul. We’ll handle him soon enough. ”
“Oh, but I have plans to slit your throat first.”
Fadey sneered. “You fight a power you don’t understand. You have no idea what this hunt for bones might require you to pay.”
“Perhaps I don’t, but you made the mistake of telling me the bones are warded from you. Seems I am the only one who has a chance to find them.”
“I may not know their resting place, and there may be wardings against me for some, but I do know something you do not. There is more to the hunt for these bones than melding. There are pieces needed to find each one, and you do not know what they are. I do.”
“What are you talking about?”
Fadey chuckled. “Did you really think it would be as simple as sensing the bones in your trance? No, there are many pieces to this tale, and all you have is the dark soul of a traitorous prince and craft.”
“Yet you still need me.”
“Ah, but you already know it is only because you see into the realm of souls in a way I do not.”
Tension knotted in my chest, and a prickle lifted on my arms. He was…lying. Like a seedling, the thought germinated in my mind, taking root. Fadey was not telling the whole of it. There was more he kept buried on his vicious tongue.
There was more to this hunt than we knew.
“Save your folk, Lyra,” Fadey said, his voice fading like an echo down a long corridor. “Darkwin will live, as will your new Draven companions and those simple crafters you left behind in Stonegate. You’ve already witnessed how those who know you are no longer safe.”
My fists tightened and my heart ached for Thorian and Selena. “Don’t speak of them.”
“You are the restored power of the god-queen. In a sense, I am the restored Wanderer. But I am willing to learn from his mistakes. I simply need you to answer your fate and reunite what the god-queen divided. Wars will cease. Craft will be free. No melders will ever be forced to serve brutal kings again. The land will prosper.”
“If it is my fate, then I will find the first veins of craft on my own, and I will see to it that you never touch them.”
“You speak with such confidence, but as I told you, there are pieces to this tale, and even if you find them, you will not be able to stomach what must be done to see it through. But I can. Who knows, perhaps the gods blessed me with a darker heart so I might be able to shoulder the burden. You’re running out of time, Lyra.
Soon the lands will be corrupted even more and lost to endless battles for power.
What is one life when it might save thousands? ”
Bile burned in my throat. I’d heard the prophecy, the warning of the gods forsaking the land, corrupting their first kingdom should their gifts be left divided.
What was my life if everyone I loved was at risk of losing theirs?
The rope between us flickered. It began to fade.
“Until we speak again.”
A shroud of darkness encircled me as another raced for Fadey. I fell into the cold mists, sounds of his chilling laughter in my skull when the cracked walls returned to smooth wood and flames chased away the night.
Heavy hands shook me.
My eyes fluttered open. Roark hovered over me, a shadow in his eyes. His brow was damp, and his body nearly collapsed over me when he crushed me to his chest.
Behind me, Kyrre growled and pressed his thick skull to my spine.
You were crying out, Roark gestured after he caught his breath. Your skin was cold. And this started bleeding again.
My husband lifted my wounded hand between us. The bandage was soaked, and the blossoms Emi had placed inside were blackened.
My shoulders rose in heavy breaths. Slowly, I told him of the dream—the attack on my mind—and how Fadey seemed to infiltrate my soul and my body with the help of the Jorvan queen.
Roark’s arms crushed me to his body again, his pulse as furious as my own. Damn the bones. He needs to die.
I pulled back. “We can’t reach him. He’s not wrong. No one knows he’s a melder. There isn’t a way to get close to him without drawing him out with the bones.”
Roark didn’t raise a hand to speak. I did not part my lips. What more was there to say?
Fadey had found us. This would only end if he or we found the power of the first king.