Chapter 1 #2
We’d all have to run.
A twig snapped, and Vox’s gaze flew to the side, but it was just Hayle, his father, Iker, and my brothers. “You were efficient, Taeme,” Vox teased softly.
Hayle shrugged, coming to kiss my head, but not dragging me away from Vox to do it. He just crowded my back, and that one small gesture said everything. He was kissing me, but he was claiming Vox too.
Kian cleared his throat. “If you could not? That’s my baby sister.”
Rolling my eyes, I stepped out from between the guys, but not before running a reassuring hand across both their chests.
Lierick stood. “I’d like to reintroduce Eugene Rovan, the new and improved version.”
Eugene stood, a genuine smile on his face. “Hello, Heirs,” he said cordially. “Dirt scrabbler.” He addressed me, but there was none of his normal malice in it. It was pleasantly rude.
“I didn’t want to alter too much, as it’d raise suspicion. Run along, Eugene. Don’t want to miss the party tonight. I hear Ephily wants to dance with you.”
His eyes lit up. “Really?”
Lierick nodded, smiling gently. “She does. But you’re a mess right now.
Go clean up. I bet you could convince her to be your wife, if you’re persistent enough.
” He leaned forward. “She’ll never tell you this, and she’ll deny it in public, but stinkweed is her favorite flower.
You should pick some on the way home and leave them on her bed. ”
Eugene grinned wide. “Thanks, Lierick.” As he raced off into the woods back toward Eaglehoth, he seemed… happier.
“That was creepy as hell,” Hayle said, watching Eugene leave. He looked down at Alucius. “Make sure he gets there and doesn’t circle back.” Alucius yipped and took off after the Fourth Line Heir. “What did you do?”
“Removed the bigotry and malice, but left the better parts of his personality. So much of Eugene’s psyche was due to ‘lessons’ from his father. If I blocked those, it was easy enough to bring his slightly more endearing characteristics to the surface.”
“Endearing and Eugene aren’t even in the same dictionary,” Hayle muttered. “And you removed the memories?”
Lierick nodded, and a chill slipped down my spine.
“Eugene was the spy from last night?” Baron Taeme asked. “What aren’t you telling me, son?”
Hayle glanced at me quickly, but looked away. I knew he’d keep my secrets, even from his father. I hated making him lie to the man he respected so much.
Time for one of those leaps of faith again.
Taking a deep breath, I looked at Viktor Taeme—who looked so much like his son—then over at my brothers.
“I’m a Recreationist. I can reset time. We knew he was the spy, because we’ve already lived a timeline where he told Feodore Vylan, and Stanlus razed Boellium to the ground, slaughtering everyone below the Sixth Line.
They murdered Master Proxius and put his head on a pike in the middle of the courtyard. ”
The silence in the clearing was all-encompassing. Even the birds seemed to stop singing. It was like the world was holding its breath.
Hayle placed an arm around me, his palm resting on my hip. Vox twined his fingers in my free hand. Lierick stood off to the side, his face set in a grim mask.
If they took the news badly, would I let him erase their memories?
Selfishly, I knew the answer was yes.
“Since when?” Bach choked out. Kian just shook his head, like he already knew the answer.
Swallowing hard, I looked between them. “Since I was three.”
Bach stumbled back. “You really did kill her?”
Hayle growled low, ready to defend me, but I stepped forward.
“No. I didn’t kill her. But I’m still the reason she’s dead.
I reset time over and over, trying for a timeline where she lived, but I was three; I didn’t know what I was doing.
Fuck, I still don’t know what I’m doing.
But the Goddess intervened. I mightn’t have killed our mother, but I couldn’t save her either. ”
I looked imploringly at Kian. His expression was closed off, but his complexion was pale. Vox was stiff behind me, like he was ready to kill them, if they so much as hurt my feelings.
“I didn’t want her to die,” I whispered to Kian, and that seemed to snap Bach out of his shock.
“You were three. You loved her as much as she loved you. Of course you didn’t want her to die.” He sucked in a shaky breath. “I don’t understand. I…”
I walked to him slowly. “I know. It’s a lot,” I said softly. “Father can’t know.”
Bach dragged me into his arms. “Obviously, he can’t know. No one can know, Avalon. You have to come home. Not back to Rewill, but somewhere where we can keep you safe.”
Kian still hadn’t said anything. Every moment of silence broke my heart a little more. Would he forgive me? He’d shouldered the burden of her death even more than I had.
Suddenly, he blinked, swallowing hard. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
I let out a bitter laugh. “So much more. I can’t come home.
My fate has been written in the stars by the Goddess herself, and I learned the lesson young that there’s no circumventing it.
There are… prophecies. Histories filled with clues that our Line has always been on this path.
I can’t come home until I overthrow the First Line, and Feodore Vylan is dead.
Until the Second Line is restored. Until the Eleventh and Twelfth Lines don’t starve out of existence.
Until it’s no longer us and them, and Ebrus is united once more. ”
Bach snorted. “Well, that seems like a totally doable list. Should be done by Monday.” His smile fell. “I’m scared for you, Avalon. You’re my baby sister. That’s too much for one woman to do.”
“I’m scared too. But I’m not alone, Bach.” I looked over my shoulder. “The Goddess might have stolen something precious from me, but she gave me something just as beautiful in return.”
Kian let out a frustrated growl. “She stole from us all. What do we get in return?” he snapped, his voice rough.
“She’s still stealing from us. How am I meant to sleep in my bed up north, behind the fortress walls, when you’re out there trying to assassinate a psychopath?
I raised you, Avalon.” He stepped forward, gently cradling my face between his hands.
“I tried to protect you, even though I did a shit job of it most of the time. The Goddess stole my mother, my childhood, and now she wants to steal you from us too?” He shook his head, his jaw so tense that I wondered if he’d break his back teeth.
“She can’t have you. We’ve given enough. Let someone else do it.”
My heart broke for my older brother. “This is my destiny, Ki. There is no one else.” I hugged him close.
“Your destiny is to care for the people of our Line, the way you cared for me. To be a better man, a better Baron, than our father ever was. You have power you don’t even know you possess, if you could just reach it.
” I let out a frustrated huff. “I wish I had time to teach you, to show you the depth of your abilities, but Eugene fucking Rovan has ruined that too.”
Lierick placed a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Avie.
I’ll have Father send someone to the Ninth Line to help your brothers find their foresight abilities.
” He looked over the top of my head at my brother.
“You don’t have to shoulder all the burden alone anymore, Halhed.
The Second Line owes the Ninth Line a debt we can never repay.
I’ll protect Avalon with my life, defend her until my very last breath. ”
“Avalon means more to me than any other person in Ebrus. My life is hers,” Vox added, and I felt his air brush against my cheek.
“She is mine and I am hers,” Hayle added simply, his fingers brushing my spine, though he didn’t step any closer.
Kian looked between them all, then back at me. “Even as a baby, you were special. Mother called you her little gift from the stars, but I don’t think she could’ve known just how special you were.” He took a shuddering breath in. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”
Viktor Taeme cleared his throat. “Excellent question.” He slapped Kian on the back. “I don’t know your sister, but she is my son’s Soul Tie. The Third Line takes that seriously. She will have the protection of the Third Line, always. As will you. If you call, the Third Line will also answer.”
Something buzzed across my skin, and the forest noises restarted. Deep in my chest, I knew this moment was important.
It was a beginning, and I just hoped it was the start of something good.