Chapter 46 Powerless
~ MELEK ~
Around and around and around. Gall chased me over benches and behind pillars. Two of the tabletops were now splintered by that axe already, and another would be in a moment if he continued this way.
We were both exhausted, and his eyes pinched with fury. But he’d stopped screaming at me to stop talking. Which I was still doing between panting breaths.
I had to pray he hadn’t stopped listening.
Then the moment came—Gall, in a burst of fury, swung the axe recklessly, burying it in the thick wood of the tabletop again.
Had this been a true duel, I would have run him through with my spear. He stood, one foot forward, both hands stretched up the axe-handle, baring his ribs to me on this side.
Hell, even without a weapon, I could have killed him.
To prove it to him, I leaped—dropping my shields to hook his forward arm and pulling it around his back at the same time I locked the opposite wrist and lifted him away from the weapon, and the table, into the clear space in the room.
Gall snarled and bellowed, struggled and swore—and was far harder to overcome than he’d ever been before—but in the end, my superior skill won, and we stood in the middle of the slate floor, Gall’s arm locked behind his back, and my other arm around his throat, keeping him locked to me.
He spat and snarled like a cat, fighting me, but finally we stopped, both panting, him hunched forward, and me holding his arm so he couldn’t move without breaking his shoulder.
“Relax, Gall,” I whispered in his ear, suddenly filled with grief because he roared and shook with frustration, and I hated making him feel that way. “Please, listen to me.”
“I’m never listening to you!”
“Why not?”
“Because you lied to me and you didn’t trust me, and then everything you said turned out to be wrong.”
“I know I hid things, Gall, and I regret that now, but I wasn’t wrong about who Lucifer is, or—”
“He’s my grandfather!”
“He’s a Fallen Angel, Gall. Do you know what that means?
! He’s literally the evil that haunts this world—the reason you feel pain, and that danger exists.
He defied the Creator, and tried to take His place in this world and now we’re living out the consequences.
You’ve seen it. Do you understand, we’re doing exactly what he wants by being angry and fighting each other. ”
Gall shuddered. But his body was wracked. Waves of trembling rippled through him, as he cursed and struggled with me.
“Kill me, then! If you think I’m evil, you kill me!”
“Gall,” I almost wept. “I’d never kill you.”
“Then why are you fighting me?! Why are you here?”
“Because what you’re doing is wrong—what Lucifer did to you, to bring you here, is wrong.”
“He made me smart! He made me strong! Look at me—I’m a king.”
“You haven’t had a moment of peace or joy since he brought you here! Gall, look at yourself! Think! It’s not making you happy! All these things you have, all the ways you’re grasping… are you happy?”
Gall went still. “That’s not true,” he said quickly. But I felt him tense.
I dropped my forehead against his shoulder and sighed. “Please, Gall…”
“I love Izzy—”
“And Izzy loves you too. And he keeps you apart!”
Gall shivered. “You’re just trying to make me hate him so I’ll trust you,” he said sullenly.
“No,” I whispered. “No. I’m desperate. So, so scared he’s going to destroy you, and I know… I know this isn’t you. You aren’t the son I’ve always loved—the true you—and I’m terrified you won’t realize that until it’s too late.”
Gall's chest heaved, but he’d stopped struggling. Then he shook his head. “No. It’s a lie. Everyone lies. You all lie—you all hide. Only Grandfather—”
“Grandfather is corrupting you with the filth he calls life. You can be happy, Gall. You can be happy and healthy and love Istral, without all of this.”
When he didn’t answer, my heart began to pound for a whole new reason.
“Please, Gall. I’m begging you. I know you’re in there.
I know your true heart, your real mind—the joyful, sweet young man I’ve always protected and trained…
I know he’s still in there. I know you can see through this.
I know you can feel it. I know when you do you’ll be safe again.
I know you won’t kill me. And I’ll never kill you. ”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“Then let me go.”
I blinked, and my heart trilled.
Gall swallowed hard. “If you’re so sure I’m good, and you’re good. Then we don’t need to fight, and you can let me go.”
If that’s just Lucifer talking through his mouth, it’s a death sentence.
I was about to quibble. To negotiate. To soothe… but then my shoulders slumped. He was right.
There was only one way to prove to him that I wasn’t a threat, and that I’d embrace the Gall that had always been. I had to give him his chance to choose. Really choose.
I wasn’t na?ve. If I let him go, and didn’t fight, this could be it. There was no Istral here to heal me. No guards to defend me. Nothing.
Unless I stopped him, he would be free to kill me—and if he’d really given over, he would.
The only way to show him I wasn't a liar, that I meant what I said, was to step away—and give him the means to kill me. Please… God… protect me. Protect us both from that evil angel.
With a sigh, I pressed my head against Gall’s shoulder again, then nodded. “You’re right,” I croaked.
He didn’t reply.
I reached for Yilan, to send her love, but she was too far away.
Adrenaline flooded my system, but there was no other choice. I wasn’t going to hurt my son.
So, with a final, hasty prayer, I let go of Gall, released him from the headlock, and stepped back.
He blinked when I released him, then darted to the table and levered the axe out of the wood, turning immediately, eyes bright, and a half-smile on his face.
“I’m going to kill you. And I’ll enjoy it!
I’ll cut off your head and take it to Grandfather, and then they’ll all know I’m truly king, because I won! ”
I just stared at him sadly, then kicked away the shield and buckler that were near my feet, and raised my hands in surrender.
Gall growled. “Stop trying to fool me. I’m not a fool!”
“I’m not.”
“You always fight with honor!”
“I’m not fighting you, Gall. I love you.”
“Bullshit.”
I sucked in a breath. “I will never fight you. I will never kill you. I won’t—”
Gall screamed and rushed me, holding the long handle of the halberd in two hands, exactly as I’d taught him, and shoving that half-moon blade up under my chin so that I felt the pinch against my throat.
His face was only inches from mine, and he snarled at me.
I swallowed, and the blade shifted against my skin. A warm trickle slipped down my neck.
“I love you, Gall,” I whispered. “I will still love you—even if you do this. Just remember, he’s lying to you.
He can’t force you. He can only tempt you, or scare you into action.
It’s why he’s never killed me himself. Please…
please, if you see the truth of that, resist him. Even if I’m gone. Resist him.”
Gall’s jaw twitched. “I’m going to kill you now.”
“Please don’t hurt Yilan when I’m gone, or the babies.”
Gall froze. “Babies?”
I frowned. “Lucifer didn’t tell you? We’re all having babies, Gall.
You. Me. Jann. All of us—at least, according to him.
He could be lying about that as well, I suppose.
But I think… I think it’s something he needs to be true.
I think he wants to raise our babies—just like I raised you.
That’s why I wanted to see you safe and happy—all of us.
Our mates. Our children… Gall, we’re going to be fathers.
” I locked eyes with him and let him see I held nothing back.
“ I can tell you, there’s nothing in this world that’s made me prouder, than being your Papa,” I murmured.
Gall shivered. His hands clenched and unclenched on the weapon handle. He was starting to quiver. I stared right into his eyes and felt the love I had for him, and waited.
When he didn’t kill me, I spoke again. About how angry I’d been when I found him toddling around in a refuse pile, dirty and hungry and unattended.
About how much I’d wanted to see Gault dead for rejecting him.
About how proud I’d been of his heart—and how heartbroken I was by all the ways he’d been hurt.
How I’d hoped he’d be strong like this so he could prove to himself that he didn’t need to be ashamed.
The way I’d been so happy for him when he met Istral, and it was so clear they were meant for each other.
“…I’ve loved you longer than I’ve loved anyone,” I said, clearing my throat. “That’s why I knew the moment I heard you stood against my claim, that I couldn’t hurt you, Gall. Because if it was a choice between losing my love for you, or losing the crown… I knew which I’d give up first.”
Gall sagged, and his eyes screwed up tight. “Stop,” he breathed.
I shook my head, blinking back tears of my own.
“I’ll never leave you. I’ll never abandon you.
And I know… Gall, I know that even if there’s a mistake today…
I know you’ll never stop loving me, either.
Either together, or apart, you’re going to end up fighting him.
” I took a deep breath. “Resist, Gall. Resist. His only power is in the fear he uses to lead you. He’s persuading you of lies, and you’re the one taking the steps.
Resist, and he’ll have no power. Do you understand what I’m saying? If you resist… he’s powerless.”
Gall stared. I waited.
In the quiet of this echoing chamber, the roar of battle rose from nearby hallways and corridors. The fight was coming to us. I needed to get him out of here. I needed to keep him safe, but if he wouldn’t believe me…
As the sounds of distant fighting and dying slowly encroached, I continued to wait. Gall continued to stare.
Then he blinked and met my eyes again. But he didn’t remove the blade.
The ringing sound I recognized as the shock of blades scraping each other, and a wordless shout, echoed somewhere in the palace.
“They’re coming,” I said hoarsely.
“Who?”
“The men fighting for Lucifer, and the ones fighting for me—against him—they’re fighting for their lives Gall. And half of them are yours. So… what are you going to lead them to?”
Gall's eyes widened… but he leaned a little harder on the axe and a second trickle of my blood joined the first.