Chapter Four
A Reunion of Swords and Muffins
“Okay, I’m gonna need you all to stop staring.” My cheeks heated. “You’re giving me a complex.”
“Apologies, love.” Briar offered me a tight smile. “I’m in shock.”
“Join the club.” I slumped on the bench cushion. The warmth of Rowan behind me helped my nerves. “This whole mess is why King Silas hired Nocturne to track me down. Probably how the rumors of the lost treasure of Haran started too.”
That caught Duke’s attention. He’d been the first one to ever tell me the story. “The treasure Prince Elias stole? You know what it is?”
I nodded. “Me.”
“Explain.” Maddox stared, questions blazing in his eyes. For such an authoritative, sometimes intimidating man, his eyes shone with a rare softness when regarding me.
“Reign sensed magic in me, remember? He said it was the purest energy he’s ever felt.
” I tried for a smile, but it fell short.
The air felt too heavy. “After breaking the treaty, my dad sailed back to Haran to try to propose new terms. My mom went with him. It’s how all of this started.
A seer from King Silas’ court sensed that same energy coming from her.
Well, from me. She was pregnant with me at the time. ”
“Makes sense.” Duke nodded. “The story claims that Prince Elias stole a treasure from Haran after he broke the treaty. King Silas then sent Nocturne to find him.”
“The truth is they weren’t after my dad,” I said softly. “He never stole anything. He was protecting me. I was the target from the very beginning.”
Briar took his glasses off and rubbed at the lenses, visibly shaken. “I’ve done a lot of reading in my years, researching all types of magic and associated abilities. Children of light and dark are legendary among magical scholars, but they’re more commonly known by another name.”
“Lord of the muffins?” I asked, going for humor because I was nervous. “I knew it.”
“The mage Lupin more than likely kept the more well-known name a secret to protect you.” Briar gave me a tight smile. “You’re the Hallowed Saint.”
“I’m the what?” The wires in my brain sparked and sputtered out. Lupin hadn’t mentioned that. “Sorry, but did you just say saint?”
“Yes,” he answered, more apprehensive now. “Though I wish I were mistaken, love. Because if you truly are the Hallowed Saint, you are in more danger than any of us realized. Not only from King Silas but from every other kingdom who learns of your existence.”
Now I really felt like I’d been dropped into an isekai anime plot. Not only had I been whisked away to a fantasy world, but I was some type of magical holy saint character too, defeating bad guys with the purity of my man-boobs or whatever.
“What do you mean by him being in danger?” Maddox asked, crossing his arms.
Briar slowly exhaled. “Legends claim that saints arise in times of great conflict. They’re believed to possess immense power and can turn the tide in war. For this reason, when a saint appears, every nation wants control of their power.”
“A power that helps fight wars?” I rubbed at my eyes, feeling a headache forming behind them. “This is all so crazy. What even are these so-called powers?”
“I wish I had the answers, love.” Briar offered me a small smile, his hazel eyes glassy. “Alas, all I know comes from what’s been recorded in books. To my knowledge, there have only been five other saints before you. Each one was used in war.”
A sobering expression crossed Maddox’s face.
“Could this be the reason the demon lord wishes to imprison Ev?” Callum asked, his shoulders rigid. “He knows of his rare power and wishes to keep it for himself?”
“Possible, but unlikely,” Briar answered. “If Lord Onyx knew the truth, he would never have allowed us here. Too great a risk. He would’ve locked Evan away the moment he learned of it and forbade any of us from seeing him again.”
That was reassuring at least. But what would happen if Onyx ever did learn the truth?
“So, our little thorn prince is supposed to be a hero of old?” Duke scratched at his jaw. “A champion who leads armies to victory and brings peace to the world?”
“Me? Heroic?” I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“Not all heroes fight in battle.” Lake smiled back at me from his place in front of the hearth. “You’ll bring peace to the realms one muffin at a time.”
Rowan snickered. His hand shook, though, as he played with my hair.
“Now that I think about it….” Briar stood and walked back and forth in front of the hearth. He got restless when on the brink of a big revelation or when explaining something that excited him. “Yes. It all makes perfect sense.”
“Mind sharing with the rest of us, Specs?” Rowan said.
Briar spun around to me. “Your powers are still dormant, I presume, but signs of them have already appeared. It lies in your food.”
“My… food?”
He looked at the others in the room. “How many of you have felt a surge of warmth when eating or drinking something he prepared?”
The trio of knights raised their hands. Callum and Maddox nodded. Rowan’s fingers trembled again in my hair.
“Baking muffins?” I dryly asked. “That’s my superpower?”
Why couldn’t it have been the ability to move things with my mind? A self-cleaning kitchen would be a dream. Mops that cleaned the floors on their own and dishes that washed themselves.
“No, love.” Briar’s nose scrunched in that boyish way I found cute as hell. “Your power comes from within your heart and is represented in your will. You put love into your food when cooking for us, so that’s how we feel when eating it.”
I considered his words. “When Stryder took me from the castle, he said the king was supposed to die the night of the ball. That the poison used on him was strong enough to kill a full-size monstrous boar with a single drop. And the king had five drops. He blamed it on my coffee.”
“My theory holds merit then.” Briar nodded. “It also coincides with what I’ve read of the other saints. Each had the power of purification. The ability to chase away darkness, counteract poisons, lift curses, and destroy dark miasma.”
“Dark miasma?” I asked.
“Energy that corrupts everything it touches,” he explained. “The former demon lord, Lord Malachi, used it in the human and demon war. It tainted the hearts of Bremloc’s forces, creating chaos among the ranks. Turning soldiers against each other and driving others mad.”
Lake’s ears lifted. “Did a saint help back then?”
Briar nodded. “Saint Vera. Based on my research of Bremloc’s history, Vera had been a shipwright’s daughter from a neighboring city. Grew up poor. Then, in the midst of the war, her powers awoke, and she helped the kingdom by dispelling the miasma and defeating Lord Malachi.”
Lupin had told me the former saint came at the height of the human and demon war. I just hadn’t known the details.
“How did she defeat him?” Rowan asked.
“She purified the darkness in him,” Briar answered. “In other words, she tore the mana from his core and destroyed it, stripping his powers and making him defenseless. King Paris then took his head.”
After meeting Lord Onyx, the details of his father’s death filled me with conflicting emotions. Sure, it sounded like he’d been pretty ruthless with the whole dark miasma thing, but which side had started the war in the first place?
Every villain was the hero in their own story, after all.
“Not sure I’m cut out for this hero thing,” I said, resting against Rowan.
His peppery scent calmed me. “Definitely don’t see myself purifying darkness or facing down armies.
Have you seen me with a sword? Callum has.
Just ask him how that went. Or, better yet, ask his foot. I dropped the sword on his pinky toe.”
Callum breathed out a laugh. “It left quite the nasty bruise.”
Maddox stood with a defeated set to his shoulders. My rambles hadn’t helped dissolve his tension or worry. “When does a saint’s power fully awaken?”
“I couldn’t say.” Briar adjusted his glasses with a tremble in his hand. “However, when they do, every nation will fight for the chance to claim Evan as theirs.”
Silence filled the space between us. The only sound in the room came from the faint crackle of flames against the firewood. Expressions were pinched, probably everyone processing everything that we’d learned.
“Enough of this talk.” Maddox squeezed both hands into tight fists at his sides. “Our priority for now is what we’ll face inside this realm, not what lies beyond it.”
“Aye.” Baden nodded. “Evan is our prince, and we’ll protect him from any who dare tries to harm him.”
I sighed. “No one will be harming anyone here. Lord Onyx said—”
“That you’re his prisoner,” Maddox snapped.
“Honored guest who’s forbidden to leave, actually,” I corrected.
His eyes narrowed.
“You know.” I grinned. “You’re really handsome when you glare at me like that. All snarly and stuff.”
Maddox lost some of his ire. The man was the embodiment of one of my favorite book tropes: the grumpy one who was soft for the sunshine one. All it took was a smile and bat of my eyelids, and he was puddy in my hands.
Well, most of the time.
“The hour is awfully late.” Duke whistled under his breath. “Suppose we should be heading back to our room?”
“Aye,” Baden responded.
“I’m good here,” Quincy said before being shoulder-checked by Duke. “Ow.” He rubbed at his arm before his eyes widened. “Oh. I mean, aye, we should retire to our room before that demon returns.”
The three of them tossed us grins before excusing themselves from the room and shutting the door. Heavy steps echoed down the hall before growing distant.
“I thought they’d never leave,” Rowan muttered, hopping down from the windowsill. He gave me a look that had all my blood rushing south. “Now let’s find out if you taste as good as I remember.”
***
Callum slowly bucked his hips and tipped his head back against the pillow, eyes rolling back. “Ev. Don’t… stop.”