Chapter 16 #2
“You don’t, Theodora!” He shouted the words, pausing only when he noticed my flinch. With a heavy swallow, he sighed. “You have no powers. You can’t kill people with a thought anymore or blow away your enemies. Stop acting like you have powers to justify your actions.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I glared daggers at him, my upper lip curled back from my teeth.
Caldrius laughed darkly. "That you don’t know what I’m talking about proves my point exactly.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and lifted my brows, waiting for a further explanation. Caldrius mirrored the stance, taking two steps towards me as he did.
“You’re fucking impulsive, Thea, and frankly arrogant. In fact, you may be the most overly self-assured person I’ve ever met. Which is saying something considering how many people I’ve met over the millennia I’ve existed in the Underworld.”
My skin heated in anger, the weight of my dress against it becoming uncomfortable. “Keep waiting for that thank you from me.”
He moved towards me so rapidly that I stumbled backwards, bumping into the bar cart. Glasses fell, shattering onto the hard floor around us. It was only the overwhelming amount of dark tulle in my gown that kept it from piercing my ankles.
“You’ve always done whatever you damn well please because deep down you knew no one could stop you.
” Caldrius continued without blinking, not paying any mind to the glass shards that now crunched under his boots.
“No one was anywhere close to standing against you. But now? Without that magic, you’re the weakest person in this entire castle. ”
“You’re wrong,” I whispered, but his smile only sharpened viciously as he took in the tears welling in my eyes.
He took one more purposeful step towards me, and this time, I had nowhere to run away to.
“Am I?” Another step. “I believe that I’m not the only one who has pointed out this flaw of yours before. That prince you love so much recognized it too, didn’t he? He also criticized you for not considering the consequences of your actions.”
Another step. His chest brushed against mine.
“The game has changed now, darling, and you are ill-equipped for the new rules. If you want to play with Gods, you need to think smarter.”
My hair brushed against my cheek as I turned away from him, unable to meet his gaze as the first tear streaked down my face. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of letting him see me cry.
“And what would you suggest?”
Fingers wrapped around my chin, forcing me to meet his dark eyes even as I tugged away.
“I lost my magic once too,” he confessed softly, his head angling down towards mine. “When a Descendant dies, the connection to their ancestor does too. I arrived in the Underworld as a king without a crown and a warrior without powers.”
His skin against mine was uncomfortably warm to the touch, and yet he gripped my chin, refusing to let me look anywhere but directly into the depths of his eyes.
“So, what did you do?” I whispered, voice quivering.
“I did what I had to do to become second only to Hyrax himself. I did what you now need to do. If you don’t have any power, Theadora, then you need to figure out how to claim some.”
He dropped my chin, staring down at me for a brief few moments before backing away. Without his body pressed against mine, I felt freezing, moments away from erupting into tremors once more. I gripped the edge of the bar cart, relying on it to steady myself.
We stared at each other, matching expressions of disappointment on both of our faces.
“I have work to attend to,” he announced, folding his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “I’ll return for dinner.”
“Don’t do me any favors.”
“I’ve done plenty for you already.” Caldrius didn’t bother looking over his shoulder at me as he left. “And I’ll do more before this is all over.”
Time passed without meaning as I stared at the fire crackling in the hearth, unable to do much more than pick at my nails and turn over what Caldrius had said.
He was right, and he wasn’t the first person to point it out.
I acted without thinking.
I’d stood up against the Dragon because I knew I was more powerful than he was.
I’d agreed to stay in this castle because I had foolishly thought my powers would come back, and I could fight back against Hyrax.
All this time, I’d used my magic as a crutch that enabled me to do what I felt was right without having to consider anything else.
And now, without those powers, I had absolutely nothing to fall back on.
You have never truly been powerless.
I wondered whether Clay still felt that way?
Because I was powerless now.
A gentle tap sounded at the door, and my attention snapped to the windows where the sun was setting. I’d been sitting in front of this fire for hours already.
“Come in,” I called out, waving to the table in the parlor where I typically had my meals arranged. “You can place it there.”
The servant at the door bowed and pushed in the tray of food, allowing the suite door to swing closed behind him. I studied his movements as he began unloading dishes and organizing them without any real pattern onto the table.
My eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“A woman usually brings my meals,” I mused, reaching for the blade I’d hidden under my chair.
He was tall, with dark hair and sun-kissed skin. He wore the typical, simple champagne tunic and matching trousers of the kitchen staff, but he stood taller and moved more self-assuredly than they did.
And when he finished setting the table, he turned and looked me directly in my eyes.
I lurched to my feet, dagger in hand and outstretched.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
“Thea.” Dark eyes sparkled as they scanned over me, lingering on the blade before his lips quirked into an amused smile. “I needed to speak with you, and this was the only way.”
A strange tension filled my blood, and my grasp on the dagger wavered. I didn’t recognize the voice, and yet, I’d seen that smile before. Someone else had spoken my name in that cadence before.
It was impossible.
“Veric?” I breathed, not quite believing it.
His eyes scanned the room, checking to see if anyone else was lingering in the shadows, before he nodded, and the illusion fell. The jawline sharpened, the hair shortened, the skin darkened in complexion just a little.
And then my former betrothed was standing before me, tension obvious in his frame and urgency in his eyes. “I had a Faerie help cloak me. We don’t have much time.”
I glanced nervously towards the door, painfully aware of the guards that lingered outside. I grabbed his hand, pulling him further into the bedroom, out of sight in case the door should burst open.
“Time for what?”
He took the blade from my hands, setting it aside before meeting my gaze and slowly lowering himself to one knee before me.
My fingers began to tremble in his grip, my heart already recognizing what my mind couldn’t seem to grasp.
“What are you doing?”
“I would like to pledge my allegiance to you as my Queen.”
My mouth dried as a pressure slapped down on my chest. The firmness of his hand holding mine was all that kept me from stumbling backwards as the pounding of my heart became a drumbeat echoing through me.
No, he couldn’t.
He shouldn’t be doing this.
Not for me.
“I’m not a Queen.”
I wasn’t anything, not really.
Powerless. Princess of a stolen kingdom. Daughter of a vengeful God.
I didn’t deserve this kind of loyalty.
This loyalty would only get him killed if Hyrax ever found out.
Veric didn’t even flinch at my denial; he just stared up at me with an expression filled with so much trust I was sure he had made a mistake in coming here.
He’d watched me sit at Hyrax’s right hand as he’d attacked Damon.
How could he possibly still look at me like I was someone he considered a friend?
“You’re so much more than just a Queen, Thea. You’re a Goddess, and I know you’ll fight back against him. I know you. I know you’ll stand up for what’s right.”
He didn’t understand.
He didn’t realize that I’d lost any advantage I might have had.
“I don’t have magic anymore,” I spit out the confession, my eyes falling to the threading along the collar of his shirt. I couldn’t bear to look at his face, knowing there would be a flash of disappointment when he realized that he’d come here for help I couldn’t offer him.
“Look at me,” he said, the words like a question. “Please.”
Fire sparked in his eyes, a flash of gold so similar to how Clay’s eyes flashed, I felt my heart lurch with longing.
I needed Clay.
“I was prepared to marry you and spend the rest of my life serving you because I saw your kindness when you came to Tenebris,” Veric explained, still straight-backed on his knee before me.
“I saw your willingness to sacrifice your own happiness for your kingdom. And today in the throne room, I saw that same self-sacrifice again. I saw you willing to face Hyrax in defense of Damon.”
His voice cracked as he said his prince’s name, emotion flooding him so intensely that he had to clear his throat and shake away the moment.
I recognized it then.
I recognized the fire in his eyes. It reminded me so much of Clay because it was how my prince looked when he spoke about me.
It was a look of love.
“I want to serve those whom I believe in. That’s you, Theadora, with or without magic. My monarchs may have pledged their loyalty to Hyrax, but I am here to remain loyal to you.”
I didn’t know what to say. I barely even knew what to think.
“I—”
“I’ve come on behalf of Damon as well,” he continued, his words coming in a frantic rush. “He sends his thanks for your intervention and a request that I make this vow for both of us.”
“Vow?”
He bowed his head, resting his forehead against my knuckles. “We would like to vow our loyalty and honor to you, Theadora, Goddess of the Veil. We would like to vow our lives to you.”
Powerless.
Powerless.
Powerless.
I didn’t deserve this. I hadn’t earned this.
I was powerless.
If you don’t have power, simply take it.
A shiver ran down my spine. Caldrius had taken his power through strategy and cunning both in his life and in his death. He had climbed his way to the top and had no mercy for anyone he might have stepped on along his journey.
As much as I loathed to admit it, Caldrius was right in saying I needed to learn how to play by the rules of this new world.
He was right in saying that I needed to take back my power.
But I didn’t need to sacrifice who I was to do that.
Winning this war would never be as simple as magically defeating Hyrax. The kind of power needed to win wars came from many sources. It came from sacrifice, love, and friendship. It came from people who would fight with you, for you.
Veric had come here to offer me that power because he believed I deserved it. He believed that I could take the power he was offering me and make it count for something. He believed I could take this power and defeat Hyrax with it.
This was the power I needed to be willing to take.
“Okay,” I nodded, squeezing his fingers in mine.
Veric smiled up at me, and the world stilled as he bowed his forehead against my knuckles.
“I vow my allegiance to you, Theadora, Goddess of the Veil, Princess of the Light, heir to the Mortal Realm. I vow to honor, serve, and protect you for all my days in this realm and beyond. From this day on, I am your servant, and I vow to be worthy of that honor.”
The air was frigid, so cold that I couldn't think past this moment in time that we both existed in. I gasped at the sudden twinge in my gut, the phantom sensation of magic now lost, as the fire crackled behind me.
Veric’s chin lifted. His eyes met mine with a newfound look of determination.
“What is your order, Your Holiness?”
A million requests rose to mind.
And as fast as they came, they faded until there was only one that remained.
“I need you to deliver a message,” I told him, surprised at how steady my voice was.
Caldrius had called this a game. He said I was playing with Gods. This wasn’t a simple sport, though. There would be no winners or losers when my turn ended.
This was war.
There would only be survivors.
And I didn’t need any magic in my bones to know what I needed to do next to make sure my people survived this war.