18. Where Loyalties Lie
Chapter eighteen
Where Loyalties Lie
H er body felt achingly out of reach. She couldn’t speak, think, or move. For someone else, something else was at the helm, forcing Solveig into a tight cage in the recesses of her mind.
“ Shhh little lamb.” Killian’s whispered words echoed through her. “Don’t fight. It will only make this worse.”
She ached where the sharp disks dug into her flesh. The green substance burned her scalp as a ghostly presence ripped her apart, tearing through her memories at will. And though it burned, she was grateful for the pain. For that miniscule shred of proof that she was still connected to her physical self.
“ My turn ,” a dark voice echoed through the void in her mind, “ why did you free Malik Etana?”
Solveig fought against them, but it was no use. They cut through her mind, peeling back the days to the moment she had decided to save Malik, leaving her raw. Exposed.
“ You’re playing a dangerous game, Princess. Shall I show these treasonous thoughts to your brother, or keep your little secret between us?”
Solveig’s blood ran cold as the words seared her mind, revealing who had seized control over her.
The Oracle.
Across the vast distance from Marrelin City to the Elysian Caldera, somehow, they had built a device capable of communicating with The Oracle directly. It relinquished just enough control to allow Solveig to respond mentally.
“What do you want from me?”
“ It makes no difference to me, child, whether you remain loyal to your family, as long as the balance of power does not shift. Remain devoted to me and you may do as you please .”
“Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?”
“ Your missed offerings over the last two years were enough.”
“They sent me to live at Luxenal Mine, prevented me from returning until now.”
Solveig sensed The Oracle digging through her mind again. Bile rising in her throat as they gouged into her memories of being sent away.
“It’s time for you to make yourself useful to us,” Queen Asta spoke from where she sat framed in light behind her desk.
“What will you have me do?” A younger Solveig whispered, staring down at the hands on her black leather clad thighs. She had known this moment would come, eventually.
“Luxenal needs a High Inquisitor. It’s rumoured to be a breeding ground for anti-magicist sympathisers. You are to be our eyes and ears. Judge, jury and executioner.” Queen Asta looked at Solveig’s hands then too, hands that now wielded terror. “Using all means at your disposal.”
“You want me to torture people,” Solveig said, meeting her mother’s gaze.
“If you must put it so bluntly, yes.”
“For how long?”
“As long as we deem necessary. You will remain there year-round, and your father shall give you special dispensation to skip your annual offerings. Your obligations to crown and country take precedence now.”
“Father doesn’t have the power to grant such an exemption, only The Oracle may do that.”
“Family first, Solveig. You will do as we ask, and we shall deal with the temple,” Asta commanded.
“I see you have been truthful.” The Oracle agreed.
“I believed they obtained your approval,” Solveig stated, though she had no way of knowing if The Oracle would spare her.
Silence reigned for a moment. The images in her mind remained still, frozen in time as Solveig sat suspended between the physical and mental plains.
“ What comes first, Princess?” The Oracle whispered.
“Balance.”
“ And who safeguards that balance?”
“The Oracle.”
Pain seared her consciousness once more, as though a hot poker was thrust straight through her grey matter.
“Your family had no right to deny me your offering, and I will deal with them. Yet I cannot ignore that not one person here trusts you. I see things, my dear, small pieces of a puzzle that are slowly coming together. Be careful.”
Solveig’s eyes flew open, their colour milky as she met Killian’s. Her mouth opened and a voice that was not her own spoke through her.
“The princess remains loyal. I have searched her memories and found nothing incriminating. The rescue was a moment of weakness, easily corrected.”
Killian bowed his head slowly. “Blessed Oracle, we thank you for your help in this matter.”
Solveig’s eyes fell closed once more, her limbs tingling as they slowly came back under her control. Piece by piece, The Oracle relinquished their grip, leaving a parting gift, a warning, etched in flame in her mind.
“You’ve crossed a dangerous line,
daggers sharp, power in decline.
You intend to hide,
but your hands are tied.
Your choices put us all on the line.”
Solveig woke with a start, gasping for air as tears spilled from her eyes. Her skull throbbed; scalp burned.
“WHAT WAS THAT?” she screeched.
“A gift from The Oracle to help root out the liars.”
Shall I keep your secret, Princess?
“The Oracle is at the Caldera. How is it possible that I could hear them?” She paused, staring blankly ahead. “Feel them, in my mind.”
Killian shrugged. “It’s not necessary for you to know.”
“It’s barbaric.”
“And that is why you will never be queen; you aren’t willing to do what’s necessary, Solveig.”
“Fifty dead prisoners aren’t enough for you?”
“Should’ve been fifty-one,” he muttered, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned against the pedestal.
Frustrated, Solveig reached for one of the disks attached to her scalp, intending to pull it free.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Killian smirked. “They need to cool off. Your skin will be delicate, rip them off now and you’ll give yourself some fresh scars to add to your collection.”
Solveig’s hands fell back to her sides. “Can you see the memories The Oracle rifles through?”
“Not yet,” Killian smirked, his eyes sparkling at the idea of being able to see into someone’s head. “They merely tell us what they have seen, in your mind and in the stars. A person can lie, but their memories, their destiny, cannot.”
“Who else have you used it on?”
“A few prisoners at the mine, ones scheduled for execution.”
“Why them?”
He regarded her as though she were missing the obvious. “Couldn’t risk them telling their allies about our new device.”
A chill skittered across her skin at his words. “You had me murder your test subjects?” she shouted, nostrils flaring, hands fisting. All this time, she believed she had been executing traitors and murderers when, in truth, they had been using her to cover their tracks. She was a fool. How had she not seen it? All this time they had preached about her being useful and what better way than hiding their crimes?
Killian’s eyes narrowed at the shift in her demeanour. “Perhaps The Oracle was mistaken. You don’t sound loyal to me.”
“No one ever said I had to be loyal without question.”
“Then allow me.” Killian surged forward. “You will do as you’re told; eat, sleep, walk and talk at our sole discretion. Mother wants you reminded of exactly who you belong to.” He ripped the wires from her scalp, one by one, as she resisted the urge to wipe at the blood trickling down her scalp. She wasn’t safe here, that much was clear. She needed information. Proof that she could use against them, and that lay within the castle walls. In her father’s office. She had no doubt they had a plan for her, and she had to be ready, but the only way to do that was to stay. To remain part of the fold. Discover their end and do what she could to stop it. No matter the cost to her, her soul was damned, regardless.
“Get up,” Killian spat. “It’s time to welcome you back into Torrelinian society.”
Killian took Solveig’s arm in a vice like grip, pulling her from the room and back down the dim hallway to stand before the doors of the main worship hall.