Chapter 11
ELEVEN
Nova
Iwas relieved to find that Eamon and Thalia were already with Bastian—which meant explaining everything wouldn’t fall to me, at least.
A good thing, given the current state of my thoughts.
From the look on my brother’s face, it seemed Eamon and Thalia had already told him the worst of it. I approached slowly, still trying to find a way to put the events of the past hours into something like a coherent speech.
Bastian spoke first. “So. Aleksander is here.”
I looked between him and the other two. “They’ve already explained everything?”
“As much as we could,” Eamon said, frowning. “There are still too many questions, though; it doesn’t feel like we’ve really made sense of anything.”
My brother massaged the space between his eyes—eyes that were bloodshot and accented by dark circles from lack of sleep. “It all sounds like another dangerous trick Lorien is attempting to pull. Are we really going to play right into his hands?”
“What do you think is the alternative?” I asked. “Ignoring him is just as dangerous.”
“I didn’t suggest we ignore him.”
“Then what are you suggesting?”
He didn’t reply.
“The world would be better off if we could just kill him,” Thalia muttered. “But nothing can ever be that easy, can it?”
We fell silent, thinking.
Eamon ran a hand through his hair, occasionally, absently clenching the wavy strands and tugging them, as he often did when his mind was racing. Cautiously, he said, “There’s a chance that taking up this quest is also our only way of truly killing him.”
Bastian looked more awake all of a sudden. “What are you talking about?”
“…Well, according to the memory Nova saw, Calista told Lorien that she didn’t intend to end him with this curse.
It seems to me that it was the opposite—she made him immortal by scattering his essence.
Dooming him to wander in pieces, to suffer indefinitely…
weakening him, but not completely ending him. ”
“So, if we gather him completely, we can end him completely?” Thalia theorized.
Eamon gave a barely perceptible nod of agreement; his gaze was troubled, though, as if he knew this theory was far too simple.
But I couldn’t help seizing on any and all hope, however precarious it might have been.
“This might reset the Vaeloran Cycle, too,” I pointed out.
“He said something to me after I witnessed that memory: And thus the balance of the realms was forever altered. I don’t think Calista meant for it to happen, but it’s a side-effect of him being broken and unable to pass on: The Vaeloran Cycle broke as well.
There should have been another Light Vaelora by now. ”
“Putting him back together will also put all of his power back together,” Bastian pointed out. “And there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to control that power, or finish him off before he does something cataclysmic with it.”
“We’ll have time to figure out how to deal with that,” I insisted. “My own powers are growing stronger, too. And Aleks is back, which—”
“Which only complicates things further.”
“He’s on our side.”
“He’s even more connected to Lorien than he was before. And there’s the question of his cousin, as well. They’re both unpredictable.”
“I trust them.”
My brother shook his head. “I understand why you want to, but...this is all incredibly risky.”
“More risky than letting Nova continue to venture back to Midna and try to force more magic into this realm?” Thalia asked, bluntly. “Because that wasn’t working particularly well, either.”
Bastian gave her a withering look.
Never one to apologize for speaking her mind, Thalia only folded her arms across her chest and stared right back at him. “Everything is a risk, given the crumbling foundations our world sits upon,” she added.
“…The more immediately pressing thing,” Eamon put in, “is that we have no idea where to begin, should we choose to undertake this task. I’ve been wracking my mind, trying to think of any clues I might have come across in my studies, but I can think of nothing that suggests where Lorien’s so-called mind, body, and heart might be hidden.
There are no maps to follow, and the words of the curse suggest we’ll find these pieces in more than one realm, which makes it all the more daunting. ”
I started to agree, until an idea did occur to me—a memory of the strange energy I’d felt when Thalia and I had been exploring the ruined library in Midna the other day. That library was very close to the room where Calista had cursed Lorien. Could there be more clues waiting there?
I’d been overwhelmed by the clearly powerful magic saturating that spot, but maybe with Aleks and his power beside me…
“I still don’t think pursuing this will end well,” Bastian said. With a resigned sigh, he added, “Though I can’t deny that it all warrants closer consideration, if nothing else.”
“Yes,” I agreed, quick to seize on any chance at hope once again. “And I think I know where to start looking, at least.”
After leaving my brother’s office, I headed straight for my room to prepare for another trip to Midna.
The less time Bastian had to overthink our plans, the better.
I was beyond exhausted, dangerously close to delirious from lack of sleep. But I had a plan now. A target. A purpose that carried my feet forward with little need to think.
I walked past the study where I’d spoken with Zayn earlier, ducking inside to see if he was still there—he wasn’t. I wondered if he’d gained the courage to go speak with his cousin. And what happened next?
Would he come with us?
Should he come with us?
Was my brother right to be concerned about whatever invisible marks Lorien had left behind on both Zayn and Aleks?
Of course he’s right.
He was right more often than I wanted to admit, and it was annoying.
I shook my head to rid it of the doubts creeping in. Caution was fine. But we’d taken them back, hadn’t we? Zayn was entirely free—I could still remember the violent way we’d ripped Lorien out of him; I’d had far too many vivid nightmares about that moment to forget it.
And as for Aleks…
I braced my hands against the chair Zayn had occupied earlier, gripping its worn velvet so tightly my hands started to go numb.
Staring at the dying embers in the fireplace, I made a promise to myself: Aleks was mine, and I was his, and there were some things that couldn’t be taken from us, no matter what came next.
As I turned back for the door, I nearly collided with Lord Renvar.
He’d clearly followed me in—and silently, at that. Even now, he moved with the quiet, stalking grace of a predator as he stepped into the room. He stopped entirely too close to me, blocking the path to the door in a very deliberate way.
“Lord Renvar.” I lifted my chin. “You startled me.”
He gave a slight—somewhat mocking—bow. “My apologies. I would have announced myself, but you seemed too caught up in your thoughts to notice me, anyhow.”
“The past day has given me a lot to think about.”
“Yes; the chatter in your halls has given me much to consider as well.”
I swallowed hard. “I should be going.”
“What has you in such a rush this morning? Another trip to the camps at the Edge?”
“No.”
“Then perhaps there’s something more pressing we need to discuss?”
“I’m afraid that’s between my advisors and me for the moment.”
“Such rudeness, keeping secrets from your guests.”
My gaze darted to the door, sizing up the tiny space not blocked by the lord’s large, powerful body. He had a very obvious size advantage over me, but maybe I could slip through if I caught him off guard and knocked him off balance.
“You know,” he said, “There was a time when the Rivenholt Court was considered among the most gracious and forthcoming of all the royal courts.”
“Much has changed these past centuries.”
“Indeed, it has.” He moved even closer to me.
I held my ground. “Get out of my way, Renvar.”
“Answer my question first. What are you plotting this morning?”
Cold energy swept between us, summoned by no more than my tense breath. Shadows bled across my skin like watercolor paint, little tendrils slowly rising up and arching back in a threatening manner.
Whether he’d been hoping for an excuse to fight, or he simply panicked, I don’t know—but Renvar reacted quickly, one hand pressing against the wall beside me, caging me in, while his other hand took hold of my jaw, squeezing tightly as he forced my gaze to his.
My shadows swirled chaotically.
But before I could truly retaliate, the fireplace flared brighter. The sconces along the walls ignited in a flash, and a violent surge of energy followed, so sudden and so intense it took my breath away.
Lord Renvar spun toward the doorway, wincing in the sudden brightness.
Seconds passed before the light settled enough to reveal Aleks standing there, glaring.
The lord’s mouth opened and closed several times before words came out. “Is that…”
“It is,” Aleks replied, sauntering inside.
Renvar’s head swiveled back to me. “So it’s true. This is the secret—another reckless, questionable choice you’ve made, inviting this beast to walk freely in your halls.”
“Get away from her,” Aleks warned, his voice low and deadly.
Renvar didn’t listen. His hand fell to the same place as before, crowding me back against the wall. Except, this time, his other hand moved toward my throat.
A mistake.
In the span of a heartbeat, Aleks had crossed the small room and taken hold of the back of his neck. With terrifying ease, he ripped him away from me and threw him into the nearest wall.
The lord immediately started cowering, scrambling to brace himself against that wall, but Aleks didn’t stop there. He took Renvar by the throat and jerked him upward, his hand a noose hanging him in place.
I was so stunned by the violent movement that it took me a moment to choke out a command. “Let him go, Aleks.”
His grip only tightened as violent light crackled around his body.
Lord Renvar coughed and sputtered, his feet sliding and stumbling for purchase, trying to stretch to the ground in order to take the pressure off his throat.
“Stop!” I pleaded.
Aleks went perfectly still. The light—both around him and all throughout the room—dimmed. But his grip remained fixed. And the power that emanated from him didn’t feel dimmed at all. It felt like it could have swallowed us whole, burned us up into nothing but dust.
“Aleks. Please.”
Slowly, he removed his hand and took a step back.
Lord Renvar dropped to his knees, glaring up at us in hatred and rage. He took a moment, seemingly gathering what remained of his dignity, before slowly rising to his feet and leaving without another word.
Once he was out of the room, Aleks tilted his face toward me. “Are you okay?”
I stared, heart pounding, unsure of how to answer.
I’d missed having him here to fight for me, yes. But the look in his eyes a moment ago had been…frightening.
And that power still radiating off him…
A thought crawled through my mind, raising a chill along my spine.
This isn’t the same Aleksander I lost.
I brushed it off. Because of course he’d come back different. How could he not? He’d said it himself: Lorien took pieces of him when he left. It would take time to fill in those empty spaces, to fully come back to his normal self, his normal control.
“I’m fine,” I said. “But Lord Renvar isn’t worth such violent energy—or any energy, for that matter.”
Aleks looked to the doorway, as though he was still thinking about chasing that foreign diplomat down and making him pay a higher price for touching me.
Another shiver crawled down my spine.
“Come on,” I said, hastily taking hold of his arm. “We have bigger things to worry about.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched, but he relented, allowing me to steer him out of the study and toward my room. He seemed to relax quickly once my hand was against him, though his magic continued to throb in the space around us.
Dangerous.
It felt dangerous.
“You were supposed to be resting,” I reminded him, trying to force a calmness into my voice that I didn’t truly feel.
“Your magic felt anxious. I couldn’t ignore it, so I came to find you.”
My cheeks warmed as I wondered, again, at the depth of our magic and connection.
“And the moment I saw that man touching you…” He trailed off, shaking his head and slipping his hand into mine, his thumb tracing my palm as we walked. Then he abruptly pulled me to a stop, his grip on my hand tightening as he brought us face-to-face.
“…I’m fine,” I repeated. “It’s all fine, and I… I’m glad you were there.” I stared into his eyes, trying to reassure myself, to convince myself that nothing about them had changed.
I couldn’t stop replaying what had happened in my head, thinking of how disastrous it would have been if he’d actually harmed Lord Renvar. Or worse.
I wasn’t fine.
None of this was, really.
But I couldn’t dwell on it along with everything else. Eager to change the subject, I instead recounted the meeting I’d had with my brother and all the plans we’d made.
“We need to pack for Midna,” I told Aleks. “I can’t say I’m thrilled at the thought of going back there already, but...”
He gave my hand a little squeeze. “We’ll be fine,” he assured me, “as long as we’re together.”
As long as we’re together.
I managed a nod. Even as the memory of his violence continued to storm through my mind, I stretched onto my tiptoes and kissed him, and I refused to think about all the things waiting to tear us apart.