Chapter 13 Fated #2
“At least we have to assume there isn’t.
They’ve been searching for one since the start of this.
No one’s ever found another way to undo it now that Kieran Ceres is dead.
Nor locate Kieran Ceres’s alchemist and inventor of his weapons.
So we instead offer mortals the chance to enter our kingdoms. Instead of taking tithes, we offer incentives.
People will hesitate, but eventually they’ll come.
We have forever to wait. The immortals will ultimately realize that seizing people against their will has to bring our downfall.
I think I can convince them; it’s the mortals I worry about. ”
“I doubt they’ll come with the Wall in place.” The great mammoth of stone is formidable, and people won’t trust it, not in the next lifetime. “What if you destroyed it?”
His head tilts. “The Wall is what keeps magic here. To destroy it would release it across the lands.” He swallows, his jaw ticking.
“The reason you and the others were made into changelings is because a mortal body cannot hold magic long. It devours their life force, and without something eternal to feed on … it’s an ugly business.
It could eviscerate all of them, razing the lands.
And us? We might lose our immortality with it unleashed. ”
I shift uncomfortably at the horror of that thought.
“But I’ll need to become king first,” Draven says, his voice firm. “By any means necessary.”
I weigh his words in my mind, knowing full well he likely sees the possibilities of what he’s asking, spinning webs and cutting threads.
The politics of the immortals’ kingdoms are complex, but it’s not my first time thrown into a messy court.
I just need to know the players to try to manipulate the pieces.
But I’m not offering up that kind of assistance without reassurances.
My family’s protection first and foremost, and I want to know how far he’ll go to secure his crown, and if it will satisfy the revenge I so desperately crave.
Meeting his unbreaking gaze again, I realize he knows being this up-front with me risks his life, too. He’s trusted me with that much of him. Joining forces might be the worst thing I ever do or my best chance at getting everything I came here for.
“And how do you plan to do all that as king of Sedah?” I shuffle my queen, frustrated by his sudden silence. His gaze shifts, unfocused, as though mulling something. His black bishop slowly takes a pawn off the board.
“Come on. Try me, partner.” I’m exhausted by this cat-and- mouse game.
I use a knight to take one of his pawns, the little figures creating a line along the edges of our board. Tit for tat.
Draven sighs, deflated in the safety of this room. “I never thought I’d meet another World wielder … until you. You changed everything. Together, we could do what I feared was impossible. Arcadia is broken. We could heal it.”
I almost laugh. But for the first time since I’ve known him, he looks vulnerable. I’ve seen him coy, cunning, and charming, but this is something more. How old was he when he was Selected?
His eyes catch the flickering light of the fire as he tells me, “The War might be a distant memory one day, but for immortals it’s fresh.
For Altair more than most, and I fear things for mortals are about to become even worse.
My father has stood between Altair and all-out war, but without our tentative alliance, Altair may decide to test my father’s resolve.
I’m not convinced my father would stop him from grinding mortals to dust, even if he didn’t join him.
Then the seraphs will finish the war they started. ”
“Because of me,” I finish, my leg bouncing beneath the table.
“And me,” he adds. “But if you help me get my crown … I can forge a path to peace.”
After a short pause, he continues, “I know you don’t wish to be here, Rune. You wanted to be with your father, and perhaps kill a few of us along the way.” He smiles at my blunt stare. “But perhaps telling the world we’re fated will help your goals of seeing your family again.”
“And how is that?” I ask, arms crossed.
“It grants you protection as my intended. And royal power can stretch beyond borders. We could find your family, negotiate for them. People would be willing to do a lot for someone fated to the future king. They’d see it as a personal favor to me, one they could call in.
” His middle and forefinger hover above his black king and queen for emphasis. Seize power. Reunite my family.
“But I have to marry you first?”
“Yes. Two World Arcana would command the respect of the entire Court, and we need them.” His gaze falters, skirting from mine as though we are caught in some dance. His fingers caress a rib, as if he’s tucking his heart back into place. “There’s so much you don’t know, Rune.”
“Oh, well, I wonder why,” I spit sarcastically.
“But I will tell you everything. And as for marriage, once you’ve helped me take the throne, you have my word you can just walk away.”
“You’ll let me?” I narrow my eyes, but from the way he takes me in, I can tell he’s not anything like the Lord of Westfall. There’s strength in his humility, even if he rarely shows it.
“Yes. And I doubt anyone could stop you from doing whatever you wanted once you’ve harnessed the full potential of the World.” He smirks and gestures at the board. “It’s your turn.”
I realize it’s not just him who could win, but me. If I take the chance.
“Our fated status would be to convince the Court, and our marriage political only … if you wish.”
I study him a moment, slouched in that chair, head back, throat exposed and vulnerable.
I believe him. All of it. Maybe it’s stupid, but my instincts are usually right. I square my shoulders and lean over the board, quickly moving a piece closer to his king.
“You keep using that word. What the hells does fated mean?” I ask.
He seems relieved that I’m still willing to listen.
“For druids it’s like soulmates. That we’re bound to each other by fate,” he says, moving an onyx piece from the chessboard, the bishop again, to capture my white marble rook.
“The Court can’t deny that kind of claim without evidence; it surmounts anything: love, arranged betrothals.
” He grins, a clever fox. “It’s important for it to be believable.
That guise would allow you certain privileges, and me an incomparable ally, so that I can do what must be done. ”
He levels a look at me, and I know that being with him will mean far more than a ceremony and our names written side by side. “I don’t demand a small price, Rune. But a steep one. I need your help to make Arcadia safe for everyone. That means taking the throne. All of them.”
The vision reemerges in my mind. Bloody hands and that crown of four kingdoms welded together over that snowy field, silent as a graveyard.
His gloved hands steeple, teeth clamping hard enough his jaw muscles flex. He really wants this. I doubt he’s even dared to voice it aloud, as it sounds awfully close to treason.
“You want to rule all of Arcadia? The druid kingdom isn’t enough?”
“You think I’m greedy?” There’s a slight scoff to his voice, as if he assumed that would be my reaction. Yet he speaks as if he sees a future that I can’t, one he believes in as much as if it were right before him. Every time I make a move now in our chess game, his is instant. Too far ahead.
“I don’t want their lands or power. Only safety for my people.
For all people. King Altair has positioned himself above my father and the elven king, readying himself to become an emperor, a tyrant.
But why should he lead? So long as he’s in power, we’re all at risk, and the elven king may as well be his lapdog.
Altair will oppress the mortals and eventually other immortals, too.
Someone is going to rule all lands in this game of kings, so why not me? Why not a queen, too?”
I pause, looking at the chessboard, lost in thought.
King Altair was terrifying, powerful. I don’t think I’ve looked into eyes that held so much disdain before.
But I didn’t ask for this, fighting to save the very immortal kingdom I’ve hated all my life.
Though, I’d be saving the mortal realm with it.
“Fixing the world is a nice dream, Draven. But practically?” Even girls untouched by the Selection were faced with the kinds of limited options I was.
The stark differences between haves and have-nots was smothering.
A world so dark any sparks of light that entered it were quickly snuffed out.
I try to not think of Kiana’s beautiful smile, swallowing hard. “Where would you even start?”
A smile blossoms on Draven’s lips, the first genuine one since we retreated here.
He can see my openness, that I’m willing to at least hear him out.
Running a hand through his silken dark hair makes me wish I could comb through it myself.
I look at the board and realize he’s already won but never announced it.
“There was a prophecy once … that someone would draw the World as their Arcana and gather four fabled artifacts to save us from ourselves. The Arcadian Artifacts. I’ve seen the prophecy myself.
My father called the Arcadian Artifacts a fairy tale.
” His eyes glimmer in the darkness. “But after seeing that crown in your hands, I believe they exist. You’re the key to helping me find them. ”