Chapter 21 #3
“He wasn’t there,” Soren said, rubbing his hands down his face. “We were all split up in different units still. He was off on a search elsewhere, but…” He broke off with a swallow that looked painful. “There is a chance he knows about how quickly Esme recovered.”
“He also most certainly knows that paranimas will follow each other into death,” Esme added. My stomach sank like a stone.
Suddenly, things seemed all too serious. More so than they always felt. “I guarantee you that Elijah shot Bellamy to see what Soren would do. He didn’t want you dead, at least not yet, but there was an ulterior motive there.”
I ran my hands down my face. God, this was a mess. “Soren, don’t kill me for saying this,” I said, “But we need a more serious protective detail on both of you. We won’t go full Royal security, but we can’t ignore the fact that at any moment they choose, Muli could take you both out.”
“I understand, and even agree,” Bellamy said carefully, diplomatically.
“I think they realize it would be unwise to do so, but you never know. Especially if or when they discover how to Cross. For all the Empire’s propaganda, they are right about one thing.
Muli’s population is larger than ours, let alone their natural advantage with strength. Invasion would not go well.”
An understatement. I was abnormally tall by Vir standards, but my height was considered only casually above average for Muli. They were closer to our shared sun, which afforded them an abundance of resources and strength.
“We need to focus on tomorrow,” Soren said, turning the focus. “What we can control right now. What do we need to know?”
Esme straightened, all of the sudden getting excited about the prospect of a new plan. She really was quite adorable. “I think we should test our theory. Try to figure out if those templates are old or something they are still using.”
“What about that book?” Bellamy asked. “You said it looked like something that was disregarded. Maybe we talk to a priest, see what they know. Next meeting with Caspian, maybe we bring up religion. We haven’t talked about it in depth yet, but we can float it.”
“It is the reason we’re here,” Soren quipped. “Our gods got into a marital spat.”
Everyone chuckled at that. It was still strange, to know that in at least some form, our deities were real. Our planets were the children of a God and Goddess who built the world as we knew it. Who gave us—or Vir, so far—the ability to travel in between worlds.
There was a moment where emotion gripped my throat.
Through that lens, Vir and Muli were like siblings.
Muli the older, stronger one and Vir the younger, but with a unique strength of its own.
The Bridge could have been a method of familial connection, bringing the two siblings together.
Instead, it had been something to sow fear and start war.
That was what happened when mere mortals tried to interpret the will of a deity. A lot of was lost, or ignored or twisted, in translation.
“This many years into things, I’m sure they’ve at least developed a way to make the Marks stick—hell, even going so far as to literally tattoo them,” I said, mind firing with ideas while I looked at the list Esme wrote, still in my hand.
“I wish it was as simple as tossing water on someone and watching the black ink drip, but I don’t think so. ”
“Probably not.” Esme looked genuinely disappointed, her lower lip poking out in a pout. I wanted to take it in between my teeth.
There was a horrifying moment where I thought I’d said it out loud, seeing as Esme’s eyes went wide. Maybe she could just read it on my face. That, I was fine with. I didn’t need Soren up my ass until we figured things out between us a little more.
To be fair, he was lucky he was sorting things out with Bellamy while I was still under the impression the Bond had skipped me over. If I’d known what I’d known now, I would have taken far more opportunities to make fun of him.
Bellamy continued like I hadn’t just turned dumbstruck and allowed a pregnant pause to pass.
“I say we go after the priests first. Freya was likely taken by or into a service by Alice today. We can say that she came back speaking highly of it, and want to see it for ourselves. So that we can have something to share with those who are more religious.”
“Isn’t your mother quite religious?” Esme asked. “At least it seems that way on the news.”
There was a moment where Bellamy blinked, barely a second. I’d seen that look on Soren before. It was the Oh, I forgot I’m famous and my family members are not just my family members, they’re famous too look.
“Yes, she is.”
Esme nodded, pleased. “That then. It’s an open secret that you are negotiating this with dubious consent from your father. Say it’ll help in convincing your mother and therefore your father of this. Maybe they’ll be a little more forthcoming that way.”
It was a solid plan, one that began to chase away the panic that still sat heavy on my shoulders. Even then, there was a sickly feeling in my gut that things were only going to get worse.
The Bond, who famously knew all in the realm of gut feelings and instincts, had nothing to say to soothe me.