Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
Aela staggered past the pale columns of Arieset’s Temple.
Ethereal light swallowed her form. Dank air filled her lungs, and she coughed.
She nearly gagged from the decrepit stench but kept her eyes pinned on where she had come through.
No one followed her. Turning in place, she took stock of her surroundings.
Pristine as the day it had been built, pale marble columns decorated the perimeter, leaving a large open space in the center.
Similar, yet far more opulent than the temple she had visited on Neser.
There was no throne, no altar. A flat marble ceiling capped the space, and before she could question the oddly eerie atmosphere, the air turned misty.
Aela looked down at her feet. Fog billowed up from the floor, thickening as it crept higher.
Before long, all she could see was a soft white glow as the fog encased the inside of the temple.
She lifted her hands in front of her face but could not see them.
“What do we have here?” an otherworldly, masculine voice said. “A daughter of water within my temple? Are you lost, little fish?”
Aela held her breath.
Holy Fates. Arieset. The first God.
“Ah, but not just water, are we?” The voice paused. “Are you a little fish or a little bird? Yes, I can sense Aquarenn within you as well… and something else. Interesting. Tell me your name, little fish.”
“Why?”
“You intrigue me. It has been ages since anything piqued my interest.”
“Aela.” The whiteness surrounding her swirled, and she could have sworn she glimpsed swaths of magenta and aqua against a dark sky for a moment.
“Ae-la,” Arieset rolled her name in a melodic tone. “Speak your intention, little fish.”
Aela had to tread carefully. Imagining herself on the cracked earth of Prente, she studied the various paths her questions might lead to before choosing her next words.
“I seek the Gods. We are aimless without your guidance—” the white fog seized her, choking off further lies.
“Ah, perhaps you are of Gemun with your two-faced lie and truth.”
Aela felt her feet drag off the ground as the white fog lifted her. Her kicks became feeble as Arieset voided her lungs of air.
“How would you use my fire, little fish? If I simply didn’t snuff out your existence here and now.”
The pressure eased just enough for Aela to croak out, “Vengeance.” Approving of her answer, the white fog released her, and Aela crashed to the ground.
“Vengeance is a common motivator. An entertaining one too. But you would know that first-hand, wouldn’t you? Tell me… what is it like being the last of your House? Are you lonely, little fish?”
Aela held silent. She wouldn’t give Arieset anything else. Thankfully, it seemed the God was unaware of her thoughts, which brought her small comfort. The crystal bands that dampened her magic also seemed to bow under the God’s power as her mind was once again completely her own.
“You intrigue me, Aela of air and sea. Bold enough to lie to a God, and wise enough to hold your tongue. I shall grant you my fire for a secret.”
“A secret?”
“Yes, time has been dreadfully dull and less and less of you attempt our Trial anymore. I will give you my gift for a token: a secret that no one knows.”
Aela’s mind raced.
“Don’t try to be clever little fish,” Arieset warned.
“I am afraid of myself,” she whispered.
The words came from the deepest part of her. They came from a place fostered early in life under the guise of protection. She was only dangerous to those around her. That was why she had to stay hidden, not to protect herself but to protect them.
Arieset breathed in her secret and sighed. “That… is something. Why are you afraid of yourself, little fish?”
Before she could stop herself, Aela’s voice ran away with more fragmented parts of her soul.
“Because I am powerful and have hurt others. I can’t comprehend the well of my abilities, and I am afraid I can’t control it. I’ve lost everything. Even when I seek to do good—to right wrongs—I’m afraid it will sweep me to the side and do as it wishes.”
Arieset laughed. “Oh, you are delicious,” he purred.
“I don’t want your fire. Keep my secrets—”
“Too late now little fish… I accept your token…” Arieset cut himself off. “What is this?” The sound of another inhale filled the air. “It seems you have more secrets to tell.”
Aela shook her head to no avail.
“I can almost taste him on you. My brother.”
Aela’s body erupted in flames.
Aela gasped as she stumbled down the steps of Arieset’s Temple.
Tarek was being physically restrained by several sentinels, and his eyes widened when he saw her.
Shoving them out of his way, Tarek lunged for her.
Elnath and the Asters seemed to wait expectantly for something.
Tarek’s eyes were ablaze with zealous light.
“Are you… did he…”
Aela had never seen Tarek at a loss for words. She glared up at him from beneath her lashes.
“Show me.” Tarek demanded.
Aela lifted her hands, revealing the crystal bands still in place, and something flickered across his face.
“I can’t, Aela. Not yet. You must be bound to me before I can remove them.”
“I see you didn’t take our advice and chose the bend-her-to-my-will approach,” came Eros’ voice.
Aela whipped her head to the side, seeing the Primary of Aries alone, unfazed at facing the Taureon host. She couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto her mouth. He was devastating. Darkness pooled at his feet, and a dark mist wafted off his shoulders.
I guess he’s no longer keeping his secret either.
Tarek’s hands went slack around Aela as he noted The Darkness shifting to stand beside her.
“What is the meaning of this?” Tarek demanded as sentinels formed at their Prime Apparent’s back. “We have a sanctioned visit.”
A sinister smile graced Eros’ face. Tarek went stiff.
“This is a holy planet—” Tarek shouted.
The Taureon sentinels formed a shield of starlight shaped like connected honeycombs, barring Eros from getting closer. The Primary of Aries crossed his arms over his chest and took a single step forward, his head tilting as his smile turned mocking.
“Pollux gave you permission to attempt the Trial. Not her.” The air around Eros shimmered, crackling with invisible energy.
“This is a private House matter,” Tala interjected. The Adjacent stepped beside her brother, presenting a united front. “This need not concern you or the likes of the Senate. Allow us to get our affairs in order, and we can reconvene.”
The Primary of Aries swept his golden gaze up and down the length of Aela’s body, ignoring Tala. Aela’s sleeveless white dress was covered in dust and singed at the edges. He narrowed his eyes at her torque and crystal cuffs.
“Aela,” he greeted, then swiped his sight to the Temple of Arieset. “You left in such a hurry. Glad to see you’re in one piece.”
Even though she hadn’t acknowledged him, Eros had damned her anyway.
“You… you’re with him?” Tarek stuttered, looking down at her.
“Oh, Tarek, there is so much you do not know,” Eros crooned.
“Tarek,” Tala cautioned. “This is not the time. If you continue, it is an act of war to challenge another Primary of a different House. Think very carefully before you act. The Senate might let you come back—”
Aela droned out their voices as they argued in hushed tones, her eyes finding their way back to Eros as they always did. A slithering sensation crept over her skin, and her eyes widened slightly, but she kept her gaze trained on him. Eros inclined his chin, a silent confirmation she was not alone.
Tarek was anxious to get back to Avarice, and so he abandoned his plan to acquire a formal bond with Aela from Taureal. He was content that Aela was contained, controlled, and now even more powerful.
Blessed of Arieset.
She could feel his—her—fire beneath her skin, coiling around her lightning and hissing at her water.
She scratched her neck and wrists, the skin becoming irritated again.
Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts that not even the crystal bands knew how to sort.
She was both numb and hypersensitive. She was aware while taking in everything around her and also void of emotion. Both and. Everything and nothing.
Eros allowed them to leave. Taureon sentinels ushered Tarek, Aela, and their entourage through the traveling rings. Aela felt golden eyes on her the entire way—even after blue light flared and took her back to Avarice.
Tarek was mad, muttering, and laughing to himself all at once as he dragged her through the palace halls to his study.
It had become more like a strategy or war room of sorts.
Tarek deposited her in a corner and began a hasty meeting with the summoned Majoris.
Tala breezed into the room shortly after their arrival.
To her surprise, the Adjacent went to her first instead of her brother.
“Are you alright?”
“We are not bonded, yet.”
Aela’s next words died in her throat. She was so used to hiding her power, her identity.
There was no point in denying her new magic, though—not with all the witnesses at Arieset’s Temple, along with everything else in her past that had finally surfaced.
She supposed she had to get used to stepping into the light, claiming her power.
She was out of hiding, and there was no going back.
“I am blessed of Arieset.”
Tala’s eyes widened, and she took a step back, glancing between the torque and bands, uncertain if they could contain all the power coursing through her.
When Aela was sure the other celestials in the room were engrossed in whatever they were planning, she rubbed at her forearm where she knew Sebaserpens lingered.
His black scales weren’t visible, but the sensations she had felt were undeniable, and Eros had all but confirmed his guardian was with her.
She dragged a hand across her forearm and whispered into her mind, just for Seba, unsure if the crystal bands also suppressed a mental connection.
When Seba answered, she sighed in relief.
The snake invisibly wound higher around her arm as Aela traversed the knife’s edge of control in her mind.