Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
LYVIA
While officially outlawed in the first dawn, spells of persuasion were dangerous and rarely successful.
– Forbidden Whispers of Persuasion, Restricted Root Level, Living Library.
Lyvia – Borva, Votruvia
Summer sunshine kissed my face as the soft, Votruvian breeze floated through my loose hair. Eghan House bustled with activity as Kellan directed meetings with the forge masters preparing the materials for the múritinne rings we’d use to arm our minds against Sintarrak.
The flap of a window curtain drew my eye, and I caught Mother Eghan’s face before it disappeared. I tracked her line of sight, and my chest clenched when I spotted Ezrich doing a series of centering exercises with Vulcan on the back lawn. Ezrich had healed incredibly well with her spells.
Heads up, Tiberius murmured into my mind, and I scanned the sky for my caeluma. A flash of black dipped behind one of the cottony clouds decorating the sky.
Drystan has a request, he laughed into my mind.
My brows narrowed in suspicion. Why do you sound so amused?
The door to the sitting room swung open, and Kellan strode into the courtyard. The slight tinge of red in his hair glowed in the afternoon sunshine. My heart squeezed as my mind drifted to his sister. What would Morwyn have thought about all this?
“Have you seen Drystan?” I asked as he rolled his sleeves up.
His dark eyes scanned the rolling hills draping his land, and he shook his head. His loose braids swayed as he reached me and he slipped a hand to my back.
Movement near the stables caught my eye as Isla and Drystan led the testy agrippa-mountain mare up the hill.
The breeze picked up, floating her thick gray forelock to the side.
Tempest was edgy, her hooves popping up too quickly as she trotted in place.
Drystan’s grip was firm on her reins, keeping her from bolting back to the pasture. I rolled my eyes. Mares.
“Tiberius says you have a request?” I signed as Kellan and I met the three of them halfway.
Drystan nodded as he halted, placing a hand on Tempest’s withers to calm her.
“We found Drystan’s caeluma,” Isla announced, taking a step back as Tempest’s hooves left dinner-plate-sized indents in the soft grass.
My brows shot to the sky, and I opened my mouth once before clamping it shut.
Is he serious? I asked Tiberius, to which my own pig-headed caeluma responded in a resounding cackle.
Drystan cut me a look.
“I know you think she needs more work,” he signed after shoving her reins in Isla’s hands. “But I feel a bond with her. She’s the one.”
I blinked, allowing myself a moment to clear my thoughts, and I released a breath. I trusted Drystan.
“Of course.” I nodded, stepping forward and raising an eyebrow at the agrippa mare.
Her ears flattened against her head as she met my gaze.
“Sure you don’t need a little power up?” Isla asked, her black brow rising as she scanned me. “You look a little tired.” Her amber eyes flicked to Kellan, and her lips tilted into a knowing smirk.
“I am not tired.” I scowled, rolling out my shoulders.
“Liar,” Kellan murmured beneath his breath. “And I’m not sorry.” His hand slipped to my braid and gave a little tug.
The movement alone was enough for me to lean into him, but I resisted the urge and strode forward to take Tempest’s reins.
“All right,” I muttered, leading the agrippa mare away from the small group.
I stood before her and reached into my chasm of power, listening for the clever little tune of the Transcindiel before closing my eyes. I smiled as the golden, transformative light lifted its head, and we soared up my consciousness together.
I wrapped it around my bond with Tiberius before I dove into the universe of threads connecting everything and everyone until it landed on that braided, silvery thread.
It sparked in the distance, tempting me with its gentle, warm pull.
I smiled at it, a flicker of recognition urging me to stop and wrap myself around its glittering magic.
I pulled my attention away from that silvery thread and toward the reed-like bonds of the Bellators. They swayed as I neared, a small one flickering eagerly as I passed, before I pinpointed Drystan’s. I shoved my power into its sparkling light, creating a new thread, a new bond. His caeluma.
The light escaped my outstretched hand in glittering swirls as I opened my eyes and directed its power around the gray agrippa-mountain horse before me. My mind replayed every memory of Drystan, every moment with my fellow Bellator—the joy, the hope, the challenges, the bond of our friendship.
The sparkling Transcindiel soared around Tempest in a wave of light as the power drained my energy in a sickening squeeze. I blinked against the shining light, my arm flying up to shield my eyes as it flashed, before guttering out entirely.
I heaved a sigh and took a step back. Kellan’s hands were on my shoulders, and my back pressed against his chest as I gathered my footing.
A fierce whinny ripped across the rolling hills as gray exploded in my vision. Tempest reared, her massive hooves inches from my face before Kellan whipped me back. Colossal wings, peppered with black and gray feathers, spread wide before us as Tempest’s wild eyes shot back and forth.
A smile stretched across my face as I took in her magnificent form. Another winged agrippa. As if reading my thoughts, Tiberius shot down from the sky, his hooves thundering against the cushy lawn.
My gut clenched and my smile disappeared as Drystan’s face fell.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, moving toward him.
He slowly shook his head, staring at Tempest as if she were a stranger.
“Do you feel—”
“I feel nothing.” He cut me off, the lashing movements of his hands sharp.
I reached for his arm, but he stepped away, an edgy wave of emotions slipping through his Bellator barrier. Confusion…hurt…hatred?
My chest tightened, and I threw up the mental wall between us, uncertain whether he knew he was sharing his feelings with me.
“What happened?” Isla asked, stepping forward as Tempest trotted off, flapping her wings awkwardly. “Did it work?”
Drystan shook his head, schooling his features into indifference as he shoved his spectacles up his nose.
“No, it didn’t,” he replied. “She’s not my caeluma.”
Silence rippled in the waves of the breeze that followed.
“It’s fine,” Drystan finally said, nodding his head, but his eyes dipped in dejection.
I lifted my hands to reply when he shook his head, a deafening crack ripping through the air as he vanished.
I held my hands out before me, staring at them as if they’d belonged to someone else.
Did I fuck this up? The exhausted Transcindiel harrumphed in my chest, offended by the question.
No. It had felt the same when I transformed Nishanth, Selvina’s caeluma…
When I’d transformed Aquila… But a bond hadn’t been created this time…
“You still changed her,” Isla said, jerking her chin toward Tempest.
My jaw dropped in realization. I hadn’t created a caeluma.
I’d created a new creature…a winged horse.
Possibilities exploded in my mind. What would a cavalry of flying horses mean for the Realm of Vael and the threat of the Embodied?
What about other creatures? Could I create warrior-carrying hawks, like Nishanth and Aquila?
Nightmares of flames and teeth flashed in my mind’s eye—winged beasts ripping at flying warriors. The frieze on the Rhashtai amphitheater and the one etched on the lid of Faron’s tomb… Had Ordell created new creatures to fight against the armies of the Embodied?
Isla’s amber eyes were hard on mine as she read my thoughts.
“We have work to do,” she said.
I came up short as I spun into the dining room, the savory scent of roasted pork luring me to the final dinner before leaving for Lotrennia. My feet skidded to a stop when I found it abandoned, except for Ezrich.
My stomach lurched at the sight of his hulking form taking up too much space on the small chairs. His brown skin was warm in the soft candlelight from the wrought-iron chandelier hanging above. Bear. He looked too much like Bear.
Ezrich twiddled his fingers as he looked at me. His light-brown eyes were pensive, as if waiting for me to say something.
I slowly stepped into the room and offered him a smile.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, slipping into the chair across from him.
“Physically, fine,” he murmured, crossing his big arms. “Mentally? Well, I suppose I’m still trying to catch up.”
My throat bobbed, and I nodded. Mother Eghan must have spoken to him then.
“I can imagine it’s a lot,” I murmured, dipping my gaze to my dirty fingernails. I could do more than imagine what it was like to find out you had a family you knew nothing about…
“My…” He paused, turning his head to the door leading to the kitchen.
“Grandmother,” I continued for him.
His wide neck bobbed. “She says I’m descended from the Starlings,” he murmured. “And that I could have the ability to do magic.” He paused, clearing his throat.
I nodded. “If it’s anything like Kellan’s abilities, you could be able to transfer power.”
“Kellan,” he murmured. “Lord Astraeus…is my uncle.”
“Mm-hmm,” I replied, feeling awkward as the conversation drew on. I scanned the doors behind me. Where was everyone?
“She says I’m also descended from a Bellator.”
“Lelyth,” I confirmed after a moment.
A heavy silence filled the room as the weight of possibility pressed down from above. A new family. The potential for newfound powers…
I jumped as laughter filtered in from beyond the hall, and the room filled with my friends.
Vulcan sank into the seat across from me, Raek finding a place on his other side.
Kellan slid into the chair next to mine, his arm brushing against me as he reached for the pitcher of water in the center and began filling everyone’s goblets.
But Kellan and I had talked about this. His family had descended from Lelyth, the last Starling queen.
Kellan didn’t think the Celestyn Bone belonged to him because he was a man.
Lelyth had passed down the story of the People of the Stars only to her female descendants.
He’d always felt it had to belong to his mother or his sister…
Morwyn was gone, and if they were right and the Celestyn Bone only yielded to a woman of Lelyth’s bloodline… Then it either belonged with Mother Eghan…or Evony.