CHAPTER XXI #14
Keane folds his arms across the chest and frowns at the Ancient, “so the Kingdoms Council that took place two hundred years ago… they aimed not to stop the humans from being sacrificed to prolong life, but to stop a soul from being brought back to the Old World?”
“No,” the Ancient sighs and shakes his head, averting his gaze from mine to look back at Keane, “that single attempt was made thousands of years ago. We’ve kept it hidden from your history books.”
I’m openly confused.
“I don’t follow. How does that reference correlate to the Council called two hundred years ago?”
Hirovale grimaces, “because raising life can also mean raising those who are sleeping, those who are meant to remain asleep…”
Keane shifts in his stance as I look to the Ancient in question, “one of your brothers and sisters?”
Hirovale nods and looks down to the whiskey in his hand, resting it on the edge of the settee as his full body tenses. Stormfall caws loud from the balcony and glides swiftly into the room to land on the Ancient’s shoulder, Hiro giving his Bird of Ash a small smile while his features remain cold.
“When I tell you that she was not meant to wake up,” the Ancient replies quietly, his golden eyes moving to the fire next to Keane, “she was not supposed to wake up. Five of the remaining eight of my brothers and sisters provided our own magic to ensure her heavy sleep…”
My chest begins to constrict at his words. There’s only one Ancient in the Old World that is so revered by the Kingdom of Livyatan.
“Rivian,” Hirovale says the name with such malice, “the Leviathans attempted to wake her over two hundred years ago but their actions were stopped for some time by the Council. The Council, with all of their limited information, did not know of the true nature of their intentions. They assumed correctly that the human young were being sacrificed but didn’t know that it was for a completely different reason. ”
My stomach churns as Stormfall spreads his wings across the Ancient’s back, the beast’s body filling with anger.
“What your brother reports back,” Hirovale eyes Keane, “are confirmations that the Leviathans have resumed their efforts. However, this time, they have succeeded.”
“To what end?” Keane asks again.
He looks back at the Ancient as if he’s expecting a certain answer, as if he’s waiting to hear if what he suspects is true. Keane knows something, and as Hirovale’s eyes quickly glance to mine, studying my face before he turns back to the Prince, I sit up farther in my seat to hear the answer.
“You know, King,” Hirovale says quietly.
The Prince shifts again on his feet, staring at the Ancient with hard eyes.
“Say it,” he commands softly.
Hirovale nods and then flicks his golden eyes back on me, speaking his next words directly, “to assist in their side of the battle against the change that is to come.”
The restoration of magic to the Old World.
Hirovale’s prophecy.
“You suspected this?” I look over to Keane in confusion, “you suspected some sort of conflict between the Kingdoms?”
“All roads seem to be leading that way,” Keane nods as I look back at him in small anger.
He did anticipate the Ancient’s answer.
Just as he anticipated his father’s death, suspected his impending doom. Not just from the Ancient’s casual toss of the word King, but from… what did Hirovale say in the Bell Grove? That Keane suspected not just from him, but from all of the events of late.
My body stiffens in more anger as I continue to look back at the Prince.
While I was battling with the information and my own suspicions of Zander’s death, battling with the Ancient on whether or not to warn Keane of his father, Keane was coming to the same conclusion, hiding it internally, just as he was hiding his suspicions of the Leviathans.
What more is he anticipating that he’s decided not to share with me?
What more has he put together on the Kingdoms Councils, or the Leviathans, or the fucking Aireals for Ancients sake?
The blonde Discerni from Woodlands confirmed that night that they were indeed interested in me.
His own father confirmed at our meeting not shortly after that the Kingdom could perceive me as a threat.
I scoff internally at my thoughts and glare at Keane, not appreciating nor understanding why he would hold his suspicions from me, why he would keep me in the dark.
I turn away from him and catch Hirovale from the corner of my eyes, his brows lifting at all the silent thoughts in my mind as if to say he’s staying out of this.
First time ever, I scowl at him. The Ancient chuckles out loud and just takes a sip of his whiskey.
“What are you thinking?” Keane’s voice pulls me back to him, his brown eyes confused and looking at mine in question. The look is so innocent in its confusion that I have to remind myself of a simple truth, that I’ve never given him any indication that I wished to be involved in all of this.
I’ve never asked him for more details or inquired into his own thoughts as to the events of late. He’s been keeping his suspicions to himself because he thought I didn’t want to discuss the politics of everything…
But not tonight.
Ancients.
Just tonight Keane told me that he suspected I would be interested in it all, that he believed I would embrace the politics and all of the worries and uncertainties that come from it.
I give Keane a soft smile in apology, “I’m thinking that I should like to be involved in everything you know, in everything you suspect. I’m thinking that once again you’ve seen my fire before I have.”
Keane’s brown eyes alight as they dart across my face, his glance assessing my request. His lips turn up slowly in a small smirk before he gives me a tilt of his head, nodding in agreement as the two of us smile back at each other.
“Why Rivian?” I furrow my brows in thought, looking back at the Ancient. He’s watching Keane and I quietly from behind the settee. “Why is she so revered by the Leviathans and how can she help them?”
Both Hirovale and Stormfall’s gold and yellow eyes move to mine, causing me to take a small inhale of breath at the intensity of them. I keep my gaze steady against the Ancient’s and wait for his answer.
Hirovale gives me an amused smirk, his features reverting back to the first night I met him. He’s friendly and casual now, all tension gone, his eyes crinkling in silent and small laughter.
“It’s good to see your curiosity will out again, Alex.”
I roll my eyes at him, “and it’s good to see you giving non-answers again, Hiro.”
The Ancient’s eyes blaze on mine as his lips give a broad smile. He turns back to Keane and then motions his hand to the settee in front of him, nodding his head in question.
“May I sit?”
What an odd thing to ask.
I watch as Keane gives the Ancient a small nod, his own eyes alight as he keeps them trained on Hirovale, watching his tall form step around the side of the cushions.
Stormfall pushes off the Ancient’s shoulder and glides to one of the great pines in Keane’s room, resting casually on a limb above.
I avert my gaze when I feel Hiro taking a seat right next me, his body close to mine and not at all sitting on the other end of the settee.
What are you doing? I glare back at Hirovale, shifting farther into my corner, scoot down.
Hirovale turns to me, his wavy black hair falling against his shoulders as he replies with a grin. “No.”
I huff and roll my eyes again, placing my elbow on the edge as I let my head fall into my hand, shaking it at his ego.
“Rivian,” Hirovale says softly to my left, settling back into the cushions in a casual embrace. I let my mind flick to what I know of the Ancient of Strife and Struggle…
Rivian promotes the belief that people are always at their strongest when they are tested and tried. Followers of the Ancient believe that they reach their fullest potential when they embrace the conflict in their lives and deal with it head on, coming out victorious.
Tales of when the Ancients were awake and roamed the Old World told stories of Rivian putting the beings of our world through trials.
They were designed to make people struggle and forced them to confront their fears openly.
The belief was that the person would learn from those trials and grow into who they were always meant to be.
But those same tales told of the many trials that were being forced onto the people without their consent.
.. They became too drastic, too hard and cutthroat, with the person either excelling and coming out of their conflict victorious, or dying in the attempt. There was no in-between.
Naturally, Rivian was at odds with the Ancient Nolan, who promoted the belief that life on this Old World should be unburdened and easy.
“My sister has always been powerful,” Hirovale notes, speaking to both Keane and I as he lays his left arm across the settee comfortably, away from me.
Thank Ancients.
Hirovale grins but continues, “her intentions and the power she used to wield those intentions were good in the beginning. She tested people, called forth their potential from within and aided them into becoming better beings…”
“But somewhere down the road her trials became relentless and vicious. She was never satisfied with the beings of the Old World and always searched for someone who could rise up to her challenges, to prove that there was someone just as powerful as her. She became evil, toying with people for fun, even more so when humans were created. She scoffed at their non-magical abilities and took advantage of them, discarding them so callously as the second-class beings she believed them to be.”
“She was the one of the primary reasons we all decided to sleep,” Hirovale says with a small frown, “that and the Great Rift caused by my Father and Mother after their slaughter of two of our kind. We needed a break. We needed a rest and reset. And we needed time alone that would allow the Old World to continue on with its creation of humans, time that was without our interference.”
“No one needed that rest more than Rivian,” Hirovale states quietly, “she was the first of us to go down, with five of us providing our own magic to ensure her unbothered sleep. But somehow, some way, Livyatan found her resting place over two hundred years ago and began performing their ritual summoning of human lives to wake her.”
I shudder again and take a deep sip from my whiskey, peering over at the Ancient.
“Why though? You both allude that she can aid their side of whatever battle is coming. But what exactly can she do for them?”
A thought occurs to me the moment the question leaves my lips…
What is Hirovale doing for me?
If he stands on the other side of this impending battle, choosing me as his champion, what is he doing to help me? He’s sent his right hand as protection, but other than that, he’s basically just been popping into our lives without lending any steady help.
The Ancient turns sharply in my direction with a glare. His eyes narrow hard on mine, not caring for my thoughts.
I sigh and think it over…
You want me to embrace your magic even though it goes against every fiber of my being.
Hirovale gives a small nod.
You’ve provided me with Storm, a protector and fighter in his own right.
“Yes,” the Ancient replies coolly.
You ask me to hold the title of being your champion, to be your voice.
“Yes, Alex.”
And you are the strongest of your kind. Your weight and abilities will strengthen your cause.
He nods.
“Rivian will do the same?” I ask.
“Rivian will do the same,” he nods and then turns to Keane seriously, “my sister will provide the Leviathans with untapped magic. Summoning power that is not meant to be wielded by anyone but the Ancients. She has her own creature, something so strong and powerful that looking into its eyes will turn you to stone. That creature is next on their list of awakening. It sleeps deep in the ocean beyond their borders…”
“What of the Ancient Malachi?” Keane asks Hirovale steadily, “it is his job to make sure the powers of the Ancients are not exceeded nor perversed.”
“It is,” Hirovale replies quietly, bringing his drink up to his lips again, “but waking my brother, as well my other brother, Tomo, will be a gamble. I do not know yet which direction they will sway.”
“I can’t envision anyone, Ancient or not, being okay with the open sacrificing of lives,” I say quietly.
“You’d be surprised…” Hiro grimaces.
Keane leans back against the wall in his own thoughts, his arms still crossed in front of his chest and watching the Ancient. I sit up in my seat, turning to Hirovale in question as my knee brushes against his, forgetting how close we are.
The Ancient’s eyes dart quickly to our legs.
“You said Heysan is awake,” I note, “that he will be making an appearance. Who else are you working on or have you awoken?”
Hirovale’s gaze still rests on my knee as he gives a small smile, “Sianoa is stirring with the help of your sister Elena,” he flicks his eyes to Keane, “she will be awake soon. Nolan will be next.”
Lesser Ancients, though still formidable in their own right.
“Yes, Lady,” Hirovale replies with a side smile, emphasizing the word as he always does.
“They will help? Against Rivian?” I ask, knowing that any extra help from an Ancient will be good to have.
Wait…
Hirovale grins from his seat and stands up quickly, walking his empty glass to the mantle above the fireplace.
Keane straightens at his side and gives the Ancient a small bow just as Hirovale nods his head in return.
The thick air of his summoning slides in from the balcony a moment later, announcing his departure.
No. You don’t just get to leave again so quickly.
Hirovale ignores me and starts striding away.
“Wait,” I stand up swiftly, brows furrowing on the back of his head.
The Ancient turns to me with a knowing grin, his black hair framing his amused features as he continues to walk away.
“Wait, Hirovale!” I chase after him, “the way you say the word…”
I stare at the back of the Ancient accusingly, following him quickly through the room.
“You’ve known about me too, haven’t you?”
Hirovale turns around abruptly before he reaches the balcony. I run straight into his back, stumbling in my steps as my heart begins to shove against my chest. His golden eyes look down at mine in amusement as he bows his head slightly, a small smirk appearing at the tilt of his lips.
“You were never a Lady, Alex. Always a Queen.”