Chapter 21
Twenty-One
Brevan
The temple still smells like the incense the queen used to burn. All the candles and sculptures remain where they were placed by her. Caiden sits on the single bench in front of the large painting of the gods.
“I didn’t expect to find you in here.” I sit next to him, and for a moment, we’re children again, listening to the old stories as told by one of the ever-rotating priests summoned by his mother.
He continues staring straight ahead. “I should have it destroyed.”
“We both know you’d likely regret that,” I say.
“You don’t know what she was like,” he says. “Not really.”
“No, I don’t. But I might be the only one who has an idea.”
We’re quiet for a long while and I take in the room. The way there’s always a chill in the air no matter how warm it was in the rest of the estate. The way the skylight casts a column of sunlight on the altar, moving across the mural as the day progresses.
While the gods were no longer worshiped by most people in the empire, the royals and nobles held them in high esteem. Always hoping for that approval in the grand temple. For the magic the king would allow them to access.
Many of them had temples in their homes, more for show than actual piety, but they usually highlighted Loha, the goddess of the moon, and Amate, the goddess of the sun.
Not the queen. Her private temple at the castle showed the Prophecy of Light, but here, in the estate that wasn’t full of courtiers, she highlighted something very different.
Dressed as a queen herself, at the center of the mural, is Mara, the goddess of death. She’s joined by Apophis, the god of chaos, on her right, and Tela, the goddess of war on her left.
The only gods she left out were the moon and sun. The two that everyone else revered above all and lifted up as their primary influences.
It might not have been so curious if there wasn’t a large stained-glass window of the same three gods high in the castle.
Apparently, the queen felt quite the affinity for them.
Finally, Caiden turns and looks at me. “Is there a reason you’re here?”
“Yes, it’s concerning Sabina.”
“My wife.” He turns his attention back to the mural, then holds his hand out. The candles burst to life, flickering and sputtering as if they’ve been burning for hours.
“I know she’s your wife, Caiden.”
“So long as you remember that, we won’t have any problems.” He lowers his hand, then watches the flames.
“The poison she found in her tent, the Elm’s Breath, there’s some growing in the greenhouse.”
He doesn’t take his eyes off the altar. “I’ll have it destroyed.”
“There was a piece of black lace tied around one of the stems,” I add.
He finally looks over at me. “Are you saying whoever is trying to kill Sabina is here?”
“I don’t know.” I wish I had answers for him. For her.
“Find out. I want to know how a plant that’s native to the Shatterlands is growing in my greenhouse. Who planted it? How did it even get here?”
“I’ll look into it.” I hesitate, then add, “did you know she had books on plants in her old rooms? On poisonous plants.”
His brow furrows. “I didn’t know that. Did she select them from the library?”
“They were left behind in the room,” I say.
“That room was emptied before she arrived. There weren’t any books.”
Now it’s my turn to show my concern. “You’re saying someone put them there for her to find?”
“They must have. There wasn’t even any furniture in there before she arrived. My father had that entire room emptied. All the furniture destroyed.” His lip twitches, a tell I haven’t seen show on him since he was a teenager. “He said it made him miss my mother too much.”
I study him, waiting to see if he does it again. He used to do that when he was hiding something. What is he hiding now?
“Send someone we can spare—someone we trust—to retrieve those books if they’re still there. I want to see them.” He returns his attention to the altar.
“How about Stanley?” I suggest.
“Perfect. He’s desperate to please me. He won’t mess it up.”
“I’ll inform him tonight,” I say.
We’re both quiet again for a long while as we stare at the flames dancing on the candles. There’s spiderwebs stretching between them, spreading up the walls and across the alter. Nobody has even cleaned this room since the queen died.
“Is there more?” Caiden asks.
I know I shouldn’t say anything. I know I should turn and walk out of this room right now, but I can’t help myself. It’s been eating away at me. “Why did you marry her?”
He looks amused. “I wondered when you’d ask me that.”
“You don’t need her,” I tell him.
“You still think she’d have you once she knows what you’re truly capable of?” He glances my way.
“This isn’t about me. She’s been through enough, hasn’t she?”
“I’ve only seen some of her markings and it’s enough for me to know she’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. You know just as well as I do that it’s possible she could be more powerful than both of us combined.”
I tense as I recall the markings on her back. So similar to my own. Caiden hasn’t seen most of my markings. Unlike Sabina, mine appeared slowly over time. He saw the dragon, but the moons were new. They came later.
“We can’t afford to have a rebel out there with that kind of power unless we can keep her on a very tight leash,” he says.
“Like mine?” I ask.
“Exactly.”
My hands curl into fists. Getting magic was supposed to be a gift. Something celebrated. Instead it was locked down and controlled by people who didn’t deserve the power.
But magic makes people do terrible things everywhere. It causes fear and anger. Creates division and death. I’ve seen enough to know that magic isn’t worth the price we pay. What might things have been like if my power had been accepted? Or if I’d never gained any at all.
“I would have been by your side, Caiden. You know that. You chose to create the divide between us. My magic wasn’t a threat to you. You know that more than anyone.”
“You know exactly why the two of us aren’t friends anymore.
And it has nothing to do with your magic.
I was the first to defend you to my father.
The first to tell him he could trust you, to keep you unbound.
” He scoffs. “That’s what you told her, though, isn’t it?
That we’re not friends because I was jealous of your magic. ”
“You always have been,” I say.
“No. I have no need of your magic. I’m cursed with plenty of my own. And you know more than anyone else the price we pay for what we were gifted.”
“You don’t know anything about that,” I accuse. “Your back isn’t torn to ribbons every time you were forced to use magic you didn’t even want.”
“Does she know?” he asks.
“What are you talking about?”
“Does she know you never went to the temple? That you walked there, and waited, pretending that the magic you already had flowing in your veins was new?” He narrows his eyes. “No, she doesn’t. You never told her. Have you told her anything? She thinks she’s in love with you.”
My heart thunders against my ribs. “Did she tell you that?”
“You’re pathetic, you know that?” he sneers.
I stand. “Fuck you. You don’t even know what love is. You’ve thrown everyone who ever cared about you away.”
“I learned that from you,” he says. “You know, you should be thanking me. I got to be the one who broke her heart instead of her having to find out from you. You think she’d give a shit about you if she knew half of what I know?”
“You don’t know anything about her.” My heads feel hot and something sizzles and writhes in my chest. My magic is clawing at my insides, eager to join the argument.
My nostrils flair and I tamp it down. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing me lose control.
There’s parts of myself I’ve managed to keep hidden all these years, even from him. I intend to keep it that way.
“Do not make the mistake of thinking you’re the only one who cares about her,” he snarls.
“You’re not capable of caring about anyone.” I snarl. “You are your mother’s son, after all.”
He stands. “I haven’t said a word to Taylan about you, but I can.”
I flinch at the sound of her real name on his lips. It’s too intimate and for a moment, I wonder if he will win her over. If he’ll succeed in manipulating her the way he does to everyone around him.
“You made her watch me at the village. And maybe that would have mattered if you hadn’t been fucking some other woman later that night. So, maybe I should be thanking you for that.” I walk toward the door.
“Brevan?” His tone is urgent, measured.
I stop.
“Roselyn is getting worse.”
“What do you mean?” I turn to look at him.
“We lost seven legionaries in the last month. I sent more, but they’re struggling to keep up. She’s lost control.”
I storm toward him and he throws his hands out, sending an arc of fire in front of him. “Don’t take that out on me. I am not responsible for her deterioration. We both knew this was inevitable.”
The heat from his flames is already making me sweat. “We don’t know that. If your father hadn’t abused her power…”
“Tell me it wasn’t happening before we found you both?” He demands. “Tell me she didn’t call on the magic herself. That she kept that channel closed at all times. She’d be dead already if we hadn’t hidden her.”
“She could have learned to control it,” I say. “She could have stopped using it and cut it off eventually.”
“Just like the others? Tell me again how successful they were at controlling it? How many with her gift lived past fifteen years? She’s already an anomaly.” He lowers his hands and the fire burns out.
It’s instantly cooler. “I want to see her.”
“Stay away from Sabina,” he demands.
I scoff. “Are you serious? You’re the one asking me to guard her.”
“You know what I mean. End it with her. Make sure she knows there’s nothing between you. That she has no chance with you,” he says.
My mouth goes dry. It’s possible she’d hate me anyway once she knows the truth, but there was a part of me holding out hope. It’s insane. She’s married to Caiden. I know there’s no chance we could ever be safe or free to be together, but I didn’t want to let her go. To admit it.
“You and I both know your sister should already be dead. For the safety of everyone in Pendralia. She’s only alive because I need you by my side. And I still think there’s a way to cure her. To allow her to use her magic like we always talked about. She could do great things,” he says.
He takes a step closer to me. “But so could Sabina.”
“Enough with that damn prophecy,” I snap. “Even if it’s real, it won’t help you or your empire.”
He laughs. “The prophecy is bullshit. I found it in my father’s journals. He had it invented, spread it around. Propaganda to keep the rebels in check.”
“You’re telling me you don’t need her for the prophecy? That it’s not real but you’re still holding her captive?” I stare at him in disbelief.
“She’s got power that will benefit this empire. And I have grown to care for her. I don’t need her. I wanted her. And in case you forgot, I am the emperor.” I want to punch the smug expression off his face.
“You only made her marry because it hurt other people,” I accuse.
“I married her because she’ll help me get the Pendralian army. And because she’s beautiful. I could do worse.” He shrugs.
“You won’t be able to control her the way you think you can,” I say.
“That’s the beautiful thing about it. If she no longer benefits me, I can eliminate her. I can also use her to keep you in line. Though, it would be a shame if I had to end her life.”
“You wouldn’t,” I grit out, hands balled into fists. It’s taking everything I have to fight against the heat building in my chest. The slithering tendrils of liquid heat attempting to break free. My skin burns, body on fire. The magic is desperate to explode.
“I will do what I must. It’s not just my empire at stake.” He takes a step closer to me, and I can see the glimmer in his eyes. Caiden did always enjoy tempting fate. “Don’t make me kill my beautiful bride, Brevan.”
“Fuck you, Caiden.”
He grins. “I’m going to assume that means we have an understanding?”
“She’s stubborn, you know that. She doesn’t stop if she sees something she wants,” I warn.
“Then make certain she no longer wants you,” he bites out.
“Even if I do that, it doesn’t mean she’ll fall into your bed,” I practically growl.
“I don’t care if she’s in my bed. Just so long as she’s not in yours.
” He walks past me, then turns back when he steps into the hall.
“Fix it, Brevan. And when it’s done, I’ll take you to visit your sister.
You can check on her yourself. You’ll see that I’m telling you the truth.
Then maybe you’ll realize that despite everything, I’m still holding up my end of the bargain even if you walked away from yours. ”
He picks invisible lint from his jacket, then looks back up at me. “Now, go fetch my wife. Inform her I wish to have dinner…and perhaps other activities… tonight in my quarters.”
I don’t follow him when he leaves. Instead, I return to the bench and sit. The candles still flicker, the flames a taunting reminder of what Caiden can do.
His magic has always been strong, but that’s not what makes him deadly. He’s a strategist. He knows which pieces to play and how they need to be arranged. It was a skill he had no choice but to learn growing up under parents like his.
I lean down and hold my head in my hands. Before Sabina, I never would have thought I’d consider risking his wrath for a woman. If it were my life, I’d take the chance. But that’s not how Caiden plays. If I don’t bend, he’ll destroy everything I’ve worked so hard to protect.