Chapter 40
Forty
Brevan
Leaving my sister behind with the fresh guards took more strength than I thought it would. How many times had I left her before? It was something I’d been doing since she was so young that it became habit.
Sometimes I think I made a mistake bringing her here, but I know if we’d stayed on those godsforsaken islands, she’d be dead, and I’d be forced to live in a temple in an attempt to restrict my magic.
There’s a good chance her powers would pass down if I were to have a daughter.
It’s another reason why I handed Taylan those herbs and why I haven’t missed a day of my tonic since then.
My mother didn’t have the gift, but my father’s sister did.
She was killed when the signs arrived, so we knew there was a chance Rosalyn would be like her.
If I could have taken her place, I would have, but it doesn’t show in the male line.
We can pass on that terrible curse, but we can’t wield that kind of power.
The stillborn boy my mother had before me was suspected of having the sight.
Male children don’t even survive beyond the womb.
Sometimes I hate my parents for choosing to have children at all. But despite everything, I love my sister. Before the magic took her, she was so full of life. Being locked away changed her, but I have to believe that she’s still in there somewhere.
I’ve spent years researching and hunting relics to find the solution. There’s supposed to be a way to bind her power like mine was bound, but I have yet to find the relic powerful enough to grant her stability.
Most of the texts about people with her gifts were destroyed, but I’d found one book that was missed.
It’s probably how the emperor knew to look for the signs and why he was so eager to take in a couple of shipwrecked orphans.
The stone I need comes from the abandoned mines deep in the Shatterlands.
While we can still get the rock today, the refining process to change the mineral into a shield for her madness was lost. My only hope is to come across one that wasn’t destroyed.
I slow my horse as I approach the stables.
Caiden and I go back a long time. I need him to see reason, as he once did.
If he knows there’s a way to help my sister, he might let me follow the leads I have.
His father never let me out of his sight.
The relic I wanted was promised as a compromise to get me to burn towns for him while I hunted the ones he wanted.
But with a little time on my own, I can fix this. I can save her.
I’m exhausted and covered in dirt and blood. I can’t recall my last bath, but that can wait. I can’t risk Caiden sending in legionnaires to attempt to restrain, or worse, kill her, her while I’m not there to guard her.
My sister is the whole reason we even fled.
People like her are killed on the Islands we called home.
In Ashendune, they’re forced to spend their life in servitude working for whichever wealthy family can afford to buy them.
If they ever accidentally alter the future and summon the monsters, they’re killed without hesitation.
I had been aiming for Iskvaland, where magic is feared and anyone with natural gifts keeps it hidden.
Instead, we were rescued by the Pendralian ship.
Just as my sister predicted would happen.
“Where is he?” I demand when I reach the legionnaires at the side entry.
“I’m not sure, Sir,” one says.
The other, Greg—a longtime legionnaire who’s been serving since before I arrived—steps aside from the door to give us some privacy. I follow then lean close so I can hear him.
He keeps his voice low. “He’s been in the old barns with the empress for a few days. Rumor has it, she’s manifested something powerful from her visit to the temple, and he’s trying to help her control it.”
“Thank you.” I pat him on the shoulder, then change direction.
This estate was a farm before Caiden’s father killed the family who owned it and took the property for himself. He built the grand estate, but left some remnants of its old purpose behind, including a large barn in an ever-progressing state of disrepair.
Caiden had had the building reinforced as best he could without his father’s knowledge a few years after we first gained our magic. We’d unofficially used it as a training ground. A place to test our magic—alone—without the prying eyes of the legionnaires.
Nostalgia sits like a weight in my gut, heavy and uncomfortable. The barn was one of the last places the two of us had coexisted before…
I shove the memory away, then continue toward it. It’s far enough that you need to have a reason for going there.
Vines climb up the walls now, hugging the surface like an old friend. They’ll eventually claim the whole building and probably bring it to the ground.
I catch the sound of voices and before I can make out the words, the sound of her laughter sets my heart racing. Gods, I missed her. I’d give anything to hold her or have her wrap her arms around me. I’ll settle for simply seeing her face. That will help at least.
There’re several holes in the wall. Places where the planks rotted through or were destroyed by our antics. Some were patched, but others remain as little windows into the barn.
I peer through them as I approach, my chest already filling with waves of anticipation. Then I catch sight of them, and my heart plummets, leaving a gaping hole larger than the one I’m staring through.
She’s on the ground, her blonde hair spilling around her head. Caiden is on top of her, propped on his elbows, staring down at her with a hungry expression that’s all too familiar. It’s the way I look at her. The way she used to look at me.
The laughter that was there moments ago is gone, replaced by silence so intense I find myself holding my breath. She reaches up to his face and tucks a strand of hair behind his ear. Her hand lingers, and he leans into her touch.
One heartbeat. Two. Three…they’re looking at one another for far too long. Then he pushes away from her until he’s on his knee. He clasps the hand that was touching his face then presses a kiss to her palm.
Her cheeks turn pink. He says something to her I can’t hear. She sits up on her elbows and replies to him, a smile dancing on her lips. Her eyes catch the sunlight, making them fucking sparkle.
For him.
I think I’m going to be sick.
Fuck Caiden. I don’t need his blessing to save my sister. I have a couple of loyal legionnaires stationed at the tower. They’re instructed to ride directly to me if things get out of hand. With any luck, I’d know before Caiden gets word. That’s going to have to be good enough.
The back entrance passes the kitchens, and I nearly collide with Ludis on his way out of them. The lady on his arm gasps, then collects herself, giving a simpering hello. She’s one of Sabina’s but I can’t recall her name.
“So, you weren’t eaten by whatever the mystery monster was,” Ludis says.
“I don’t have time to deal with you,” I tell him.
“Seems to me, you have nothing but time anymore, enforcer. The emperor has someone else managing your legions and someone else guarding his wife.”
The woman with him worries her lip as she backs closer to the wall.
“It’s too bad, really,” he continues. “Such a waste of talent. If you worked for me…”
“We’ve had this conversation before,” I say. “You know my answer. So kindly, fuck off.”
“Genevieve, darling, why don’t you meet me in my quarters? We men have a few things to discuss,” Ludis says.
She curtseys, then hurries down the hall as if she was waiting on her dismissal.
I step around the spoiled prince and continue my progress, but I hear him following me. “I have nothing to discuss with you, Ludis.”
“How was your darling sister? Is the stone still suppressing her magic enough, or is she breaking through more?”
I don’t know how he found out about my sister’s powers, but I am still not going to humor him with a response.
“Is she summoning them even when she’s not making changes anymore? That’s how you know you’re near the end. Though, most of them never live as long as she did, so we really can’t know for sure.”
I slow down, but don’t look back. He shouldn’t know any of this.
“Is her sanity still intact? Because once that’s gone, there’s really nothing you can do.”
I turn, then throw him against the wall in a fluid movement. His momentary surprise melts into a self-satisfied grin. “I hit a tender spot, I see.”
“How do you know any of this?” I snarl.
“I told you, I can save her,” he says.
“Nobody can save her.” I’ve never said it out loud before. All these years I’ve been searching for a way to help her, and I know my time is running out.
He holds his hands out in front of him in surrender. “Let me go, enforcer. And let’s talk like civilized men. I think we can come to an agreement.”
“I’m not helping you. I am loyal to Pendralia.” I let him go, then turn away. The sooner we can leave this man in Iskvaland, the better.
“Even when nobody in Pendralia is loyal to you?” he calls. “She’s been in his room every night since he returned. Did you know that? Of her own free will too. Genevieve tells me they’ve grown quite close.”
“She’s his wife.”
“And he could have any woman he wants, but he always wants the ones you have, doesn’t he?” Ludis is right behind me, and I realize I’ve stopped walking.
“If you knew anything, you’d know that in most of the stories of our childhood, I’m the villain.” I walk away, hating that I’m tempted to turn back.