Chapter 62
Sixty-Two
VIVIENNE
My ears are ringing, and there are white dots floating in front of me. I blink fast, trying to clear my vision so I can figure out where I am. Someone grunts next to me, and I hope it’s Adrian.
“Vivi, are you okay?” he asks.
He comes into view when my vision returns to normal. “I think so. And you?”
“Yeah.” He touches his throat, covering the medallion, and sighs. “It’s still here.”
I scan our surroundings to find out where the Magna Vis brought us. When I touched it, it created a portal to Ellnesari, but where exactly is the most important question.
We’re inside a grand room with vaulted ceilings and tall stained glass windows. The design depicts a great sun. The first thing I realize is that we aren’t in Aquila, which is good news. The bad news is that I know exactly where we are, and I’m not sure why we were brought here.
“Where are we?” Adrian asks.
Before I can answer, the golden double doors open and Queen Merissa of the Vega Kingdom enters, wearing a light gossamer gown under a golden corset that replicates an armor chest plate. She’s accompanied by her entourage—six female knights wearing golden armor—who flank their queen.
“Hello, Vryenn. It’s good to see you again.”
“I remember you,” Adrian blurts out. “You helped rescue me from Queen Maewe.”
She nods. “That I did.”
Adrian gets back onto his feet and helps me stand. A sharp pain flares across my stomach, making me wince. I hold my belly, fearing that something is wrong with the baby. I have no idea if traveling through the portal was safe.
“You should sit down, my dear,” Queen Merissa says.
There are comfortable-looking couches in the room, but I don’t want to be in a vulnerable position in front of her. She’s my aunt, but that means nothing in Ellnesari.
“I’m fine. Why are we here?” I ask.
She approaches. “I’m sure my brother has shared his grand plan with you.”
“He wishes to strip my mother of her powers and give them to me.”
“Yes, but he needed a magical relic believed to be nothing but a myth.”
“The Magna Vis,” I say. “But it was lost.”
She tilts her head, her lips curling into a knowing smile. “You don’t need to play coy with me, Vryenn. The Magna Vis is right here in this room.”
I grind my teeth. “How can you be certain?”
She arches a brow. “Do you really believe Ruel was the mastermind behind using the Magna Vis to strip Maewe of her powers?”
My stomach coils tightly. I don’t like her implications. “Are you saying it was your idea?”
“Naturally.” She waves her hand dismissively. “Ruel doesn’t have the mind to think outside the box. He was too obsessed with bringing the shadowbeasts back from extinction to see beyond that.”
“I don’t understand why you let him take the credit for the idea. You never played second fiddle to anyone.”
“You will soon learn that a ruler cannot lay all their cards on the table. My brother thought he was clever. He never intended to give you the power, Vryenn. He wanted it for himself.”
“Nightingales can’t straight-out lie. How is he deceiving us like that?”
“Because he wants to believe he’ll be able to step aside and let you rise, but I’ve seen the truth in his heart. Ruel has always resented that he was born in a kingdom where the power of the land transfers to the females.”
She looks at the stained glass window behind me. “So you see, it suited me to let him take charge, coerce your friends into finding the Magna Vis, and then let the relic slip through his fingers.”
“Did you know I had the Magna Vis all this time?” Adrian asks.
She smiles, and her blue eyes glimmer with mischief. “You didn’t have the Magna Vis, Adrian. You are the Magna Vis.”
“What?” we both say in unison.
“The Magna Vis was never an object. It’s pure energy, bouncing around from place to place since the beginning of time.
When it ended up in the Valley of Lost Souls and you found it, it merged with your soul.
Why do think you were able to survive for so long in that forsaken place and not go insane? ”
“I… I don’t know.”
I look at Adrian, the necklace hanging around his neck. I thought the power I sensed came from that piece of jewelry, but now I see it’s coming from inside him.
Another cramp robs me of air. I bend over, grunting.
Adrian holds my arm. “What’s wrong?”
“She’s in labor. That’s why I brought you here.”
“You brought us here?” I grit out. “It wasn’t the Magna Vis?”
“No. I’ve been keeping tabs on you, Vryenn.”
“Why?”
“I never told Ruel exactly how to perform the ritual using the Magna Vis. Your presence is needed, naturally, but for it to work, your own powers need to be at their highest. For females, it occurs when they’re giving birth.”
Everything becomes crystal clear to me. “That’s why you kidnapped us.”
“‘Kidnapped’ is a strong word. I facilitated your trip.”
“How did you know Vivienne would be pregnant?” Adrian asks.
“I have the sight like my brother.” She turns to me. “You know that your mother needs to be stopped at all costs. After what she’s done to you, Rikkon, and your friends, I expected you to be more eager to end her reign of terror.”
“Perhaps I would have been if you’d shared all that information with us from the start. What aren’t you telling me?”
Her lips become nothing but a thin flat line. Whatever it is, she doesn’t want to disclose it.
“Has this ritual ever been performed successfully before?” Adrian asks.
“I don’t know.”
Another contraction comes, and it hurts more than the one before. There’s a tug in my womb, and then warm liquid drops down my legs. I want to cry. My water just broke. Adrian keeps his hold on my arm steady, and I appreciate him, but I need Lucca. I can’t do this without him.
“Your Majesty, look.” One of the knights points at the puddle on the floor.
Queen Merissa’s eyes widen. “We must depart to Aquila at once.”
“I can’t walk the wind like this,” I grit out.
Her brows arch. “Says who? If you fear walking the wind is harmful for the child, that isn’t so. Did you not walk the wind before you knew of your condition?”
Another contraction comes, and I can’t think straight.
I did walk the wind when I was already pregnant, but there was no one to ask if it was safe.
I’ve never met any other Nightingale female who was expecting.
My mother usually banished courtiers who were.
She finds the sight of a pregnant belly repulsive.
I don’t know how she coped when she was knocked up herself.
Queen Merissa lifts her hand, giving a signal to her knights. Two of them approach us, but Adrian doesn’t let go.
“You need to come with me,” the knight closest to him says.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
She shakes her head. “Humans. Why must you lot be so difficult?” She hits the back of his head with the heel of her hand, and he collapses into her arms.
“What the hell have you done to him?”
“He’ll be fine. Alayna didn’t hurt him… too much,” Queen Merissa replies.
The second knight reaches for my arm, and I’m too slow to get away from her. “I can walk the wind on my own.”
“You don’t know where we’re going, my dear.” Queen Merissa smiles, and it’s getting on my nerves. “I don’t want you to get lost.”