Chapter 15 #2
Solace was a bitch, but she was easy to decipher. Kaos, on the other hand, was a complete enigma. It made him unpredictable, and people who were unpredictable were dangerous.
“She’s thinking about that descendant of yours,” Solace said with a lazy wave of her hand. Kaos’ smile fell then, his expression darkening at the mention of King d’Refan.
He grunted some sort of acknowledgement before moving to stand beside his sister.
“So, where is this weapon you promised us?” Solace asked, her ethereal voice taking on a sharper edge. I nearly shivered in response, every inch of my body screaming for me to run from the two predators who had made my home their own.
“Not a weapon. Someone who could help us meet with certain people . . . who would give us a weapon.” The explanation sounded lame even to my ears.
Solace’s mouth flattened, and her eyes sparked.
“I hope you didn’t lead us here under false pretenses, mortal,” she hissed as Kaos scratched at his chin, seemingly uninterested in our conversation.
I spread my arms wide, indicating the whole of the manor as I spoke. “I gave you food and shelter, did I not? A place to rest and regroup after half of your army was destroyed. An army of trained Mages who have swollen your ranks to numbers you only dreamed.”
Solace’s lips curled into a snarl as her long fingers grasped the armrests. She leaned forward slightly, her voice a mask of dead calm. “Careful, mortal. Or I might see your usefulness has run its course.”
Sweat beaded against the back of my neck at her insinuation, but I refused to show any bit of fear.
The creaking of the door broke our stare, and I breathed a quick sigh, my wildly thumping heart finally returning to its normal pace. Kaos snickered slightly, as if he’d seen my reaction and thought it amusing.
Maybe he does anger me more than the goddess.
Hopefully this little introduction would get them to move on from my manor, distract them with things elsewhere while I prepared for my own role in the growing conflict. Elyria was boiling, and it was only a matter of time before all-out war broke out across the continent.
I squeezed my fingers into my palms at the thought.
With the Last Truthsayer dead, I was the only one left alive to carry on his mission—one that dictated the separation of the gods in order for it to succeed.
Hard boots tapped smartly against the stone floor, only pausing in their rigid cadence to circumvent the slowly widening pool of blood.
“An accident, I presume?” the man asked, his accent nearly untraceable.
“Who are you?” Solace bit. A cold, calculating smile warped the man’s face.
“The answer to your problems, I hope.”
I turned then to smile at our guest, though it was honestly more unhinged than pleasant.
“Welcome, General Razia, to Samyr.”
The smartly dressed general bowed his head slightly, just short of an indicator of respect, before straightening once more. His tunic and coat were neatly pressed, his pants showing no sign of wear. Every brown hair on his head was in place. The neatness had me itching.
“Thank you, Lady d’Hida. I trust your guests understand why I’m here?”
“You have a weapon for us?” Solace asked, interrupting me completely.
I shot her a dark look—one she ignored—before moving to stand next to General Razia.
Although he claimed allegiance to Lord d’Leocopus, Razia was a wealth of information, especially of the rebels that had called Lishahl their home for the last year.
“In a way, yes,” he hummed.
“In what way? My patience is thin, General, and I’m not sure you would want to suffer the wrath of an impatient goddess,” Solace hissed, and Kaos chuckled darkly.
“She is quite murderous when she’s impatient,” he unhelpfully added.
Razia gulped slightly before inclining his head their way at a much deeper angle than my own bow.
Chauvinistic bastard.
“As you know, the rebels have taken residence inside Lishahl.” The gods grunted in understanding. While they bordered us to the north, the Runewood separated our territories, essentially creating an impenetrable barrier. Not even the gods would risk walking through that wood.
“That is not news to us, General,” Kaos grumbled quietly.
“Yes, though the information I possess might be.”
Solace’s tapping fingers stilled at that, her pure white eyes shifting until she was looking straight into his.
“What kind of information?”
“I think you’d find it interesting to note that the Bondsmith is with them”—the gods sucked in sharp breaths—“as are both godlings. And a Mage that carries not one, but two affinities.”
The taste in my mouth soured, and my head pounded at his implication.
Lex is there.
My hand reflexively gripped the pommel of my sword at the mere thought of his name.
“There are amassing quite a following. Rumor has it that Vespera’s new king will be the first to ally with them,” he continued, muffling my noise of disbelief. “With him, comes the Rune Master and the entire force of the Mage Academy.”
“What is your point?” Solace spat, her ire returning in full force.
“You are dreadfully outnumbered, even with the addition of Samyr’s army.”
“We are gods,” Solace haughtily responded.
“Nearly mortal now, yes?”
The room descended into a quiet so fast and so complete I swore I could hear the thumping of Razia’s heart.
“Why . . . how do you know this?” Kaos whispered.
Razia held up a hand. “That is not important.”
“Then, please tell, what is important about this little meeting?” Solace waved her hand impatiently, and he dropped his palm.
“What if I told you there was a way to create dual Mages? Ones that could rival the power of Vespera and the godlings?”
“Old magic. Runes,” Kaos stated, and Razia nodded. “That knowledge died off centuries ago. The only two with that power left alive are our sister and her daughter. Both of which, as you so pointed out, are allied with our enemies.”
“That is where you’re mistaken. There is a small community in the Far North that still practice the ancient magics.”
“And why would they help us? We eliminated their kind centuries ago,” Solace’s impatient voice snapped across the space.
“Because I have something they desperately need to continue their rituals,” Razia said with a shrug.
“And what is that?” Solace breathed, voice tremoring with hope.
“The blood of an unAwakened child blessed by a god.” Razia’s smile spread wide across his face, but it did nothing to ease the glinting hardness of his deep-brown eyes. I nearly shivered at the sight.
There was something not quite right about him.
“And how would you know of that?” Kaos intoned, attempting to appear unaffected and failing spectacularly.
Razia’s grin only spread wider, though it still never reached his soulless eyes.
“I was one of them, once. And my . . . daughter was their conduit. Before I sold her to Lord d’Refan, of course.”