18. Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
Cassiel
C assiel sped across the land of clouds into the horizon of the setting sun when Yelrakel called to him.
“My king, we are being followed.”
He came to a stop in the sky on a bedding of his flames and turned. A group of armed Celestials flying on a flock of Pegasi were headed his way. He focused on the one who led them. It was perhaps the last person he expected to see on this side of Urn.
Asiel.
The Valkyrie braced to fight but Cassiel motioned for them to stand down. While armed, there were not enough of them to deem this an attack. Even if it was, they would be no match for him.
Asiel and his unit of male Hermon guards came to a stop. He dismounted and flew to him at a slow place. They sized each other up in the windy silence before Asiel clanked a fist over his heart and bowed his head, as did the others. “Pardon our unexpected arrival, Your Majesty.”
Cassiel let the heavy title hang between them a moment. “Why have you come? Speak freely. I care nothing for your false deference, that of which you never cared to show before.”
Asiel straightened and his expression grew guarded. “You know why I’ve come, Cassiel.”
“Whether it’s to question me or challenge me, both are one and the same.”
Asiel shook his head. “I came searching for you in hopes you would hear my plea. On behalf of the Realms, stop this.”
“Stop what?”
“Please do not insult me, cousin,” Asiel said tightly. “You called away the entire Legion of Valkyrie to your side. Even the Watchers have joined your ranks, leaving Hermon without protection. You destroyed an entire Realm without trial, which we came to learn from the survivors fleeing your flame. We know nothing of what happened on Troll Bridge besides the note that was given to me. The High King and your mate assassinated. By whom? We have yet to understand what is happening. We saw the Hyalus tree glow. We know what it means. You are now our High King, but we went months without any further word or sign from you. The only news being the loss of Skath … and rumors.”
He meant rumors about him .
“All I am left with are questions that plague me. I fear the answers, but I must ask them nonetheless.” Asiel took a breath but hesitated.
Cassiel smirked faintly. “You want to ask if I am Kāhssiel reborn?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t care if you are reincarnated or not. I want to know why you killed Lord Hallel and his people.” His voice grew anxious, and raw. “I want to know what happened to my father. Where is he?”
Cassiel gazed at the horizon as the last of the sunlight dipped beneath the clouds. Thinking about that day made his skull feel as if it were being crushed. He didn’t want to remember his uncle’s betrayal.
“Is he…?”
Lord Jophiel lives,” Cassiel said, looking back at him.
Relief sank through Asiel, making his shoulders sag. “Then why has he not returned home?”
“Your father is being held for crimes against the crown.”
Asiel stared at him with angry incredulity. “He would never.”
“And yet he has,” Cassiel replied coolly as he turned away.
“No, I will not accept that.” Asiel grabbed his arm, and the Valkyrie whipped out their weapons. Cassiel motioned with his other hand, ordering them to stay back. “That is a lie,” his cousin continued. “My father would never betray his brother, or you, because he always put you above me. Whatever happened, there must be a reason. You have taken him from me time and again.” His voice cracked. “Give him back, Cassiel. Please.”
The plea stirred in his chest, but Cassiel ignored the feeling. “Let go.”
“I can’t.” Asiel’s grip on his arm shook and he lowered his head. “If I let go, I know what you will do.”
He was not the only one who had changed. Asiel seemed different, too. Now Lord of Hermon, he was here because he felt the duty to protect his people, even if it meant coming here to defy him.
“And you think you are enough to stop me?” Cassiel asked.
“I know that I am not enough. But that will not stop the Realms from fighting you. They are accusing your mate of killing your father to make you king.”
Cassiel’s eyes flamed blue.
“It was not I who said it, but it is not the only rumor spreading amongst our people. Others say you have committed regicide and are now making your way through the Realms, killing each Lord who does not bend to your will.”
He sneered. They would say that. But he was no longer surprised by what those against him would concoct.
At his silence, Asiel’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me it’s true. Did you take the throne at the point of a sword?”
“You insult me with a question I will not dignify with words.”
Why bother defending himself? No one would believe the truth. Not from a half-breed.
“If it’s not true, then what is the meaning of all this? You must halt this army and return to Hilos to address the Realms.” Asiel shook him. “After what you have done to Skath, Edym and Nazar are preparing for battle. They will fight to defend their territories, Cassiel. Think of your people. The children who are innocent, made casualties of war. Dyna would not want this.”
Her name was a hot iron searing into his very soul.
Cassiel shoved him off. “You know nothing, Asiel.”
There was only frustration and distress on his cousin’s face. “You’re right. I don’t. So tell me! What happened that night?”
Memories flashed in Cassiel’s head. Blood. A bright light. A caress against his cheek.
Sharp pain pierced his skull and Cassiel grimaced. He turned away with a shallow breath and pressed on his temples. “The only think you need to know is that I am righting wrongs.”
“If you go to war for vengeance it will not fill the hole inside of you. It will consume you.”
It already had.
“This is not what your father would have wanted for you either.”
Cassiel leaned his back and laughed. The harsh sound echoed through the sky, tainted by his madness as he faced his cousin. “ Oh. Did you expect to change my mind with that? I no longer have a heart for you to sway. If you search for sympathy, you will not find it. If you hoped for compassion, I am free of it.” Seraph fire flamed in his fists, coursing up his arms. “Choose a side, Asiel. You either stand with your king, or you die with the those I intend to burn.”
Asiel’s throat bobbed as he stared at him. “All of our lives, you and I have never been on the same side. Do not to force me to stand against you now.”
His cousin didn’t want to fight. Of all times he was choosing now to be noble. Maybe Cassiel should have told him the truth, but he didn’t trust anyone anymore.
As far as the Realms knew, the High King was on a rampage to eradicate them and didn’t care what innocents died. It had been true in his past life. Let them believe it in this one. It was better if they did think him a mad king, only then would his true enemies appear.
“Whether you live or die, it will be by your will alone.”
His cousin’s face fell. Cassiel saw the struggle there, but it wasn’t a question of who Asiel would choose. He had to stand with Nazar for Sarrai’s sake. His mate came first.
As Cassiel’s did.
Asiel flew back and mounted his Pegasus. “I would have followed the man you used to be, Cassiel. Not the tyrant you have become.”
He soared away with his unit of soldiers for the south, leaving Cassiel with the weight of his words. They caught the wind quickly, and soon fell out of sight as they vanished through the clouds. With his new strength and speed, Cassiel could keep up with the Pegasi, but the same could not be said of his Valkyrie.
Asiel had a head start, and they both knew it.
Yelrakel came to his side. “If you let him go, he will inform Lord Gadriel of our impending arrival.”
“I look forward to it.” Cassiel was prepared to become the monster the Realms believed him to be. For his mate, he would swallow up the darkness and let it consume him whole.
His soul be damned.