Chapter 19 #2
Aeliana couldn’t help humming her agreement.
Gaeren had been taught that Loyalists were loyal to his family’s crown and Recreants were opposed to all monarchies.
She’d been taught that Recreants supported her mother while Zealots supported Mayvus.
Except the Zealots had also called themselves Loyalists to keep Gaeren’s family from becoming suspicious of Mayvus’ growing power.
The range of definitions started making the terms meaningless.
“We can’t just sit around,” Emeris said. “If we wait for her to return, she’ll win. She’s too cunning to return before she has the upper hand.”
Sylmar grunted. “I agree. We can build up our armies, and yes, we can play nice with the Elanesse family.” He glanced at Gaeren, who gave a mock bow in Sylmar’s direction. “But we need to have a weapon to defeat her.” His gaze flicked over to Emeris.
Aeliana’s chest grew cold. “If you’re suggesting my mother sacrifices herself to test a theory that her life is connected to Mayvus’, that’s not a weapon—that’s murder.”
The room went silent as everyone avoided her gaze, even her mother.
Rildan wrapped his arms around Emeris. “I could understand her willingness to test it in the heat of a battle. She was desperate.” His gaze softened as he studied her. “But now we have time to find a different solution.”
“How do we find a solution if we don’t even know what she’s really after?” Iris asked. “Clearly she wanted the throne, but to what end?”
“Power,” Brogdon muttered. “She’s always looking for more power.”
Sylmar shook his head. “Mayvus’ goals went beyond power. What was the use in having ultimate power if that power could come to an end? Aeliana’s on the right track with the winex research. Mayvus is after something much bigger. Maybe immortality, or invincibility, or maybe ascension as a Star.”
“That’s blasphemous,” Cyrus interjected.
Gaeren leaned around the others to grin at Cyrus, remembering their religious debates, but then his smile shifted to a jaw drop and his eyes grew wide. “The starbridges.” His gaze swiveled back to Orra. “What did it say about them in The Sins of the Stars?”
Orra fiddled with the braid at her wrist and closed her eyes.
“It said something about the starbridges having the power of a Star. I don’t”—he patted his pockets in frustration—“I wish I had it on me.”
“‘The starbridges hum with unbridled power,’” Cyrus quoted, his gaze focused on the stone ceiling.
“‘Power that’s both given and taken by the Sun. Some say that when combined, their power will bring down the barriers. Some say it will give that power to the one who wields them. But the truth is…’” He hesitated, either forgetting the last line or unwilling to voice it.
“The truth is,” Orra said softly, “no one knows.” She held the braid to her lips. “Not even the broken Star who documented their creation. But I suspect combining them will reverse all those wrongs.”
“What do the starbridges have to do with my mother being cursed?” Aeliana asked. “I feel like we’re losing focus. Even if Mayvus was going after the starbridges in her pursuit of immortality, which we have no evidence of, we need to find out the source of this curse and how to break it.”
“Wouldn’t Mayvus be wanting to break it too?” Gaeren asked. “Seems she’d be just as eager to be done with it. She’s more vulnerable if killing Emeris kills Mayvus too.”
“Unless…” Sylmar said softly. “Unless Mayvus thinks keeping Emeris alive keeps her alive too.”
It was a subtle twist on Gaeren’s words, but it gave a new ugly meaning to them.
“My mother can die just like anyone else,” Aeliana said. Why did something she’d been so certain of moments ago sound so uncertain coming from her lips?
Sylmar’s gaze drifted to Rildan. “Do you remember that winter before Mayvus came for Emeris?”
Rildan frowned. “Emeris had been sick. She was able to hide it well since Iris and Hen—I mean, Gaeren—spent so much time caring for Aeliana. Was Mayvus sick with something too?”
Sylmar nodded, his eyes focused far beyond them.
“She grew deathly ill. She’d been experimenting with potions and blood, spells she’d learned from the witches that she wouldn’t even share with me.
It’s why I first considered leaving her.
The secrecy made it impossible to trust her.
There was a night that she nearly died. I swear her heart stopped.
But then she gasped and said Emeris’ name. ”
Everyone turned to Rildan, his face now a stony mask.
“I can guess which night it was.” He shook his head, as if unwilling to bring up the memory. “Emeris grew so cold in her sleep, muttering Mayvus’ name over and over. Are you suggesting that their connection kept Mayvus alive?”
Sylmar’s head cocked in thought. “I’m suggesting that the experience made Mayvus believe it would. It explains why she was determined to go after Emeris as soon as she recovered. She believes that their injuries can be shared, but so can their health.”
Aeliana’s stomach turned. “So she kept my mother imprisoned like some sort of emergency boost to her health?”
“Exactly,” Sylmar said.
“And depending on what she discovered with the winex,” Velden added, “her plan might not be as far-fetched as it sounds.”
Lukai turned Aeliana’s way. “The regenerative properties in their eggs. They brought people back from the brink of death.”
Aeliana closed her eyes, terrified by the conclusion she knew was coming.
“If their health is connected,” Lukai said, “if they can keep each other alive even moments longer, it could be enough for her to regenerate herself and avoid death every single time.”