Chapter 40 #2
Leander had always loved his divine powers. He’d always been so used to them, so when he had learned that he was to bear punishment by being turned mortal, it had truly changed his life.
If he had had his divine gifts…
Oh, what did it matter? He couldn’t. But he didn’t. He could understand Jarryn Eleinium, in a way, now.
Leía held him close, offering silent support, her presence was like a soothing balm to his wounded soul. She hushed him as her hand stroked the long hair on his head. She didn’t need to do anything, just be there for him as he hit breaking point.
Eventually his heaving sobs calmed. But Leander didn’t immediately pull away. He hadn’t been held by his mother in decades, and he hadn’t even appreciated just how much he needed it.
Wiping his eyes, Leander finally pulled away and managed a wobbly smile, nonverbally confirming that he was okay.
“You valued Jarryn’s life over your own,” Leia smiled softly as she wiped a final stray tear from her son’s cheek with her thumb. “We wanted you to find strength in the love of another, and you did. So beautifully.”
Maybe he had, briefly. But he did not dare look behind to see Jarryn. He feared what he would see. Were the affections of the displaced prince lost forever?
“Leander,” Taskevi secured his attention. “It was my decision to strip you of your divinity. It is, therefore, my right to return your divine domains to you, as well as your immortality. I invite you to join us and return to Estalian with your mother and me.”
Leander blinked rapidly, expecting this outcome but scarcely allowing himself to believe it.
His answer was there on his lips. Almost a year of waiting, this terrible pause in his life, it was over. At last. He was ready.
“No.” What came out of his mouth surprised him, but not his mother, who smiled knowingly.
“What do you mean, Leander?”
Damn her, Taskevi already knew why, but she was going to make him say it out loud.
“I have things I need to fix, here in Cariun. What I’ve done... the mistakes I’ve made, I need to undo them. Make things right again.”
Taskevi nodded, accepting his sincere, if poorly worded, explanation. “Very well. I will deny you your immortality and right to return to the halls of the divine realm until you have made right that which you have damaged.”
Nodding, Leander released air from his lungs in a breath he didn’t realise he had even been holding.
He made to turn around.
“But,” Taskevi stopped him. “Given your... situation without your birthright of Aesthesia to assist you, it is only fair that I bestow your divine powers on you once more.”
This time, Leander hesitated.
Those powers were what had gotten him into this mess in the first place.
A young demigod with too many ideas of grandeur and not enough responsibility to enact good choices.
But he had learnt, he had grown. Maybe this time it would be different.
With his divine powers, he could help his brothers in ways he had not been able to before.
His allegiance was, after his mother, to Saeren, and the aftershock of his lie had spread to those lands. And then there was Jarryn, the displaced prince who would no doubt fight tooth and nail to regain his throne now that he knew the truth. He could help the prince, if he allowed it.
After a moment, he voiced his agreement to Taskevi’s proposal. “Okay.”
Smile still plastered across the Goddess of Nature’s face, she raised a hand and, with a flourish, produced a flower with blue petals, the same as the one he had admired in the Bazaar. Taskevi offered it to Leander, who accepted it.
Instantly, warmth spread from his fingertips, radiating up his arm and across his whole body. It was a short lived, but very welcome, sensation.
He had his powers back. Leander grinned at Verin, who had stepped forwards to stand next to Leander and placed a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder.
“We must be on our way, Myracle. We have many miles to travel before we reach the sanctuary of Saeren,” he said apologetically.
Loathe as Leander was to be torn away from his moment of achievement, he was aware of their precarious situation and the risk to all present. “Yes, you are right.” Leander glanced at his mother and Taskevi, ready to say goodbye, just for now.
Leía shook her head. “You have not enough horses for your return journey. And you are weary. Just this once, I will help you return to Saeren. War is brewing, and King Caisa will need his brightest and most loyal to defend his proud nation.” She nodded at her ex-lover’s sons, who both flushed scarlet at being directly addressed—and praised, no less—by Leía.
“Thank you, mother,” Leander replied on behalf of the whole group.
“Oh, it’s the least I can do when I am on my way to Saeren myself. I need to have a few words with your father.”
Leander and Verin shared a glance, curious, but neither of them made comment or question.
At Leander’s guiding instructions, they gathered in a vague circle and reached out to each hold hands. Leo tried to ignore the sharp stab in his heart when Jarryn deliberately manoeuvred himself to place Cade between them.
“Best close your eyes, it’s a bit of a shock to the system to the uninitiated,” Leia advised.
In a second, they were gone, leaving a smiling Taskevi to unharness the horses she so fiercely loved, and send them on their way before she too vanished.