Chapter 38
Thirty-Eight
Riven falls to his hands and knees and I grab him, trying to keep him from completely collapsing, but he’s so much bigger than me.
“The blood oath you made with me, it’s not the first time you’ve done it, is it?” I say hurriedly, everything finally starting to click into place.
He manages to shake his head, but that only seems to further his suffering. He’s too heavy, and we both fall to the floor completely, Riven gasping for breath he can’t find.
“What do I do?” I shake his shoulders, panic clawing at my chest. “How do I fix this?”
I can’t let him die now, not when I’m so close to getting the truth from him. And if the elders were right, he’s the only one in Velmora like me. Without him, I’m truly alone.
“You…need–” He chokes out the words, his face reddening. “Figure…out–”
Fuck. Think Octavia, think.
He grabs my hand, clenching it tightly. “Do…it.”
I close my eyes and try to steady my breathing, forcing myself to compartmentalise my panic. He goes still, like he’s trying not to distract me with the inconvenience of his impending death.
I run through everything I can think of in my head, trying to make sense of it all.
He sent me notes, drawing me to the case, drawing my attention to him.
He’s always led me towards things without directly telling me.
He told me to ask Stryx about why she came here, because he clearly can’t tell me himself.
And as soon as I mentioned the prophecy, it triggered the oath… I inhale sharply.
He can’t tell me of the prophecy.
That must be it. It has to be, it’s the only conclusion that makes sense.
This whole case…could it be possible it was designed purely to lure me in so I could inadvertently discover the truth?
If that’s true, then surely if I recite it to him, that would make the oath void, because I would confirm I already know it…
His lips start turning blue, and I blurt out the first two lines, desperately hoping I’m right.
“When the sky is cleaved and the mists descend, when light and shadow meet their end–”
He claws at his throat, and my stomach drops. I’m running out of time.
“–a child of silence, crowned in white, shall rise where two worlds collide–”
His pupils dilate as panic sets in. If I’m not right about this, I’ll be responsible for his death. The mere thought of it makes bile rise in my throat, a heavy weight pressing down on my shoulders, and I practically shout the next few lines, holding him tight as his grip on me starts to loosen.
“–her hair shall bear no colour’s claim, his eyes the storm the stars hath slain. Through betrayal shall flow the sleeping God, through deceit shall flow what the fog forgot. Two born of both worlds, of mirrored flame, bound by blood, yet split by fate…”
I pause, tears welling in my eyes as my panic starts to overwhelm me when he goes frighteningly still.
“Together they shall mend the Veil,” I whisper, my voice breaking. “Or sundering, end all that awaits.”
He takes in a long shuddering breath, and my pulse quickens.
“The end of Velmora shall begin with her breath, and by her hand shall dawn decide–”
The colour starts to return to his lips as he sucks in another breath. I think it’s working. I hurriedly recite the rest of the prophecy.
“–to bind the heavens whole again, or cast them, fractured, open wide.”
On the last line he lurches forward onto his knees, coughing violently as he gulps down more lungfuls of air.
“Brilliant…fucking...woman.”
I breathe heavily, slumping with relief. “Now we’re even.”
“What?” He pants, lifting his head slightly to look at me.
“You saved my life, now I’ve saved yours. Even.”
He chokes out a laugh, but quickly descends into a coughing fit.
I slap his back, trying to hold back a chuckle of my own, but he turns to look at me again and we both collapse into laughter.
It’s the first real glimpse I think I’ve had of him, the true man behind the mask he forever faces the world with, and my stomach drops.
I tear my gaze away from him, trying to quell this uninvited feeling starting to burrow its way inside me every time we lock eyes.
“So you knew all this time about the prophecy? The deaths? You were interfering?” I ask eventually, his breathing now back to normal.
“Yes.” He moves so he’s sitting next to me, resting his head back against the wall, his smile fading.
“I mean, you could’ve…you know…figured out a way to tell me somehow?”
“It was the most indirect way I could think of,” he says with a shrug.
Is he being serious right now?
“Okay, I see what Xavier means. You literally are insane.”
“You can’t tell me you haven’t had fun–”
“People have died, Riven!”
“Sacrifice the few to save the many, is that not the saying?”
I huff in frustration. “Good intentions don’t elevate you above the law. Why not strive to save everyone without bloodshed?”
“Because we don’t live in a fairytale, Octavia.
You can’t save everyone.” Pain flashes in his eyes as the words leave his lips, and I see him then.
All of him. The man who tried and failed to help, to fulfil his destiny through constant barriers.
The man who’s lost everything and everyone, cursed to a life of misery, devoid of love.
I nod in acknowledgement of his words unspoken. “Did they deserve to die though, Riven? Those seers?”
“Most likely.”
I roll my eyes, gritting my teeth in frustration.
If he doesn’t start talking, I’m done. “I’m deciding to trust you—you can thank the damn prophecy for that.
But in order to earn that trust, you will tell me everything.
Now, is there anything holding you back, anything else physically stopping you from telling me the truth? ”
He shakes his head, his eyes never leaving mine. “No.”
“Then spill it. Now.”
He stays silent for a few minutes, long enough that I start to think he won’t speak at all, when finally he takes in a deep breath, his gaze dropping to the floor.
“I was eight years old when I discovered the truth about my mother. Vesper, Xavier and I were playing in our father’s office.
I ended up hitting my head on the underside of his desk and something cracked.
I found a hidden compartment full of papers, all about me and my real mother.
Father found me and I confronted him. I tried to run away, but I didn’t get far.
He told me that my mere existence was a death sentence, and that I couldn’t leave the house without disguising myself.
Xavier and Vesper stopped playing with me after that, barely even spoke to me.
“A week later, he took me from my bed in the middle of the night, bound and gagged, and took me to a cavern beneath the Memosyne. Told me I was part of something bigger than myself. He was the leader of the Children of the Briar, alongside his friend, Vincent—your real father.”
I inhale sharply, my stomach twisting. “Our fathers led this cult? The one responsible for all these deaths?”
“Yes,” he says, his gaze firmly on the floor.
“That’s when I first saw you. Together, our fathers started a ritual.
I didn’t know what for at the time, but it was clear we were to be sacrificed for it.
But at the last second, with our fathers’ knives held against our throats, your mother came and put an end to it.
I don’t remember how—my father hit me and knocked me out—but when I awoke, you were gone, your father dead in your place. Mine, unfortunately, was still alive.”
I frown, trying to let his words sink in. “So, what happened to these seers…the same thing happened to us, because of this prophecy?”
“I think so, yes. At the time they believed we were the key. But after everything went wrong, I was locked up in the house, treated like I didn’t exist. Then around a year later, I was watching Xavier play in the street outside, and a girl with white hair showed up.
I knew it was you as soon as I saw you, I felt this insane pull towards you.
You returned each day to play, but he never brought you inside, always making you hide whenever mother or father came out to check on him.
But they knew. One day, father caught me watching you through the window.
I asked who you were, why I felt connected to you, and he told me of the prophecy.
Then he sliced my hand with a knife, forcing me into a blood oath so I could never tell you the truth of it.
“I knew I could never speak to you, not unless I wanted to risk my life for it—though believe me, it was tempting. But I remained inside, watching you from afar. I knew if I bided my time, I would eventually figure out a way to get to you, and to make everyone pay for keeping you from me.”
I silently take his hand and give it a squeeze, words failing me as he continues with his story.
“I came up with a plan. I played the part of doting son, doing anything and everything he asked of me, and eventually he started letting me be a part of his business. He would bring me to the cult meetings, the council meetings too, and I started to learn. But he made a grave mistake. When I was fifteen, he showed me those horrific experiments he had been performing on Echofae slaves. That’s when I learned that Xavier and Vesper had known about it all along, had been a part of it.
I couldn’t contain my anger, and I just… I exploded.”
He runs his free hand through his hair, his eyes closing as pain flashes across his face.
“I’d been reading up on curses the night before, and I lost it, cursing my entire family without even realising what I was doing.
But my father was no weak man. He wore that curse like a badge of honour, and I couldn’t stand it.
Eventually I cracked and killed him. I hoped the blood oath would die with him, but I was wrong. ”
No wonder Xavier hates him so much. I’ve always known an Echofae killed his father, but now I know it was by Riven’s hand…the deep mistrust he has for Echofae is starting to make a lot more sense now.