Chapter Forty Six #2
Since the event, Naal had been pondering the answer to those questions, and the conclusion had been implausible. And yet any other made little sense. ‘Why indeed,’ she muttered.
???
Gedeon.
Kyra’s arm was bandaged, wrapped in cloth infused with healing ointments. Gedeon could not see the burn beneath it with his eyes, but his soul could. He would feel the remorse of that burn for an eternity.
Gedeon could have left hours ago. He’d been conscious for that long. When Maida had come to check on both of them, he’d pretended to be asleep.
He could not leave until Kyra woke. Until he knew, until he saw, that she was alive.
Her heartbeat was a distant drum in his ears.
He knew it still beat, possibly as well as it had done before.
But what if that drumbeat was a figment of his imagination?
What if he was so desperate to hear it, to see her chest rising and falling, that his mind was playing along, appeasing the very thing he wanted most in this world?
Only when she looked at him again, only when he could see the beams of sunlight streaming through the forest of her eyes, would he believe that she lived.
That very sun had saved him. It had done what Maida never could. The curse was gone, that much he knew. Its icy grip was no longer wrapped around his spine. His magic was his once more, his power utterly free to do with as he pleased.
She had done that. He’d felt himself dying, felt every ember of his flames consuming him, felt every ounce of darkness overwhelm his entire being. And then there had been nothing but her. Beaming sunlight, soft yet fierce. Vines and roots, tender yet unyielding, pulling him back. Pulling him home.
Impossible, Maida had called the miracle. He’d heard every word of her conversation with Naal. The healer had vouched for him, boldly at that. The sentiment may have warmed his heart, had he not been so emphatically awaiting Kyra to awaken.
When she did, when her eyes fluttered open and she blinked in her surroundings in a daze, Gedeon’s heart leapt.
His mind had not forsaken him to insanity. She was alive.
‘Good morning, Sunshine,’ he said gently, unable to help the slight pull on his lips.
Slowly, she pushed herself to mirror him, swinging her legs around on the cot. She winced as she lifted her burned arm, inspecting it.
In that moment, Gedeon hated himself, hated his flames, hated Eraura and her fucking gift. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said in a thick voice. ‘I… I’m sorry.’
She looked up at him, eyes wide, but there was no blame on her face. ‘It’s alright,’ she whispered. ‘I’ve had worse.’
Gedeon couldn’t help his scowl at the lie. Nothing was worse than his flames, he was sure of it.
‘I…’ she began, then paused. Her throat bobbed. ‘I’m glad you’re alright.’
‘What you did for me was foolish,’ Gedeon said. ‘You could have gotten yourself killed.’
He hadn’t intended to sound so harsh, so accusatory. He’d been pondering the thought for hours now, and he couldn’t help it from spilling out.
Kyra narrowed her eyes. ‘Is that a royal way of saying thank you that I don’t know about?’
‘No, I…’ Gedeon struggled to find the right words. ‘I suppose it’s a reprimand. If saving me meant putting your own life at risk, I would have bid you not to. Your life is worth a thousand of mine.’
‘You don’t get to decide that,’ Kyra retorted. ‘I saved you because I was the only one who could. No one else would have been able-’
‘You mean because of your earth magic?’ Gedeon interjected. Probing. Ever so gently.
Something like fear flitted across her brown face. Her throat bobbed again before she affirmed, ‘Yes.’
‘How did you know it would work?’
‘I didn’t.’
They stared at one another. Questions burned at Gedeon, as demanding as his flames. But he could not ask them. Not for the dread blatantly glaring at him, masked in fields of green.
Perhaps she sensed those burning questions, for quite suddenly, she jumped to her feet, avoiding his gaze. ‘I have to see Maida,’ she proclaimed. ‘My arm is hurting.’
Another lie.
Gedeon watched her shuffle away, and as she reached the threshold of the door, he said, ‘There’s no royal way of saying thank you, by the way, so I’ll just say it as it is.
’ He paused, waiting for her to turn. She did so but only fractionally, her body still angled away from him. ‘Thank you, Kyra. I owe you my life.’
Kyra nodded once, with no hint of a smile, and said nothing before departing.
???
Kano.
The bed beneath Kano was more comfortable than it had ever been. Extra cushions had been placed around him, soft materials touching his skin.
But he couldn’t relax.
‘Will it hurt?’ he said, immediately hating the childlike tone of the question.
The Earth Warden, standing by his bedside, shot a guilty glance at Kawai. ‘We’ve… I mean, I’ve tried before,’ she said. ‘It didn’t seem to hurt you then.’
‘Oh,’ Kano said, shifting a little. ‘When?’
‘That night on Wehyna,’ Kyra said quietly. ‘I accidently slipped into Kawai’s mind once. If I’m able to see memories, he thought I might be able to restore yours.’
‘Right.’
Kawai said, his expression very serious for once, ‘You don’t have to do this, Kano. If you’d rather stay how you are, no one will judge you. I just wanted to give you the choice-’
‘No, I want to,’ Kano said firmly. He’d come to know Kawai these last few weeks. Had felt a connection there even with his memories gone. Kawai didn’t treat him like the rest, like he was a little boy in need of shelter. He treated him like… well, like a brother. ‘Why didn’t it work before?’
‘Because I was disconnected to my power,’ Kyra said. ‘Recent events have made me less… closed off.’
Her fingers absent-mindedly grazed over the wrap around her arm. Kano hadn’t seen it happen, but had heard through Kawai it had been quite the ordeal. A few days had passed since then, and Kawai hadn’t said anything more. He was tight-mouthed behind Kyra even now at the mention of it.
Actually, now his attention was drawn to it, there was a distance between the both of them that hadn’t been there before.
He’d have to ask Kawai about it later.
‘Alright,’ Kano said, steeling himself for what was to come. ‘So, I just… lie here?’
‘Yes,’ Kyra said with a small smile. ‘I’ve got the hard part. Close your eyes and try to relax. It might feel strange, but try not to tense your body. If it hurts, or you want me to stop at any time, just say the word.’
Kano looked at Kawai. His brother gave him an encouraging nod.
Kyra approached him, hands raised. ‘Ready?’
So this was it then. Was he willingly about to say goodbye to the peace he’d found these last three years? Or was he finally about to feel complete, after three years of knowing something had been missing?
‘Yes,’ he said, and ignoring the sudden rise of his pulse, closed his eyes.
At first, he felt nothing.
But then there was a niggle in his mind. A bug-like presence, crawling through memory after memory.
Most of them were of the nymph twins. His heart ached every time he saw Akraia, every time she’d lightly touched him, and he hated that he hadn’t told her sooner, hated that he hadn’t even realised how he felt until he’d had to leave her behind.
They’d had fun, the three of them, Kano realised as he watched the memories float by. No matter how much their mischievous nature would grate him beyond belief.
The bug went deeper. To a darker, hazy place that pulsed dangerously.
Kano didn’t want to know what was behind that ominous haze.
‘Don’t fight it, Kano,’ Kyra’s voice flitted through his ears. ‘Don’t fight it.’
But the haze was terrifying. And there was another’s presence there, inactive but strong, like an iron leash of ultimate control.
‘Kano,’ Kyra’s voice warned again, but it was gentle, not scolding. ‘You’re alright. You’re safe.’
Those words.
It was like a trigger as the bug burrowed in the haze. He’d heard those words before, but spoken by someone else.
Brother.
The bug shifted, its legs elongating and multiplying, attaching to things Kano couldn’t see. Its legs began to retract, but the haze was fighting it, swirling into a furious storm as if it might stop the bug from revealing what it had hidden-
Someone was moaning in pain, or fear. He couldn’t tell which.
The storm raged on, but the bug didn’t stop, now glowing faintly with green light through the haze.
It grew brighter. The storm began to panic.
A roar of ferocious outrage pierced through him then, and it was him that was moaning in pain as the storm fought against the bug in his mind, but the latter was stronger, and the haze was fading as the bug grew brighter still-
The haze completely vanished.
Memories rapidly swarmed the space it had been occupying.
His brother holding him close on a ship, Blythtrie fading into darkness behind them.
His mother’s warm hands on his face. Choking someone with his water as they begged for their life until they went limp.
And another. And another. Standing at the king’s side during a meeting with a queen of golden radiance-
‘Kano!’
Drowning another. Taking out an entire fleet at the king’s command. His mother serving him tea. Kawai trying to talk to him. Another killing. His father barely able to look at him-
‘Kano, come back!’
Someone violently shook him, and then his eyes opened to his present.
His bottom lip quivered as he stared down at his body, slick with sweat, his face gleaming with tears. Kawai was over him, stricken yet relieved.
The brother he’d been forced to forget.
‘I remember,’ Kano gasped. ‘I remember it all.’
The things he’d been forced to do… he’d killed people. Time and time again, he’d killed people, all because King Therion had told him to. He’d killed people, he’d hurt them, he’d tortured them, he…
He was a murderer.
Kano started sobbing then. Uncontrollably.
Kawai heaved him onto his lap, and Kano grasped at his brother’s arms as he held him without a word. Kyra climbed onto the bed by his side, her hand linking through his, gripping tight.
He wasn’t sure how much time passed before the tears dried up, before he sat up with his arms wrapped around his knees. He looked at Kawai. ‘You saved me.’
Kawai shook his head. ‘I should have done it sooner. Way sooner. I’m sorry.’ His features darkened with ferocity. ‘I will never let him use you again, Kano. Never.’
‘His hold…’ Kano muttered, peering at Kyra. ‘It’s gone. I remember what it felt like under his control. I don’t… I don’t feel that anymore.’
The Earth Warden’s smile was soft, yet it fell almost instantly. ‘The female in your memory, the one with the Lorish king. Who was she?’
Kano closed his eyes in an attempt to bring that memory forth. That golden-haired queen whose mere presence of power had dwarfed even King Therion’s. He would never forget her face. ‘The Empress of Zarynth,’ he whispered.
Kyra’s face paled. ‘When was that? Do you remember the conversation?’
‘Give him some space,’ Kawai said indignantly.
‘This is important,’ she snapped back. ‘Kano?’
‘It’s clouded,’ Kano said apologetically. He felt cold all of a sudden. ‘I don’t remember what was said. It was years ago. I was barely older than ten. But she was there to… to…’
‘To what?’
Kano gulped, and as he stared at Kyra, he was sure she already knew the answer. ‘To form an alliance.’