Chapter 36 #2
Those words should gut me. But I stifle a laugh. Looking at where we are, the situation and the events that have led to this, it feels like the weight of that is already on my shoulders.
“How did you do it? How did everyone just forget about such an important battle? A pivotal part of our history?”
“Guards, it was our duty. To help keep the peace. Always keep the balance. That is what she wants—a balance to the power. So, we did what we could. But…”
“You helped to hide the battle? The one that Ever’s parents started. The one that nobody talks about, nobody wrote about or taught us.” My eyes flare wide at the confession my mother just freely gave me. And the pieces finally fall into place.
“It… got easier.”
“I bet.” And explains why no one teaches what a Fifth can do. Because the last ones nearly burned our world down. “Until Ever.”
“So much…” She closes her eyes as silent tears trace down her face. The air perfumed with her sadness.
“Mother?”
“He will only ever serve our Goddess. Protecting Kirrasia and her rule. And I lost you, anyway. I lost you!” She screams, before she starts to cry in earnest. Sobbing and cradling her head in her hands.
The sorrow tastes bitter, and it clings to me like a mist, rising and taking over. I slam my shields up, forcing them to comply as my feet edge away. How do I console her, offer any comfort after everything she’s said?
I stand and watch as my mother continues to cry, lost in my own labyrinth of lies, picking over the skeletons to find the truths.
Everything has been a well-crafted secret, born out of good intent, perhaps, but that was a long time ago.
Now, it’s been left to fester and been forgotten, allowed to rot.
Now, the Orders will pay their own price for trusting that something this important can be covered up.
It wasn’t just the battle, but the reasons for it starting that they ignored.
“Master Ciro? You’ve returned. You shouldn’t be here. It is forbidden.” Rigel’s at the door to the sitting room, confusion furrowing his ageing brow.
“It’s alright, Rigel.”
“You can’t stay here. It’s not safe.”
“My mother.” I look back towards her, that guilt tightening its claw in my chest again. “Is she…”
“She will be fine. She has episodes.”
“We were talking. She—”
“She is cared for, master. But her magic, the toll it’s left her with, is a great burden some days.”
I take a measure of his words. “Thank you for staying with her. Keep her safe for me. I’ll return when I’m able.”
“But you are banished. She has cried many a day since.”
“I’ll return when I can.”
I storm out of the room, tendrils of resentment and anger curling around me with every step.
Slamming the door closed behind me, I see Calix. “We need to get to Ever,” I demand.
“Where is she?” Cetus asks.
“She’s with the Maker.”
“The Maker isn’t in The Court. She’s been at the Transference stone for weeks.”
“Let’s go.” I set off back down the corridor towards the nearest exit.
“Wait, what did Celestine say?” Cetus asks.
“I’ll explain to everyone. But let’s just say the Guards have a lot of explaining to do.”
“Wait!” Cetus points to my hands, and I fight not to roll my eyes.
“Fine.” I let him put the cuffs back on, but take the opportunity to push my own strands of magic toward him as he brushes my hands.
If what my mother told me is true, there will be some fog or block over the memory of the battle.
That would explain his reaction, or lack of, when we mentioned it earlier.
I refuse to believe the previous generation would simply allow this to be hidden.
I force myself past that oily feeling that coats my mind as I search, ignoring the tilt of Cetus’s head toward me.
I’m not sure what I’m looking for, but there are multiple paths, hundreds of strands, as if each one is a separate root of thought.
I concentrate harder until I find a cloud or mist lingering.
Every sense in my body tells me there’s something here—that this could be it, although it’s nothing like my father’s mental fortress.
I cast a line of magic and push through, opening a window in the fog. It’s dense, dark, but as soon as I’m through, it starts to dissolve.
“Aten, what are you doing?” Cetus’s words grit out.
“Ten?” Calix questions, too.
I don’t linger and pull back, blinking a few times to reorient myself. But that’s all I need—an opening.
Cetus looks at me, his ice-blue eyes focused, and I know it’s worked.
“Do you see?”
His eyes pinch together. “I remember the battle. But we don’t—” He stills his words, looking between us.
“We’ll have time to lay it all out. We need to get to Ever.”
“The Fifth.” General Aster’s suspicion is thick, but if his memory has been hidden for years, I can’t be mad at him.
“She’s… Elex’s…”
“She’s on our side, Dad. Believe me. Come on.”
When we emerge outside of the Tower, it’s dark. As if we blinked and we lost the rest of the day.
“What in Zuns?”
“It’s night. How did that…” Calix looks to me.
“We need to find Ever.” I nod to him. “And work out what the Maker’s told her.”
“Aten, she is a Fifth. I remember now. I remember what happened last time.” Cetus crosses his arms over his chest. “She can’t win against the Warrior army, and I won’t allow a repeat of last time. It’s our duty to protect Kirrasia, and we will, even if it’s against her.”
“You won’t need to fight against Ever. But you will need to fight against those in Fenix’s army. The one who killed Crimson. The one that killed Micah. And, if Ever’s right, the one who’s coming for her.”