Chapter 42 #2
I glanced at the king and prince behind him, at the royal guards in the shadows, even Roman and Ksenia.
They were all waiting. They wanted to see what I could do.
We were here to negotiate for their assistance in defeating the gods.
If we wanted them to risk their lives for ours, the least I could do was give them a glimpse of the weapon they all wanted so badly to use in this war.
"They should see," I replied, stepping forward.
I could feel the darkness dripping into my fingertips, the hum of power running through my veins, the ache in my chest begging me to free the magic inside of me.
It was closer here, somehow, easier to access.
Then again, it had been ever since I'd stuffed it all down my former partner's throat back in Prima's tent.
My fingers twitched and, for a moment, nothing happened.
Panic seized hold of me and I started to withdraw, but then I felt it.
The power. It slipped from beneath my skin into the world beyond, slithering from my fingertips then my chest, my arms, my legs, black smoke steaming off of me and coiling in the air around us.
It spread through the chamber, cloaking the ground, the furniture, the walls and ceiling.
It suffocated the candles and extinguished the light, enrobing us all in living night.
I breathed it in, basking in the feeling of my magic all around me.
"Pull it back, girl," the king sputtered from somewhere in the dark.
I inhaled, yanking it back until it dissipated, some slithering back inside of me.
The light returned in sputtering bursts, leaving me standing in a room of stunned guards and royals.
Gryfon's jaw tensed and he gave a curt nod, seemingly displeased with the display.
My brow furrowed. Hadn't he wanted me to learn how to wield this power?
Hadn't that been what all of his lessons were about?
He'd raged at me to call the dark again and again for weeks and now that I had, it seemed to piss him off even more.
"How much is she capable of?" the king asked the general as if I weren't even there, not standing in the room able to answer questions about my own power myself.
"We aren't certain yet," Gryfon growled. Yes, he was angry, but why? "She's been getting stronger since…"
His gaze flicked to Dante in the corner and the others followed. Dante's eyes widened at the sudden attention.
"The Betrayer?" the king asked, obvious disdain in his tone. “What does he have to do with this?"
"She seems to be stronger in his presence," the general snapped and I thought I was beginning to understand the reason for his fury.
"Before he arrived, she could hardly call a trickle and, even then, she couldn't control it.
Once he showed up, she formed a veritable cloud and shoved every bit of it down his lying throat. "
Dante's gaze narrowed to a glare and I glanced between them, confused and wondering, not for the first time, what that altercation this morning had been about.
"Could it be the bond?" Prince Leo asked, stunned.
"The bond is severed at the culmination of the tenth Trial," Gryfon barked back the reminder.
"Maybe not entirely?"
"What does it matter why," the king interrupted. "This is good news. All we have to do is send the boy into battle with her and we'll have our weapon."
I bristled. I wasn't just a weapon. Fists clenched at my sides, I stepped forward to say just that, but was interrupted by a quiet voice in the corner.
"It isn't a true bond."
All eyes in the room swiveled once more to an elderly woman emerging from a servant's passage behind the dais.
She strode forward slowly, leaning heavily on an ivory cane.
Her grey hair was bound up so as not to be in her way and her dress was faded with age but it was her eyes that gave me pause.
A brilliant violet livelier than those half her age.
As she came toddling in, I noticed Dante's eyes blow wide again, as if in recognition.
"Grandmother," Prince Leo said sweetly, rushing to her side and taking her hand. "Volk, fetch a chair."
One of the royal guards hurried away to fulfill the prince's request even as the elderly woman waved her grandson off.
"What do you mean, it isn't a true bond, Your Highness?" the captain asked, thoughtful.
"The thing between them," she said, gesturing between Dante and I, "is a forgery. A fake. A mockery of the true bond. It was created by the Geist who fashion themselves after the gods but it isn't of the Goddess Rhene. Only She can bless a pairing with the soul bond. That's not what this is."
"How…how do you know?" Prince Leo asked, uncertain, as he glanced between Dante and I once again.
"I know the Goddess," she replied with a kind smile, reaching out to pat her grandson on the arm, her tone that of one teaching a child.
"And I know a soul bond when I see one. This is not it.
Rare though they may be, I've seen two in my time.
It's a joining of mind, body, and soul, of power as well.
If they had the true bond, he would be able to wield the darkness too.
Tell me, boy, do you feel the corruption within? "
Dante blinked at her, too stunned to speak.
"I thought not," she muttered. "Lemnus might be able to replicate the bond through the mind, but He cannot forge a soul bond. Only Rhene can, only She chooses."
"I'm sorry," Kane asked from beside me, confusion evident in his tone. "Rhene? Lemnus?"
I was just as confused as he was but, I noticed, the general was not. He seemed to hardly be listening to the old woman anymore, lost in thought instead.
"Goddess of Prophecy and God of Light," the old woman answered. "He's their god, the Geist's. It's Him who grants them their ability, the power of the light, and Rhene who grants me mine."
She gestured toward her violet eyes with a smile as though that was somehow an explanation.
"Great," Zya scoffed under her breath. "More gods."
"Not more gods," the old woman replied, impossibly hearing her whispered words from across the room. "The only gods. The Geist are imposters, remember."
"If their power comes from a god," I said then, stepping forward before I could think about what I was doing. All I knew was this woman seemed to have answers and I was in desperate need of some of those myself. "And yours from a Goddess, do mine come from…one of them as well?"
She smiled back at me but I noticed the light in her violet eyes dimmed somewhat. She dipped her head in slow acknowledgement and my breath caught.
"Who—" I began.
"Does any of this have a point, mother?" the king huffed impatiently.
"For you, perhaps," she spat, tone scolding.
"It isn't the boy making Adrian stronger.
It's her own emotion. Her power grows beside him because of the rage she feels toward him.
It will grow beside others for her love, friendship, or desire as well.
Strong, powerful emotions are what drive the power. "
"Not the bond?" Prince Leo verified.
The old woman's eyes slipped to me once more and I could have fallen into the depths of sadness I swore were lying within them.
"I have Seen…" she began and then hesitated, as if unsure whether or not she should say.
"What, grandmother?" Prince Leo pushed, eager.
"The girl's fate has been tainted by Lemnus' touch.
The God of Light has interfered where he should not.
Her future now holds a corruption of its own.
I cannot See…the strings of destiny weave within and around her, pulling others close.
They are tied to her, though I cannot See how.
His blasphemy blocks it. The bond she was given in the Trials, that which bonded her to the Betrayer, has been stamped over another. "
"A soul bond?" Zya gasped, horrified.
I couldn't breathe.
"Hard to tell," the old woman replied but the sadness in her eyes nearly confirmed it.
She, at least, suspected it was the case.
"We harbor many bonds in our souls. Family, friends, enemies.
Have you never wondered why you are drawn to certain people or why you lash out at others?
The Goddess weaves her webs of fate and we fall into them, pulled along on her strings regardless of our efforts.
But, when another Gods interferes, we can become cut off from the Goddess, left without destiny. "
Without destiny…
"What does any of this have to do with the strength of her power?" the king barked once again.
“We are stronger when we are made whole," the old woman clarified.
"If she can find a way to remove the stamp over her soul, cleanse herself of the God of Light's touch, perhaps she can find what lies beneath.
Certainly, it will be stronger, and it will make her stronger as well.
If it is a soul bond, it could provide yet another weapon for you as Adrian may share her power with another. "
The king's jaw popped open at that, finally seeing the benefit of his own mother's words. Everyone turned to stare at me so I was grateful when Zya voiced the question in my own mind.
"Is it possible?" Zya asked, breathless. "To remove the false bond?"
"I've never heard of it being done," the old woman replied, sadly.
"And even if she were to succeed, she may very well not find a soul bond at all. Or, perhaps, find herself soul-bonded to the same partner Lemnus chose for her. The gods work in mysterious ways and Lemnus has always been quite cunning, despite his own arrogance.”
Her gaze trailed to Dante and the room seemed to hold a collective breath.
My mind was reeling as I fought to come to terms with everything I was learning.
There were gods, true gods, beyond the Geist, who had names and were the reasons for our different abilities.
But were they actually real or just a manifestation of what this woman and fellow believers saw in the world around them?
Did this Goddess Rhene truly destine me for another?
Did it matter? I was my own person. I made my own decisions.
I'd never listened to the gods before, never cared what fate they claimed to have in store for me. I didn't see why I should start now.
Then again, if this soul bond could provide another warrior with the corruption in this war against the Geist…
The room descended into talk of strategy as I turned toward the general to discuss the idea of a second darkness wielder with him.
But the general was gone.