Chapter 38 - Page Two #2
And a man who’s just stabbed my heart and made a poultice of it. But, as much as I’d love to stuff that poultice down his throat, I can’t blame him and pretend this is just about two brothers sharing the same refined taste for intelligent, dangerously powerful women.
“Look, you did nothing wrong. But stop manipulating her mind like you’ve done earlier on. Sof’s past is a pool of faces floating underwater, and if any of us forces them up…We could lose her for good.”
His eyes narrow, and something flashes behind them - distant - and for a second, I feel like I’m just a filthy Herionos standing with no chance against a righteous Harvester.
“For your information, she hates that name now. I’m the only one using it without being slapped or punched.” He huffs a laugh.
I drop my hand, straightening my spine. “The July I know would never use violence for such a silly reason.”
“If there’s something good the Chapter taught me, it is that souls are like water. They are fluid and adapt easily to challenging circumstances. She said she may help you—but she’s still Roden’s offspring. And she hates that more than she may love me—or anyone else.”
I open my mouth to reply, but he holds up his hand. “I can no longer tell her true nature. Neither can you. July…Sofia…she could be holding something inside her soul that she cannot even remember yet.”
The wind whistles, carrying the noise of a door opening, a child’s laugh and indistinct voices.
I take a big breath, weighing my words carefully. “I’ve never lost sight of my role. I suggest you do the same. I fear you’ve spent too much time with Roden Breith recently; if I didn’t know it differently, I’d think you're starting to sound like him…” I blow harshly on his face.
His cheek brushes mine when he whispers in my ear, “And look where you are now. Trapped in a loop because of our mother’s sweet promise.
She might have led you to believe you’re the chosen soul destined to end this war.
But she’s gone. Dead. Rotting somewhere in the deep waters between Horigos and Libera… ”
I grit my teeth, tilting my head. “Where is this hatred coming from?”
In my peripheral vision, I see him closing his eyes, biting his lip—fighting back whatever is bubbling up from his darkest core.
“Do you really think you’re the one who suffered the most because of her choice?
You had a carefree childhood thanks to Tabitha.
But I needed to grow sharper teeth and poisonous nails to stay afloat, breathing Roden’s same air, knowing what he did to our family. ”
The blood in my head thrums hot. I grab the back of his neck, pulling him against my chest. “You’re speaking of mother almost as if she deserved it…”
“She had a choice and decided it was better for me to live among lies. I could only fit in or end up like you—a nobody. A vessel with a cursed soul,” he barks.
“Her sacrifice saved both our lives!” I can feel my face turning red, the air burning in my lungs.
I let go of his neck and shove him away. His face is contorted with rage, his hair a messy drape over his forehead, those eyes I always envied when I was little scowling at me.
“Roden has poisoned your blood. Is Evelyn even aware of the person you’ve become? This game has been going on for too long for you. You’re confused, and your feelings for July—”
The impact of his fist in my stomach is power and rage and pain and sorrow. So strong, I stumble backwards, losing my footing as a metallic taste fills my mouth.
I wipe off the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand. “If you wish to tame your confusion with a fight, you’ve picked the wrong person, brother. That’d be too easy.”
“Stop pretending you know who I am. We’re not the same,” Galen pants as if we indeed just fought.
I sneer. “Maybe not. But we both enjoy her laugh and can’t stand her absence.”
I wait for another punch to hit me right in the face, but Galen remains still, if not for a quivering muscle in his jaw.
I limp forward, massaging my stomach, and with the most friendly smile I can manage, I say, “We have more pressing priorities to worry about. A war, for example? Since the last time you were here, things have gotten more…explosive. The Reds have grown in numbers, and we’re struggling to keep them away from our borders.
People in the southern villages are terrified.
They’re seeking refuge in Brenath by the hundreds each week, because Cleryce is registering too many episodes of wild souls acting feral.
They’re losing hope in our ability to keep them safe; we don’t know how long it would take for Roden to turn them against us. ”
A crack starts showing in Galen’s brooding glare as he quickly blinks twice. And I thought I was the most dramatic of the two.
“The southern villages? I thought we managed to confine the Reds north of Cleryce?” he presses. Every bitter accusation against our mother quickly forgotten. Or momentarily set aside.
“Someone from Horigos is helping Roden—conservative Herionos, fed with their ancestors’ hate for Harvesters.
They despise Roden, but he’s also the source of the same power that could turn their voice of discontent into a legalised and approved creed.
One that could break our legs in a matter of days. ”
He shakes his head. “How can you be sure?”
“Lily and Nik captured a couple of them. They pretended to be on our side, joined the New Hera and even took down some bad seeds. But a few weeks ago, they crossed The Mother’s mountain range, heading to Corlea.
Lily and Nik followed them and discovered a nest of hot-headed, old-school Herionos camping on the borders, waiting for someone to give them safe passage across the bridge to head south without being intercepted by Tabitha. ” I pause, studying his reaction.
He starts torturing the neck of his shirt with his teeth, and his eyes dart to me. “And we know this because…?”
I scratch my neck, looking past his face to the building. “Merya was there and had some fun with them. They’re still alive - if you were wondering - sent back to The Mother, where they started—but a few levels below their old rooms.”
When his shirt becomes useless to his thinking process, Galen starts chewing on his lower lip. “Why Corlea? There is nothing on that island worth their energy. It’s only a port to—” His gears click and fall into the right - worrying - places.
“Brenath and our base.” I steal the words from him to ease his increasing nervousness and to stop him from drawing blood from his lip. “They had a ship ready on the other side of the island, carrying unstable Reds. Like the one who caused the accident in Brenath a month ago—”
And—goodbye to the attempt at saving his lip. “You…didn’t know,” I state, already confident in his answer, when his eyes widen and his jaw locks.
He looks at the sky, struggling to hide the exasperation caused by my revelation. “Nobody cared to keep me updated.”
“You had other matters to be worried about. Me. July. The Chapter. Surely your hair wasn’t one of them…”
“Just be serious for once.” His fingers curl into fists before he plunges them into his pockets.
“Sorry, I…Apparently, Roden has decided to make good use of the more unstable Reds he can find. A man in his forties reached Brenath’s shores on a raft and asked to be fed and to rest. He also said he had some urgent news to deliver to Tabitha Lorne, but didn’t know how to find her.”
Galen nods, quickly putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.
“Roden knows Brenath recently opened its gate and showed interest towards the New Hera. But his citizens may also betray our location if he plays his cards well before they’re completely sold to our cause.
” He starts pacing left and right, chewing again at his shirt. Some things never change.
I step before him, holding my hands up to stop him. “That’s not all. Forget about Roden for a second. The man I told you about—he never made it to Ventiol because his blood was so poisoned, overloaded by tons of scrapped souls that he exploded in the local Town Hall.”
There is no softer way to deliver the news, but Galen’s eyes bulge as if I’ve punched him in the stomach.
“Casualties?”
“The poor bastard, of course, and some villagers who brought him warm clothes and food. They were killed almost immediately. His blood melted them like acid. But from the inside, as if they had inhaled toxic fumes. I was there with Jyn when it happened.” I shiver, trying to chase away the memory of their screams.
I fall silent, lost for words—I don’t want to find those words again in my head.
Galen’s hand lands heavily on my shoulder.
“That explains a lot. Do the others know?”
I replay his words in my head quickly. “Explains what?”
“Kris, just answer me. Do the others know?” He grabs me by the collar of my faded green shirt.
I wriggle free, giving him a puzzled look. “I told Tabitha, and she shared with the others a summary but left the more gruesome details out of it.”
Galen ponders my words, lost in thought for a moment. “That must be him,” he mumbles.
“Him?”
“The man in the video that Lucretia and her friends were watching in the library. July thinks that was you during one of the many times Roden tried to erase your memories.”
“Who’s Lucretia? Galen, remember, you hit me. I didn’t touch you, but you are the one talking nonsense.” I flick his forehead.
“I need to speak with everyone. Whether Tabitha is willing or not, this can’t wait.”
He pats twice on my shoulder and runs away towards the building, leaving me agape and with a massive bruise blooming on my otherwise perfect stomach.