Chapter 5 #2
“Your mother was the High Priestess of blood—life and death. I am the High Priest of Seti, the God of Death, who once could bring life to those slipping away.” He shrugs. “A bit on the nose, but accurate.”
The prophecy is about me. As much as I didn’t want it to be, as much as I fought the odds, and Oslo and everyone else… the prophecy is about me.
I grab on to one part of the story, mind spinning. “What happened to your magic?”
My father sighs deeply. “When I was only a few centuries old, a plague fell upon my kingdom. It turned the Fairies to stone.” I gasp and he nods.
“I tried to heal them. Spent every moment, willing my magic to work.
But it continued to spread until everyone was stone.
Except for me, my sister, mother and father.
“In the last attempt to save us, my parents took us to the boundary of our land and said their goodbyes.” He clears his throat, jaw cracking.
Rubbing my heart, his emotions become mine.
The agony must have been hard to bear. “Then they cast a protection spell to keep it contained. No one can enter and no one can leave.” His shoulders fall.
“They did it to save the world—but in truth, they did it to save their children. After that, I brought my sister to this cottage and Seti called for me. I had to make a choice—follow Seti or keep my magic.”
My heart warms to my father. To his ordeal, his pain, I feel it in my soul and understand his trials. “You chose to give it away.”
“If my magic could not heal when needed most, why bother to keep it?” He crosses his arms. Gods above, I understand.
How many nights did I wish for my magic to be gone when all it did was hurt?
“With Seti, I could do good in the world, helping those who died, to cross into the Underworld. So, I trained. I listened. And I heard of the prophecy.”
I still, mouth parting. “My prophecy. The Mad Witch told you?”
He scoffs. “The Mad Witch? That old crazy bat. No, I was told the prophecy by Seti and spread the word to those with connections,” he growls under his breath. “The Mad Witch was just someone I needed.”
“And?” I press. “What of it?”
“It’s your destiny, little one. The world was broken years ago by an evil Fairy.
She tempted the Humans with magic, claiming the rest of the world kept it from them.
Because of that, the Great War began. You know that history—they fought against the species for superiority. But I was able to intercept it.
“I asked Neith to enact a curse to pause the fighting, to take away magic, until you would be born.” He rolls his eyes. “I admit, I didn’t know it would be my daughter when told of the prophecy. Once I knew, I tried like Seti’s Hell to keep you shielded.”
Sitting back, I’m at a lost. He did? “How?”
“The Veil.” He nods. “Magical barrier, like my kingdom, keeps everyone behind it protected. That with the Eternal Night Forest beasts, no one can enter. We were happy for a time.” Baris shakes his head.
“But your mother wouldn’t be swayed. I’m afraid you both share this insane need to do the right thing.
” Kneeling, my father grabs my hands, pressing a small kiss to the back of each hand like a devotee praying to a God.
“She sacrificed herself to save you. Griffin killed her when she claimed your place. And sent us away to live. To grow strong. To live out your destiny.”
“But I woke up in the Blackwoods Coven alone,” I argue. It’s too much—too fast. My mother was killed for me? And my father—the gruff male who is a Fairy—sacrificed everything to bring me to this moment.
And somehow, I’m supposed to save everyone. “I’m going to be sick.”
Baris rubs my back, hovering over me as I wheeze.
“You were injured in the attack, and I asked Seti for help. He guided me to herbs, things that slowed the bleeding. Along with your powers, I got you close to the Blackwoods boundary. There, Griffin kidnapped me. It’s sheer Gods’ Will he didn’t see you. ”
“Kaden found you in the dungeon,” I pant. My mouth waters and I pray to Enyo to keep the wine down. I knew I shouldn’t have had anything.
“I stayed there, feeding information to Griffin. Could I have escaped?” He shrugs. “Yes. But this was my way of keeping him away from you.”
Dropping beside me, he tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. “You were safe. I didn’t care about your destiny, I just wanted you to live. Until an old crone told Griffin about the girl with blood magic.” Baris rolls his eyes, lips curling. “Wretched woman.”
“Then, he came for me.” The Blackwoods Coven was attacked because of me.
Guilt sours my gut. People were injured and killed for me. A village was torched to find me. I’m definitely going to throw up.
Baris lays a heavy hand on my shoulder, wings surrounding us. They’re not scary things, but soothing as they wave back and forth, fanning my face. “Do not mourn what happened. Fate would’ve found you some way.”
“Fate,” I spew. “You think Fate is the reason I’m here, searching for a way to break a curse on my mate, stuck in this world, told I’m to save everyone?” I stand, knocking him away. Even his wings can’t distract me. “I can’t be that person.”
“But you are,” he affirms. When I glare at him, he holds his hands up. “You asked about my sister. About why your powers didn’t work on me. What if I told you, all of this, the prophecy, the curse, it all relates back to your mate?”
Crossing my arms, I bite back my anger and hopelessness. “How?”
“There is a protection spell that keeps our hearts protected from magic—it was a fun little spell we did as children, my sister and I. Unfortunately, because of its success, it gave my sister confidence in her newfound ability.” He rubs his eyes.
“It corrupted her. Made her yearn for more things—things she shouldn’t use magic to get.
“Kaden’s ancestor, was one such thing. When he didn’t reciprocate her affection, she thought to enact a love spell. When he claimed another, she tried something worse.”
“The curse,” I whisper, mouth to my hand. My disbelief vanishes under outright rage.
She’s the reason for all of this.
He nods. “She took all her rage, her pain, and turned Kyrin into something monstrous with it.”
She destroyed Kaden’s family with her misplaced anger. How terrible of a being can she be?
“And then, when that wasn’t enough, she turned the Humans against the Fae,” Baris grumbles.
Her pain destroyed the world. Broke it into pieces, we were left to suffer her wrath.
“How does this help me save Kaden?” I growl. “How do I break his curse?”
Grabbing my hands, my father pleads into my eyes.
“With your blood, little one. Only Effy’s blood and true love can end the curse.
” He wipes my cheeks—they’re wet with tears, but I don’t feel them fall.
“You share her blood and your love can save Kaden. Free him from the shackles of his beast form and bring him back.”
Desperately, I search the cottage. The home that was meant to offer peace after so much pain, that was the beginning of Kaden’s family’s trials. “What do we do? Can we stop it—”
“As long as we get to him before the next full moon, he can be changed back.” Together, we look to the sky and I curse loudly.
“We have days, Baris.” Shoving off of him, I exit into the night. “We need to get to the Veridian Palace and hope Aoife can help us break the spell on the book so I can see what ritual is needed—”
“There is no ritual,” he yells, cutting me off. “We need only you.”
“Then why are—”
“Listen to me,” he pants, forcing us to stop. The horses whine behind us and I glare at my father. If he doesn’t move… “Going to the Veridian Palace is necessary to break the curse over the book, yes. But there is no real ritual that will change him back. You only need to believe in your love.”
“Let me go,” I say, struggling out of his hold. “None of this makes sense. I trust in our love, but there has to be more—”
Why else would Oslo use his last breath to tell me of the book? What was the point?
“You need the book to break the curse over the world,” he shouts, shaking me. “And you can only access it once Aoife breaks the spell on it. Once she does, the book can be read. You can save the world.”
Glancing around, I throw my hands into the air. “What aren’t you telling me?” He’s holding something back. “I don’t want to save the world—I only want to save Kaden!”
Baris runs a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, little one. You may want to save Kaden, but you are destined for more.”
“That’s it then? I’m to forget my husband, and in exchange, save the world?”
Baris sighs. “The Gods rarely make things easy.”
“Trust blindly in Gods’ Will?” I scoff. It’s sounds just like Taylay. I learned a long time ago, Gods do not care for us. “I can’t.”
There are too many things to worry about. I can’t willingly follow the God when I am the only one to save Kaden.
“If you will not trust the Gods, then trust me.” He pats his chest, right over his heart. “Trust that I would do anything for you, as my only daughter.”
“You want me to trust you?” I scoff. “I barely know you. How can I trust you when you tell me nothing? How can I trust you, when you would have me forsake my mate?”
“It is because I love you, that I tell you this. I would never let your mate come to harm, but for the world?” His eyes are wide. “For the world, you must consider it.”
Scoffing, I walk away. “No. Never. I will not.”
Running a hand through his hair, he sighs deeply. “Then if you listen to anything I say, listen to this. When you meet Aoife, never trust her. She may act as if she is your savior, but she always lies.”
“What if she is the only way to save Kaden?”
He snorts. “She’s not. She will have you believe she is, but she is not. This comes from me and Seti.”
Unbelievable.
Grabbing the reins of the Coal stallion, I kick myself high into the air, staring down at my father. He’s almost eye level, he’s so tall. Of course, he’s a Fairy. How did I never see it?
“I don’t have time to play games, Baris. I have a mate to save, and regardless of what you said, Aoife is my only chance of changing him back.” Regardless of what the Gods think, my blood and love cannot break a centuries old curse with nothing more than a hope and a prayer.
Aoife will break the curse, the spell book will tell me what to truly do, and I will do it. Because I’ve trusted Gods’ Will too much, and now, I must take control of my destiny. I know in my heart, I will find my answers in the Veridian Palace.
Kicking the stallion, I don’t wait to see if he follows.