Chapter 45
Chapter
Forty-Five
-brIDA-
“It’s not possible.” I paced around our room. It was ornate with seafoam colored marble walls, a plush bed in its center, a balcony staring out onto a sparkling sea.
“Asana has no reason to lie to us.”
“We saw him die, Dainan. There is no way Alvar is alive.”
Is there?
Dainan crossed our divide in a matter of steps, reaching for my hands. His warmth was a balm to my fraying nerves. “No one wishes that to be true more than me, more than Asana. He is in stasis, and according to Asana, won’t be for much longer.”
“So it’s not permanent?” My voice dropped; the very hope that had just burst to life snuffed out as quickly as it had arrived.
“I think it’s best we go with her and see for ourselves.”
Dainan’s thumb brushed over my cheek in soft circles, a simple gesture that made the hairs on my arm rise. “Just remember to breathe,” he pressed a kiss to my neck, his tantalizing scent wrapping around me as we made our way from the room.
Our room was down the hall from Asana’s, she had shown us the way when we had been escorted from the great hall.
The palace was larger than Azmeer, and I was desperate to see more of it.
The colors were vibrant and rich, the statues, embellishments of the sea.
Each sconce that lined the walls shimmered as if the sun was dancing across the water, and played the sounds of whispers carried on the wind like the echoes of shells from the depths.
“I wish we were here for any other reason,” I whispered to Dainan as he knocked three times on Asana’s door.
“If we’re making wishes, I wish we were alone, and that all of this—” His fingers traced the collar of my dress, causing my breath to hitch, “—was gone.”
“Oh?”
“Maybe save for this.” Dainan lifted a red gem that rested just above my breasts.
The door offered no creak or sound as Asana opened it, stepping forward. Dainan let go of the necklace, returning to rest at my side.
“I’ll explain along the way.” Asana gestured us down the hall.
We walked in silence for the first several corridors. The walls themselves were not straight lines but curved like waves in the water.
“I’m not sure what you know about Quiala. It’s not as if it is a topic taught in schools in the Northern Ridge.” She offered a faint smile, a bridge.
A low chuckle escaped me, “You’re correct. Most schools, especially within Escalia, avoided folklore. But I was fortunate to have a mother and aunt who did not.”
“Quiala and Azmeer are known as the twins, however this was a secret until quite recently. They were the two great cities of each continent, one of the earth, and one of the sea.”
Dainan’s hand remained clasped around mine, my arm looped through his as Asana guided us.
“While the cities are similar in that they are the seats of power in each realm, they are uniquely different. Azmeer flourishes due to the magic that flows through its veins from the Cour’ts houses.
It is what sustains life. However, in recent years, that magic has begun to wane.
” Asana continued as we began our descent down a spiral stairwell.
“Quiala has suffered no such damage as there are no courts in this realm. Magic flows freely here and is accessible to all.”
“Melia wasn’t lying then.”
“No. Everyone in Quila has been gifted magic. Some are even inclined to more than one school of magic.” She turned her head back to Dainan. “And if you are the ruler of Quiala, you possess all. It is how their queen is chosen.”
“In order to be the ruler of Quiala, one must possess access to all schools of magic?” I asked. “Are multiple women granted such?” Did they have to compete to become queen? I could see Melia overtaking her competition, leaving nothing but bones and blood in her wake.
“Magic is different here; it chooses who it chooses. If you wish it, you will possess magic. It does not adhere to the confines we have established in Eldara because this realm was not created by Dawn and Dusk, but several other of the Primals. And to answer your question, it is possible that there may be more than one female who is destined to become queen. However, only one will ever sit the throne.”
I nodded, a chill crawling up my spine, thinking of what Melia had done to assert her position.
Our walking ceased as we approached two doors. “Dainan, you will enter first. Once you’ve heard what he has to say, Brida will enter. This is something to be done alone.”
Dainan swallowed and, without uttering a word, placed a soft kiss on my cheek before making his way to the doors. He paused with his hand on the right handle, exhaled, and ventured inside.
Acid churned in my stomach. I wanted to be there for Dainan. To help him through this. We had no idea what awaited us on the other side of that door, what state we would find Alvar in. Our brother, our friend.
I turned to Asana, “How is Alvar tied to all of this? You brought him here?” I was exhausted. Everything that had been solid beneath me had collapsed in these last months, the chasm of uncertainty trying to swallow me whole.
“Magic has been dying in our world. It wasn’t noticeable at first, but it became so to those who looked. Those who didn’t shy away from it. Alvar grew suspicious.” She smiled as she looked down at me. “He was seldom wrong, my Alvar. A brilliant, beautiful man.”
I wished to offer her comfort, but at this moment, I knew it would do little. Whatever awaited me on the other side of those doors was a sight that I was not yet sure I wanted to see. But, for the betterment of us all, I could do it. I would do it.
“Alvar came to see me regularly, you know,” I said as I ran a hand through my hair.
Asana raised an eyebrow at me, “Did he now?”
“Not like that,” I scoffed as I paced around the atrium “These past few months, or what I perceived to be months.”
“What do you mean?” Asana crossed her slight arms and stared at me.
My heartbeat echoed in my chest as I stepped closer to Asana, lowering my voice. “I was taken to the Court of Whispers, where I was repeatedly drugged and…” I slowed myself, “I had dreams, visions… I’m not sure. It became difficult to discern what was happening and what was not.”
Asana’s gaze softened.
“Whenever things became too difficult, too hard, Alvar would appear to me. But he didn’t appear as an apparition or a spirit, as the myths say. He was himself. He was whole.”
Asana placed her hand on my forearm and let it linger for a moment before saying, “When you enter the room, you must drink from the water. Then, all will become clear.”
“Drink from the water, and?”
“You will see,” she turned to face the door as Dainan emerged, paler than I had ever seen him.
“Dainan.” I cupped his face with my hands, pulling his gaze towards mine. His shadows had returned, the darkness.
“Go, Brida.” His voice was low. “It’s important that you do.” Placing his hands over mine, he pulled them from his face before placing his palm on my lower back, gesturing me towards the door. “We’ll be here when you’re finished.”
“Finished what?” I didn’t know what to expect as I walked inside. My footsteps echoed in the cave-like space, the damp smell reminiscent of mine and Kadian’s hiding places in the woods.
The room was vacuous, but what drew my attention were the shadows gathering in the middle of the room. Slithering towards a slab of stone, an altar, where atop it rested a king.
Blue stone shimmered beneath my feet, alive with something deeper than magic. Flashes, glimpses of memories, shone in the rock.
“Gods, you would have loved it here,” I whispered as I finally reached the stone. His body, save for his face, was covered in shadows. They were erasing him, bit by bit, piece by piece. The shadows appeared reverent, like silent mourners lamenting what could have been. What should have been.
“You don’t want to be here anymore than I do,” I whispered to them. The shadows recognized him here, in a land that wasn’t his own. In this world that possessed all forms of magic, the shadows had still been called to him. “You’re as loyal as he is,” I said as I leaned closer to look at him.
Placing my hand on his cheek, tears streaked my own.
He was calm, at ease— finally at peace. I didn’t know why Asana had done this, but Gods, I could curse her for it.
His spirit could have been spared this, freed of this world months ago.
Is he trapped? Condemned to the void between worlds, forced to live here for eternity? Half a life…
“Brida.” A whisper called from the depths. Reluctant to let go of him, I stepped around the stone, finding myself at the edge of a pool. The water held secrets, each ripple a fragment of his life. Water has memory, hadn’t I once read that?
I picked up the ladle that lay atop the wet, slick stone and spooned the water into the small wooden cup that awaited use. With the cup in my hand, I turned to face Alvar, raising it to him, “To the king.”
The cup fell from my hand with the first sip. How? The water tasted like the sandwiches Alvar would bring me in the library, the vol-au-vents we had spent days selecting and deciding because, “Brida, the food is as important as the event itself.”
“Food is as important as political marriages. That is what you are saying?” I quipped, to which he replied, “If one is to suffer through such a thing, it is important we have quality champagne to drink, and delicious food to shove in our mouths to stop us from objecting.”
The memory brought a smile to my face as my vision obscured itself.
The room spun, everything fading out of focus, everything falling away until I squeezed my eyes closed in an attempt to stop it.
The sensation of falling found me next, as if I was being dragged from this world.
When I opened them, I found I was no longer in the cave, but in a place I thought lost to me forever.
“Come sit.” Alvar patted down on the mattress. I made my way towards him and pulled his hand into mine.