Chapter 39 #2
She moaned, and I felt myself harden beneath her, my hands suddenly settling on her hips, shifting her against me.
“Sean’s just outside the door,” she said in a gasp. Her chest heaved. “Are you okay?”
I let out a shaky exhale, then took in another breath, meeting her eyes. “I am now. I’m sorry.”
“No. Don’t apologize.” She smiled softly. “No guidebook, remember?”
I laughed. “No guidebook.”
“Was it the food?” she asked. “Did that …?”
“I don’t know. I think the memories—they just hit me. I know everything that had happened, but some things feel more present than others at times. I can’t hold it all at once.”
She frowned. “Well, when the next one hits, I’ll be there with you. We’re going to get through this.”
“I know. Thank you.” I looked down between us, her legs straddling me and my very obvious erection. I shook my head. “Not normally how I deal with this.”
She chuckled. “Hey, whatever helps. I didn’t exactly mind. But seeing as how we’re not alone—” She kissed me, chastely, hugging me tight, then crawled off my lap to sit beside me.
I took a deep breath, trying to cool down, reminding myself that Sean was just outside the door.
Anything else my body was craving from Lyr could wait.
But I supposed it was a good thing that it wanted this, and not something else.
Not something evil or depraved. It just wanted to be near her, to touch her, love her.
A moment later, I nodded. “Okay. I think I’m good.”
She kissed my cheek. “You sure?”
“I’m okay.”
“I’ll bring Sean in.”
A minute later, fully back to myself, I realized I was sitting in a complete stranger’s living room, with walls made of darkened wood panels, a stone fireplace, and a flag with the sigil of Ka Hart above the mantel.
Lyr held my hand on the sofa where we sat, and Sean came to sit on a small chair beside us.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“This is the home of an old friend from Glemaria. Soturion Sheldon Daigen. Ka Daigen were loosely connected to Ka Gaddayan.” Kane and Kenna’s Ka.
“He joined the soturi of Ka Kormac when he was exiled by your father,” Sean continued. “Sheldon’s retired now, but still lives here, offering shelter to any of us who pass through. Any of us who stand against Devon.”
I nodded.
“How are you doing?” he asked, his eyes crinkling with concern.
I shook my head. “Well, the last five minutes don’t paint a great picture. But, I’m alive. So there’s that.”
Lyr squeezed my hand, her face tightening like she was trying not to cry.
“You were—you were coming to kill me,” I said, pulling out Auriel’s memories as I looked at Sean.
His face fell. “Only if I had to. I didn’t want you to live like that.”
“I didn’t either.” I’d had to do the same thing for Garrett.
Kill him. End it. Keep him from this life.
But that had been before—before Lyr had found a cure.
Before the knowledge had been unlocked, and the red shard taken from the Moon Court.
The thought that he could have had a different outcome, that I was saved and he wasn’t, made my heart hurt.
“I’m so glad I wasn’t on time,” Sean said.
“I came searching for you. Tracked you down. It took me about three weeks to find you out here. I came alone. When I saw how many akadim there were, how much protection the cave offered, I left, and put out a call for every soturion who wanted to help. Who wanted to stop the threat. And who—who cared about you. Who wanted to help you in any way they could.” His throat bobbed as he looked away.
“Gods. Thanks to the Gods you got here first,” he said to Lyr.
I silently thanked her, too.
Not because I was afraid Sean would have killed me.
I was afraid that as an akadim, I might have killed Sean.
“How?” he asked, looking at Lyr. “How did you do it?”
Lyr straightened and looked at me, her eyebrows raised in question. I knew what she was asking. Permission to tell Sean the truth about who we were. It was the only way to offer a real explanation. And I was done lying, hiding who I was.
“Tell him,” I said.
So Lyr did. I watched his eyes widen with shock, and then a kind of calm knowing, like he’d always suspected that I was Auriel, like deep down, a part of him had always known.
I listened breathlessly as Lyr spoke. I knew what had happened to her while I was gone, seeing the last six weeks play out in Auriel’s memories.
But hearing Lyr explain it, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
Her courage and bravery, and determination left my heart pounding.
She did all this. For me.
When she finished explaining the connection between me and Auriel, and then the one between her and Asherah, Sean looked pale, his eyes full of tears. He stood up wordlessly and went to hug her, holding her so tight, I didn’t think he’d ever let go. Until he did—and pulled me into his arms.
“I want to talk to you,” he said quietly. “Later. Just the two of us. Make sure you’re really okay.”
“I am,” I said. “Or, I think I will be.”
“Good.”
The last time he’d found me in the wild, I’d been too depressed to function or heal myself.
But I was stronger now. I had Lyr. Still, I knew talking to Sean would feel good.
He always knew what to say, and I’d missed him terribly these last few months.
Ever since we left Bamaria to track Meera and Morgana.
Finally, he sat back down and took a sip of water, as I rejoined Lyr on the couch.
Sheldon walked in to check on us. He was an elderly man with a thick Glemarian accent that reminded me of Artem. All bushy white eyebrows. He welcomed us and asked if we needed anything, then left, giving us our privacy again.
“Right now,” Sean said, “there’s something you should know.
” He gritted his teeth. “There’s much I haven’t been able to tell you these last few years, because your father—he forced a blood oath on me.
But things have changed, and I think I can tell you this now.
” He sat forward, setting down his glass of water on the table.
“I put out a call for help when I saw how many akadim I faced all those weeks ago. How much help I needed to get to you.” He clasped his hands together.
“Soturi from all over the South answered. Dozens who knew you as a boy, dozens more who fought and trained beside you. And every soturion who fought akadim at your side in Bamaria. They all answered the call, ready to defect from their posts and legions. In the end, there was over a hundred ready to fight. I had to ask some to stay behind. There were too many to be able to travel at the speed I wanted. But right now I have fifty soturi with me. And each one is loyal to you. Not your father. You, Rhyan.”
“What? What are you trying to say?” Lyr gasped, and I met her eyes.
I nodded at Sean to continue, my heart pounding.
“Most of the soturi I’ve gathered are camped out in the woods. We’ve been moving in small packs to avoid detection by Kormac. Our rendezvous point was in the meadow before the Wall of the Prince, tonight. We were going to strike. And well—you know.”
“I know.” I swallowed, realizing how close we’d both come to destruction if Lyr had just been one day late. “We’ll still rendezvous tonight so I can share the good news,” he said.
“What will you do then?” I asked, a plan forming in my mind. Lyr looked at me and gave a small, firm nod.
Sean shook his head. “We have to figure that out. These men left their posts—they can’t simply go home now. Things were getting bad in the South already with the new leadership. Bamaria isn’t—it’s not what it was.”
“What about heading North?” I asked.
“North,” Sean frowned.
“It’s time. Things have gotten bad enough. Beyond bad. My father’s tyranny has gone too far for too long.” Lyr squeezed my hand.
Sean’s eyebrows drew together, his eyes searching quickly back and forth between us.
“A movement has been brewing in Glemaria for some time. An uprising to stop your father. To remove him from power. Previous attempts failed. Many times. But things are different now. And I think, I think the time is right.”
“So do I,” Lyr said.
“What he did to you,” Sean’s voice shook, his aura flaring with anger, “was so fucking awful, that even the most ardent haters of vorakh—have turned away their support.” He huffed. “It’s one thing to quietly send your son away to Lethea because of vorakh.”
“Like that’s any better,” Lyr snapped.
“No, it’s not, I agree,” Sean said. “People are hypocrites. But, in this case, it’s working in our favor. They were disgusted by the idea of a father standing there as his son was—was—”
“Stripped,” I said dully.
Lyr sucked in a breath.
Sean nodded, his neck reddening. “Yes. It kind of opened a door, let’s say, for other criticisms that hadn’t gained traction before. He hasn’t been seen in a great light these last few months. And he knows it. Protests are rising, calls for new leadership. So, he’s doing his usual.”
I sneered. “Holding a tournament.”
Sean nodded. “It’s going to be in that arena he restored. You know, the one they called the Pits.”
“An Alissedari,” I said. The event where I’d killed Garrett. The place where my old life had ended. My throat dried.
“He’s going to be there,” Sean said. “Out in the open.”
“But even with people coming to their senses,” I said, “he’s still well protected. He has fucking Kane, and his legion. Do you have anyone we can rely on in Glemaria? Not just here?”
Something flared in Sean’s aura, something bright and hopeful. He smiled, a genuine smile, and his eyes were sparkling in a way I hadn’t seen in years.
“We have someone who’s been getting the word out to us for years now, letting us know your father’s moves, and any weaknesses we can exploit. Particularly amongst those who serve him in the Glemarian Council.”
“Who?” Lyr asked. “Who’s in place?”
But I already knew. Of course! I’d asked her to run away with me years ago, when I needed to escape the abuse, when I wanted to save her, too. She refused. She’d always wanted to remain in Glemaria, to be in her home. Because she was going to make things better.
“It’s Kenna,” I said.
Sean nodded.
“Kenna?” Lyr asked. “By the Gods.”
“Kenna’s been working to gain support for his removal from power for years.
And now it looks like it’s time. Your father’s going to be in the Pits for his tournament in one week.
And he’s going to be vulnerable. We can easily infiltrate the arena, surround him.
And arrest him. And Kenna has assured us that no one will interfere or object. ”
“But his personal guard,” I said, remembering the way they’d stood there and watched as my mother died. “They can’t be trusted. Plus, I know he’s compromised the first legion and the Master of Peace.”
Sean grinned. “Are you so sure? Because right now he’s never been weaker. He’s missing one very key element of defense, one that he’s going to keep quiet for as long as he can, but it’s already too late. Because we know.”
“What is it?” I asked.
There was something gleeful in Sean’s aura as he spoke. “The Ready,” he said. “Arkturion Aemon has been spotted in the North with a small army. I don’t know what he’s up to. But he’s not returning to Bamaria, or whatever they’re calling it now. He’s gathering forces for some other reason.”
I met Lyr’s eyes, her mouth formed an O as her jaw dropped.
I had a good fucking idea of what he was up to. And I bet Morgana was with him. She’d left us weeks ago, claiming I had things under control. We were so close to unearthing the green shard. They were preparing for battle. Against us. Against the whole Empire.
But we’d just taken two weapons from our most ancient enemies.
Me. And the shard.
“What does the Ready have to do with this?” Lyr asked.
“It’s Arkturion Kane,” Sean said. “Kenna got word to us this morning. An ambassador from Aemon’s camp met with Kane a week ago. Whatever they said to him, it worked. He defected. He and his first legion have abandoned your father and they’ve joined Aemon’s army.”
I sat back against the cushions, my mind whirling.
One enemy had weakened. But another had just grown dangerously powerful.
Because Kane wasn’t just Kane. He was Shiviel, God of the Yellow Ray.
Lyriana and I had just begun to match the combined power of Aemon and Morgana.
We were together. We had two shards of the Valalumir, just like them.
Only they both had their magic. And before long, they would have three shards.
I had to get my power back. And we had to find the others. Dario. Aiden. Meera. And Jules.
Which meant there was truly only one course of action. We had to strike. We had to head for Glemaria and meet my father in the arena.
Because without Kane there, and without his legion, my father was a sitting duck.
And I wanted it to be my hands who took him down.