Chapter 41 #2
I caught Sean’s eyes crinkling as he smiled.
“Rhyan,” he said. “Listen to me. I understand why you hesitate. You’re humble.
You always were. And way too fucking hard on yourself.
But this isn’t about you.” His aura flared suddenly, full of pride and hope, bright and warm like the forest in the sun in autumn.
“It’s about them, what they need,” he said fiercely.
“What if you were out there? Just come back from being akadim, not knowing why. Feeling the guilt of what you became, of being a monster. Plagued with the memories.”
My throat tightened. “Sean, I don’t—I don’t have to imagine. That is what I’m feeling.”
“And what are you going to do about it?” he asked.
“You’re going to fight back. You’re going to remove a tyrant from power, someone who hurt you and countless others for decades.
Someone who will only hurt more people if he’s not removed.
So you can become ruler, become Arkasva.
You were born to take the Seat of Power from him.
So you will. And when he’s gone, you’re going to go after the next tyrant and the next.
You’re going to make things better. Make this world better.
You have a path forward.” He shook his head, pointing at the former akadim.
“That’s what they want, too. What they need.
A path. They’re asking you to show them the way. That’s all.”
My heart pounded. “Can we bring them to Glemaria?” I asked.
Sean held out his hand, taking the collar from me.
He turned it over a few times, considering it, then tapped on it with his finger.
“I thought this was decorative. Silver,” he said.
“But this is steel. We can melt these down. Forge weapons.” Exhaling sharply, he said, “We’ll need to.
” His eyes roved over the faces of the former akadim.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us. We just doubled the size of your soturi. One hundred strong.”
“My soturi?” I asked.
Sean laughed, “Did you think they were mine?” He grinned. “The soturi who came with me—who came to fight—they came for you. Out of loyalty and respect for you. I’m not the one being called Arkturion now, am I?”
Lyr’s face lit up. “Sean’s right. Rhyan, they want to fight back. And they want to do it with you. We need them. With them, we have an even better chance of winning.”
I looked around, taking them all in, recognizing many of their faces, recalling names. I thought about when I had fled Glemaria after being named forsworn. How I had wandered in exile. How I hadn’t been able to see a path, how I’d lost everything.
And how in the end, choosing to be a soturion had saved me. I needed purpose. Meaning. And I’d made my choice. I’d decided to fight evil. To defend and protect. I saw the same desperate hope in their eyes now.
“It’s up to you,” Sean said softly. “It’s your choice to take them with you, just as it’s their choice to ask to come along. But if you do, my soturi are already loyal to you—they will cheer at your consecration. Celebrate when you become Arkasva Hart, High Lord of Glemaria.”
I bit my lip, his words sinking in. But my stomach was still turning. “If we do this, we only have a week.”
Lyr squeezed my hand. “Anything is possible.”
My throat tightened. But she was right. So was Sean.
The cheers and shouts were starting to die down. I stepped forward, my eyes sweeping over them. And I took a deep breath, my mind made up.
“Come with me,” I said. “If you want. But before you agree to fight at my side, and with Lady Lyriana, there’s something I need to say.”
Already they were chanting my name, shouting out again. But now, it wasn’t Arkturion they were calling me. It was Arkasva. Arkasva Hart. High Lord of Glemaria.
My stomach turned.
“I want you all to know,” my voice cracked, and I started again.
“I want you all to know that you’re free.
Your freedom was returned to you for no reason other than it was always yours to begin with.
None of you deserved to have it taken away.
Not one of you, me included,” I paused, my eyes watering, “deserved what happened to them, to us.”
Harman’s eyes watered. Brandes shed a tear.
“You were cured by the grace and power of Lyriana Batavia. And to understand how, you should know. It’s because she is Asherah, the Goddess reborn.”
Lyr gasped, her eyes widening. “Rhyan.”
I shook my head. It was time. Time for everyone to know. She’d healed them all, done the impossible. And it wasn’t going to be the last time. If we were going to do this, I was done with hiding. Finished with secrets. What the Empire deemed illegal no longer concerned me.
“She saved you,” I said. “Her magic, her strength. It was she who brought me back and all of you by extension. I am so grateful to her, for more than just myself. For all of you. She is my mekarim. My soulmate. I will love her, and honor her and serve her for the rest of my life. So if you want to join me, if you want to fight with me, you fight for her.”
Her hazel eyes watered, the specks of gold glinting in the faint light escaping through the canopy of branches above us. The former akadim cheered, now shouting Lyr’s name.
“There is a war coming,” I said. “And I need your help to fight it. But you are under no obligation to me, or to this cause. None of you signed up to have your lives disrupted, your souls taken. None of you asked to be changed, hurt, or violated in the ways you were. The way I was.” I took a deep breath.
“And I hold none of you guilty for the crimes committed when you were not yourself. If you need to hear you are absolved, I say this to you now—you are.” My voice shook.
“Though I admit, I am struggling to remember the same for myself. But I’m working on it.
And I’m willing to work on it beside all of you.
“If you want to go now, if you wish to go home, to go back to your countries, your Kavim, your families, if you want to leave the Lumerian Empire altogether and continue west, know that I understand. And that you go with my blessing, and—” I reached for Lyr’s hand, bringing her forward.
“You go with Lady Lyriana’s. But if you do want to stay, I would be beyond honored to fight beside you.
We are heading north, to Glemaria. To take down its Arkasva and Imperator.
My father. I am the rightful Heir Apparent.
And I’m ready to finally remove my father from power.
Something that should have been done a long time ago.
For years, he’s abused his position, allowing akadim to roam free, terrorizing my people, and everyone in the North.
And he’s committed other crimes. Too heinous to name.
But it’s time for him to receive justice.
So you all get to choose now. You can come with me and fight. Or, you are free to go.”
I felt dizzy as I stopped speaking, like I might fall over. Only because Lyr’s grip on me was so strong did I manage to stand. But suddenly, the former akadim were shouting, shouting my name. Calling me Arkasva. Pumping their fists in the air, bowing, kneeling.
“Arkasva Rhyan! Arkasva Rhyan! High Lord of Glemaria!”
Sean sank before me, pressing his fist to his heart, two times, then flattening his hand against his chest. “Me sha, me ka, Your Grace, Arkasva Rhyan Hart, High Lord of Glemaria,” he shouted.
Everyone erupted into cheers.
I turned away, burying my face against Lyr’s as the tears overwhelmed me.