Chapter 15 #4
“The curse had a cost, one that her people paid and have paid for centuries. Their natural magic was taken, and her people were forced to forever feed on blood as their only source of magic. Weakening them and therefore weakening her.”
Understanding bloomed in my mind, and I breathed, “Magic will find its balance.” My uncle used to tell me that constantly.
Caelan simply nodded and continued, “Your mother found out her fate, and stole her mother's book, hiding and taking sanctuary in a neighboring kingdom.”
My gut flipped, and I squeezed my palms together in agitation.
“And as you can guess, she fell in love.”
I nodded, my chest filling with air, the pressure mounting with each uneasy breath.
“They had a son together, were happy, but then Eionian fell, and Morgana’s souls attached itself to your mother.”
“She asked my father to kill her,” I whispered, already knowing. Already feeling the truth in my blood, my bones.
Caelen nodded. “They used the book to try to rip her soul, Morgana’s, from her body. But it didn’t work. It only worked in pulling all the others except hers and Morgana’s. As she was the active host.
“Your father promised her they would find another way, but Morgana was already clawing her way to the surface. Eionian in the meantime was dismantled, their land divided amongst the other kingdoms, their people scattered.”
I leaned forward, my head tilting. “You said they ripped the other souls from my mother, wouldn’t that weaken her?”
Caelan nodded.
“What happened to them?” My brow furrowed as I stared at the table in concentration, trying to think, to follow along.
“Morgana believes they are held within her book.”
A flash of something went across my vision, and I stilled. “My uncle's pendant… it belonged to my father.”
“Precisely. When your mother was too far gone, your uncle and father tried to find another way. Only they did not understand the magic they were messing with.” Caelan growled low and deep, and power flared out around him, once again passing over me like a wave of ice.
“Your father could not bring himself to kill her, his wife. So instead, he found a spell to open a portal to rid her of this realm. More mortals messing with magic they knew nothing of,” Caelan snarled, and I couldn’t help but defend my father.
“Don’t you dare blame my father,” I hissed. “This is all because of you. Your magic, your knowledge did this, started all of this!”
I was on my feet again, but quickly regretted it as Caelan grew into that mountainous figure again, his guttural bark echoing in my skull.
Enough!
My back slammed once again into the chair, and he was again smaller, his glowing eyes pinning me in my seat.
“It had a cost, what your father did. Created a curse of its own. Needing to balance what had been done. Your father’s choice changed the fate of an entire realm, their people. Millions of fates altered because of one choice.”
My back went rigid, my skin heating.
“As punishment for his crime, your lands were cursed.
Your kingdom was then magically forgotten and cut off, which in turn altered your people's minds, their books, and their maps. The realm your father sent the witch to was stitched onto your own. Only those with the blood of the one who caused this damage can know and remember, and only those of the same blood can undo it. This curse will only lift when everything is set right.”
“How?” I growled. He told me there was only one path. I needed to know what it was, needed to fix this, all of this. Needed to kill that fucking witch, and make sure she would never survive, take another life again.
“I cannot tell you that. I can’t interfere, not yet.”
He wasn't fucking serious.
I recoiled as if I had been slapped, but before I could voice my fury, Caelan stood.
“I have my own rules I need to abide by. You needed to hear this story and understand the facts. This knowledge is essential for you to forge the path ahead. I have provided you with the information, and now the decision regarding your fate and that of your kingdom rests with you and your kind. Her thirst for our knowledge, for more power will never cease, and everything and everyone will be destroyed because of it.”
“How am I supposed to kill an unkillable witch if you do not tell me how to do it?” I snarled.
“Maybe it is not your knowledge to have but anothers?” Caelan said cryptically, and I glared at him. What use was bringing me here, if not to help me kill her? A thought boiled to the surface of my mind, pushing out all others, and it sprang from my lips aggressively.
“How does Zara play into all of this?”
Caelan looked away from me, and I fought to stand again, but his power didn’t let me.
“Zara is a vessel. Morgana used her to bridge the gap between your realms, her unique biology allowing her to travel between your two kingdoms. However, divine power cannot be directly taken, so Morgana can only control Zara through other means, such as compulsion, manipulating her mind to do her bidding.
Their souls are intertwined and have been for most of Zara's life.
It is as much a part of Morgana now as it is of her, but Morgana cannot wield Zara's power like she can the other souls.”
“And what happens to her if Morgana dies?”
Caelan remained silent, and my heart pounded in my chest. He turned back to me slowly, his eyes brimming with sadness. “I'm afraid I cannot speak of another's fate, not even to a mate who shares in that soul.”
It felt as if my chest had been cleaved open.
The look on his face, he didn’t need to tell me what would happen to her—his expression said it all.
I fought to stand again and thrashed against his invisible bindings, cursing him and his cursed fate.
We made our own fate, our own paths. She would survive.
We would all survive, and I would make Morgana pay for everything she had done.
“I’m afraid our time is up, Xavier.” Caelan was back on his throne, a mountainous form in the vast sky. “Give the pendant to Jaxon. He will be able to see what was discussed here today. He must learn the truth as well.”
“Don’t you fucking dare. We aren’t done here,” I roared, still thrashing.
“No, we most certainly are not,” his ancient, eerie voice chimed in my mind, and then I was falling. The chair and the marble disappeared underneath me as I was swallowed into the glittering sky.