Chapter 15
Fifteen
Imet Jade in the forest just beyond the Academy grounds at dawn.
The morning dew and a layer of frost still blanketed the greenery.
I was drained from the previous day’s events and the episode of panic I had endured, leaving me with no remaining energy to speak.
Jade read the expression on my face and walked with me in silence.
We reached the edge of the wards after some time, and as I crossed over into my lands, she hesitated.
Of course she did, but I still flared with anger at the insinuation of it.
‘If it makes you feel better, I will leave my weapons on this side of the wards, and the person we are to meet carries none.’ I did not explain that the reason Cain carried none was that he was far deadlier with his bare hands.
She followed me as I walked to the same spot where I had met Cain the morning before. A black crow landed before us; Jade stepped forward to marvel at the bird.
‘I love crows; they are magnificent creatures. It takes much to win their trust, but once you do, they will be a loyal friend,’ she said, taking a delicate step towards it and holding out her hand as if to invite it to come closer.
The crow looked at her curiously, tilting its head.
I had to stifle a smile at just how right she was about the loyalty of this particular crow.
Black smoke seeped from beneath his feathers. Jade’s eyes widened in panic thinking something had gone terribly wrong until Cain appeared. Black hair, honey-dipped skin and piercing green eyes. The only indicator that he was a mix of Forest Fae blood.
Jade stepped back. ‘I had heard the stories of the rare ones with Skin Seeper abilities that would allow them to transform into other creatures, but I had never seen it myself. It’s… beautiful,’ she said, awe soaking her voice.
Cain stared at her in disbelief. Throughout his entire childhood with the Forest Fae, he was shunned for his gift and regarded as a plague.
In my court, he was feared because of it.
I doubted anyone had ever called him beautiful for something that the world had told him made him wrong and less than.
‘Cain, this is Jade, Queen of Voldina, and this is Cain, my Master of Secrets.
I wanted you both to meet, as he will be the one infiltrating your court and helping you regain your power while ridding your council of those with ill intent.
Only then will your pledge to allyship be worth something.
When we leave these Academy grounds tomorrow, he will leave with you, and for the next month, until the Ascension of the Souls, he will work in the shadows alongside you.
He will be your ally in that den of snakes.
‘Cain, by the time the Ascension comes, I expect Jade’s current council to be gone, replaced by her trusted few, with her power back in her hands. One month—that is all you have. Understood?’
He nodded, hiding his shock at these new orders. He likely thought it was another excuse for me to keep him out of Demir’s lands.
Jade was shocked, but hope lit her eyes. ‘Thank you, thank you both.’
He looked at her with a cursory glance before handing me a note.
Turning to Jade, I explained, ‘Cain does not speak. But the parchment in his hands lends him the ability to convey his thoughts without having to write them down.’
Before she could stop herself she asked, ‘What happened? Have you been to a healer?’
A dark cloud of shame clouded Cain’s face.
‘That is a story for another time and yes, he has,’ I replied.
‘Have you tried someone like me, someone with royal blood healing him?’ she asked. I looked at her in shock. Now I understood why they had sought to strip her of any power; she could easily be taken advantage of. Cain silently chuckled, shaking his head.
‘There aren’t many with royal blood who would seek to help me, and healers with your abilities are even rarer; however, even the best healer cannot regrow a person’s tongue,’ I said, stifling a laugh at Jade’s horrified face.
She involuntarily took a step towards Cain but held herself back. Jade was just like her sister and couldn’t help but ask the one question that many never dared to ask. ‘Who did that to you?’
Cain grinned at her and nodded in my direction, wanting me to tell her the story. It was rare that he let others speak for him, but judging by his expression, he wanted to watch her absorb every bit of his story.
‘Cain is half Skin Seeper and half Forest Fae, a mix that was not tolerated at the time he was born. The Forest Fae are elitist pricks who believe in the purity of their people’s blood.
His being mixed with ours was a stain on his family.
Growing up, he was an inquisitive and talkative child, but his parents, filled with shame seethed every time he spoke in public because it drew people’s attention back to him, making it difficult for them to ignore his existence.
One day his parents had enough and in a fit of rage, at the age of ten, they held him down and cut out his tongue so that he could no longer speak and just fade into the background to be forgotten. ’
Jade looked as though she were going to vomit as her eyes welled with tears, taking in the man that stood before her, watching her reaction with a glimmer of amusement.
Changing the direction of the conversation, I pulled Cain to the side; this next part was not for her ears.
Taking the hint, she busied herself by looking at the flowers growing out of the trunk of the furthest tree from us, trying to distract herself.
As she tried to hide the tears she was clearly wiping away discretly.
Cain stifled a silent laugh, one I rarely saw from him.
Jade seemed to intrigue him, as he dared to toy with her so soon by letting me share that often guarded piece of his history.
Refocusing on the task at hand, I whispered to Cain.
‘What do you know of Ruhi? Who are they?’ I asked him.
I unfolded the note Cain passed me and read as his simple question of Why? morphed.
Who Ruhi is changes from person to person. It is old Morgadian magic and very rare. It is said that only once every few hundred years does a Morgadian find their Ruhi. Why do you ask?
‘I still don’t understand. What is a Ruhi? I heard Demir mention it a few times,’ I explained.
Cain got a sinister glint in his eyes before the words on the note scrambled and took shape again.
If Demir has found his Ruhi, he has found the missing piece of his soul.
It is a soul bonding that transcends everything.
It is a bond that is revered more than the royal bloodline in Morgad.
Rulers of old have waged wars over their Ruhi, thrown away titles and crowns, neglected their people.
The call to a person’s Ruhi is unyielding and undeniable.
It is primal. The moment a Morgadian finds their Ruhi, they would kill their whole family and slit their own wrists before letting harm befall them.
The need to protect is innate. If Demir has found his Ruhi, we have discovered his ultimate weakness and a way to shatter Morgad from the inside out.
We have found the leverage we have sought all this time.
The world slipped from under me. He hesitated during the duel. Was it because of me? His sudden change and kindness; perhaps it was not due to me reminding him of his sister after all.
‘Can only one person feel the soul bonding? Can someone reject it?’ I asked.
Each type of Fae feels it differently. If his Ruhi were of Morgadian blood, they would feel the same.
If they were a Water Whisperer from Neretva, the pull and connection would feel different—like drowning when they are not near one another.
For those from Suncela, it’s like being thirsty in the middle of the desert when you are not touching, but the outcome remains the same.
A person can say they reject the bond, but it will always remain.
‘What-what does it feel like for a Skin Seeper?’ I asked, voice shaking, unable to meet his eyes.
Skylar, are you his soul bonded? Please tell me you’re not.
I couldn’t say anything.
The Skin Seepers refer to their person as their Zauvek but it is all one and the same.
If it’s you, it would be different, though, as you have the power of the eternal flame coursing through you.
You are not a typical Skin Seeper. Perhaps the flame protects you from such magic and the bond will not affect you.
Perhaps there is a way to break the bond because the magic within you is different from that of others; I do not know.
You will need to ask Visarous to read through the ancient scrolls to find those answers.
The piece of parchment paper shook in my hand. I began to replay every thought I heard in Demir’s mind, every action over the last two days. ‘It’s one way; I’m sure of it. I don’t feel anything. We can use this as leverage, we can use him to end this,’ I said, almost convincingly, still reeling.
None of the things Cain had described resembled anything I had felt. Surely, the flame must have protected me from such bonds, or perhaps the flame’s bond with me left room for no others. Yes, I felt slightly warmer when we touched and cold when he left, but maybe the oversized brute just ran hot.
I left Cain and Jade to talk not able to continue this line of thought. One thing was certain: I could use this to my advantage in this war.