CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
A loud collective gasp echoed in the once quiet room, but Asher was oblivious. That static charge had kicked his powers into overdrive; they were amped crazily high. Such power was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
The wall he used to block out the emotions of everyone around him was gone, shattered into millions of tiny pieces, and in its place was a tidal wave of despair, sorrow, and grief. The emotions were so raw and so immense they took his breath away.
Asher flinched, the emotional pain assaulting him.
His head was beginning to swim, and the emotions swamping him were so overwhelming that he knew if he didn’t raise his shielding soon, he might run the risk of his body feeling drained under the pressure of the assault. He couldn’t afford to be vulnerable, and that is what he would be because it would also drain his ability to glamor. That would be a disaster.
Hands slipped under his arms, helping him up, and he found himself bowing and apologizing. He tried to move, but whoever had helped him up still held him, and they were guiding him away from the line and all the others in the room towards a door at the other end of the hall.
As they marched him along, his head fell forward, the assault causing him to stumble. Giving a silent thanks to the men supporting his weight, Asher sighed at the brain fog he was wading through. A single strand of his hair brushed his cheek and crossed his vision, and at that moment, his breath caught.
A lock of his long hair had broken free of the leather binding. A pale white lock of hair. Dread filled him. The crowd”s reaction made sense. He had thought it was just because he had made a fool of himself, but no. His glamor had dropped.
Panic began to build. He prayed to Frenlorn, the god the people of Winter worshiped, that the sage green had stayed intact, but deep down, he knew it was in vain. He could tell that whatever had happened in the great hall had robbed him of his mental guards, and that included his ability to glamor.
Glancing left then right, Asher saw the two guards who held him up. Each was close to his seven feet in height. But neither was looking at him. The sound of the large doors they had just passed through closing behind them had Asher breathe in a sigh of relief.
“To his rooms, please.”
A male voice just out of sight called out, but as Asher tried to focus on the source of the command, his sight weaved in and out. He was fighting hard to build up his shielding and having been taken from the room, and all those people had helped.
It had given him just enough breathing space to push that last block into place.
Weak from the emotional onslaught, Asher allowed himself to be led.
They moved through a few hallways until they came to a set of large ornate double doors. One of the two guards posted outside moved and pushed a door open allowing the others to maneuver him inside. They helped him to a chair and stepped back, awaiting further orders.
“You really need to stop going in there, Rune. Your father is gone. I am sorry to be blunt, but until we find who did this and until you....” The male stopped mid-sentence, clapped his hands, and nodded to the door. He waited until the guards had left the room, closing the door behind them with a snick before continuing, “Until you come into the powers of the High Protector. You, my Lord, are vulnerable.”
Asher tilted his head just ever so slightly as the words sunk in.
It was true, Cian Forrester had been murdered, and whoever had done it had gotten away with it, apparently. “I don’t think you should say anymore, my friend. I am not this Rune character you speak of. I simply came to pay my respects and leave.”
He placed his hands on the armrests and attempted to push up to stand. He was too weak, his body robbed of its strength. He fell back into the chair. His own magic was now mixed with and growing alongside the other newer power that had raged within him. He needed a moment or two, then he would be able to get out of the mess he was now in.
“Enough of this! You can stop the act now, I understand you miss him, but you cannot ditch your guards and take off like that. They are stationed outside your door and are at your side for a reason.”
The male”s face was growing redder by the minute.
“Look, you are mistaken. I have told you I am not the person you think I am. I, sir, am Asher Rivenshaw, not this Rune person you keep referring to.”
The male sighed, his chin dipping as he rested his hands on his hips, “Rune, your mother is on her way to your room right now, and if she sees you sat there in those Lorn awful clothes, it will be the end of her.”
“Hey! Now wait just a damn minute! These clothes may not be lavish, but I paid through the teeth for them in your Quartaine’s expensive stores.”
The male raised a hand, and using his thumb and forefinger, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he mumbled, “I swear I am not getting paid enough for this. Play pauper if you wish when all this is settled when all the court members of the other Quartaine’s have all departed back to their own lands, Rune. But please pull it together until then.” He glanced over to Asher, his eyes pleading, “Even just for tonight, I know you are stressed because the powers have not manifested yet. But perhaps if you relax and open yourself up to them, it will happen. We have dinner tonight with the members of the other courts. Let us get through that for now. We need to show them that all is well here. We cannot afford to show any weakness because it is at a time like this when we are at our weakest.”
Asher stayed silent and just nodded slightly. He leaned back, resting against the chair. He learned at the Guild that sometimes the best way to get information from someone was to say nothing at all. It usually forced the other person to fill the void with information you would otherwise look guilty asking for.
The male stood, hands resting on the back of a chair across from Asher, “It will be okay, Rune, honestly. Things will work out how they are meant to. Perhaps this is just your way of processing your father’s death. A kind of shock of sorts, we can make the dinner as brief as possible tonight. Once the members of the other Quartaines have paid their respects and you have made your introductions to them, I will have one of the guards inform you that you are needed elsewhere.”
So the previous Protector had been murdered, and the new one had yet to receive his inherited abilities.
Something gnawed at Asher.
“So, will I have the same gifts as my father?” This a gentle prompt, hopefully just enough to gain more information.
The male gave Asher an exasperated look, sighing dramatically, “Do you not pay attention to anything I say?”
Asher had to stop himself from grinning. It seemed the male had a loose tongue when it came to the next in line to the Quartaine.
He continued, “You already have the ability to impose voices and sounds on others that aren’t there at all. You’ll also have the ones your father had. With the gifts of the High Protector bestowed onto you, your current ability will amplify, and you will be able to reach further with it. You will be able to affect more people than you currently can all at the same time. You will also have your father”s ability to see the aura of a person”s mood or emotion, and with training you will be able to reach out mentally and connect with the person to feel what they feel. It will be a complimentary ability to the one you currently have.”
Nodding as the male spoke, Asher settled back in the chair.
“Is that all I will be able to do?”
The male tilted his head, a look of confusion ghosting his face before he sighed a little, “You know the rest. You have seen him manipulate and freeze liquids. As for the other things...” he trailed off, his eyes sad as he dropped his gaze, “well you know from your younger days how he could create spheres that could imprison those within them cutting them off from the atmosphere outside it. The number of times I had to stop your nanny from stepping in when he trapped you and filled those with water....”
He trailed off again, clearly angry but forcing himself to shake off the memory.
“Anyway, Rune. You were there, you know, though I wouldn’t blame you for blocking that out.”
The male moved from standing behind the chair to towards the door. It was clear the memory had made him uncomfortable.
Asher was about to call out to him, see if he could garner anything else before planning his departure. Information was valuable after all, and he knew the Guild would pay him for this juicy tidbit. But as the male reached out for the handles of the doors, they were pushed open, and in the frame stood a male.
A male who stole the breath from Asher’s lungs.
There, framed in the doorway, was a seven-foot male, built identically to Asher. But what floored him was the pale skin that matched his own, as well as the long, straight hair. Styled like his own, a mirror image only for its dark brown tone.