CHAPTER XIII #2
“I almost killed my friends!”
“Almost, Alexis,” he corrects again, voice going soft. Hiro reaches a hand for the back of my head, pushing me firmly into his embrace before his chin falls down on my hair.
“But we will make sure it doesn’t come to that again.”
I nod violently into the Ancient, desperately needing his affirmation.
It can’t happen again. It won’t ever happen again. I’ll take my own life before I let it get that far.
I won’t ever let it come to that, he replies, fingers finding themselves in my hair. He pulls my head softly up to his, claiming my gaze. I’ve left you on your own for too long, Queen. That is my fault and my fault alone. But we’ll get this right. You will master the power.
His golden eyes are laced with determination and comfort, but there’s also a hint of sorrow resting behind them.
Hirovale gives me a hard nod before he takes a small step back, hands dropping down my hair in a soft caress before they finally release me.
Two new hands circle around my waist in his absence, pulling me steadily into another strong embrace as my sobs begin to still.
“We’ll start when she is rested,” Hiro tells Keane sitting behind me. “Where will you travel to next?”
Keane urges me back to the bed, hands steady on my hips as I feel my body sinking into its heaviness, my shoulder pressed against his.
“We’ll continue on, up to Dankworth and Fensby-”
“-Etter,” I tell the men in quiet resolute. “We need to make haste for Etter.”
All three turn their calm eyes on me as Storm glides into my lap again.
“Lady Esme,” I say her name in hatred, “I now know how the summoning gripped the village. She channels it through the argents. I felt their hum in my bones the moment we rode in. The same hum that drew me to Storm in Red Falls and to Arens in the woods…”
All three men remain quiet.
“It’s their summoning, the magic that rests within the argents. She uses it as her own…”
Desmond takes a hard step forward as Keane frowns in return.
“I’m not making it up! It’s the same feeling that drew me directly to Arens. It’s the argents, I know it. The birds that he has continuously told me not to trust.”
“I don’t think you’re making it up, Alexis,” Keane grimaces, “but the kind of summoning you’re talking of doesn’t exist. Animals roam the Old World in their own right and are free beings. We are unable to manipulate them. They live as individuals.”
“The people of the Old World used to…” Hirovale replies quietly as all gazes turn towards him.
He frowns just slightly, golden eyes looking at the King before he nods in thought.
“Thousands of years ago, when we walked. It wasn’t common, but there were a few who could channel their own summoning through animals, animals that belonged to all elements and to the full of the Old World.”
“The practice has since been lost,” the Ancient adds. “I was surprised when I woke to see it gone. But perhaps the summoning lives on. Perhaps it’s carried through the years in secret.”
“It’s her, Keane,” I press, willing him to understand as I do.
“It makes sense. The argents in her residence, the look behind Kaven’s eyes on his last days.
He wanted to tell us, nearly begged to tell us.
But there was a fear there as well, as if he knew she was the stronger of the three. The actual leader.”
Keane’s features remain cool, considering my words as Desmond moves to stand directly next to the Ancient, his own features cold.
“That night in the forest, at the bend in the road,” my fingers move down Stormfall’s back possessively, “Carsen wasn’t speaking to anyone above.
They weren’t using hand signals as he admitted.
It always confused me that Holis and Mana swore they heard no one that night, but it makes sense now.
He was speaking to Esme through the birds. ”
The room turns heavy as all three men remain silent, their glances considering my words and what they mean for the village we left behind.
Desmond scowls, his voice dripping in anger. “We’ll need to alert Crisjan and Alexander.”
Keane nods. “In secret. No word gets out.”
“That can be done.”
“Can you ride tomorrow, Alexis?” Keane turns to me, brown eyes finding mine with intensity. There’s a fire behind his voice that calls to me, fueling my own as I reply quickly.
“I’ll make sure of it.”
Hirovale smiles at Desmond’s side before he takes a silent step back towards the doors.
“Alert the Lords,” Keane tells his brother, “Lady Esme does not leave Etter. All should remain as is and without suspicion. No one will know of our arrival but the two. We ride hard tomorrow morning with the group.”
Desmond gives a hard nod before he retreats towards the door.
“Brother…” Keane’s voice is angered, “they need to continue to be on their guard. Two more are coming.”
“I’ll remind them,” Desmond bows his head low in response. He flicks his gaze to Hirovale, nodding at the Ancient before he moves out of the room.
“Hiro,” Keane turns around swiftly, hearing the Ancient’s steps and catching him before he leaves.
Hirovale grins in response as he stops before the open balcony, the two men standing strong before the other as they share a gaze.
They look at each other as if they were the brothers…
as two men who hold a deep love for the other that stands before them.
As two men who love you, Stormfall replies.
Will I need close the door to you too, Storm? I look at him curiously.
No, Alexis, the Bird of Ash sighs in my mind, never to me.
“You’ll start with Alexis once we are done with Etter?” Keane’s commanding voice pulls me back to the men. The King looks at the Ancient in small plead, his brown eyes holding his steady before Hirovale nods.
“Immediately after, King,” Hiro bows his head. “Call to me through Storm, Alex…”
I take a deep breath and watch as the air around the Ancient’s feet turns into a thick white, following his steps outside before he gives me a final look. His golden eyes hold mine for a brief moment before they flick down to my hand on Stormfall, eyeing the new black ring in his departure.
Keane is next to me for the rest of the night, sitting up against the bed as my head rests heavily on his shoulder. My full body is wrapped tight against his, unable to let go of him, unable be alone after everything that’s happened.
I pressed him earlier, admitting that I was vaguely awake during their earlier conversation and that I hated the way his cool voice addressed the situation.
Keane was frightened, he told me, genuinely fearful for me and the men around us after what transpired in the woods.
His fear then amounted to worry, hating himself for being unable to fight against my summoning and the grip it held over all of them.
A deep and sinking pit entered my stomach the moment I heard those words, remembering his own question directed at me in Fumagalli when he asked if I was frightened of him.
I had to pull him closer to me in that moment, had to look into his strong brown eyes to assure myself that he wasn’t going to view me any differently.
Everything that transpired in those last moments after Arens’ death wasn’t on purpose.
My emotions got the better of me and I needed him to know that, desperately.
Keane’s hands were on my face hard in response, nodding his head in strong resolute before his lips claimed mine.
“We’ve all been there, Alexis,” his voice was soft. “Hiro will make sure you get the proper training. My fear was not of you, just of my own inability to stop what was happening.”
He was scared of me being out of control.
As he should be.
“What did you do to me in the forest?” I turn to him now, thinking of the way his hand reached for the back of my neck.
“I put you to sleep. A small maneuver that makes you unconscious.”
“Ancients,” I sigh into his chest, “I’m sorry it had to come to that.”
“Your emotions were heavy,” he tucks me under his chin in a strong hold, “that was all. No one blames you for what happened. Hirovale will teach you control.”
“Stormfall was trying…”
We both turn our gazes towards the balcony doors. The Bird of Ash is hunting, feeling safe enough to leave me under Keane’s watch as he roams the woods for anything suspicious.
“He tried to console me in the moment. Tried to get my emotions back in check.”
“Just as Golem brought mine and Desmond’s emotions back under control,” Keane nods. “We surround ourselves with our friends for a reason, Alexis. We all just want to help you.”
“I still don’t think I want it, Keane,” my voice is a soft cry. “The summoning scares me. Frightens me. What if you hadn’t been there?”
The King sits in silence for a moment, considering.
“In all honesty, I think the amount of power you were summoning would have made you pass out on your own.”
“Let’s hope,” I sigh. “Where’s Golem?”
Keane shifts me in his arms, pulling the covers over us tightly.
“With Arens in the woods. He’s the one who wrapped his body. I don’t think he wants to leave the boy alone tonight…”
Tears begin to swell in my eyes, the gesture gripping my heart.
“We’ll burn Arens’ at dawn tomorrow, with Death’s Prayer.”
I sag heavily into Keane’s chest and close my eyes, reminding myself to send my own prayer to Hirovale tonight in hopes that he’ll safely guide the young man to his next exploration.
He is in good hands, Alex, Hirovale’s voice commands my thought, making me shiver in Keane’s hold.
Thank you, Hiro.
“Tell me about the message you found,” my voice is a near whisper. “Also, what was Holis doing in the woods?”
“You should rest, Alexis,” Keane replies, his hand reaching for my hip. His fingers start to trace gentle movements up and down my side, the touch nearly calming me to sleep until my mind wakes back up.
“Tell me, Keane,” I keep my eyes closed.
I reach a hand for his chest and grab the black chain there.
“I need to hear why this was done. For what reason Arens lost his life.”