Page 8

Chapter 8

Rev

Taking a moment to lean against the door to our rooms, I watched Karus sleep. Her face was turned to me as if she’d fallen to her exhaustion, waiting for me to come home.

She lay with her knees to her chest and her arms tucked in underneath her hair. Drool trickled down her cheek, which was exactly how I knew she’d fallen asleep quick and hard.

I waited there, wanting to give her more time to rest, considering the rage and fear that had filtered through her not long ago. I also wanted to run to her and pull her into my arms, telling her everything would be alright, regardless of if that statement was true.

I slipped my hand into my pocket to palm the rhyzolm. It was the only way I could feel our daughter. It hummed and thrummed, buzzing in my hand, stronger each day.

Our daughter. Our little girl.

I wiped my cheek.

Somehow , I’d gone from a desolate heart to one overflowing with love in the span of less than a year. Just months ago, I’d been watching Karus as her memories returned, hoping beyond anything that she was coming back to me after seven years without her.

And now?

Now we were bonded companions, and she carried our child. She’d become my partner in the Baronship , and she’d finally found her true place in this forest by my side, holding half the power of Baron , though far more powerful than me.

By the breath of my beloved , I loved her.

I couldn’t wait any longer. I was at her side, smoothing the hair back from her face where white strands stuck to her lip.

She turned, falling to her back and stretching her arms over her head.

Her black eyes fluttered open and she brought a hand to her mouth to wipe her cheek. Her smile was slow coming as she blinked up at me, the dark of her irises just as slow to flicker into a brilliant emerald green.

“ You’re not supposed to be back until this evening,” she yawned, pulling on my arm to join her.

I slipped my hands over her back, tugging her to my chest, kissing the top of her head. “ When I felt those emotions of yours, I focused on getting back sooner.”

She grunted.

“ Geyrand and Vivianna are well. They are a happy family,” I sighed. “ I asked them to leave like we discussed.”

She pulled away to catch my eye. “ And ?”

“ They’re waiting another week for Vivianna’s recovery, and then packing up for Hyrithia .”

She nodded, snuggling back into me. “ Good .”

“ It was difficult to convince Geyrand to leave. In fact, it was Viv who really did the convincing. I’m not sure I had much of a part of it. Once she understood the danger of the Blightress living in the north, she started packing.” I chuckled, “ It was Mychael who took over cooking for a day.”

“ I think I could use some of his lemon ginger soup, honestly,” she murmured.

“ Have you been able to eat anything today?”

“ Not really.”

I kissed her temple and left the bedside to get her water.

“ Thank you,” she rasped, gulping from the cup.

“ What was it that upset you earlier?”

She finished the drink, wiping at the corner of her mouth. “ The Blightress has a mental connection to anyone affected by a disease created by the Blight .”

My brows rose. “ You mean the Black Fever and…”

“ The Black Lung , yes,” she finished. “ Both Philius and Pompeii can speak to her in their thoughts. She knows our plans to train more channelers and get to her heart to destroy it. We have to assume she knows everything Philius and Pompeii know.”

I rubbed my mouth. “ That explains why Pompeii left so quickly when I asked after you. What about the channelers? Did you?—”

She nodded quickly. “ I did. None of them could find a place in their mind where she resides.” She sighed heavily. “ She didn’t know that our child is a girl. I’m hoping that means I have successfully blocked her from my own thoughts, but I need to speak to Lia . The Blightress said Lia blocked her out centuries ago.”

“ Smart woman,” I muttered, pulling open the sack I’d brought with me.

“ That’s what I said.” She grinned, taking the pear I held out to her—the last of Geyrand’s crop. Biting into the fruit, she spoke around her chewing, “ I don’t know what this means. Can we risk taking Philius with us? Can we risk this plan at all now?”

I wiped at a bead of juice on the corner of her mouth and replied, “ Let’s think about this. She knows we plan to train more channelers to destroy her heart and hopefully, dampen her power. If we can weaken her…” I caught Karus’s gaze. “ I won’t take any more risks.” She looked at me in surprise, but I continued, “ She’s threatened enough of you and our lives. I won’t be satisfied until I myself feel that she has stopped breathing. Neither of us can defeat her as she is. She’s too powerful for that. I felt it when she came to me during your trials. If we can weaken her, we?—”

Karus cupped my cheek, nodding. “ Alright , Rev . I’m with you on this. Destroy her heart, weaken her power, and then…” she drew a full breath. “ Then we kill her.”

* * *

A detailed map of Arcaynen Isle was spread out before us on the white marble floor of Viridis . The garden library had once housed the most maps on the entire isle. Now , it contained only a handful of rolled pieces of parchment in long tubes tucked into the shelves. Three quarters of the stacks were mere crumbling dust when I had searched for the maps I knew Viridis used to hold. But the Blight , which had ravaged its way through Viridis for years, had taken its toll on this section.

“ This trail”— Ilyenna pointed—“is no longer there. The Carrow Road was widened before I was born and this one lost its use.”

Ilyenna , Clairannia , Figuerah , and I knelt on the hard floor, peering over the only complete map of Arcaynen I could find. Even outdated by a hundred years, it was the best we had.

“ You’re sure?” I questioned. “ Because that road would certainly be the fastest route from Lythglyn to Radyx .” I pointed to the small city at the base of the foothills of the mountains where Madame Zoreyah would meet us in one week. We would gather some of her channelers and others in the Spire to train in Felgren , building our forces against the Blightress .

Ilyenna nodded, cupping her swollen belly as she leaned forward, tracing the trail with her finger. “ Even when it was used, it was difficult to traverse. The word Tectus means?—”

“ Hidden ,” I finished, nodding. Then glancing to her face, I put a hand on her shoulder. “ Sorry . I don’t mean to interrupt. Please , go on.”

She gave me a sheepish grin and continued. “ Yes . Tectus Trail means hidden trail in the magical language. It was carved out by sheep herders who traveled from the foothills of the mountains to the Spire to sell wool.”

Figuerah added, “ The story goes that the trail was outlawed by a Madame a hundred years ago, after the mother of one of the channelers killed by the mad Baron jumped from the highest cliff to her death. It’s said to be haunted by her spirit and no one goes there.”

Clairannia asked, “ The Baron who killed his channelers after their Offerings ?”

“ Yes . Baron …” Figuerah looked to me to fill in the name.

“ Ereyth ,” I answered. “ Baron Ereyth was the man who killed his channelers right after he’d gathered them from their Offerings in Hyrithia .” I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. “ Karus recently learned the Blightress had a hand in that as well.”

Clairannia gasped. “ The Blightress actually killed them?”

“ No . Not according to her, anyway. The Blightress told Karus she killed the Baron after he murdered his channelers. She claimed it wasn’t the first time Ereyth had hurt women.”

“ Why would she care what he did?” Ilyenna asked, sitting back and tucking her feet underneath her.

“ I don’t know,” I answered. “ All I know is that event began the Treaty and Baron Thalius had already been training as Baron Ereyth’s replacement for a year. Baron Thalius was the one to sign the Treaty and adhere to it.”

“ No channelers could be taken from Hyrithia ?” Ilyenna questioned.

I huffed, staring down at the map. “ Not until Karus anyway.”

“ Baron Thalius …” Figuerah started. “ Where do I know that name?”

I didn’t glance up as I mumbled, “ Heimlen’s predecessor.”

Figuerah’s hand reached for mine and squeezed. “ Then we got you. Then Karus .” She smiled, her honey eyes sparkling as Clairannia placed her hand over mine as well. “ The best Barons Felgren has ever seen.”

I chuckled, pulling my hand out from under theirs and squeezing them both back before standing and shoving them into my pockets. “ Thank you for your help. It’s settled for certain then. We leave in the morning. All eleven of us.”

“ You’re still bringing Philius ?” Figuerah asked, folding her arms at her chest. “ You said the Blightress can access his mind. What if Karus cannot teach him to block her out before we leave? What if he lets slip something important?”

I bent down to roll up the map, sliding it back into its blackened wood tube. “ She can help him. She’s the only one who’s been able to help him in anything so far. We won’t discuss important details around him. We’ll keep him in the dark, but he needs to train, Figuerah .”

She scoffed. “ What he needs is a boot to his royal behind.”

I laughed, catching Clairannia’s snicker. “ Perhaps . But I believe in him. He has a part yet to play here. I can feel it.”

Figuerah sighed, pulling an arm around Clairannia’s shoulders. “ If you’re done with us, Rev , we’ve got a nursery to help plan.”

Clairannia squealed excitedly and began talking about a certain painting she had in mind for the ceiling of the baby’s room.

I tucked the wooden tube under my arm, hoping Viridis would let me leave with it. I turned to Ilyenna who stood, gripping the railing overlooking five floors to the garden courtyard below.

I tugged at her sleeve, saying, “ Don’t hold that. I don’t trust the integrity of these rails anymore.” I gestured around as she let go and took a step back. “ While we’re gone, this is Pompeii’s project. He’s already ordered workers from the Spire to come replace what’s been lost to the Blight .”

She hummed in agreement. “ The rails on this floor are solid. It’s the third floor to the east you need to replace first.” She pointed across the hall to the blackened rails below.

I glanced back at the section she had been holding. Quirking a brow her way, I stepped to the golden metal and gripped the rail, shaking it hard. It didn’t budge.

“ How could you?—”

“ It’s my lapis magic, Baron Revich .” Her hand hovered over the rail, revealing a wake of shining gold. Her blonde curls bounced over her plump, pink cheeks and her smirk turned into a grin, gracing her pale skin with one single dimple folded into her light freckles.

I offered her my arm as I turned toward the stairs to escort her out of Viridis , thinking of all she could do to help the mining town I had grown up in. “ Ilyenna , have I ever talked to you about the Hallow Marshes ?”