Page 29
T he next several days are filled with meetings and maps and more damned meetings.
Treia joins me on the sixth day of non-stop gatherings, assisting in reading maps and looking for where the king is sending his troops through. Despite my late-night reading through history books, I find little on the Unborn Vase and how the king could be wielding it.
Only that the Phoenix god was once an imposing and violent deity. It’s not a wonder they never released him to be reborn.
Deah is perched on a stool across from me, watching Treia warily as she pores over a map laid out in front of us. Emmy sits on the couch in the corner, leafing through a book on the history of the Wall and the Vase.
“I don’t know why I’m wasting time looking through this,” Emmy complains, slamming the dense book shut. “The king himself made that Wall, we aren’t going to best him at his own spell. Not to mention, there is nothing on the Vase in any portion of this book.”
“He didn’t make the Wall, his grandfather’s spell-workers did,” Deah shoots back. “Do we even know the significance of the Vase?”
I shake my head, studying a spot on the map from the last breech. Laz had captured a handful of soldiers crossing this morning, but of course, none of them broke during questioning. Ridge and Orion had made the several day flight to Tridon, in order to attend meetings with their lord. Ridge, as Laz had stated, would have broken the soldiers within minutes.
I’m not sure I want to know how.
“Every bit of information is useful, you know this,” I warn Emmy, not bothering to break my concentration on the map. I sigh when a section of my braid comes loose and sit up to braid my hair again.
I hear heavy boots in the hall, and my heart soars. I snap my head toward the open office door, but my heart plummets when I see Lamond standing there.
His long, dark hair is pulled back as usual, and instead of his typical black clothing, he’s dressed in armor.
It appears we’re no longer avoiding each other.
I stand from Ridge’s office chair, clearing my throat, making the most of the timing. “May we talk, Lamond?”
Deah, Emmy, and Treia jump up without a word, the latter scooping up the map on her way out. The door softly closes as they exit, and I try to loosen my breath. “There are things I need to share with you.”
He says nothing, but raises a thick brow at me. Something about his silence grates me.
“Ridge and I are together.” Saying the words out loud feels like weight off my shoulders.
“That much is obvious.” Lamond’s face reveals nothing.
For a moment, I absorb his words. “What do you mean by that?”
He shrugs, flicking a piece of mud off his armor. “It was obvious from the beginning, you were always going to pick the most powerful male, the one who could sweep you off his feet with his power and assets.” He waves to the grand office around us for emphasis.
His words strike a nerve. “You think I picked Ridge because of what he has ?”
“I think wealth played a part.” He bares his teeth at me, leaning forward in challenge.
Everything fine? Ridge drawls down the tether, likely sensing my distress. I guess our strengthened tether means we can communicate from greater distances now.
Just peachy, I ground out before turning back to Lamond. “You have no right to say that to me. I cared for Ridge before I knew anything of his nobility. I would have chosen him regardless of this.” I wave my hand around dramatically like Lamond had. “I did not choose you because you were not the one.”
“What makes him the one?” Lamond demands, but his voice breaks slightly. “Why him?”
His sudden show of emotion could knock me off my feet. “Lamond, we don’t share a tether. We don’t share common interests. You liked me because I was convenient, not because I was right for you. If you think I would have selected Ridge for material purposes, then you do not know me at all.” I try to force my breath to come more evenly. “You never gave me the room to make mistakes and learn. We could have never been because you treated me like something to be contained.”
“That isn’t true.” His confident words don’t reach his eyes, his face now guarded.
“It’s okay that this wasn’t the right fit,” I continue, wringing my hands in front of me. “I forgave you a long time ago for all that happened. I still want to remain civil with you.”
“Civil,” he says the word as if practicing. “Not friends.”
“Maybe in time we can be friends.”
“Yet you allow me to remain here, in your home, with your tethered one.” It’s not a question, but it’s clear Lamond is looking for confirmation all the same.
I dip my head in response, knowing this is what Ridge would have wanted. He and Lamond seem to have somewhat of a friendship.
“I should go.” Lamond abruptly excuses himself, leaving the door open for the others to come back in. I chew on my lip nervously, ignoring the others as they file back into the office.
Treia slides the map back on the desk, smoothing out the curling edges. Deah and Emmy flop into chairs across from Ridge’s desk. But it’s Emmy who notes the distress written across my face.
“What is it?” Her hazel eyes narrow suspiciously. Despite having similar striking features as Treia, the two could not be more opposite. Emmy is warm and lovely, Treia is cold and startling .
I shake my head; also shaking off the strange feeling in my chest. “We need to get back to the map.” I point at the thick, ancient book in Emmy’s hands. “And your beloved book.”
Deah sits up straighter, drawing her lips into a hard line. “So, about the book.”
I raise an eyebrow in response, leaning forward on the desk in waiting.
“It’s clearly been amended,” Emmy says slowly, using her powers to float the book to the desk. It lands with a thud, dust scattering in the air around it. She snaps her fingers, and a second book appears. “This is the copy that Nalin recovered from the Ravels’s library. They’re the same book, however, you’ll notice the one in the Ravels has far fewer pages.”
I quickly flip through it, finding even at a glance, it’s clear this book has had content removed. Before I can hypothesize, the office door flies open.
This day is becoming increasingly taxing.
“We need to talk.” Ingrid is breathless, like she sprinted here. She’s meant to be recovering from her injuries, but I see she’s forgoing the healer's suggestions. “All of us, now.”
She flies into the room before anyone can acknowledge her, slapping a map down over the one Treia had laid out. It’s identical, but this one is moving .
“What is happening here?” I gesture toward the trees slightly swaying on the map, the animals stalking across the land. The Phoenix that looks awful damned like my Phoenix flying near the water's edge.
Artemis, I bark down the tether, losing my patience.
Scouting the perimeter with a Venture, she mumbles, like a small child whose hand was slapped.
No more small pack travel. I want half the Odyssey in the Keep or patrolling. You do not travel in small groups for now. My voice is so full of command, I hardly recognize it.
Fine, Aledrya. For once, she doesn’t fight me with sarcastic replies. Maybe she can sense I’m damned near the end of my rope .
“I enchanted the map,” Ingrid said, cracking a smile despite everything happening around us. “It’s sentient.”
Deah runs her fingers lightly over the map, trailing a frolicking deer. “Great, we needed a map with a mind of its own. I’m sure nothing bad can come of this.”
“Well, snarkiness isn’t helpful,” Ingrid mumbles, swatting at Deah’s hand touching the map. “I used a spell to do it, then I followed the Phoenixes flying out to confirm. It works.”
“Holy gods.” Treia stares unblinking at the map.
Ingrid’s smug smile fades, though, turning to face me. “The Wall is contracting.” She grimaces, her nose wrinkling as she glances back over to the desk.
I follow her line of sight, leaning closer to the map to inspect the Wall along the mountain line. Sure enough, the Blocks seem to be vanishing in places. Like threads untying themselves, the Wall slowly dissipates in a section, only to weave itself back together moments later.
“The problem with the map is my spell only works on things that don’t care to be seen. Animals, people going about their day…” Ingrid’s face is pained. “My spell can’t see things which wish to be hidden. It is possible to use spells to remain unseen; they won’t appear on this map either.”
Deah holds a hand up. “So, the king is Unblocking portions of the Woven Wall, and we can’t see what he’s sneaking over the border because he’s also using a spell to conceal whatever army and creatures he’s sending our way?”
“Ah, shit,” Treia swears, face twisting. “He’s not sending them here.”
“No?” I give her an incredulous look.
“No, he’s going to Fradell.” She sighs, sinking into a chair by the windows. “I have something he wants.”
“What might that be?” Emmy stands, crossing her arms. My power coils under my skin, ready to strike.
“The Unborn Vase isn’t as effective without the key. The king can use a fraction of its power without it, but if the key is reunited with the Vase, he’ll be able to summon the full capabilities. Legend says it can also release the Phoenix god, even without a Rebirth Ceremony,” Treia says, leaning over and sinking her face into her hands. “Rathian is looking for me.”
“Because…?” Ingrid waves her hand in a circle, impatience radiating off her.
She pulls a light chain necklace tucked under her shirt, a delicate key hanging off the end. She looks physically ill. “Because I have that key.”
“Let me see if I’m following.” I turn myself to face her, folding my arms over my chest. “You hold the key for the Unborn Vase that the King of Torrent currently has, and if he finds a way to get that key, we’re going to lose the war.”
She nods, biting her lip.
“What is your power, Treia?”
“I’m a seer,” she utters, her voice barely audible.
I stare at her for a moment. “That’s why you have the key? Because it’s believed you’ll see it coming when he tries to collect it?”
Again, a single nod.
“What the fuck , Treia?” Deah exclaims, and I jump at her sudden outburst. “How the Beneath have you not told any of us this?”
“What, like none of you have secrets?” Treia’s cheeks flush with irritation. Her attention is on me now, a nasty snarl forming. “You have yet to reveal your powers to me. Why so covert? Is it because you have no power?”
I pale. “It hasn’t come up.”
“Bullshit—” Hate laces her words as she rises from her chair. “I think everyone in this house has information they aren’t sharing, and you’re as guilty of it as any of us.”
A rumble shakes the floor beneath our feet, books sliding from the shelves behind me. It takes me several moments to realize that the rumbling is from my power. I tip my chin up, sending a wave through the room. The others freeze, and so does the map on the desk, leaving it frozen in time again. Ingrid gapes at the now still parchment.
I let my power slam down with a heavy thud; unable to keep it at bay any longer. The air in the room becomes thick, a veil hanging over the space .
The moment Treia realizes her power is not within her reach, her eyes widen. “What is that?”
“I’m a Nullifier. Strange you wouldn’t already know that, being a seer .” I can’t help but snarl, leaning over the desk.
She regains her composure, lifting her chin. “What happened to the martyr act, Aledrya? Already tired of playing nice with me?”
“Leave the key and go, Treia.”
Hatred flares in her green eyes, her fists clenched. “No.”
The atmosphere remains thick and ominous, despite my nullification power fading. I switch gears. “If you’re not going to help, then leave.”
She glares at me for a moment longer, before pivoting towards the door without a word. The door slams so harshly behind her, photos on the wall of Ridge’s office rattle.
“I see we found a sensitive subject,” Emmy remarks before sliding back into her seat. I hadn’t even noticed that she and Deah had jumped up during the encounter.
“We need to get that key somehow.”
“Oh, I’m already ahead of you on that front,” Emmy chirps, beaming at me. With a wave of her hand, a black key rattles to the desk.
“Holy gods,” I breathe, plucking the key from the desk. I eye its delicate details; the thin, black blade is narrow, the bow of it circular. The etching on the bow is eerily similar to Ridge’s markings.
Deah comes over, studying the key from over my shoulder. “It looks identical to the one Treia had.”
“That’s the idea,” Emmy responds brightly.
Ingrid clears her throat, fiddling with the corners of the map on the desk. “What if the Unborn Vase recognizes that the key is a replica?”
Deah and I share a look, and I sink to the desk chair once more. “I think it’s a risk we have to take. We don’t even fully understand the Unborn Vase as it is. It might not matter.”
Ingrid nods silently, but I can see in her eyes she isn’t convinced .
“Right, so the enchanted map.” I deftly change the subject, tapping my index finger on the once again moving map of our continent.
Ingrid stares at me, offering a wary look. “What if you nullified the king’s spell on the men and creatures?”
Deah moves over to the desk, hovering over my shoulder. “Can you aim your nullifying powers at something in particular? I have only seen you cast it like a blanket over a group.”
“I don’t think I can nullify through the map without breaking the entire enchantment,” I admit, studying the map. “I would need to get close to where they’re crossing.”
“It might be the only defense we have in slowing them down until we can rally troops.” Emmy’s face is grim, her usually tanned skin blanched.
Deah nods her agreement, her black curls shifting over her muscular arms. “You need to leave before Ridge comes back. If we wait, we won’t have time, and we can’t risk his disagreement.”
“My disagreement on what, exactly?” I look up to find Ridge leaning against the doorframe, smirking. Only a few days apart and I’m still breathless from how handsome and rugged he is. Those sharp canines are so prominent as he pulls his lips back into a full smile. “This ought to be good.”
Table of Contents
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- Page 28
- Page 29 (Reading here)
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- Page 37