Page 9 of Ever Dark Academy, Vol. 3

Judgement

S tepping inside the Weryn Palace was like stepping into himself.

But the best parts. The parts Ryder wanted to have people see.

He curled his hand around Grayson’s a little more tightly, but this time he was the one pulling Grayson ahead.

Not too far though. He found himself stopping only half a dozen feet inside of the palace and being overwhelmed.

A huge chandelier made of antlers studded with crystals flooded them with light.

He had hunted all of those deer. Every part of them was used from the meat to the skin to the bone to the antlers.

Ryder remembered taking such great care to craft and create as much of the palace as possible with his own hands.

Animals from the Ever Dark. Carved wood from its vast forests.

Shaped stones from its deep quarries. He had gone out and found it all and fed it to the earth so that it could build a home worthy of his Bloodline and one that would honor his king.

“I can feel you in every part of this place,” Grayson murmured, clearly in awe, as he gazed around them.

Ryder sensed Demos and Siban come up behind them and stand in the doorway. Both of them stopped abruptly in their tracks, seemingly staggered by the feeling of this place. It was his place. And it welcomed them.

“I feel as if I am being hugged,” Siban said with a faint, almost disbelieving laugh.

“Brother, it even smells like you in here!” Demos chuckled but his voice was tinged with wonder. “After a shower and when you’ve put on that cologne you like.”

“Thanks for the clarification,” Ryder grunted.

“I love that cologne,” Grayson admitted. “I want to put it on myself.”

Ryder kissed his temple. “You are welcome to it.”

“Can you believe this place? Ryder, your palace is amazing!” Grayson enthused.

He had to agree. To their right was an arched doorway, twelve feet wide and nearly as tall.

Beyond it, he could see a large table fit for thirty with massive chairs that had animals carved into their backs.

These carvings had been done by his own hands.

The table was of polished dark wood. Crystal goblets fit for wine and blood sat before each magnificent chair as if just waiting for the occupants to sit down and drink the night away.

The coffered ceiling was beautifully detailed and the huge fireplace was set with wood.

There was a spit where animals could be roasted over the fire for when they chose to eat.

Or maybe that was to satisfy their human guests’ hunger, too.

For a moment, he imagined himself sitting at one end of the table, laughing lustily, lifting a glass of wine and blood to a crowded table of brilliant, loyal Weryn Vampires. Their faces were so clear in his mind. But no names leaped to his tongue. Though he knew they were real. Had been real.

How many received their Second Deaths in the War? Are there any that still exist and would seek me out?

He dragged his gaze away from the dining table and looked at Grayson.

His lover was looking to their left. There was a two-storey sitting area with comfortable-looking leather couches.

Fur blankets were thrown over their backs.

Wide and deep armchairs in tufted leather with generous footstools all faced a fireplace nearly the length of the room.

Logs the size of full trees were burning in the grate.

Pillows large enough for even him to sit on were scattered around the space, many strategically near the fire or by piles of books or the bookcases that extended from floor to ceiling.

There was a balcony overlooking the room from what must have been the second floor.

Polished beams were exposed against white plaster.

He had known some of these trees when they had lived.

He had run his hands over their smooth bark before he’d chopped them down.

They’d given their lives to live eternally in the Weryn Palace.

“I thought it might be like this,” Grayson whispered as he took in the space.

“Might be like what?” Ryder asked.

Grayson grinned at him. “Don’t you recognize the style?”

Ryder immediately knew what Grayson was talking about. “Your bedroom in the dorm!”

Grayson nodded. “Exactly! It totally makes sense. The place I’d feel the most at home would be here so the Ever Dark recreated a small part of it for me.”

“Not your own palace?” Ryder asked, even as his heart beat harder at the thought that Grayson-- Ashyr --loved his palace best. Thought of it as home .

“No, yours. Most definitely yours,” Grayson answered with a slow smile that slid over Ryder’s skin like a caress.

Grayson started to drift straight ahead of them.

There was a long, generous hallway that cut through the building towards a courtyard.

The hallway was framed by two arching staircases made of stone with wooden railings that mimicked tree limbs.

They curled around and over it leading to the second floor.

He knew there were bedrooms and other lounging rooms up above.

He itched to walk through each room and run his hands over the wood, the plaster, the metal and stone.

He wanted to breathe the air and feel the soft as a cloud mattresses underneath his and Grayson’s bodies.

This was home. Home. Home. And it called to him on a cellular level. Maybe beyond that. He had never so at peace. Ryder was about to follow after him--maybe even suggest they check out the second floor thoroughly when he realized that Demos and Siban were still standing awkwardly in the doorway.

Ryder lifted an eyebrow at them. “Do you need a formal invitation to come into your own home ?”

Demos grinned and took a few steps inside finally. “Just taking it all in, brother.”

“I thought the two of you wanted to call dibs on bedrooms. Now is your chance, though with just the four of us, I think there’s plenty of space to choose from,” Ryder admitted with a wry chuckle.

Siban had stepped inside as well, their light steps made it seem as if they were testing the floor to make sure it would not open up beneath them and swallow them whole. Their eyes were huge and their lips were parted with wonder.

“Weryn was one of the largest Bloodlines before the War,” Siban said. “So many people wanted to join your Bloodline. To be a Weryn Vampire was to be part of a family. Friendships were said to run deep as true blood.”

“But that wasn’t true when you were turned, was it?” Ryder asked.

“You were not yourself,” Siban answered, rubbing their arms with their hands. “But I could still see it in the old ones. Their eyes were filled with grief and anger. They loved you and were prepared to follow you into their Second Deaths.”

Ryder swallowed. “Are there any left? From before the War?”

“There are,” Siban said. “But they didn’t stay with the Bloodline after…”

“Of course not.” Ryder’s lips writhed back. “How could they remain?”

“After you were… lost they were lost too,” Siban explained.

Grayson stroked his arm. “They’ll come back. I have no doubt that some of them will be here tonight and in the coming days.”

Ryder turned to him. He rolled his lips together. “Will they be here because they want to return home, Grayson, or because they’re afraid of what I might do next?”

Grayson ran his fingers through Ryder’s hair. “It doesn’t matter what brought them here. What matters is why they’re going to stay . If you want them to stay. Their judgment is not something that can be held over you. Their judgment is theirs.”

Ryder nodded. “I know. I know.” He grimaced. “I don’t remember them. But what happens when I do? When I remember how much I loved them and see their… judgment?”

“You’ll face it,” Grayson told him.

He drew in a deep breath. That was the only answer. What else could he do? Wear a hair shirt and punish himself?

“Kaly was sick. I think… think after my death that you might have been…” Grayson paused and licked his lips. “Unwell.”

“Crazy.”

“Maybe. A little. Or… a lot.” Grayson nodded. He let out a breath. “But you aren’t now. You’re completely fine.”

“But the Ring--”

“That was earned, remember? And you didn’t lose it and kill everyone. You just took out Lawson,” Grayson reminded him.

“Only because you were there.”

“And I’m always going to be here from now on so that problem is solved,” Grayson told him.

Ryder let out a huff of mirthless laughter. “I’d feel better if you said that in an Immortal body instead of a mortal one.”

Ryder regretted saying that the moment he did. Turning meant Master meant… but Grayson didn’t go there.

“I know, but, like I said to Dani, even if I’m killed again, Kaly is on our side,” Grayson said. “Just like the Harrows, he can bring me back. All good as new.”

“Kaly.” Ryder grimaced.

“Hey, hey, part of the reason I want to meet up with the other Immortals isn’t just to plan, but to get past this,” Grayson told him, framing his face with his hands so that Ryder was looking at him.

“We’ve got to be together on this. All these old wounds, we’ve got to patch them up and go forward. ”

“The way you say it seems so possible. Like we can just forgive and forget,” Ryder said.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I'm saying, because we have bigger problems to deal with now,” Grayson said.

“Do you believe the Sect of Dawn is that powerful?” Ryder lifted a disbelieving eyebrow.

“Maybe. Maybe not. But I think humans are definitely a problem,” Grayson told him.

Ryder slowly nodded his head. “Yeah. Yeah, I believe that.”

“So we can’t be distracted by the past,” Grayson said. “We can’t get embroiled in old arguments. We need to be our best.”

Hence why you want to dump your Grayson persona in the trash, because you felt like a victim. And you can’t be that and keep all of us safe. Oh, Ashyr, that’s not what this life was about.