Page 20 of Shaedes of Power (Soul Magic #1)
CHAPTER 20
I had slept like the dead. My eyes blinked rapidly, adjusting once again to the minimal light in the room and locking on to the empty chaise lounge in the dressing area. My body felt like it had been stretched and reworked to its limits, the ghost of lemons still hovering on my skin.
At some point in the early dawn, I must have fallen asleep on the floor in Edmyn’s arms. I had wanted to stay up all night as there was no reason to sleep with the future so uncertain, but Edmyn’s ability to prolong pleasure had pumped so much tension into my body that sleep was no longer an option but a necessity.
Now I found myself magically tucked under the covers next to Glory’s slumbering body, my night dress back on, wondering if everything about last night might have been a dream except for the black satin robe that lay discarded on the floor. My body shivered as memories of Edmyn’s lips brushing my neck came flooding back, even though there wasn’t one inch of me that was cold.
The door opened brusquely, and a faerie servant entered with fresh dresses draped over one arm. My head popped up, and Glory stirred, slowly sitting up.
“The Dark Princes are waiting for you in the throne room,” she said, laying the dresses over the end of the bed and exiting without another word.
Glory rubbed her eyes. I think we were both in disbelief that the moment had finally come. Only Glory was probably going over scenarios of what would eventually happen when Ciaran found out Edmyn failed to break his curse, and I was busy wondering what would happen when she found out that the opposite was true. There was a part of me that was rationalizing with my conscience, telling myself that there wasn’t enough time to fill Glory in with all the sordid details of mine and Edmyn’s new bond. But if I was being honest with myself, I was just afraid. Afraid of her judgment, afraid of the consequences of what I had done. It was easier to just slip on the beautiful olive-green dress and allow things to just play out as they would, then face Glory’s reaction to everything I had done.
We were at the throne room in minutes. Amira was there, some color back in her cheeks in an emerald green dress. She still looked nervous but was calmer than I had seen her in days. She had her arm locked with Ciaran’s, who must have been blessed somehow with the sleep of the just, as he stood tall and spirited, his eyes alight with possibility. Edmyn, dressed in his signature black pants and long red leather coat, no shirt, raised an eyebrow at our entrance and turned to his brother.
“There. They are finally here,” Edmyn said impatiently. He flicked his wrist and opened a portal. “I’ve waited long enough to try your theory, brother. Let’s go trial this shit.” Ciaran clapped his hands together excitedly as Edmyn stepped through the portal and then gestured that we were to go next, he and Amira to follow.
We exited into the west side of the castle grounds, far down below the castle’s perch, in a gully of that long, itchy, dehydrated grass. The air was somehow cooler on this side of the castle, as the way the castle loomed above us provided almost constant shade. A few hundred yards away was the crisp edge of the Shadowlands, where it butted up against the border of the Gaylenswood meadow—the scene where Glory and I had first encountered Amira, which now seemed like months ago. The flowers were so delicate and fragile, looking up against the dark harshness of everything hard and dreary of Draku’s Lair.
“There it is, Edmyn,” said Ciaran, starting to take long strides toward the meadow. “Your future awaits, and it is looking particularly bright.”
Edmyn smiled. My heart was paralyzed with conflicting emotions. Elation for Edmyn—he deserved this. I wanted this for him. Fear that the Balance would see what I made and punish us both somehow. And hate. I hated that even for one moment, Ciaran was going to get the satisfaction that he had somehow brought this all about. He would feel validated and be all that more dangerous.
We quickly reached the edge of the shadows when Ciaran turned to us, like he had almost forgotten we were there. He cast a spell on our bodies that froze us from taking another step toward entering into our realm. I wasn’t that surprised; having access to our magic again would make it harder to recapture us or make us cooperate, so keeping us stuck and immobilized was definitely the safer bet. And Ciaran was always hedging his bets.
“Now, remember, brother. Only a fingernail at first. We don’t need you losing a hand or anything,” Ciaran said dotingly. Amira also appeared to be holding her breath.
Edmyn toed the line dividing infinite day and night and slowly let his hand move toward the sunlight. That hand that I had come to know so well, the hand that recently had me writhing in pleasure, the hand that I could so easily imagine brushing a stray strand of hair off my face—it crossed the line into bright sunlight… and did not burst aflame.
A collective breath from everyone present was released. Edmyn turned to look at me, tears welling in his golden eyes, and I couldn’t help but smile. He was overcome with disbelief, joy, thankfulness, and overwhelming power. He took that inaugural first step into the full sun and instantly fell to his knees. The coat came flying off, and he just knelt there, bathing in light and weeping like a child finally coming home after being so unbearably lost.
Glory couldn’t turn her head, but I knew confusion was washing over her as her shrewd and analytical brain was beginning to replay every single moment of our imprisonment. Had she missed something? How was this possible? Surely, she would arrive at only two possible explanations. Either Edmyn had forced himself upon me or this was some sort of miracle that her rational, logical mind couldn’t comprehend. Never would she come to the conclusion that I had fallen in love with this man and had willingly given him a part of my soul.
Even when Ciaran knelt down and embraced his brother, the two of them sharing this special turn of fortune, I had no regrets. I had to have confidence that good would triumph over evil, and I had to have faith in Edmyn’s berries.
Amira shared in their elation, but she kept staring back at me, as if she looked at me long enough, she could figure me out. Maybe our bond as sisters, even if it was only by blood, gave her a keen perception of me. But it wasn’t just paranoia—she definitely watched me as if she suspected something amiss.
Ciaran helped Edmyn to his feet and walked back to us. He grabbed Glory’s hand, freeing her of the spell, and drug her toward the meadow. I opened my mouth to yell, but as I expected, the spell did not allow for the production of sound. Ciaran pushed her hard on the ground just before the sun hit and said, “You are of no use to us now. Run back to the Shaede Court and tell the rest to give us a reception tonight at eleven. I may have been delayed, but I will have their answer to my demands, or I will have their heads.”
Glory looked so frozen with fear that, for a second, I thought she might have still been under his spell. Ciaran shouted, “Go! You stupid girl!” And she frantically crawled into the light, transformed into a Filly Moth, and flew away.
We portaled back into the throne room, but it wasn’t for several hours before Edmyn and I had a moment alone, as Ciaran wanted to discuss at length the upcoming visit to the Shaede Court in private. When Edmyn finally came to find me in his room, I leapt off the bed and jumped into his arms, inhaling his signature scent of citrus and the outdoors.
“How was it?” I asked him as he spun me around and squeezed me close to him. “How does it feel to be a daywalker?”
He set me down gently. “It feels like new life. Like I’ve been reborn. And after last night, somehow I feel like I may finally have it all.” He leaned over to kiss me softly.
“And Ciaran? He looks quite pleased.”
“Yes, well, have you met my brother? He would take credit for the very air you breathe. He was quite pleased when he said, ‘all is going according to plan.’”
“Do you think you will be able to find a way to poison him before tonight?” I asked. There was no need to skirt around the issue as time was not on our side.
He walked over and rested his arm on the mantle, staring at the fire. I watched the flickering light and shadows make war across his face.
“I am ready to do it, if that is what you are asking me. Whether or not I get the chance is questionable.” He squatted low to stoke the flames with a bit of magic. “I have to sneak out to harvest them. They should be almost ready. But he is very busy getting ready for tonight, and Amira is not letting him out of her sight.”
I placed my hand on his head and stroked his hair. What a tumultuous day. Receiving your greatest wish come true in the morning and facing the ultimate betrayal of your brother in the evening. I wondered if, in his melancholy, he could sense my heart breaking for him through our bond.
He got up, swooped me up in his arms, and tossed me onto the bed.
“He means to implore the High Shaedes one more time to submit, or he is going to attack the following day with a round of shadow beasts, human warriors hooked on faerie blood, and lastly, some sort of weapon he won’t divulge to me.” He settled in next to me, lying on his side and propping his head up on his arm so he could see my face.
“What do you think that could be?” I asked, thankful that he was sharing this information but equally horrified by the destruction heading my people’s way .
“It is always hard to tell with him. Shadow beasts weren’t always so ferocious and hungry. I used to spend a lot of time around the swamps and befriended lots of the wildlife. But he couldn’t let well enough alone and did countless experiments on them. He crossbred species until the creatures were unrecognizable. Add to that some battle magic and dark enchantments, and now he commands a host of beasts that will wreak absolute devastation once unleashed. I didn’t really see that one coming, so when left to his own devices, I definitely fear whatever he is capable of.”
“When left to your own devices, you created something pretty lethal yourself,” I reminded him.
“True, I am always displeased when I am able to see a bit of him in myself.”
“I didn’t mean to displease you. I am glad for your devious hand with those strawberry plants. This can’t be easy for you, Edmyn. I am sorry it falls on you.”
He came closer and took my face in his hands. “You could never displease me, Little Prism. And it makes me glad that you’ve found gratification in these devious hands.” He kissed me lightly, but he was looking at me in a way that made me crave something more. “What will happen after?” he asked innocently, pretending he couldn’t see how much I clearly wanted him.
“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to refocus.
“If I can undermine Ciaran and somehow imprison him here, what happens then? Obviously, the Shaede Court will remain as pompous and privileged and as safe as ever, but what about you and me? Could you see yourself as a Dark Princess of the Night Court?”
His question took me aback because I had honestly never imagined that world before. There was never really a moment where we had enough hope in a plan or a direction to envision a future post Ciaran. He was like an impenetrable wall that was so tall and vast that there was no seeing over to the other side.
“I don’t know, Edmyn. My sole focus all this time has been survival; I really never stopped to think about what would happen if we did.” I traced a line down the collar of his coat. The leather was soft and cool beneath my hand. “And now I guess it is equally as difficult to imagine a world without you.” I burrowed a way into his arms and just lay there, listening to the hollow of his chest.
“There will never be a world without me in it,” he said sadly. “So I suppose what I’m asking is if you will stay. With me.” It was the most vulnerable I had ever heard him sound. But as much as I didn’t want to hurt him, I also didn’t want to make promises I couldn’t keep. I had promised to keep the berries a secret from Glory and I did. My honor was still very much intact.
“Being cut off from my magic is agony, but being cut off from you might actually kill me. However, there is also the duty I have to the realm. The Balance chose me to help reign, and although I don’t know if I’ll ever know why, it seems wrong to turn my back on my fellow High Shaedes.” I paused for a moment to think. I could feel him tensing beside me. “Edmyn, I don’t know if I could ever call the Night Court home, even though lying here with you feels as close to home as I’ve ever been. Is there a world where you could appoint a dark lord to oversee the Night Court in your absence, and you spend the majority of your days with me at the Shaede Palace?”
“You speak fantasy very well, my dear.” His voice was raw with bitterness. “A world in which my ageless enemies receive me with open arms to their court while I defile their precious opalescent princess behind closed doors? That would be a sight to see, but it is fiction. And no dark lord I’ve ever met possesses the restraint necessary to keep the peace in these lands. If I left the Night Court, it would turn into a living hell. Dark magic would fester here, and who knows what that would create.”
“Perhaps there is a world on the other side of this we haven’t seen yet,” I whispered into his chest. “Things still bloom in the darkness.” I courageously slid my hand into his pants and let my hand settle on the tattoo I gave him. I looked up to find his eyes glassy, moved by grief, and now flooding with desire.
“Whatever the world, Little Prism, I want to build it with you,” he said as he rolled on top of me and ravaged me with his devious hands.