Imperial ((Imperial) Web of Hearts and Souls)

by Jamie Magee

  The reserved look in his eyes told me that he did not wish to speak of the king’s beginning, and that was fine by me. I knew the past between him and the others had been troubled for a while. I just needed to understand what the hell he was trying to tell me.

  “No. That surprised none of us. He is the king of shock. Hiding his true First is not an ostentatious idea. I fear his real First will never be clearly seen by any of us.”

  “So he had us all believe that Colton was his First, declared that he would be coupled with a petal—from another line, mind you—and then he felt validated to execute my First, along with me?”

  “What?” Vade hissed as he rose up on his powerful arm and every part of him tensed.

  “Cadence. Or whatever her name was or is now—she was from Fielder’s reign. Mazing told me that she reeks of lilies. That she taunted her. Mazing also stated that the scent of that Creator-forsaken petal was on the first level of The Realm when we returned today.”

  Vade’s anger rippled through the room, and you could feel the electric charge vibrate around us. The candles responded, flaring up for an instant, but like always he found his control and the flames settled.

  “You didn’t know that?” I asked in pure bewilderment.

  “No, but it makes sense.”

  “How does this make any sense? Why would they cross their lines? Do they not realize that an act like that will produce Escorts with a hunger for both emotions, and that hunger will send us further down this twisted path that is nothing like the charge we were given?”

  “They were not trying to cross their lines. They were trying to end ours,” he stated disdainfully.

  “I—what?” Who would dare to counter Vade? I doubted all of them combined had the courage to do that. That is, unless those low-lying, soulless kings were clever enough to make the assault seem self-inflected. The fact that I was the one that disbursed my line, not them, was pointing to that course of thought.

  “I have no idea when this began. For all I know, it was the moment the Creator took me to your human deathbed. All I know is this: Colton was not Xavier’s First. His true First remains hidden from each of us. You released your line, set your energy free along with not only your mist, but also mine. Our lines drifted, and the kings we served with had every right to reach out to them, to pull them under their reign.”

  “How would taking them from us bring you down?”

  It didn’t make sense to me. If you wanted to hurt Vade or me, the most efficient way would be to take out our Firsts, Mazing and Rasp.

  His eyes narrowed slightly. “The mist, from each of us, created Fated Escorts.”

  “Both?” I gasped.

  He nodded once. “Both. The Creator came to me. He told me under what alignment to send our energy out.”

  “And you decided not to tell me this?” Fated Escorts. I had Fated Escorts. That was like having a First all over again. Unbelievable!

  “I did in my own way,” he said as he lay down and stared at the glow around us.

  “Exactly how did you tell me?” I bit out as I rose and wrapped the sheet around me.

  “I told you that you needed to be nourished, that your energy had no choice but to be strong.”

  “You told me that because we were not invoking emotions, because we were finding energy in nature or any other natural source, not because the Creator had spoken to you,” I argued.

  “You heard what you wanted to,” he said under his breath.

  That was his classic line. The King of Anger knew all too well that you cannot listen or see the manifestations of life when you are enraged.

  “You know what? Sometimes it’s better to just be blunt. Would it have killed you to tell me that before our fight became laced with fury?”

  “I cannot tell you what to hear or what to see. It was clearly explained to me that you see life the way you are meant to. That you are not me. That you are under no one’s control. You heard what you wanted to—and in that fight, you declared that you did not need me to tell you how to care for your line.”

  “Do you really want to relive that fight? Right now? We can. I’m sure I have it memorized.”

  “No,” he stated flatly as he reached for my arm and let his fingertips send a powerful hum straight to my core, causing my toes to curl. Thankfully, I was strong enough to hold in the sigh that wanted out, the urge to seize his rush once more and let these revelations come to light in a delayed fashion.

  “I assumed that you knew something that I did not, that the Creator had spoken to you as well. That you were seeking a new source of energy for your mist. I was overprotective. I’ll give you that.” He glanced at my dark auburn hair which was resting against my ivory skin. His eyes grew distant as a thought took him far from this room for an instant. “Still am.”

  I reached into his essence, searching for that thought, what would cause that fierce protectiveness wrapped in tenderness to come to light, but he was valiantly shielding it from me.

  All I could do was stare at him as I heard that last fight in my mind. During that fight, he was viciously overprotective. You would have thought that my essence was his. In the past, he had guided me, let me find my own way. Not that day. He was demanding for the first time ever with me. Even now I didn’t understand his actions, and clearly he was not ready to explain them to me, which wasn’t odd; our Creator works mysteriously. He will tell you of your course but strip your words from you. Even when asked, you cannot clearly explain what you are doing or why. Until now, I’d always seen that as a precious gift. If you did not speak your path aloud, then there was no one to talk you out of it. No one to put damning thoughts into your mind.

  “Who has our mist? Can we still claim them? Is that why you delayed coming for me? Were you trying to right all the wrongs first?” He offered no quick answer. “Can you at least tell me how the kings taking our mist would hurt you?”

  “Us,” he stated contemptuously.

  “Okay, us. You’re guarding your intentions and thoughts from me, Vade. You are going to have to use words.”

  He stretched his shoulders wide as he took in a deep breath, finally allowing his eyes to meet mine again. “Our energy is entangled. I would dare say it was from the moment I first laid eyes on you.”

  “I knew that,” I murmured, failing to hide a crimson blush.

  The scent of roses left his skin at that moment. For some reason, it always amazed him that I adored him as he did me. Which was foolish, he was the king, the favored king at that. Even though I never saw him that way. I always saw a boy that had claimed my soul. It was still humbling to think that he would find my emotions for him hard to believe.

  “The only way for a line to be properly disbursed is for it to die from the ground up. It can only perish if the sovereign ends each by their own hand.”

  “In hindsight, that makes sense,” I said, clenching my jaw.

  “Everything is clear in hindsight,” he said. “The only other way for a line to be destroyed is if the line is at war, civil war, if marked petals or Fated Escorts fight to the death.”

  “And neither of our lines would do such a thing,” I offered, knowing that we were seen as the kindest sovereigns, ones that had never forsaken one soul under our watch.

  “At first glance, no, but if our Fated Escorts were taken as mists, raised by another sovereign, blind to their regal essence, then set on a course where they had no choice but to end each other, it could occur…it will occur.”

  “Our mists are at war?” I gasped.

  “A war of hearts, it seems.”

  The only way to stop any war of hearts was for the sovereign to end those who were raging against each other. These wars rarely occurred because our lines knew we had such a power, that without notice or reason they would perish with a thought from us. That is why they never occurred. Yet, if Vade’s mist and mine were blind to us, they would not know of such a risk.

  Vade had the same weakness I had; he could not strike anyo
ne in my line without seeing my image. He knew I would feel the pain, and pain was something he would never volunteer to let me feel which meant if my mist were at war with his, there was only one way to end it: each of us would have to end the ones in our own line in order to save the others, to save our kingdoms.

  Being torn into shreds and cast into the life of The Realm would be far less painful than ending one of the precious souls under our watch. The pain would be eternal, felt in our essences forevermore. Whether it was necessary or not, no one could get over ending something that was created from the core of our being.

  “They are ours, though. I have been absent. If I go to them, claim them, and explain how they were played against each other, they will see. They will stop.”

  I needed him to tell me that my words were true. It didn’t matter that I never knew the Fated. They were mine. They never should have known the evil they are surely fighting now.

  Vade’s fingertips caressed my arm as he spoke. “I fear that the one that I am struggling with now will throw down his own life if he is made aware of his true heritage…” He wrapped his hand around my arm tightly, ensuring his hum was present before he continued. “He was claimed by no line, but as a Witness…at least that is how he has lived out his recent existence.”

  A Witness. I was spellbound. I could not comprehend that one of mine could be claimed in such a manner.

  The admiration that I saw in Vade’s eyes was terrifying right now. Did he see this as a promise that one day my energy could create the metallic energy he was searching for?

  Witnesses were in a sense archangels. They lived like warriors for eons at a time. At their human death, they were offered a charge to protect darkness from invading pure light. And honestly right now, souls of pure light were the only ones that could lead us back to balance. The only ones that could open The Fall naturally.

  The only issue was that Witnesses were established to fight the course that Donalt and Xavier were on. So, my dear mist, the one that was chosen to become a Witness, would surely despise what he sincerely was…in his mind, I was the same as Donalt and Xavier. I was sure of it.

  “Why are you struggling with him?” I asked in a whisper, hoping against all hope that this mist of mine’s actions were not ones that couldn’t be forgiven.

  “Well,” Vade breathed, “he is plotting to kill one of my Fated Escorts, actually more than one.”

  “His reason?”

  “Beyond that he thinks he is a Witness?”

  “Your Fated Escorts would not be evil. They would be fighting the same as he.”

  “Glory…life has changed in the corporeal realm.”

  I swallowed nervously. “How so?”

  His jaw clenched before he answered. “Donalt and Xavier have succeeded in not only extending their lines to a massive level, but in invoking harmful emotions…their mist are found early, given a taste of power, and told to seek out potential lights. The pair of them, Xavier and Donalt, are fools, though. Their lines have grown so massive that only half the mist even know what they truly are. Some even have a foolish idea that if they gain enough power, find a blinding light to subdue, that they can rule The Realm.”

  “You’re not serious.” Had those kings lost their minds? The idea of all those lost mists, blind to the splendor of what they were meant to be, sickened my soul.

  “Sadly, I am.”

  “The war—the humans I sensed in The Realm—they are fighting us, assuming that we are all the same.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “They are fighting against our fellow kings.” Clearly, he took ‘us’ out of my summary.

  “Then we shall fight with them.”

  That brought a ghost of a smile to his face. My fearlessness often left him breathless. “When Xavier and Donalt assumed Earthly vessels, they assumed the consequences of such actions. Pure lights have fought the obvious misery they produce, in turn the kings retaliated. A web of intent, and blind deals were cast. And unfortunately, our lines are at the center of this battle.”

  “I still do not understand how.”

  “If they belong to us, you know their intentions were born pure, so pure that wholesome lights were attracted to them, claimed them. And in that claim there lies an unrest.”

  “My head is spinning. Our Fated Escorts have coupled with human lights? Is that what you are saying? How could they?” I knew how dangerous it was for an Escort to have a fever for anyone beyond our kind.

  “Our mist was in the wind. Donalt was the first to pull one of yours into his grasp. He could not openly claim her because he was in human form. Instead, he plotted to destroy her in corporeal form. But in that lifetime she was adored, and has been for each lifetime since then.”

  Fear. That was Donalt’s reign. I could only imagine what she would have endured. Flames from the candles exploded, reaching the endless ceiling, mocking my rage.

  Within a pulse of my soul, Vade was lying on top of me, pinning my arms above my head. The hum of his body, along with the scent of roses, caused the raging flames to fall to their subtle light. “She is fiercely protected,” he swore.

  His mind played out what he knew of this Fated of mine for me at a slow, calculated pace.

  Chapter Eight

  Vade wanted me to know the story of all the Fated that belonged to us, their journey so far, but he needed me to focus on the one that was causing so much trouble presently. He knew I would not do that without knowing the others were somewhat safe now.

  Before, when I sensed my line in the entry hall, I’d sensed one of my Fated and had no idea that I had. Vade had spoken to her, came to her aid when her back was against the wall, when both Donalt and Xavier chose to charge her in unison. Vade helped her save one of his Fated, and so much more.

  Vade took her thoughts of him away so that she would be protected, so the other kings would not know that Vade was now aware and preparing to wage war against them along with our Fated.

  I witnessed an admirable fight in those that bore our essence. No doubt there. They had been twisted against each other in the cruelest ways, but somehow they found their way to overcome.

  I kept staring at the image of those that belonged to us; because they were Fated Escorts, they did not carry the same outward appearance as the current lines. Nature planned it that way, a weapon you could not see coming, but once they were upon you no doubt you would sense their sovereign within.

  The tension in my body eased, letting Vade know that I was ready to hear of the one that belonged to me that was causing complications. I was ready to focus on him now that I knew the others were somewhat out of harm’s way at the moment.

  “Whom of mine is harming one of yours? Who is threatening us all? Show me the one that believes he is a Witness.”

  His image came to Vade’s thoughts instantly. I saw a valiant warrior. Golden eyes and hair, there was not a flaw in his image. He looked like a fallen angel. Silas. His name was Silas.

  Vade loosened his grip on my arms and let his hand slide down the length of them before moving to lie beside me.

  “Your Silas is opposing my Draven. In the most lethal way. You know as I do if a Fated of yours strikes my Fated, it will bring havoc, weaken us to the point where the other kings could overtake us.”

  I searched Vade’s mind, discovering the war of hearts my Silas was engaging in. Silas and Draven were in a sense at war over a girl. Silas assumed Draven would harm this girl, Charlie, pull light energy from her. I suppose that was a risk, but the risk was put there by unworthy kings. The risk was put there so Silas would strike, so my and Vade’s line would weaken and we could be overtaken. It was one of many ploys against us. The other kings were using our children to destroy us, and the only way we could stop it was by destroying our children.

  I felt sick, so sick. Who could plot something so evil? Only for the hope of gaining power?

  “You understand the risk?” Vade asked me.

  I did. All too well. “To stop the threat, I have to destro
y the one that is causing turmoil,” I said as I closed my eyes and wished this vile revelation away.

  “I’m afraid it very well could come to that,” he said with a heavy grief in his tone. “I don’t want it to come to that. Silas...Silas is special for more than the reason that he belongs to you or was risen as a Witness.”

  “He is only seeking to destroy Escorts because he thinks they are evil. I can show him otherwise.”

  “I certainly hope so, but you should know that his rage for my line will not be diminished with enlightenment. He feels he is fighting over someone he has claimed, over someone that has claimed him.”

  Escorts were a bit territorial, obviously, but when it came to adoreds we were ruthless. No reason or law could stop us from retaliating. So basically, I had a fated Escort—born in my line of wrath—that felt that a Fated Escort—born in Vade’s line of anger—had taken his adored. And if that weren’t enough, he thought he was a Witness, and that more than likely he had been destroying souls cut from the very same cloth as he.

  I cringed when those thoughts came to mind. With little effort, Vade had reached into my mind and read those beliefs clearly.

  “He has not destroyed anyone from either of our lines. He has no reason to…but let me ensure you understand me clearly—our energy is one at this point. If he strikes any Escort in our line, we will both feel that blow. If he strikes a Fated Escort…he very well could end both lines with that one blow. If not an end, at the very least we will lose masses. The kings will make their move to take us down.”

  I understood. All too well.

  I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. To any of the other sovereigns, this would be simple. Send out a thought to destroy said troublemaker and move on. But I was not any other sovereign…it was not his fault. He should be given the chance to see the course and consequences of his actions.

  I rose from Vade’s arm and manifested the warrior clothes I had worn for eons. I was going to Silas’ side this instant. I could not let this risk dangle in the air any longer.