When he was finished, it was Victoria’s turn. The awkwardness of their time apart passed as she told him most of what had happened in his absence. Tori excitedly skipped back and forth between what she felt, what had taken place, and what she’d remembered later. The one solid bit of information he absorbed was that she’d taken charge and was proud of what she’d accomplished. He was proud of her too and told her so. By the end of the conversation, things were almost back to normal.
Angst was curious about Aereon and his abilities. About the bird creatures that had attacked Unsel. Victoria interrupted his thoughts before he could launch into his questions.
“What about Chryslaenor?” she asked with concern in her voice. “How are you, now that it’s gone?”
Angst instinctively looked over his shoulder for the giant sword that was no longer there and sighed deeply. “It’s hard to explain. When I gave up Chryslaenor to trap Magic, I had to rip it out.” Angst shivered and squeezed his eyes shut. The wound still felt so fresh. Tori rested her hand on his supportively. “I gave up part of myself to bond with Chryslaenor. The part that I let go was replaced with the sword. When I removed the bond, when I wrenched it out, there was nothing to fill the hole.
“Now, I feel like I did when I left,” he said in a very sad voice and was immediately embarrassed. This was far beyond their normal scope of conversation. He was supposed to be listening to her and the trials she’d gone through, not pouring out his pathetic insecurities.
Angst looked away and saw the patched crack in the fountain, the one he’d created when he first met Victoria. “Your gifts were kind. Though Tyrell had some concerns about the origins of the cloak.”
“How is Rose?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
“She’s healing more slowly than usual, but otherwise she seems fine, I think,” Angst answered, surprised by the question. There was a brief pause in the conversation, and Angst took this moment to consider. Something had been nagging him throughout the trip, and he wondered if this was the right time to broach the subject. It was against his better judgement to make things weird between them, especially here, back where they started. But, he never admitted to having better judgement. “Speaking of Rose, you were right that I needed her.”
Tori’s eyes grew round with surprise, but she quickly smiled to cover the reaction. “I figured you’d need someone to flirt with.”
“Well, that too, but thank you for sending her,” Angst said, watching her response closely. “I wouldn’t have made it had she not healed me in the dungeon.”
“I’m so glad she was there then,” Victoria said with a smile. She moved her knee away from Angst and began to inch away from him on the bench.
“You know, you were right about me going on this mission as well,” Angst stated matter-of-factly. “Everything turned out fine, for me, for the kingdom. It was the greatest adventure of my life.”
Victoria stood and took a step back. His suspicions were correct. He stood and stepped closer to the young princess. “I also thought it was interesting that you knew Heather was pregnant, even before she or the physician did. Thank you for keeping her safe at the castle.”
The princess seemed troubled. Her eyes darted around the room for some escape, and she continued backing away from Angst. He didn’t stop, didn’t give her any space. “It was also very convenient that Heather was here to help release the magi locked in the dungeon.”
Victoria was shaking her head and placed her hand on Angst’s chest to keep him away.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the marble rose. Angst handed it to the young princess. “You knew I’d bring this back.”
“No,” she whispered.
“How much can you see, Tori? How much of our future can you see?” he challenged, raising his voice.
The princess stopped moving and dropped her hand in defeat. “I can see everything,” she finally said in a very quiet voice.
Angst let that hang in the air and seep into his mind. “You knew all of it was going to happen. When I first found you here in this courtyard? You knew I could wield Chryslaenor? That I would bond with it after losing the battle with Ivan? You knew about the attack on Unsel?” Angst bit off every question, the thought of being used like that was crushing. “You knew that I would have to give up being a hero?”
Tears streamed down the princess’s cheeks as she sobbed, clutching onto his tunic. She closed her eyes and lowered her head as she nodded in silent agreement with every harsh accusation.
“That’s why you’ve been friends with me all these years,” he railed. “Because you already knew how I could fit—”
“No!” she said firmly, and her head snapped up. Victoria stabbed a finger at him. “Don’t you dare accuse me of using you. I can’t control what happens or doesn’t happen. I only see things that could happen! You are my friend, and when I saw that you could have what you wanted, that you could be a hero, and it would save Unsel... I swear I didn’t mean to use you.”
The words trailed off, and the princess started to cry in earnest. Angst felt awful. This wasn’t what he’d intended. He pulled Victoria close and held her. “I’m sorry,” he said consolingly. “I just...I thought you trusted me, that we shared everything. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
After several long moments, Victoria began to calm down. They made their way back to the bench and sat. “My mother and Tyrell are the only ones who know...what I can do,” Victoria said quietly. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want Mother to hurt you or Heather if you found out.”
He reeled at the thought of Isabelle holding this over her young daughter. It must have been a horrible burden, and it made him despise Isabelle even more.
“I may not have the sword, but I also haven’t forgotten everything I learned. I don’t think she can hurt me now, Tori.”
She looked up at him, her long lashes blinking away tears. “I’m glad you know,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to tell you.”
“It certainly explains a lot,” Angst stated. “Not only the dramatic changes in laws over the last ten years, but some of the decisions you’ve made, and some of the things you do.” He looked down at their knees, which were touching once again.
Victoria blushed. “The future comes to me in dreams, but it’s like looking at a large map on a table. I only see the entirety of what might happen. When I’m awake and near someone, physically, I see pieces of that future and their part in it.” She sighed deeply and her shoulders slumped with relief. “The closer I am to you, the more clearly I can see your futures. I can see what could happen, what will probably happen, and sometimes, unfortunately what the person wants to happen.”
Angst’s eyes grew with surprise and alarm, which made the princess laugh. “You must think I’m a dirty old man!”
“Only sometimes.” This made her laugh even harder, and it was Angst’s turn to blush. She caught her breath, looked at his reddened cheeks, and began to laugh again. Good tears were now streaming down her cheeks.
“No. No, really. I think you’re sweet. Most of the time,” Tori said coyly. “I’ve been close to people who are truly depraved, and your worst imaginings don’t even compare.”
“Seers are rare, Tori. It must be a burden to know everything that could happen,” Angst said with concern, while also, perhaps, trying to change the subject.
Victoria practically bounced with excitement and had to take calming breaths before speaking. “I don’t know what people will choose to do and how that affects their future. Some things are just going to happen, like the attack on Unsel. But you wouldn’t have wielded Chryslaenor without Ivan at the party, so I made sure he was there. That was for you, Angst, so you could be a hero!”
Angst stared at her in amazement as he began to understand just how powerful the young princess was. They sat next to each other for long minutes, staring off in deep thought. He was very aware of the fact that their knees were still touching, and thought about pulling his away. W
hen he decided not to, when Angst decided it was safe to trust Victoria, she smiled.
“So what happens next?” Angst asked.
“I don’t know,” Victoria replied with worry in her eyes.
“I don’t understand. I thought you just told me you can see the future?” Angst asked.
“I couldn’t see Aereon’s future, only a little of what he was actively thinking,” she said with a delicate shudder. “I can see pieces of your future, and of mine, but I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen to Unsel. Something is changing in Ehrde.”
“So you don’t think this is done yet?” Angst asked, unable to hold back a smirk.
“What are we going to do, Angst?” Victoria asked with sudden concern. “You may have trapped Magic within Chryslaenor, for now, but what about the other elements? We’ve already been attacked by Air, what about that statue and the gamlin? Was that Earth? What happens if the others come? You aren’t Al’eyrn anymore. What are we going to do?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about that,” Angst began. He raised his right eyebrow mischievously. “And I have an idea.”
Buried in Angst
Book 2
Prologue
A dark storm threatened the horizon, tossing the ocean about like water in a bucket. The waves came faster and faster, growing larger each time they crashed against the side of his fishing boat. They seemed to reach for the boat’s edge, hungry to grasp and pull it down into the maw of darkness below.
Johnis wiped salty sea spray and loneliness from his stern face. His tan, weatherworn complexion made him appear a man of forty instead of a mere thirty-two—but one cost of spending so many days out to sea. The work was hard, the conditions unfriendly, but he wouldn’t have traded the solitude for anything. His kaynarr boat could have readily held four men in comfort, but he preferred it empty. Nobody to trip over, or worry about.
Johnis closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of sea. He had but scant minutes before it would be too late to pull in his catch, but he knew the coming storm could reward his nets, so he waited. His breath caught as thunder shook the air, and a wary eye skyward revealed the storm had moved far faster than expected.
“By the cursed Vivek!” he yelled in his scratchy voice.
Johnis rushed to the nets and began pulling them over the rail, smiling at his catch. His arms were long and thin and filled with wiry strength, but the nets were heavier than they should’ve been. His timing had been off, the catch was too full, and his smile washed away in the heavy rain now pouring down. Thunder clapped the instant lightning covered the sky, and he knew the storm was directly above him. He tugged and fought as the net grew heavier still.
Turning his head skyward, he stared down the storm. He should’ve let go, but something felt wrong—he had to see what was in the net. Johnis struggled and wrenched with every ounce of his formidable strength to force the net to breach the surface. He cinched it to the side and leaned over the edge. The pale, panicked face of a beautiful young woman greeted him. Johnis stared in confusion as she stopped fighting the net and looked up at him. She was mostly hidden by dark water, but Johnis could make out her high full lips, deep blue eyes, and dark blue hair.
“Wait one moment, miss. I’ll cut you free!” he yelled over the rain, which beat the water like drums.
Johnis moved to draw his fishing knife but paused when anger flashed across her blue eyes. She thrashed violently.
“I’m going to try to help you!” he called over the madness of booming storm, crashing waves, and pouring rain.
Before he could completely unsheathe the knife, lightning struck the bow of the ship.
Johnis was thrown into the air and dropped feet-first into the ocean. He kicked and clawed at the water until he broke free to sweet air. Struggling to keep his head above the thrashing waves, gasping for air, he glimpsed his burning ship in the distance, engulfed by the merciless waters.
“No!” he screamed, remembering the girl caught in his nets.
Though he was a strong swimmer, Johnis battled the stormy waves with every stroke to reach the remains of his ship. The net and its contents were gone, sinking to the bottomless depths. He took several quick breaths, pushed all the air from his lungs then drew one final, full breath.
The water was too dark to see, so Johnis grasped desperately into nothingness for the net. He thanked the lady of the sea when when his hands tangled in rough rope. He reached through the net until he felt cold, unmoving fingers. Together they dropped fast, as the ocean swallowed them deep into its gullet. He unsheathed his knife and cut away pieces of coarse netting until he could pull the hand and then the body of the young woman through.
His lungs wrenched in his chest, desperate for oxygen. Johnis swam and pulled forever, towing the woman behind him. His first breath was filled with life and burned his lungs. He gasped and coughed through sticky salt waves of cold ocean. The blue-haired woman was no more than dead weight in his arms but, miraculously, she began to struggle like any drowning person. Had she been a man, Johnis would have struck her unconscious, but he couldn’t bring himself to harm her. Even in the dim fiery remains of his burning ship, he could see, almost feel, her beauty.
Johnis wrapped his long arms around her chest, just below her naked breasts. She kicked and pushed as he wrestled her back toward the wreckage.
“I’m trying to save you!” he screamed, exhausted and desperate for her to stop fighting. “I’m trying to find some flotsam we can hold onto...”
A large wave overtook them. They tossed and turned in each other’s arms. Johnis feared for their lives, but the woman seemed calm as she fought against him. There was no panic or concern in her eyes, just curiosity.
“Please stop fighting...so tired...” he pleaded between gasps of sweet air. “I’ll protect you.”
Johnis wasn’t even sure she could hear but had very little energy left to care. A quick look around showed that any remains of his boat were now lost. They were miles from shore with no boat, no floating wreckage, and she wanted to wrestle. Resolutely, he gripped her waist, and began to swim.
After several minutes, she managed to push away. They treaded water together, rising and lowering with the water.
“You don’t understand!” he yelled. “I’m sorry for the net! I’m just trying to keep you safe!”
She stared deep into his eyes and smiled. He felt momentary relief as he took in her face one last time. It had been such a lonely life, and now after seeing such beauty, was he still happy with his decisions? Suddenly, his solitary life seemed a waste. Life could have been worth living if he’d only gotten to enjoy those lovely blue eyes a while longer. The water swelled, and the ocean roared in anger. Johnis tore his eyes from hers and looked up.
“I’m sorry,” was all he could say before an enormous wall of water ate them, pulling them deep into the ocean.
Johnis tumbled and flipped in watery chaos before his fingers touched sand. Sand? He would never make it to the surface if he’d reached the ocean floor. For a brief moment, he thought he saw the blue-haired woman swimming toward him then his head struck something hard and all went dark.
His eyes and mouth and lungs opened simultaneously as life returned and the nightmare passed. Johnis looked around to find himself in bed—his bed—in his house. He propped himself up on his elbows for a moment then decided it was better to lie back down. Only moments before he’d been at the bottom of the ocean—finding himself home was too much to grasp. Placing his long fingers on his stomach, Johnis found his skin to be cold and clammy. Would he ever feel dry and warm again?
The door to his room slowly opened, and a thin bare foot stepped through, followed by the peeking face of a young woman. He read the hesitation in her ocean-blue eyes, but eventually she came into the room. His breath caught painfully in his throat. Little about her was left to the imagination. Her long hair curled lushly over full breasts, and she wore a string of delicate shells around her waist. The rest of her body was
beautiful rosy skin that softly painted lovely curves. She finally made eye contact well after he remembered to close his mouth.
He wanted to say something—anything—so she wouldn’t leave, but his deep breath turned into a painful wracking cough.
“You are a foolish hum...a foolish man,” she chastised in a pleasant high-pitched voice, shaking her head in disbelief.
“I couldn’t let you die,” he whispered. Unsure if she could hear, he whispered louder. “I’m sorry about the nets. How did you...how did we...?”
She sat by his side and touched his forehead with cold slender fingers. “You aren’t better yet. This will take weeks, and I need to leave.”
He put his hand on hers and gripped it as if she were his lover. “Please stay,” he whispered. “I need to know you, to know how we—” Another coughing fit took him, and he could say no more.
“You are a good man, Johnis, filled with loneliness and love.” She stared into his eyes, into his heart, and his mind, and his soul, and smiled. “Not for people. You have a great love for your mistress, the sea.”
Somehow, she understood his need and, for the first time since waking, his shoulders relaxed. He nodded in agreement, still gripping her hand.
“I will stay with you, for a while. Maybe until you are healed and rested. But know this, I will never tell you how we got to your cabin, and you will never ask. Do you understand?”
He nodded weakly then rested his hand behind her neck and slowly pulled her toward him. Her blue eyebrows furrowed with curiosity.
“What is your name?” Johnis said softly into her ear.
“You may call me Selchia,” she whispered.
He pulled her closer.
She acquiesced, wondering what could be so important for Johnis to say in his weakened state. He kissed her ear very gently then passed out. She jerked her head back in surprise, and his hand fell limply to his body. Blinking, she touched the place on her ear Johnis had kissed. The spot was wet, and she was filled with a warmth she’d never felt before.
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