The Truth about Heroes: Complete Trilogy (Heroes Trilogy)

by Krista Gossett

  Osharus was not impatient as I watched this world, a feeling of silent awe mixed with horror for this place inside me. Anger started to build in me as I remembered the visions in the sandy pools of the castle, showing me how much more pleasant Calderon had been to you and my brother, Rienna. I didn’t want to save this place at all and if I had Nuriel with me at that moment, I would have burnt it into so much glass and ash, even if the hungry flames devoured me too. In that same moment of rage, serenity had exploded inside of me and in the deafening calm, I looked at that navel above me, or anus, whatever the hell it was, and I called to Kalhmera in the same instinctive way that the unicorns could talk inside minds.

  When she had appeared, it was instantaneous and I had almost startled to the point of tumbling off the cliff before her deceptively frail looking hand had steadied me without fail. I had felt betrayed that she had left me in this awful place but her face showed such remorse that I remembered she must have thought I had blinked out of existence as well.

  “Melchior, my child, I was afraid I had lost you. Your friends and I were helpless to find you, but you have found me in a place even I could not. What is this place?”

  “The Old Gods called it Calderon but it is my Hell. My friends… They are alive?” I asked, feeling that perhaps all was not lost.

  Kalhmera grinned in a way that was reserved only for omnipotent beings, all-knowing and with perfect peace. “Yes, I have seen to that personally, have no fear. I would not forget those that would save my precious world. Alas, knowing you live means my heart can be at peace again. I could not bear failing even one of you. Indeed, I even tried to bring back the others, but souls are not the same once they leave the body and they would not have been the ones you knew.”

  I could scarcely hear beyond that ‘yes’ and I was anxious to go back. I still had a promise to fulfill. As much as I disliked the one unicorn, I could see that they, unlike the other things floating around there, were not creatures that deserved to disappear. “I do not care for the rest of this place, but I would ask that you spare the unicorns. They are fading but they are the only piece of this place that was completed and without them, I fear we may have never saved the world at all,” I told her now.

  Kalhmera peered around me at the unicorns, a kind of awe on her face. Indeed, the secrets of their making were not a part of her knowledge and she marveled at Osharus. She looked at me and nodded.

  “I will save them but because this creation is outside of even my knowing, I will need at least one to be by my side at all times. I will remove the curse of this place but keep the beauty of their home hidden so they will be left in peace. Young one, will you sacrifice your place with your kind to be beside me?” Kalhmera asked him now.

  Osharus did not hesitate to agree and took his place beside her. Wouldn’t have been my choice, but I held my tongue. It’s hard to describe what happened next but as the three of us flew up and out into the dark hole, the evil abominations of Calderon were sucked into oblivion. No longer did the air feel stifling where we ended up, which brought up the question: where had she taken me? I did not recognize this place at all.

  It was no wonder, for this flourishing paradise had once been a wasted desolate place in the Barren Lands. I was not far from the former city of Sorrow, a place now called Abundance. Before Kalhmera departed, she reached for my stump. Instinctively, I tried to flinch away but she was quicker and she held me fast. Just like that, I realized I was gripping her hand with one of my own—a flesh and blood hand that I had once lost was whole again and it knitted with the magic of creation, blood and sinew and bone, before my very eyes. I barely had time to whisper “thank you” before she was gone with Osharus.

  When I had headed toward Abundance, all I could think of was finding my friends again. I decided to head towards the castle and see if the king would know of a way to find you all. I was floored to see that Pierait and Lyria now sat upon the throne and our reunion had been one of great joy. I had stayed for weeks; they told me first where the rest of you had gone and I told them the story I am telling you now. They lavished me in such luxury that I had a hard time wanting to leave at all, but the pull to find the rest of you was too strong and they knew it well. Before I left, I realized I didn’t know how much time had passed —I knew it had been years and frankly, I was afraid to go back. I pictured you had had your child and maybe a husband and didn’t need me complicating things by showing up. Lyria and Pierait have a son around Eden’s age and Lyria is carrying twin girls. Or was, since she looked ready to pop any day. I wondered if you had any more kids, wanted to see your face again, even if I couldn’t get up the nerves to let you know I was still alive.

  It was a selfish wish, but I had to know. Sea Star had used all of her energy to protect Belias/Erised’s abuse from destroying Ashe’s seed growing inside of you. What I had completely overlooked was that the king’s daughter found out who I was and that waltzing back here to find the rest of you would not be well met. Puppet or not, Rienna, I killed her father. I killed your father and your fiancé. Hell, I still blame myself for Ashe’s death, but you know… seeing his daughter, your daughter… Eden is her name? It makes me think that I’ve finally found some peace with all of it.

  Rienna listened to Melchior’s story, unable to react, just clutching her elbows, trying to conceal the sympathy she felt for Melchior, albeit poorly. He pushed himself away from the wall and stood inches away from her, lightly chucking her chin with his knuckles. Instead of pulling them away, he brushed the same spot with his knuckles until her hand came up and trapped his fingers in her grasp. Their eyes locked, loaded with unspoken emotions.

  “I thought you were dead,” Rienna weakly spoke, the last word hitching on a sob. It was an obvious statement, but she was so choked with emotion, so locked in disbelief, that it was a plea for sanity, begging him to be real.

  He smirked, but this one was loaded with his own brand of sympathy. His other hand detained again as she had unconsciously held it again, he brushed the fingertips of his free hand along the bare skin of her arm.

  “Can’t you shut-up for one second and hold me already? It’s been far too long since I’ve had two good arms to hold you with,” Melchior teased with exasperation.

  She could have been angry, maybe told him that he had been the one doing all the talking or maybe just remind him what an ass he was, but her hands found his face and her lips found his and she kissed him properly. All intentions to keep it quick had melted away as the kiss deepened and their hands found each other’s bodies, confirming fervently that they were really there. She hadn’t felt this fire under her skin in what felt like an eternity. When Arden had stopped being her lover more than two years ago, she had never taken another. Even then she could not remember him ever affecting her as Melchior did now. Even when she was madly in love with Ashe, Melchior had a molten kiss that overrode common sense in favor of primal lust. Even with guards right around the corner, she wanted him inside her and her hips undulated against him with desperation and need as she grabbed his ass to pull him closer.

  Melchior trapped her hands together and spun her around stunned, holding her back against him, his head resting in the crook of her shoulder and neck. He laid a soft kiss there, which tickled her enough that he had to pull back quickly to avoid her shoulder colliding with his chin, then tsked her like a naughty child as he rested his chin there again.

  “What would you do without my willpower?” Melchior teased and was rewarded with an elbow to his ribcage. Leave it to Melchior to never let her live that down. It unnerved her more for the simple fact that he was right—she certainly did become over-eager with him and she hated the power it gave him over her.

  “Why are you stopping me?” Rienna ground out angrily, the fear of rejection and frustration with her dry spell slipping through. She wanted to shove his face down between her legs and make better use of those lips of his, feel that soft dark red shadow of stubble tickling her most sensitive parts.

 
; He rocked her where they stood and laced his fingers through her hands, pointing his fingers in the direction of the guards that stood watch there.

  “Because I’m not going to fuck you in front of Brutus and Ralph over there,” Melchior explained to her in a tone of mocked reprimand. They did look like a Brutus and Ralph but she knew their names and those weren’t it.

  Her skin tingled at the soft way he said THAT word, but she was still unhappy. She was sick of words right now, even that one.

  “The Queen wants you dead, Melchior. What other chances do I have?” Rienna said sadly. She pushed his hands away and he let them fall as she turned and faced him again, this time with tears freely falling. He reached across only to wipe them away.

  “I think this world has wanted me dead a lot but I’ve managed so far,” he assured her and his bravado angered her.

  “Don’t tell me to smile while I watch you die!” Rienna yelled back at him.

  He watched the emotions play on her face, seeming to choose his words carefully.

  “Don’t go at all, Rienna. Don’t watch me die. Remember something better,” Melchior pleaded.

  Before either could say more, Seije had returned and let Rienna out. She grabbed Eden’s hand and shot a look over her shoulder. Melchior smiled at her and threw her that infuriating smirk that somehow managed to keep her heart from breaking. Overconfident bastard to the very end.

  After dinner that night, Rienna forlornly watched Eden playing in the gardens outside their cottage. Seije emerged and stood against the doorjamb, the sleeves of his casual clothing rolled up and wiping dry the dishwater from his arms as he watched Rienna. Arden and Lily were silent with concern for their friend.

  “Thinking about Melchior?” Seije asked, his smile friendly as Rienna confirmed it with her shocked look. She nodded unhappily.

  “I could help him escape, Rienna. You wouldn’t be able to see him again, but he’d be alive,” Seije offered.

  Rienna looked at her friend, thinking about it, but shook her head. “I won’t risk one friend for another. I’ll… think of something, Seije.”

  “That’s what we’re afraid of,” Arden replied, completely seriously.

  “I couldn’t live with myself if I just let him die, but I’m selfish. I don’t want to lose him at all. He should be here. For Eden… for… for me,” Rienna said, her heart resolute now.

  By the next morning, she had a plan. She wasn’t sure what it would cost her. If it meant her own life, she knew that Eden would be cared for; Seije and her friends would see to it. Once, she had felt the Queen’s hatred for him herself and Melchior was always a pain in the ass, but he was a piece of this world, her world, that she was not willing to throw away. When the Darkness of Erised had swallowed everything she loved, there were those moments when that insufferable ass had been her rock. She never imagined someone she had lived to see dead would be the one she risked her life for. All the same, she dressed in her ceremonial armor, the heroic garb Sea Star had granted her, and made her way to the castle to kneel before the Queen. The elementals may have been cruel but she owed Sea Star so much. When she had thought Sea Star had abandoned her as Belias assaulted her, Sea Star had been using all of her energy to protect the seed that Ashe had planted inside of her. Her beloved daughter, her Eden. Again, she lamented that she could not thank Sea Star for all the things she selflessly did to protect her.

  The armor that once felt like a second skin now felt awkward and encumbering. Although Rienna had never given up sword training, motherhood made training in armor more than a little impractical. The straps of her father’s sword had taken on the shape of her natural frame and squeaked in protest against the shoulder guard now. It had taken Rienna a lot of shifting in her stride to correct the issue. In a way, she may have wished it had taken longer. She was riddled with doubts, insecurities, worries, as a mother, lover, warrior all at once since Rienna could not separate them now. Her hand flexed repeatedly over the hilt of her sword, a movement that comforted her sometimes but at the moment was no comfort at all.

  Each step towards the castle seemed to change her polarity; where she once felt drawn in, she now felt the sensation of something within her digging in its heels and screaming at her to pull back, to just give up, go home, let him go. She spat unladylike and told whatever it was to go the way of the old gods. She could not abandon Melchior to the Queen’s verdict, no matter how justified the sovereign bitch might be in claiming his life. No more than she could give up Krose, Dinsch, Finn, Verity, Lyria, Pierait or even her own daughter, Eden. Because the list of people she had left to protect was significantly shorter than the ones she couldn’t save.

  She wasn’t quite sure how she had made it to stand before the Queen. She wasn’t sure if she had bowed as she usually did but nevertheless, she stood there, meeting the Queen’s cold eyes and her legs did not shake and her heart was steady. Rienna braced herself and waited for the Queen to address her. The silence was palpable.

  “Rienna,” came the Queen’s short authoritative tone, like a hissing accusation. “I was told you reunited with my prisoner. You come here armed, I hope to stand beside my decision rather than against me. You know he must die and I am stunned you would not feel the same.”

  The Queen did not know all that had happened, but she was still young and might not understand if she was told. The Queen might have been grateful to Rienna once but she doubted she could so easily appeal to her now. Rienna had to consciously keep her hand from the hilt of her dagger. It was a nervous habit that might give the wrong impression. She wasn’t here to fight the Queen. Rienna did not panic, but kept her resolve. She needed to be direct and focused.

  “Where is Melchior?” Rienna asked, her voice steady and soft, but resolute.

  The Queen held Rienna’s gaze with royal practice and smiled tight and prim, waving a hand to punctuate her words. “Very shortly to be hung from his neck in the courtyard. Did you come to appeal for him now? You are welcome to watch, but I’m afraid I must insist on his execution. He committed regicide, Lady Rienna, and you know the penalty for that cannot be bargained away. You will join me in any case.”

  Rienna did not struggle as the guards flanked her and made it clear she was to follow the Queen through the Great Hall. The shouts that had reached her ears were increasing in volume and fervor as the Queen led her towards these crucial moments. She had no doubt she had to proceed carefully if Melchior and herself were to come out of this in one piece. Maybe her cause was lost, but she wasn’t dead yet. Whether the Queen would listen to reason or not, she still had options.

  In the yawning space between the Hall and the opening to the courtyard, the sun swallowed her vision and sweat broke out on her skin instantly. The sound altered in surreal waves, pulsing loud and soft and distorted. She squinted against the blazing sun and her eyes sought out Melchior. He stood on the makeshift platform of the gallows, the noose around his neck, his sultry navy eyes cool but dancing with mischief. His shirt had been removed, showing that time had not damaged the sculpt of muscle and silvery scars had barely healed before angry red ones took prominence over them. Some were marked as fresh with spidery trails of dark blood drying beneath them. His travel-worn pants hung low on his lean hips, his hands bound in front of him, his feet slightly apart and keeping his stance impressively cocky given the frightening circumstances. Rienna could not have loved him more in this moment and the moment the word passed her mind, she felt the quick flicker of fear assault her and her steps faltered and she nearly fell. She could not keep her gaze on him as she was led up onto the Queen’s own balcony but she could feel the moment when Melchior had known she was there and knew he watched her. She didn’t want to look as she steeled her resolve but couldn’t help herself. That smile he gave her with the golden sun glowing on him made him look breathtaking, like a fallen angel.

  In one incredulous moment, she wondered if she had given up Krose all those years before to be with Melchior after all. Four years ago, Krose had m
arried a woman named Alys and even bore the official title of Count once her claim had been made, but still he ran the Tribute, an enterprise that had a business in every big town on the continent of Vieres and even a few in the northern ports of Stoneweld, even the town where Seles had once lived with her first husband. Even Dinsch and Seles had finally married a few months ago. Rienna was happy for her friends but it had created a longing in her that made it harder to visit them more than two or three times a year. Finn and Verity were together, living in a manor town that had been abandoned to the northwest of Xanias, with boy and girl twins bearing her stunning hair, eyes and skin and Finn’s bird features. They were not true Reishefolk though, their wings tiny yet fully formed though non-functional. All of her friends seemed to have a life she thought she was beginning ten years ago. She had Eden, she had her friends, and here she was, facing down losing Melchior all over again.

  Everything seemed to slow around her as her present reality returned. The queen’s voice announcing to the people below seemed inhumanly deep and sluggish. In those moments, Rienna had been able to draw her dagger and lop the Queen’s head clear off. In the shock of sudden events, she skewered the guards that stood in her way and leapt from the balcony towards Melchior below, still gripping the Queen’s head in one hand, the impossibly sharp dagger in the other. She severed the rope around his neck but time caught up and a sharp stab in her side brought her painfully back to reality. Black blood spat violently from between her lips.