“Then so be it,” Michael whispered.
Ariana watched as Garren was led up a wooden stairwell to stand before the crowd that had gathered. Muffled voices and whispers filtered through the crowd, hushing as Ariana made her way toward the front. Her eyes met with Garren’s briefly as she passed behind him to sit beside her brother and Jareth.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Michael whispered.
“Don’t think me faint-hearted, Michael, I fully understand the death he could have met with for saving my life. I owe him this much.” She looked up to the opening in the roof, unsettled by the bright blue of the sky.
What if it was merely a dream and you have said nothing in his defense?
She drowned out the sound of his grievances as they were listed, ignoring the thrumming of her heart as the moment neared.
A hooded figure whose face was concealed by a plain white mask walked to where Garren stood. She saw Garren’s lips murmur something, followed by a slight nod by the executioner. Slowly, as if time had paused in mourning, the vial was brought to Garren’s lips.
And then you must trust me …
“Stop!”
The voice startled the executioner and the vial slipped from his hands and fell to the ground in a violent crash, sending glass shards across the platform.
The voice had come from the back of the assembly. She watched in amazement as Roahn made his way to them. He leapt two steps at a time until he was standing breathless before Michael.
“You cannot execute him, not without knowing …” Roahn bent over, trying to catch his ragged breath.
Jenner had come forward and was behind Roahn. “Roahn, what — ”
“He is of Adorian royal blood.”
An audible gasp was drawn in at once from all who heard him. He paused for only a moment before continuing. “He is Indeara’s child, my nephew. Regardless of the trespasses he has committed, as it has been written since the age of guardians, it’s up to the sovereign alone to decide his fate. Forgive me, Michael, I heard of the council’s decision and couldn’t keep his lineage a secret any longer.” He looked at Michael, a deeply worn grief in his eyes pleading for Michael to grant Garren his freedom.
Every being held their breath — every eye was trained on her brother. Ariana watched Roahn, understanding now how torn he must have felt when he found out that Garren had spared her life in Palingard.
Was he the only one who knew?
She could tell without asking that her brother was weighing the consequences of his words, each second that passed representing the thousands of lives that would be affected by his decision.
“He lives.”
“Your debt has been forgiven,” Michael whispered into Garren’s ear. Garren was too overwhelmed to say anything.
Michael turned to Jenner, “I’ll address the people of Cyphrus this evening. Please send messengers with the news and have a feast prepared.”
Garren couldn’t tell from the elder Adorian’s face how he felt about it.
Michael turned back to Garren. “Turn around and I’ll unfetter your hands.” He could barely hear Michael over the scuffle of feet and the flurry of speech that erupted as the assembly was dismissed. No one left right away.
Garren, without lifting his eyes, turned to face the wall. He felt the binds loosen, and the cords fall. He rubbed his wrists were they’d been tied.
“I don’t understand.” He turned to see that it wasn’t Michael who’d untied him, but Ariana. Michael, after making the offer, now stood off to the side of the platform with Jareth, whose anger was evident on his face, and Roahn, whose expression was indecipherable.
Ariana flashed Garren an insincere smile. “You should count yourself lucky.” There was an unmistakable coolness in her voice.
“Ariana, I — ”
“There’s nothing to discuss. I wasn’t the one who spoke for you. You have Roahn to thank for that.”
He couldn’t help the smile that tugged at one corner of his mouth. She was even more beautiful when she was flustered.
“I’m glad you find this amusing.”
He grabbed her by the arms as she started to walk away. “Don’t you understand the purpose behind what I said to you?”
“You believed me some frail creature, unable to wield her own emotions? Perhaps you were under the impression that I would wither into a deep despair over your loss, never regain the motivation to eat or drink or subsist again?”
“If your feelings were even half as strong as those I carry for you, then what your brother had to do as a sovereign of Adoria would have caused a rift between the two of you that I couldn’t bear to leave you with. As your brother, you would’ve eventually accused him of knowing your heart more than any other, and ending my life despite its affect on you.”
He could see the expression on her face change. This was something that she had obviously not considered. Still, she refused to answer him.
“If I didn’t have affection for you, would I have stayed awake the night I released you in Palingard, worried for you? Or spared Michael his life after learning that he was within reach of our borders, simply because he is your brother? There hasn’t been a single moment since my return from Palingard that I haven’t thought of you. Even my wedding night, I couldn’t …” He watched her expression change yet again as the words fell from his lips. He hadn’t considered how they would sound to her.
“You are married.”
He took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to respond to such a statement. “It’s not what you …”
“It’s exactly as I think.” She pulled herself from his grasp and sat down on one of the chairs behind her. The color drained from her skin.
“How long — when?”
“I swear to you that I’ve never laid a hand on her, not in the way you’re thinking. It was after Palingard’s fall. My confession, though, is that I chose Sara for Aiden. The only consolation I can give you is that had I not, she would’ve been sent to the outer regions and would’ve been one of the humans left at your borders.”
Tears had started to well in her eyes, though they remained unshed. He sat down in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders.
“I can’t get the image out of my head — what she must be enduring. Garren, they are still aware of what’s going on around them. They are still conscious. Every time he touches her … she can’t even close her eyes to escape it. I can’t …” She lowered her head again and he could no longer help himself.
He pulled her into his arms. “Micah, the boy who helped you in Eidolon — I swore that if I were allowed to keep my life I would go back for him. I fear for his life, just as you fear for Sara’s. I don’t know how, but we will find a way to bring Sara back here. As soon as I get a chance, I’ll speak with your brother.”
“But what of her soul? Will she re — ”
Garren clenched his jaw. It wasn’t a question he wanted to answer. “It’s never been done, but because I was the one who took her soul, I may be able to restore it.”
She surprised him by taking his hand in hers. “Then there’s hope.”
He placed his other hand over hers and rubbed her wrist where he’d grabbed her in the cell. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”
She shook her head. “My pride maybe, but my wrist is fine. I knew you were being untruthful. I just didn’t fully understand why.”
“And how were you able to tell?”
She held her mouth in a tight line as he finished his question. “Wouldn’t you like to know? You’ll have to earn that next kiss, Garren. And considering that you had to save my life for the last one, I’d say you have your work cut out for you.”
He smirked. “Indeed.”
Roahn came to stand beside them and started to rest a hand on Garren’s shoulder, but clutched it to his breast instead. His features turned in pain and he cleared his throat. “I adored Indeara and it’s her life and love for you that’s saved you. Please, don’t ask anything else of me.
I have nothing left to give.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
JUST THE BEGINNING
B
ronach sat in his chair in the library, the Book of Life open before him. He’d had no need to attend the execution, for he could watch words appear on the pages, as if penned by an unseen hand, recording everything as it happened. His presence there would have been for naught, since the covenant forbade him from interfering with the due consequences of Garren’s actions. He couldn’t have stopped it had he wanted to.
But what Azrian didn’t know was that Bronach had already been told by the seventh Laionai, who had foreseen it, that Garren would be pardoned.
A draft swept through the room, flipping the pages of the book. Bronach glanced up to see the light from the candle flicker, casting shadows across what might have been the darkest mistake he’d ever made.
And so, with the covenant in place, Irial and Èanna were sent to the created realms; Irial born into the cursed lineage of the Ereubinians, Èanna born into the blameless blood of the Adorians. Unaware of who they really are, or of the weight that rests upon the outcome of their lives, they will come face to face as strangers in the mortal world.
He could hear the sounds of preparations being made to accommodate the crowd that would gather for Michael’s address that evening. The elders had decreed the age of guardians had come to an end. They felt secure behind the divide, but Michael was right. This wasn’t the end of anything.
“It is just the beginning.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
A FAMILIARITY
A
riana saw Michael braced against the wall with one hand on his forehead.
“Is it Garren that concerns you?”
“There are things that have happened in the past with some of our people that are not such simple matters to forgive. Adoria as a whole has fought for so long for righteousness’ sake, that what is for the good of all is what’s held with highest regard. This is not true for those who have spent much of their lifetime in Middengard. They weren’t born of man, but their souls are accustomed to his ways.”
“You’re referring to the Braeden, but something in your tone tells me that you’re thinking of someone specifically. Is it Duncan?”
Michael nodded. “He lost a wife and a stepdaughter, the latter at Garren’s hands.”
Ariana felt her stomach turn again. She had mixed emotions. Her heart felt one way, but her reason and experiences told her something completely different. “That’s why they are not coming tonight? Is Jareth coming?”
“Yes on both counts. Jareth may be part human, but he has been raised in this realm. It’s not in his character to dishonor me by going against my wishes. The Braeden may never be able to accept Garren. I almost, even despite my recent change in perception, have a difficult time trusting that what I have been shown to be true is true. This is my burden to bear. Please, don’t worry yourself about it. I’ll deal with Duncan.”
“Okay.”
He turned to walk back to the dining hall, saying below his breath, “I’ll see you shortly.”
She could feel the distress that Michael was trying so unsuccessfully to hide. She hoped Jareth would be able to provide him with some comfort or insight that she couldn’t.
She came to the room that had been readied for Garren, and paused to brace her palms against the door frame. Her conversation had reminded her of home, what she’d once known as home. She still suffered vivid recurrences in her mind of the day Palingard had fallen. She regretted her last conversation with Bella. Her hand curled into a tight fist as she remembered dropping the cloak in spite to the ground. She had no idea what she’d say to Garren now that they were alone again. She lowered her head and exhaled. His voice caught her off guard.
“I’ll leave you alone, if that’s what you wish.”
She turned to see Garren standing in the darkened refuge of a large beam that supported the hall. When he stepped into the light, she noted that he’d changed clothes. He looked so different, she almost didn’t recognize him. No longer clothed in black, he wore brown, brushed suede pants and a light cream shirt. A cloak of the same color hung over his shoulders. The silver clasps on his clothing glinted in the light from the torch that hung on the wall.
“No … I’m not — ”
“Ariana, I can tell by the look in your eyes that you’re uncomfortable right now. I don’t want to be any more of a burden to you than I’ve already been.”
Ariana leaned her back against the door. “I was thinking about Palingard.” An expression of sincere regret fell over his face and she rushed to stop him from speaking it aloud. “I said things to loved ones that I can’t take back, Garren. You aren’t the only one capable of making mistakes. I was also thinking about my brother. He has a lot weighing on him and it frustrates me that I cannot help him bear it.”
“That feels like a lifetime ago.”
She could hear the helplessness in his voice; she could see it in his eyes. They appeared much darker in the shadows of the hall, where he now stood, compared to what she’d seen earlier on the platform.
“Why didn’t you kill me?”
Stepping closer, Garren looked as though he was about to reach out to her, but held his arms against his chest instead. “I don’t think that I can explain it. Something caught me. It was almost like being awakened from a heavy sleep, as if seeing your face stirred something in me that had long slumbered.”
“A familiarity,” she whispered.
He nodded. “Yes, if there were but a thing deeper. It revealed everything in a light that I knew nothing of, stripped me of all the things I’d once called truth.”
“When did you learn of your mother?”
“Tadraem, our High Priest — the man who raised me — told me right before Micah killed him.” A grave expression darkened his eyes further. “Do you have any idea what you risked coming into that sanctuary?”
“No less than what you risked with your intent to take me to Adoria’s border. Michael told me that’s what you were about to do when they arrived.” Garren opened his mouth, an incredulous look on his face, but she stopped him before he could disagree. “But, I’ll admit, there is much about your world that I don’t know — only what I’ve read from Adoria’s history books. I have so many questions.”
“Perhaps you could show me your world first. I’ve seen enough darkness to last me the rest of my life. There’s nothing in my past worth salvaging.”
“You aren’t comfortable with tonight are you?”
“Would you be?”
“I suppose not. Are you still willing to go?”
He nodded his head. “I won’t do anything to disappoint Michael and he’s asked that I be there.” He reached for her hand as if he expected her to refuse the gesture.
She grinned as she took his hand but wasn’t about to give him too much assurance. “You won’t receive the reaction you’re expecting. Not from those who’ll be present tonight.” She started to lead him toward the dining hall.
“It’s the ones without wings who concern me most.”
“The Braeden. You knew of their existence?”
“Yes, but we weren’t sure how they came to be. Were they born without wings?”
“No, their wings are removed at birth. They’re taken from their families in infancy — there are two houses — The Iidolis, where Michael was trained, and the Aidolis, where the Braeden were raised.”
“Michael and his men were also schooled away from their families?”
“Our father was Braeden, so Michael couldn’t have been. Traditional Adorian fighters are usually the children of Adorians like my father, though that’s not always the case. Jareth is the child of one of the elders. Michael never knew our mother and was never told where Father was when he was away.”
“Where is your mother now?”
“She was killed in Palingard, years ago.”
“I’m sorry.” He squeezed her hand.
“I
t was a long time ago. As my brother has said, you can’t undo what’s been done.”
“You are a lot like him, you know.”
She smiled. “I wish that he and I had known each other when we were younger.” She laughed. “I’ve been told that we act alike on more than one occasion, which amuses me, because I don’t think we could be any more different. I always felt too serious in Palingard, and yet here I feel so undignified, almost foolish. Sara would never believe that I’d ever be accused of such a thing …” Her voice trailed off as she thought of her friend.
Garren must have sensed her discomfort. He stopped walking, and stepped out in front of her, taking her by the shoulders. “We will save her. If I do nothing else to redeem myself, it will be that much that’s accomplished.”
CHAPTER FORTY
NO MERE LORD
A
iden rushed through the castle. His stomach still felt curdled with the rancid stench of the Ordakais’ breath. They had breathed hot and heavy in his face and the mere sight of them had made him tremble. Had they free will, they would have been much more terrifying than the Moriors, simply for their likeness to children. He reached the doors to his chambers and smiled as he entered.
She was curled up on the floor in the far corner of the room. He had no interest in having to travel back out among the humans every time he wanted her in his presence.
The room was dimly lit. He walked over to her and leaned down to see if she was asleep. He could tell by her breathing that she was. Grabbing her by the arm, he pulled her to her feet. Slamming her hard against the wall, he began to laugh.
“You seem quite cold. Such a shame that you cannot go of your own accord and put on a cloak.” He mocked her, making his body falsely tremble as he gripped his fingers around her arm, bearing down hard into her flesh. “I’m proud of you for pointing out such a foul being. That girl had no business being here. If it weren’t for you, she might have lived. You have served me well, wife.” He thought it humorous that perhaps she’d at one time had ridiculous notions of a real marriage. Humans were such pathetic creatures.
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