Colorful shards of stained glass, glistening with Kytis’s blood, caught the sun’s rays as he fell to his death. She had killed, yet again, in what she called self-defense. She was already damned—there was no reason to drag her friends to the same fate. A dull thud on the green grass below assured her Kytis could harm no more.
Chapter 58
Olivia took several steps back from the window. Aiden and Shareis approached the edge and looked over the railing.
“Why are you all just standing there?” Mauria asked. “We have to help him!” Unable to rouse them from shock, Mauria tugged on Frasie’s arm. “Come on!”
Mauria and Frasie ran toward the staircase.
“There’s no way he could have survived this,” Aiden said.
Olivia felt no immediate need to join Mauria and Frasie, nor a need to explain her actions to Aiden and Shareis. She stood silently, staring at the shattered window.
“I’d better go to Frasie,” Aiden said.
She stood next to Shareis and looked down at the garden. Kytis’s broken body laid motionless on the lush grass. Adepts gathered around, then Frasie and Mauria reached him. They tried to rouse him to no avail.
“How did you break his hold on you?” Shareis asked.
“I surrendered,” she replied. “I embraced my darkness. I gave up hope of forgiveness—from Frasie or Mauria... even Niv. I’ve killed—again.” Her voice broke. “There’s no coming back from that, you know?”
“You have more hope now than you ever did,” Shareis said. “You accepted the darkness within you. Few are willing to do that.”
“It was either that, or die.”
Aiden searched Kytis’s pockets then waved a piece of paper in the air, calling them down to the garden. The walk to the staircase felt like a dream. Nothing seemed real. When she reached the garden, adepts parted as her and Shareis approached Kytis. Mauria and Frasie didn’t acknowledge her presence.
Aiden handed her the paper. “Look at this.”
She unfolded it to see a drawing of her lying in nearly the same position in the garden. A wave of sadness washed over her as she pondered the scene.
Aiden pointed to her in the picture. “It looks like he was trying to use his picto… pictowhatever to get you to kill yourself.”
She handed it back to him.
Aiden knelt next to Frasie. “Look, Frasie—he had this planned the whole time. He was trying to kill Olivia.”
Mauria stood and examined the picture. “That may be true, Aiden… but I still cared for the man.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “He took care of me when no one would.”
Shareis approached Mauria and extended her arms. Mauria fell into her daughter’s embrace and sobbed.
“This isn’t Olivia’s fault,” Aiden said.
Frasie stood and looked at Aiden, then gave Olivia a glare that shook her to her core. Aiden watched in frustration as Frasie left the garden.
Aiden put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re still alive.”
She stared at Kytis’s motionless body. She had expended months of her life trying to escape this man’s torture. No words or tears remained. She stayed until they removed the body, then retired to her room.
She drew a bath, then undressed and slid into the steaming hot water. Rather than try to scrub away the sins of her past, she accepted them. These scars were part of her, not something to hide. She relaxed her muscles and closed her eyes. Instead of replaying the day’s events, her usual bath pastime, she cleared her mind. Within minutes her slow, even breaths paced her deep, silent meditation.
A knock at the door startled her. “Who is it?”
“Aiden.”
She ensured her body was completely underwater. “Come in.”
“Sorry to disturb you,” he said. “Niv is back in Selandis.”
“Would you please hand the towel on top of my dresser?”
Aiden fetched it and handed it to her, politely averting his gaze.
She carefully stepped out of the tub and went into the next room to get dressed. “Where is she?”
“With the healers,” Aiden replied. “She’s unconscious.”
She quickened her pace. “What happened?”
“They don’t know,” he replied. “But she doesn’t have the amulet.”
She hurriedly put on the rest of her clothing, ran her fingers through her wet hair, and joined him.
“Let’s go.”
Chapter 59
Olivia and Aiden arrived at the temple infirmary. Niv lay motionless on an elevated bed used by members to perform healing work. Emira and a group of adepts circled Niv’s body. Shareis stood over her with her eyes closed, holding her Proctor’s dagger above Niv. The blade trembled. Shareis was visibly shaken. Frasie stood next to her.
“What happened?” Olivia asked.
Shareis opened her eyes and sheathed her dagger. “I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“A man named Saros brought her into town,” Aiden said. “He claimed she entered the Druid’s Grove and emerged moments later without the Amulet of Balance. He wrapped her in a blanket and brought her here, hoping we could help.”
“Strange,” she said. “Where’s Saros? He might have more information.”
“Saros claimed Niv would want information about another land,” Aiden said. “The guards didn’t buy it and checked his credentials. He had several warrants.”
“It sounds like he saved her,” she said. “He shouldn’t be in jail.”
“I agree,” Aiden said, then turned to Shareis. “I’ll talk to the magistrate if you wish.”
Shareis nodded. “Thank you.”
Emira rested her hand on Niv’s shoulder. “We’ve tried every healing spell we know but nothing has worked. I have adepts searching our archives for something that might help.”
“Skilla aren’t renowned healers, but I will do my best.”
“Thank you,” Shareis said. “Look, Olivia.” Shareis lowered her neckline. “She’s wounded!”
She examined the gash in Niv’s chest. She felt an overwhelming surge of anguish when she passed her hand over it.”
“This is no ordinary wound,” she said.
She held Shareis’s hand over Niv’s chest. “Do you not feel that?”
“Feel what?” Shareis asked.
She shuddered. “The emotion. The agony.”
“I… I can’t feel it,” Shareis said. “Oh, my love is in agony.”
Waves of sadness and pain passed through her arm and pulsed throughout her body. “I can barely hold my hand there.”
“It’s where she wore the amulet,” Shareis said.
She ran her fingers along the edges of the cut. Tiny specs of ruby-colored dust rested in the wound’s margins. “This dust is from the amulet. It’s the same color.” She placed her hand over Niv’s chest and took in a bit more of the energy. “These emotions aren’t all from Niv. Some of these are… ancient.”
“Perhaps Niv destroyed the amulet,” Emira said.
“That would explain a lot,” she said. “I’m no expert on the Amulet of Balance, but if it absorbs the repercussions of offensive magic, then all of the negative consequences of harming others would be concentrated in the stone. If even a tiny sliver of such a powerful object were embedded in Niv, it could overwhelm her heart.”
“That makes sense,” Emira said.
“Is there anything you can do, Olivia?” Shareis asked.
“I fought my own demons and lived… somehow,” she replied. “I may be able to connect with Niv and help her do the same.”
Shareis took Niv’s hand and leaned closer to her. “It has to work. I can’t lose you.”
Oliva held her hands above Niv’s chest, closed her eyes, and attempted to make a connection. She searched the darkness for her friend but found nothing. After a moment of frustration, she decided to connect with the emotion, rather than the person.
Cautiously, she let a small sliver of the energy into her mind. Though inte
nse, she realized it would not be enough. She lowered her guard and accepted more, taking care to not end up in the same state as Niv. Eventually, enough of the emotion passed through her consciousness to form a trail back to its source.
She followed the cord of despair through Niv’s mind until she reached a pedestal with a red stone. Light from an unknown source illuminated the Amulet of Balance. She reached to touch it, but before she made contact it shattered, and her vision blurred. Suddenly, a dark forest appeared before her. A red fox stood ahead of her, looking back as if to make sure she was following it. She continued down the road for a while until everything again faded to black.
In the darkness, quick flashes of events pulsed through her vision, replaying the events of Niv’s visit to what Olivia intuitively realized was the grove. Eventually, her view centered upon an altar. The Amulet of Balance lay before her, and the tools of magic were at hand. A chorus of Druids chanted spells behind her. The stone shattered, and a piece cut Niv’s chest.
She stepped out of the grove and collapsed.
And now, at the end of the emotional trail, lay a sobbing Niv, hunched in a fetal position on the cold, black ground. She sat beside her, and Niv rested her head on Olivia’s chest.
“I can’t handle this,” Niv said.
“It hurts,” she said. “Believe me, I know.”
Niv tried her best to choke back her tears. “I… I can’t breathe.”
“There is no way out of this,” she said. “Only through.” She eased Niv on her back. “Let it pass over you. Feel every bit of this despair.”
Niv shook with fear. “I can’t…”
She stroked her hair. “You are.”
Niv’s cries echoed in the darkness around her.
“You are surrounded by friends. You cannot fail.”
She held Niv as she violently shook from the anguish passing through her. She knew the battle and admired her friend’s bravery. There was nothing she could do except be there for her, as the battle was Niv’s and Niv’s alone.
Agonizing moments passed as the surges of pain eased. Eventually, the tremors subsided. Niv looked up at Olivia with a thin smile on her face.
Her meditation abruptly ended. Niv opened her eyes.
Shareis smiled. “Welcome back, love.”
Niv opened her mouth and tried to speak but made no sound.
“Not yet,” she said, then turned to Shareis. “She confronted her demons and those of a hundred heroes before her. She is, without a doubt, the bravest soul the world has seen.”
Frasie leaned closer. “Nivvy! You’re awake. We have so much to tell you.”
“She has much to tell you, too,” she said.
Frasie gave a hint of a smile in her direction, then quickly looked away. It was the most subtle sign that things might work out between them, but it bolstered her mood—a much needed lift after their emotionally-wrought experience.
“I’ll leave you alone with her,” she said to Shareis.
Before she could part their company, Niv took her arm. Through parched lips and a raspy voice, she managed, “Thank you, Olivia.”
Chapter 60
The morning sun streamed through the window and illuminated the High Priestess’s seat on the council table. Olivia stood in the darkness as Niv signed a parchment, sealed it in wax, then handed it to Emira.
“Without your help, I could not run this order,” Niv said. “You did well in my absence.”
Emira bowed her head. “That means a lot to me, High Priestess.”
Niv stood. “Thank you.”
Emira’s footsteps echoed as she left the chamber.
“Are you sure you won’t reconsider?” Niv asked.
“I can’t stay here.”
“You can. But you won’t.”
“No, I won’t. Not now. But I will return… someday.” Olivia walked into the light. “I will not ask you to tell your father what happened to Kytis. I’ll take care of this.”
“Don’t leave for the sake of guilt.”
“It is just of many reasons.”
Niv approached her. “I wish I could change Frasie’s mind. It pains me to have my two best friends be at odds.”
“I didn’t know I was your best friend.”
Niv’s blue eyes sparkled. “Olivia, you are more than that. You’re family.”
She looked away. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had that.”
Niv reached for her, and the two left the temple hand in hand.
She stood at the fountain in front of the temple and admired the beautiful sunrise over the upper city. She would miss these sunrises. They brought her hope when things looked grim, serving as a daily reminder that the darkest night had come to an end.
She watched Niv, Shareis, and Aiden approach from the temple and thought of how lucky she was to be part of such a wonderful group of friends.
“Where will you go?” Aiden asked.
“I’m not sure. I figure I’ll pick a direction and start walking.” She grinned. “See what trouble I can get into.”
Niv took her hands. “I cannot possibly thank you for all you’ve done.”
“You saved the world, and I got to be a part of that,” she said. “No thanks are necessary.”
“I’m sorry she’s not here,” Aiden said. “I stayed up all night begging and pleading with Frasie, but… she’s stubborn.”
She sighed. “I lied to her, and that is not without consequence.”
“You saved her life twice,” Niv said. “And mine. She will come around.”
“You’ve saved all of us,” Aiden added. “We owe you so much.”
She hugged Aiden. “You owe me nothing. Family doesn’t keep score.”
“You will always have a home with us, no matter where we are,” Shareis said.
“Kytis was not the only one to know the location of Lilly,” she said. “We will find her.”
She pulled Shareis in for an embrace. Shareis was a bit stiff, as hugs weren’t her forte. Shareis relaxed and put a hand on her back. A tear streamed down her face.
“We will always share a special bond,” Niv said. “I will miss you.”
She wiped away a tear and hugged Niv. “I’ll miss you too.”
“You’d better be at our wedding,” Niv said.
She nodded. “I promise.”
“Be well, all of you,” she said.
She said her last goodbyes, then walked across the bridge to the lower city. She turned and waved one last time. Her heart leapt for joy at the sight of a red-headed woman standing near the temple door. Despite all that stood between them, she now had hope her family would one day be fully reunited.
The End
The Adventure Continues
I hope you enjoyed this novel.
The sequel to Olivia, titled Maeva, is available on Amazon in both Kindle and print formats.
If you’re interested in learning of the tragic love story of Shareis’s parents, the novella titled Lilly is also available on Amazon.
And Please Remember
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