“Sinow? What…” The crimson in her cheeks darkened. “Is that what you want?” She asked quietly. “We could, you know. There’s nothing stopping us. Now would be the perfect chance to put it all aside and finally give in to those feelings, Sinow. To finally fulfill our destiny.” He caught the hint of a plea in her voice and knew this was her way of telling him she was finally ready. He knew, however, that as much as his body wanted her, this time he was the one who would stand in the way. He wasn’t ready and understood full well that if he had really taken advantage of the moment, his Dark powers would tear through him and all would be lost. With the storm raging inside him to that extent, he didn’t think he’d ever be able to regain control and was afraid of what he would do if that happened.
“Put some clothes on, Violissa,” he said, running a hand through his hair while he waited for her reaction. It killed him to turn her down, but he was one step from complete Darkness and so he watched as her expression changed, the momentary hurt he saw reflected in her eyes quickly changing to anger as the green of her eyes darkened.
“Fine, if that’s how you want it, then that’s the way it will remain, and you can deal with your frustrations, Sinow,” she snapped as she glared at him. She stepped out of the tub and dropped her towel angrily, throwing him completely off guard again. He caught sight of her body for only a moment, however, as she used her powers to drape it quickly with a deep lilac gown. It happened so fast it was almost as if the gown had been painted onto her skin with one flick of a brush. He blinked and blew his breath out as his heartbeat began to slow.
Violissa shook her head and the wet tangles that draped across her back suddenly dried, replaced by lush golden curls that cascaded down her body stopping along the curve of her hips. He watched as she gracefully gathered her curls and somehow fit them all atop her head, a few shorter wisps freeing themselves in the process and bouncing gently along her cheeks. She was the most alluring thing he’d ever seen and every part of him ached for her. As if she sensed his thoughts, she looked up at him, her eyes softening, “One day you’ll get tired of watching me do that every day.”
His fingers relaxed, releasing the tight grip they had within the fists hidden behind his back. “I don’t think I ever will, Vi...” He felt the calming spell sweep through him like a soft breeze, pushing back the demon within him until he finally felt like himself once again. How did she do that so easily? He didn’t have time to ponder the question, for she had opened the door and begun walking down the hallway it fed into.
“Coming?” she asked, glancing back at him.
“I don’t think I have a choice,” he replied, following her. He made sure to keep enough distance as not to awaken his sleeping powers. If this seemed unusual to her, she didn’t mention it. He was sure she knew the reasons for his distance.
“Are we really walking there? No shifting?” he asked as they walked the long corridor, the side of which was lined with floor to ceiling windows. The light cascaded in past their thick amber drapes which looked as if they had never been drawn closed. Sinow thought of the halls within his own home, dark and somber with barely any windows. The distinction was startling.
“I don’t like to shift unless absolutely necessary. I prefer to stretch my legs and view my surroundings,” she said matter-of-factly as if everyone knew it.
They came to a long winding staircase lined with scarlet carpet that sank as he stepped. At the bottom, Violissa turned left and continued down a wide hall. Sinow didn’t have time to look around as he tried to keep up with her. She was walking more hastily now as if she didn’t want to give him that luxury. This hall was lined with portraits of men who all looked similar and whose very presence spoke of power.
“Wait, Vi. Are these the Kings of Cirillia?” He had stopped to take in the sight. He had learned about several of them, especially Violissa’s predecessor, but never had he seen a picture. He had expected they would not bear any resemblance to her since she was the first of her line, but he thought he might see her green eyes or golden hair on at least one of them. Instead, they all had the auburn hair and piercing blue eyes he saw on her Council, the distinctive traits of all Cirillians. “So, you truly are unique,” he said quietly.
He heard her sigh from the end of the hall. “In every way,” she replied before she continued walking. He wondered at the sadness he heard in her voice, but his thoughts were broken as she said, “We need to keep moving, they are all waiting for us.”
He felt like replying that they could have shifted and saved time but thought better of it.
As they came to the end of the hall, it began to widen then finally ended at a dark wooden doorway. Violissa opened the door and walked beyond into the darkness, waving her arm up to create a light sphere to light their way.
They followed the light and continued to walk. The corridor was old, the ground crunching beneath Sinow’s feet as he walked. The air smelled of must as if it hadn’t been disturbed in centuries. He wondered where she was taking them as they rounded a corner and faced what appeared to be a dead end. The Dark inside him angered at the game Violissa seemed to be playing, not to mention the proximity of her. He tried to dampen the urge to lose control but didn’t know how long he could hold it back if she didn’t tell him what this was all about soon.
Violissa listened to Sinow’s shallow breathing behind her and felt his ire increasing. He was standing closer to her now that the corridor had narrowed, and her own breathing had quickened as a result. Her mind wandered briefly to the incident in her tub room. She blushed as she thought of Sinow’s fantasy. She wasn’t sure how he’d unknowingly projected it to her, but it had stirred her blood, regardless. How she’d longed for his touch in that moment.
She was brought back to reality when Sinow interrupted her thoughts.
“I hate to state the obvious, but this is a dead end, Vi. Is there a point to all this?”
“One greater than you can imagine, Sinow,” she said quietly as she reached her mind out to Daneele to let them past the magical façade separating them from the remainder of the corridor. She was sure she could have broken through it, but her respect for tradition and Daneele’s role as Keeper kept her from doing so.
The wall before her shimmered.
“What…?” she heard Sinow say as the wall disappeared to reveal the true corridor. He let his guard down and walked closer to her, causing her powers to surge momentarily as he did. The walls beyond them glimmered from the balls of light that floated above as they continued their way down.
“Where are we, Vi?” Sinow asked her. She started to answer but was interrupted by Daneele.
“Violissa, King Sinow,” he said in greeting. “Cyric and Kanine are waiting for us at the doorway. What, may I ask, took you so long?”
She heard Sinow chuckle. “You really don’t want to know, Daneele. What doorway are you referring to and is someone going to tell me…” he trailed off as they walked around the final bend and came upon the doorway to the Hidden Realm. Sinow walked past her and the others, straight to the door and put his hand up to the engravings, tracing the writing with his fingertips.
“I know some of these words,” he said. “This is ancient Cirillian mixed with, what? What is that?” he pondered.
“That, your highness, is Elvin,” Cyric responded.
“No one speaks Elvin. No one since my grandfather’s time. Not since…” He stopped. Violissa watched as he figured it out, and her heart leapt as she did. He was so beautiful standing there like a dark god. She was lost in thought when he continued. “Where does this door lead to, Violissa?” His voice deepened as the realization hit. He stepped back as he spoke and turned toward her, his eyes now a deeper shade of black. She felt the air knocked from her as their eyes met, her breath caught in her throat.
“I only just discovered this myself, Sinow,” she said defensively, knowing it was useless. The blackness of his ey
es caused a shiver to run down her spine.
“Where, Violissa?”
“To the Hidden Realm.”
She saw the anger flare through him but was relieved to see him draw in a deep breath as the calming spell she had silently woven took effect. He looked as if he wanted to say something to her but instead looked back at the entranceway and studied it. She allowed herself to exhale the breath she’d been holding and watched as he ran his hand through his hair and walked back up to the wall.
He laid a hand on the doorway. “All this time we’ve been told it was lost, and you’ve had a doorway to it right underneath us all?”
“Technically underneath Cirillia, but yes and no, Sinow,” Daneele answered. “You see, we can’t enter the realm. In fact, we’ve only ever been through that doorway once since the realm was lost to us.”
Sinow lowered his hand and turned to Daneele. Violissa didn’t sense any anger from him just curiosity. She relaxed a little more.
“When?” he asked.
“The night of your birth.”
He swirled around to face Violissa, looking at her questioningly, his brows furrowed. He ran his hand through his hair again, and she felt her breath catch once more.
“You were created in the Hidden Realm.” It was a statement more than a question. “Why? What reason would require it?”
She didn’t have an answer, but Daneele spoke for her.
“For reasons that need not be shared,” he stated flatly. Violissa watched as Sinow bristled at the answer. “We don’t control entrance to the realm. The door was created as a portal to grant entrance only when the Fates allow it. The night of your birth was one of those times.”
“So why have you brought me here? It’s clear this doorway wasn’t meant to be shared with me, so why bring me here at all.”
Violissa stepped forward, allowing herself to get closer to him. Her Light power flared in reaction.
“Because there is something wrong on the other side of that door, and we fear it could threaten both our realms.” She gestured to the blackness at the corner of the door. His face grew concerned and as it did, she felt the aura around him change, saw his hands tighten at the surge of anger she now saw upon his face. This was not the reaction she’d anticipated, and she backed up as she realized the potential threat this could be to her castle and to those in or even near it if Sinow was overcome by his Dark powers.
Sinow tried to gain control as the Darkness surged through him. He’d let his guard down as he’d contemplated the full scale of what he’d just discovered. When he’d looked at the black matter that bordered the edge of the doorway, something about it caused his powers to scream. The reaction was almost innate as if it were calling out to the Darkness within him. Whatever it was, there was no good reason for it to be anywhere near Violissa’s castle let alone a magical entrance to the lost capital of Cirillia. He wanted to reach up and touch it, but instinct screamed for him to hold back.
He flexed his fingers and tried calling back his powers but as always it felt too good when they flowed through him.
“Why is this any matter to me or my Council? It seems to me this is your problem, Violissa.” He gritted his teeth at the harshness he heard in his voice.
“It matters more than you realize, Sinow,” Kanine said, surprising him. He turned to face Kanine who was the last person Sinow had expected to hear from. “If this is happening here, then it will happen in our realm as well.”
“Our realm doesn’t border the Lost Realm, Kanine. You know that.” The anger swept through him again.
“He’s right, Sinow,” Cyric said stepping forward. “Although I didn’t realize you knew so much, Kanine.”
“I know more than you can imagine, Cyric.”
Cyric eyed him curiously, but Sinow didn’t have the patience to stand and listen to them banter.
“Will someone fill me in here because I fail to see how this impacts me,” Sinow demanded. From the corner of his eye, he caught Violissa shooting him an irritated look. He noticed the space around them had grown brighter the more out of control he’d become, the light coming from Violissa in response to his powers. She was glowing with a light golden haze surrounding her. His powers dropped slightly as he was struck by just how beautiful she really was. His heart raced, and he was feeling a rush of emotion when Cyric interrupted his thoughts.
“Anything that impacts the Hidden or Lost Realm, as your people call it, impacts both Tenebron and Cirillia because of how the realm was actually hidden.”
Sinow ran a hand through his hair in frustration. What in the Fates was the man talking about? He was about to ask just that when he realized Violissa was closer than he’d expected. He watched as she laid her hand onto the door. How had she gotten so close to him? He’d been distracted and not noticed. He chose not to dwell on it since he was temporarily able to tolerate it. He breathed in the scent of lilac that accompanied her presence, and his eyes followed her hand as it traced the intricate engravings under it. He’d seen samples of Elvin writing, but the Elvin had never been allies with Tenebron, so their language remained a mystery to him and his Council.
“Is the barrier part of the Hidden Realm?” Violissa asked.
“In a way it is,” Cyric answered. “After we hid the capital, we were able to call forward the same magic that hid it and stretch it upward until it was a full barrier dividing our realms. I believe that is why the two of you can travel so easily through the border.
“How so?” Violissa asked, but there was never an answer. Sinow had placed his hand on the entranceway directly across from hers, fascinated by the patterns on it. As he did, he felt a sharp stab in his hand. He pulled his hand back quickly, Violissa doing the same as she let out a quick yelp. On the door where their hands had been now remained two handprints, one black and one vibrant blue. The colors bled into the engravings and began moving on opposite sides of the doorway, tracing the details.
“The door. It took a piece of our powers,” Violissa stated, not really to anyone. They all followed the movement, no one knowing what to say or how to react. The two flows of magic met in the center of the door crashing into one another, merging to become a beautiful shade of purple and then spreading to cascade the door. A deep rumbling emerged as the doorway crumbled before them leaving only the essence of the magic that had unlocked it, a light purple mist that slowly evaporated.
“I thought you said this door never opened without the Fates,” Sinow stated.
“It looks like the Fates have decided that time has come once again,” Daneele answered quietly. Violissa looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with what looked like curiosity and something slightly mischievous.
“We shouldn’t keep the Fates waiting,” she whispered.
Twenty-Eight
Sinow looked at the opening that stood before him. Only darkness lay beyond. He moved to step forward when he felt a hand grasp his shoulder. Angrily, he looked over to see Brom quickly remove his hand.
“This realm is sacred to us, not to mention there hasn’t been a Darkbearer in it since your grandfather forced it into hiding. I don’t think the realm guardians would take too kindly to seeing you walk through that doorway first.”
Sinow cracked his neck to the side as the power flared within him. His reasonable side tried to dampen it, knowing full well Brom was right. He was about to respond to Brom when the movement of Violissa walking through the entranceway caught his attention.
“I’ll go first,” she said as she walked by him. “It seems only right since this is the place of my creation.”
He watched as she walked forward, at first the darkness enveloped her, and then the world around her brightened and Sinow could see beyond. He pushed Brom aside, glaring at him as he did so, and followed Violissa. As he walked through, he could feel the wave of Light power envelope him. His senses were overtaken briefly by it and everything
within him screamed to turn back, but he pushed forward. Surprisingly, his powers stayed at bay.
Sinow looked around. They were in a large room or what seemed to be a room until upon closer observation he realized it must have been some sort of indoor garden. Floor to ceiling windows surrounded them, the glass missing in most places and only partially there in others. He looked up expecting to see the ceiling but instead found nothing but empty sky. He envisioned a high glass dome atop them as it seemed the only fitting cover. His feet crunched the glass below as he took a step, confirming his assumption.
Withered trees and plants were present throughout the large room. They had been dead longer than he’d been alive, yet somehow even in death they seemed somewhat preserved. His eyes were drawn to a stone fountain in the middle of the room, cracked and deteriorated. He looked closer, and for a moment saw a beautifully carved fountain spewing shimmering green water that cascaded along every side. He blinked, and the vision was gone, replaced once again with the old and rotted scene.
“Dark powers! Why do I sense Darkness in my kingdom! Be gone, you have no place in my realm!” The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once. A cold chill ran up Sinow’s spine, and he shook it off, laughing at the voice.
Ascension (Unbound Prophecy Book 1) Page 20