“You were not born of magic as we’ve always said you were,” Cyric continued, speaking directly to her. “The king…he had married an Elvin…we warned them, but they didn’t listen. One of the Fates, she told Aradisa you were conceived too early. The time wasn’t right and the Dark child would not come yet. There was no choice but to hide you. The Fate told Aradisa you could not know your origin, no one could know….”
“You mean, I have a mother? A father?” She had moved her hand to her chest and started backing away. “All this time, I thought I was so different. That I wasn’t born into this world like everyone else. That I was flawed because of it. And you, you all,” she looked around at her Council, “you all knew the truth and kept it from me?”
“We didn’t have a choice, Violissa.”
“You had a choice. You chose not to tell her and to lie to me and my forefathers,” Sinow bellowed. He didn’t know if he was angrier at the hurt Violissa was feeling or about being misled all this time. He turned and glared at Kanine. The Darkness was broiling in him, and he raised his hand to blow a powerful strike against him. “And you…you’re a traitor to me, to my father, and to my grandfather. How could you not tell him? How could you mislead all those you claim loyalty to? There is no excuse…” He moved his hand, and Kanine straightened, pulled from his feet as Sinow’s magic gripped him. He grabbed his hands around his neck as his feet dangled in the air.
“Sinow! Stop this now,” Violissa screamed. “You are on my land, and this is not the way we conduct magic here.” He turned and glared at her. His true self was lost, drowned far below the ire that swept through his veins right now, but he managed enough strength to drop Kanine. He knew his eyes had glazed completely black and could see from the way Violissa held herself that she knew he was struggling. “There must be an explanation. Right, Kanine?” she asked, addressing Kanine directly.
Kanine looked up defiantly from where he’d been dropped. He stayed in the crouched position he’d landed in, one hand bracing himself against the ground. “You don’t understand, Sinow. I couldn’t tell your grandfather.” He brought himself back up as Sinow turned back around about to slam him down again.
Kanine saw it coming and yelled, “You have no idea what your grandfather was like. Do you have any idea what he would have done if we had told him? He would have killed her!” He pointed to Violissa. “He would have marched in there and ripped the child from Aradisa’s womb. He would have crushed the life out of her before he even finished killing Aradisa. I kept silent to protect her. To protect the prophecy. There were some of us who believed it would come, believed there had to be a better king. Believed that you were destined to be born and would complete the prophecy with her. If I had told your grandfather…. you wouldn’t be standing here next to her.” Kanine dropped down to his knees. “We knew we took a chance. I knew one day you would find out. The others, they chose to return to the Fates before you could doubt their loyalty, but I chose to stay to watch you fulfill the destiny that we made possible.”
Cyric stepped forward before Sinow could react. “It’s true. We knew that your grandfather wanted your father to be the child in the prophecy. He warred against us to steal the scroll, to read what was in store and manipulate it to his own means. He never understood why there needed to be two sides to the power. He only wanted one child to rule all of us, his child. If he’d known Aradisa was with child, he would have killed them both, and none of us could have stopped him.”
Sinow ran his hand through his hair, his ire had abated some with the thought of losing Violissa to his grandfather’s madness.
“Your grandfather was a formidable man,” Kanine said, “and he was lost in that same Dark power you struggle against. He could never have reasoned a union with a Lightbearer. He was already disgusted with Viliren for taking an Elvin as his queen.”
“The woman in the Hidden Realm is my mother, isn’t she?” Violissa interjected. “I was standing in the same room as both of them, and no one could tell me? I don’t understand why none of this could have been discussed prior to now. Sinow’s grandfather has been long dead. Why did no one think to speak of this?”
Cyric let out a long sigh. “The Fate made it clear when she warned your mother that no one was to speak of it until the Fates felt it was the right time. It was the deal Aradisa made when the Fates helped her keep you alive. Your parents gave their lives to protect you, to protect the prophecy. Aradisa gave you up, removed you from her own womb and sealed you into that protective shell so that you could have the life the Fates had prophesied. So that you could lead our world into a better life alongside Sinow. The Fates removed all evidence of her existence. Kanine and I are the only ones who still remember her. Who were we to go against her wishes, your father’s wishes, not to mention the word of the Fates?”
Sinow’s head was pounding. This had all been too much, and he didn’t know how to wrap his head around it, especially being this close to losing complete control again.
He turned to Kanine. “I understand why you made your choice, but I will still deal with you when we return.”
Kanine bowed his head to the ground. “Yes, my liege.”
He didn’t know what to do now. He couldn’t look at Violissa quite the same now. The powers she must possess would be greater than he’d ever imagined. Did this make her stronger than he? Doubt and thoughts of weakness plagued him, feelings that only increased the ire in him. He had to leave now, couldn’t talk about this anymore, but he knew if he did Violissa would take it as him turning his back on her. That wasn’t it, but he had no way to express what was running through his mind, and his current state would only make it worse. The power flared through him, and he knew he only had a small window to remove himself before it erupted. So, he did the only thing he could.
He gave Violissa one last glance and shifted away.
Thirty-One
Sinow had left. If he’d been walking, Violissa would have described it as storming away. The hurt she felt could not have been any worse. First her Council had deceived her all this time, and now this man who ruled her heart so strongly had turned his back on her when she needed him. Violissa looked up at Keary who remained standing where Sinow had left him.
“I’m not any different than I was,” she stated defiantly.
“No, you’re now much more powerful than he thought…and that’s a threat to all of us,” he replied, his dark eyes only a shade lighter than Sinow’s.
“The prophecy states they are equal in power. This changes nothing,” Cyric said in her defense. “He witnessed her two ascensions. You were there, Keary. You saw it, too.”
Kanine remained quiet, but Keary continued to question on Sinow’s behalf. “But, Cyric, Elvin? You expect Sinow, us, to be content with this information? No one but you and Kanine have even seen an Elvin kind, let alone witnessed their powers. This should have been known to all of us.”
Daneele stepped up. “It was not our place to tell any of you, even our own queen. Would you have had us disobey the Fates?”
Keary glared at him then looked at Violissa. “This changes nothing, Keary,” she said quietly.
“It changes everything to the Dark blood that runs through him, and that is what you should fear Violissa. He was already over the edge from fighting. If he can’t regain control, I can’t promise there won’t be repercussions for everyone involved in hiding the truth from him.” He looked directly at Kanine when he spoke those final words.
Kanine sighed and simply asked, “Can someone get us through the barrier so we can return home and deal with this?”
After Sinow’s Council left, Violissa stood with her remaining Council, not sure what to say. She kept her distance, not sure where to go from here. She was hurt that they’d lied to her all these centuries. She was angry at the Fates for making them keep it from her. She was confused and angry at Sinow for his reaction. Was he upset with her, repulsed by
her, or just mad at Kanine and the situation? She didn’t have an answer.
Her Council stood quietly, waiting for her to react. The silence between them was growing uncomfortable when Daneele broke it: “Violissa, you must understand…”
“No, you’re wrong, Daneele. I don’t have to understand anything,” she replied, cringing internally at the harshness in her voice but not willing to change it. “The destruction from that creature needs to be undone. There are villagers who will need healing. See to them, all of you and clean up this mess.” She had never before acted the queen and commanded her Council, but she needed them to know they had hurt her by hiding the truth from her. Letting her believe she’d been different, not born the same as all of them. She gave them one last look and left them, shifting but not sure where to go. She had no one else, no one to cry to, and the only man she cared about was a realm away dealing with his own sudden repulsion to her. Her Council were her only friends, her only family, and right now she felt very alone. She opened her eyes to see that she had shifted to a very unexpected place, but one that she knew made sense.
Violissa looked at the door to the Hidden Realm. All this time, it had been under her, and all this time her parents had been there. It seemed like such an odd thing…parents. Hours ago, she’d had none, she had always been told she’d been created from magic and not born of flesh and blood. It had left her feeling so much more out of place than she already did with her looks and her power. Anguish washed over her at the thought of all she had lost, all they had lost. All for the sake of a prophecy, and all to appease the will of the Fates.
She put her hand to the door, hoping it would open but knowing in her heart it wouldn’t. Leaning her head against the door, she said quietly, “Mother, Father, if you can hear me, I know now who you really are. Help me; I don’t know where to go from here. It’s all falling apart, and I can’t fix it. I’ve made so many wrong choices and cursed us all.” A tear slipped from her eye and splashed to the stone floor below her feet. Violissa followed it, sliding down the door and drawing her legs in tight around her. She kept her head touching the doorway, still wishing it would open and that her mother would embrace her. Even though she knew her parents were only disembodied remnants of their former selves, the idea gave her comfort.
Thirty-Two
Sinow stormed through the castle, heading for the lower levels. He was too enraged to shift. He hadn’t meant to be so harsh to Violissa, to react so instinctively. His Dark powers were so engaged from the fight that he’d lost control to them. He was already angry that he’d been unable to help Violissa defeat the beast. He’d felt weak, and he hated feeling that way. Instinctively he knew their powers were equal, but seeing hers in full use and doing something he could not stirred his Darkness. The unveiling that they’d both been lied to, that his own Council had deceived him, sent him over the edge. He wasn’t irate about her heritage; it made sense, and it made his desire for her even greater. That idea of the unknown, the mystique of the Elvin, a race that they knew so little about, intrigued him. That part of him that already desired her was drawn to her even more.
Sinow reached the lower dungeons and paused. He hadn’t been past this point in the castle since he was a child and had to think about which direction he needed to go. He briefly reached out his powers to feel for the room for which he was looking and felt it, along with another presence. Tynan. What was he doing there? It didn’t matter at this moment. Sinow would kick him out when he got there. He didn’t feel like dealing with Tynan’s prying questions right now. He continued on and rounding a corner came upon another set of stairs. Why his forefathers had hidden this room so far down, he didn’t understand but figured anyone who needed it would have taken the smart route and shifted. As he approached the bottom of the stairs, he finally came upon the room for which he’d been searching. He could see light coming from beyond the closed door. Tynan was still here. Sinow pushed open the door and stormed in, causing Tynan, who was hunched over a table covered with books, to jump slightly.
“Sinow, this is the last place I’d ever expect to see you. In fact, have you ever set foot in this library or any for that matter?”
Sinow ignored him and looked around the room. Stacks ran the length of the walls stuffed full of books that were layered with dust. Many of the bindings were tattered and frayed. The castle had a main library on the upper levels, but this one was older and rarely used now. It housed the special books that kept the history of their people as well as what they knew of the Cirillians, but most importantly for Sinow, it held everything that had been gathered in the past about the Elvin. That was what had driven him down to the lower depths of his home. He needed to find out more about their abilities. But not just that, there had to be something down here that mentioned Violissa’s mother. Something the Fates had missed. The shade had gotten to him, and even in her current state, he could feel she held some sort of power. He needed answers, but he did not need Tynan underfoot asking him questions.
“Leave, Tynan,” he ordered as he continued walking through the room, past him. He didn’t bother looking back at his brother and thankfully Tynan didn’t care to argue. He heard him gathering the books he’d been using and leave. When Sinow could no longer feel Tynan’s presence, he began looking among the rows of books. He had no idea if or how they were organized so sent a spell out to locate the books on the Elvin. After a few minutes, the lower corner on a shelf to his far right began to rattle. He walked over and touched the books that were moving. There were several, most were layered with dust and cobwebs, but he noticed a few had fingerprints and looked as if they’d been used recently. There even appeared to be a few books missing judging from the uneven spaces on the shelf. It had to have been Tynan; no one else had been down here in ages. What was he up to? Sinow made a mental note to question Tynan later, but he had other things on his mind now and put the question aside. He pulled the books from their shelf with a flick of his hand and dropped them on the table where Tynan had been seated. They spread out as they fell, filling the table. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. This was going to be a long night. As he started to flip through the books, his ire began to dissipate. He started feeling a little more like himself but suspected it wouldn’t last.
Hours later he had gone through most of the books. As he looked at the remaining few, Sinow was beginning to feel that this task was fruitless. Cyric had said the Fates had erased all memory of Aradisa besides his own and apparently Kanine’s. He grabbed the last book, feeling his irritation spike and flipped through the pages. He was about to throw the book in frustration when his eyes caught something toward the end. Three quarters of the way through the book was a slight gap as if something were tucked into the page break. He flipped to the section and found a folded page bound along with the other pages. He turned the book sideways and unfolded the page. It appeared to be a family tree but for whom? Sinow kicked himself for not paying closer attention to his lessons as a boy. He had briefly studied the Elvin history, at least as much as they knew of it, but he hadn’t given it much creed since they were all gone.
He looked at the names and made out the word royal at the top of the page. It was the royal line of the Elvin house. He scanned for anything useful of which he found nothing until the very last branch. He could tell from the dashes below the name that the last king, Veneran, had two children. Faraname, who married Rinalian, was listed on the left-hand side under the king’s name, but where the dash for his second child ended, no name appeared. Oddly enough, there was also a lone dash midway between where a name would have been listed alongside the name of a mate. Sinow rubbed his finger along the blank spaces and could feel the indent where two names had once been written.
“Found you,” he said quietly, hoping the Fates wouldn’t realize their mistake. They’d erased the names but not the evidence of their existence. He clenched his hand then released his fist over the page. A cloud of black poured from his palm an
d splashed over the page. He picked the page up and blew the blackness from it. Where the spaces had once been blank now two new additions to the family tree were revealed.
“Aradisa and Viliren,” he whispered as he sat back in his chair, the realization of what he’d found just hitting him. Violissa wasn’t only heir to Cirillia but heir to the Elvin throne as well. That’s why she’d had two ascensions. The Elvin were weak. Yes, they had control over nature, but flowers and trees proved useless against the Dark powers of Tenebron. The royal line must have been different, but how so?
Sinow slammed the book shut.
Kanine! He bellowed in enaigne, knowing Kanine would drop everything and appear before him. His Council knew when they were summoned in such a tone it was best not to make their king wait. Heat coursed through his body as his powers pulsed. The Darkness still possessed him, and the control had long been lost during the battle. Kanine appeared seconds later.
“Yes, my liege,” he said, bowing. Sinow tossed the book to Kanine. “Every book on Elvin history in this room, and this lone one has the only evidence of Violissa’s mother.”
“As we told you, Sinow, the Fates erased all knowledge…”
“All knowledge but yours and Cyric’s. Why do you suppose that is, Kanine? What makes the two of you so special?”
“I don’t know, Sinow.”
Sinow didn’t pause to reflect on the question or Kanine’s answer. They weren’t his priority now.
“Tell me about Aradisa,” he demanded.
Kanine stuttered. “There isn’t much to tell. She was the daughter of the Elvin King. Her brother inherited the throne. Cirillia and the Elvin were always close, so it made sense when Viliren married Aradisa. Your grandfather hated it, however. There was a rumor that he had once fancied Aradisa, but if it were true, he would have never admitted it. He was against even the thought of mingling the bloodlines. As far as I know, Viliren was the first to do so.”
Ascension (Unbound Prophecy Book 1) Page 24