“Don’t you see? All these years, seducing men, having this hold over them. You thought it was your beauty, which is quite a power in of itself, but it is something more…” he whispered, coming even closer. Then his eyes changed into a knowing look, and I realized he knew what I was doing.
I stopped breathing, taking in his words. That I… that I was… what? A succubus of sorts?
I felt my face scrunch in confusion, but he only smiled in response.
I pulled back. I thought back to all the times with those men, all the times with Leo. Even right now with Alder. It had been easy, pulling them in, taking what I wanted. Leo was always more than willing, so easy to use. And I had known I was using him, and despite the guilt I carried for it, I somehow couldn’t stop myself from doing it again and again.
It made sense, such complete sense. But it wasn’t an excuse for my actions. I suddenly felt cold, like I had looked into a mirror and saw only an empty black heart staring back at me.
“I… is that my only power?” He looked down at me and shook his head.
“No, but I think it’s the only one that was strong enough to manifest even when you were outside of the Labyrinth.” His gaze met mine, eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“And now that I’m in the Labyrinth?” I replied, searching his face for answers.
“It will get stronger, and you will notice more… powers,” he said, hesitantly, as if worried he had said too much.
“I’m a witch?”
“Well, we usually call anyone with magic a mage,” he said, “mostly because witch has a negative connotation and the term warlock is used for signifying an especially powerful mage. But you, my darling, I believe you are an enchantress.” He smiled as if he found that amusing.
I swallowed. Enchantress.
“Were my parents mages? My mother? Was my father a warlock?” I asked, looking across the dark water as the moonlight rippled in its waves.
Alder didn’t answer, and I looked back to him. His glow had turned blue.
“What is it?” I said, pleading now, “Please just tell me, Alder.”
He sighed. “Valeria… you don’t have any parents. You were created by the magic in the Labyrinth, created to break the curse.”
My heart sank and then pounded against my rib cage. It was too much to take in. No parents? I had been speaking to air this whole time, praying to nothing. No one was listening. No one up there cared.
My head swam, maybe I had drank too much. The liquor had been a bad idea for this conversation. I was suddenly nauseous again.
I stood up and reached for the edge of the boat, feeling about to vomit again. Alder was right behind me, as if he wanted to soothe me, to rub my back as I retched. But he did not touch me, ever obedient to my command.
I didn’t throw up, after all. I took several deep breaths and calmed myself while gazing out at the river. My reflection stared back at me in the dark waters.
Everything I thought I knew about myself was wrong. I didn’t look like my mom, didn’t look like my father. I had neither, not a single speck of family in this entire world.
Every flaw I had felt amplified in the gentle waves below. I wondered if I even had a heart deep inside, or was I just a bundle of black magic? All the horrible choices I had made, every night at the tavern, every time with Leo. It all flooded back through me at once. An enchantress. A heartless succubus.
I tried to piece together all the details of my life but my head still swam with the information. It didn’t make sense. Who had given me the letter then? How did I get outside of the Labyrinth? How?
I stared at the water for a good fifteen minutes before my pulse finally slowed. I turned around and leaned against the rail of the ship. Alder seemed to understand I was ready for more information.
“When a curse is cast, it creates a counter. Every curse has a way for it to be broken and whatever that cursebreaker is will appear eventually, sometimes immediately, sometimes hundreds or thousands of years later. No curse is ironclad,” his voice was strained as he spoke, pain behind his words.
“You are the counter for this Labyrinth, the magic that made the Labyrinth made you too,” he said slowly, waiting for my questions.
“But…” I said, not finding the words. I reached into my front pocket and pulled out the letter. I handed it to him softly.
His hands trembled as he took it. He did not open it.
I looked at him, really looked at him, and truly saw him for the first time. Truly saw why there was pain in his eyes and words. Why he acted so familiar with me. Why I had trusted him in the first place.
“I wish I could have come for you sooner, Valeria.”
It was him. He wrote the note. He delivered me to the orphanage. He had written the letter, telling me that he would find me.
“How?” I stammered, my heart beating violently in my chest. “You look only a few years older than me, how?” I demanded.
“Warlocks, like mages, age differently than mortals…”
“How old are you then?” I asked, though I was really asking how old will I live to be.
“Too old to have kept count, it’s been over a thousand years though.” His face formed a tight line. I wondered if he thought I would run, if he thought I would be disgusted.
“How do you stand it?” He looked back in curiosity, not expecting that question.
“How do I stand what?”
“How do you stand life, how could you stand to live for that long, with all the pain in this world? How could you stand it?”
His face searched mine, and I felt like he was seeing me, the real me, for the first time. The girl who had raised herself, the girl who had seduced men for food and money, the girl who had stolen and lied and cheated her way through life just to survive. The girl I hid from Leo.
Yet Alder didn’t even blink. I felt it then, that pull between us. It was amplified, tight in my chest. It reached out, reaching for him. Wanting his comfort in this moment.
“Because life can be beautiful,” he said. His eyes went to my lips again.
“Val, may I touch you now?” His words were barely whispers.
He wanted me still, despite the dirt on my clothes. Despite knowing the truth of who I was inside, the truth of what I had done, the truth of my powers. I didn’t want to be a heartless monster, I didn’t want to use men, I wanted to be loved for who I was. Loved for who I really was. And, when he looked at me like that, it felt possible.
And more than anything, I wanted him. I had wanted him since that very first night. I tried to keep control over myself but all these days without him had built up the tension and longing inside of me, I couldn’t hold back anymore. I wanted him. I needed him.
I sucked in a sharp breath and leaned closer to him.
“Yes.” I realized how sober I was, the liquor worn off by the sheer whirlwind of emotions I had just felt. The pull between us coursing through my veins, fire flickering inside and begging to be released. More tension built up inside of me as he came closer. His delicious jawline flexed with anticipation.
He reached up softly, his fingers skimming my neck as he leaned forward and our lips met.
The strangest feeling came over me, as if something inside of me had opened its eyes. The fire in my veins turned blue, super-heating through me and radiating out of my core. I felt the most delicious rush of power. Of strength.
His mouth moved against mine, drawing me in and leaving me gasping. His hand on my neck moved up into my hair at the base of my neck, while his hand slid to my waist. He pushed me against the rail, his hands and mouth hungry.
The power inside me grew further, heating my chest and reaching my face. I felt then, our powers meet. The power inside me recognizing his, intertwining and caressing each other. I felt like my heart would explode, my entire body electric, but I wanted more.
I pressed back into him, relishing the taste of him and of his power mixed with mine. His touch, his kiss, his power on mine. It might as well h
ave been opium. I never wanted to stop.
When I opened my eyes I saw his glow was a deep crimson as it wrapped around us. My hand on his shoulder was glowing its own pink hue. I pulled myself from his kiss and looked at my hand, turning it this way and that, mesmerized.
Alder reached up and took my hand into his, his fingers intertwined with mine. He brought it to his lips and kissed it. The glow brightening as his lips touched my skin.
Our eyes met, and I took in the sheer beauty of him again, illuminated by our glow. I could not stop, I needed more and more. The power pushed against me, rising to a dangerous level. I felt… ravenous. Lethal.
Alder noticed the look in my eyes as his widened, and I knew then what stared back at him. The face of a man-eater.
I would devour him, could devour him. The power within me stronger than I had ever felt. I wondered if he could handle it. Would any man be able to handle it now that it was here in my reach? Right here for me to use whenever I pleased. Begging me to be released, begging to be fed.
“You are the most bewitching, exquisite thing I have ever laid eyes on in my very, very long life,” he whispered, his eyes roaming over my face. “But, I think we should get in some practice controlling your powers before we… continue,” Alder said, assessing the fire in my eyes. He smiled and stepped away, his hands and power leaving me.
I felt animalistic rage rising, the feeling of my power wanting release and being denied.
“Don’t push it down, try to push it away from yourself,” he said, evaluating me. I imagine I looked like I was about to explode.
“Try this, it will help until you can learn to control it.” He put his hands to his chest and demonstrated, forming a ball of silver light, then pushing it away. It trailed off into the air, then disintegrated.
I was frustrated, so incredibly frustrated. But I moved my hands forward in front of my chest and tried to push my anger into them, my power into them. A sprinkle of light formed, small though, much smaller than his had been. I pushed more, pushed the sensation out of my chest and into my hands. It grew larger, my arms aching as it contained the flaming pink ball of my power. I released it with a push of my arm. The ball flew far, farther than Alders had, but it too evaporated in a matter of seconds.
I immediately felt better, relief cooling its way through me. The tension that was coiled inside released.
I took in a breath and smiled at him.
“That was very interesting. Your core ability is… unique. I have only read about mages like you,” he said through a grin, his glow turning golden with pride.
I huffed. “I would have preferred something more useful.”
One side of his smile rose with amusement. “Useful? You can use that power to influence anyone, to get them to do whatever you want. You could persuade kings and peasants alike. Though it will take practice to control, I do not think there is a power more… useful,” he said, chuckling to himself.
I had not considered that… that I could use it for more than just seduction… I felt the power spark in my chest again.
I looked up at him. “Will you train me, teach me to control it?”
He smiled, “Of course, and your many other skills that I’m sure we will soon discover,” he mused. I thought of the moment earlier today where I had found myself in the haven. Was that a power too?
My eyelids drooped. I felt exhausted. The power burst had drained me. The tornado of emotions and realizations in the past hour cumulating into fatigue. I would ask him in the morning.
I sat down, leaning against the boat as a yawn escaped me. Alder sat down next to me. I laid my head on his shoulder.
Yes, he kidnapped me but how could I stay mad at someone who looked like him? Someone who kissed like him? Someone I didn’t need to hide myself from? Someone who would train me and help me? The person who still held the answers to my thousands of questions. I had done a lot worse for far less.
I knew in my heart that he was good, that he was helping me, that I could trust him. But I wondered now, was it my heart or my power that had been viscerally pulling itself to him all this time? It didn’t matter, he just felt right. Felt like home.
He took my hand in his.
“What happened to your hand?” he asked, looking at the scar on my palm.
“Oh, um…” I started, but he stopped me, sitting up quickly and grabbing my face.
“It can’t be. Tell me it can’t be,” he said in a panic.
“I don’t know—”
“Tell me you didn’t make a deal with him?”
I stared back at him.
“Minka, Jubilee. Where did you pick her up from?” he shouted, his wide eyes not leaving mine.
They answered, and he cursed.
“How? HOW did you end up there? A thousand ways to enter this portion of the Labyrinth and you found the ONE way that could ruin this all.”
I didn’t know what to do or say. I looked up at him in confusion.
“Tell me what you promised him.”
Chapter 20: Leo
I watched them take her, unable to bring forth the energy to stop them. Unable to move my limbs fast enough, incapable of saving her. The women were strong, with fierce looks on their hardened faces. They took her without breaking a sweat.
I stumbled after her but failed. They sailed off down the river and I cursed myself, cursed my stiff limbs and the stone poison still leaving my system. It took another half an hour before my full strength came back. She was long gone by then, long gone.
Fuck.
The Brotherhood was going to be pissed that I had lost her, but at least I had led her to our Lord. And she had struck a bargain with him just as planned, a bargain that would change everything. I would be hailed a hero, a saint, the ideal servant. I would be idolized, even worshiped, by the Brotherhood for thousands of years. But only if I could finish it.
I had spent the past few years memorizing the language of the Brotherhood, learning to read the symbols that would be engraved on the stone walls when I finally entered the Labyrinth. They were imperceptible to a person not looking for them, but for someone who had been trained, as we all were, they might as well have been arrows. They were everywhere and led to various places as according to what their symbol meant. It was all too easy to find the dragon engravings, the ones that led right to His Blessed lair.
Valeria had been so deep in thought these past few days, it was easy to lead her without her even realizing. To direct her this way and that until a dragon appeared and I could follow the path that led right to His Holiness.
My brothers had prepared me for the pain that would come with the stone poison, coached me on how to control my mind when it happened. But it was nothing I could have prepared for. It leached away every ounce of my sanity as I was frozen in the poison’s clutches.
I watched as she spoke to him, fear coursing through me and trying to convince me I would never be free, but I knew she would agree. I knew I had played my part perfectly. She would never leave me. And as she drew the blade across her hand, I felt the sweet taste of victory push against the poison, breaking me free of its vices on my muscles.
With this bargain struck, we had won the war before it had even started.
But I had lost the battle. I had lost her. She didn’t belong to me anymore. She would belong to us, the Brotherhood, but we ultimately belonged to Him. She would be His to use as he desired. She would never forgive me for what would happen, for trapping her under our, and His, command. She would hate me. She wouldn’t see that I had done it all for her, to protect her from that monster.
I should accept the loss now and focus on the mission. I would never get her love, never have that happy life with her as my wife. The life I wanted so desperately. I would never have it now, but I could save her.
Still, all I could see were those deep green eyes staring back at me from under that table. I wish I had turned away then, I would give anything to go back there now and tell myself No, just walk away. Anythi
ng to spare myself this pain.
The agony of losing her pulled down hard on my heart as I walked to the nearest entrance of the Labyrinth. I tried to push down the pain but the sadness threatened to break through my eyes as tears and stole my breath away. I stopped for a second, bracing my hand against the hedge wall as I fought back control over my breathing.
I had to be stronger than this, stronger than my emotions. The Brotherhood had taught me that, taught me how to separate myself from pain for the good of our duty. It hadn’t hurt nearly this much to kill my father, he was a hateful drunk.
But Val.
I pushed her face out of my mind, I couldn’t look at her now, couldn’t see her as just my Val anymore. I had to rise above.
Rise above the pain.
I exhaled and straightened myself. I moved forward.
It would be harder to see the symbols now that the walls were hedges, harder to recognize them. They wouldn’t be engraved like they had been in the stone walls, instead the flowers would be arranged in a certain way, frozen in that symbol. They were harder to see, but they would be there, and they would lead me to the nearest citadel.
It took a few hours before I finally found the first symbol, a triangle arranged in the flowers. I followed them for another few miles and came to a large circle of flower buds, their stems intertwined. I stepped into the hedge.
The citadel lay before me. It was a broad stone building surrounded by open land. It peaked in the center, a large dragon wrapping around the spindle at the top. Our Blessed Lord had created holes in the Labyrinth, hidden holes for our citadels where the Brotherhood could live and train, where we could worship Him and prepare for the war to come.
I had never been to this one, never been to any inside the Labyrinth, but I knew they were all the same as the one in Villam. The one hidden in the black forest.
I reached into my bag and pulled out the small dragon sigil pin I had hidden from Val. I placed it proudly on my chest and walked forward towards my brothers.
The Labyrinth King (The Labyrinth Series Book 1) Page 11