Silver's Redemption (Soul Merge Saga Book 3)

by M. P. A. Hanson

  They approached the two brothers, one elven and one dwarven, sitting in the corner with seemingly merry expressions on their faces.

  “And you’re certain these are the men I’m looking for?” Silver demanded of Misty.

  In answer Misty drew a blade and slashed the skin of both men. Grey blood wept from their veins. “I am sure.”

  Silver nodded and opened one of her portals. “This will take you where you need to go.”

  “You will not trust us with the location?” Averna asked.

  “No vow, no knowledge.” Silver replied. “And I don’t have time for you to make one now, I have prisoners to torture.”

  “Can you not just search their minds?” Lillian asked.

  Silver shot her a dangerous smile. “What fun would that be? Alda had her fun with Tommy; it would be horrible not to take the same courtesy.” She looked at Averna. “Tell Romana I have them both and demons will keep watch over her wedding for the rest of the night.”

  “She doesn’t understand,” Kate thought to Gaillean. “These wytches have no ability to go between now. They are lost to the Coven.” Averna was looking at Silver like she’d lost her mind, though the other wytch was ignoring her.

  “We should see how it plays out.” Gaillean cautioned.

  Kate shook her head slightly. “She needs to know.”

  “I agree, but not yet.” Gaillean’s hand, which had rested on the small of her back, wound around her waist to give her a reassuring squeeze.

  They watched the wytches disappear through the portal and the party resume automatically around them. No-one was any the wiser until Averna approached Romana and Marten whose faces paled momentarily. Kate found herself wishing, as she had so many times before, that Romana did not have to deal with these problems. But because the Council had refused to tell her about Talia’s plot decades ago her precious daughter would forever be hounded by pain and loss.

  “We should leave.” Kate said. “Say our excuses to Romana and keep an eye on Silver.”

  “You want to stay.” Gaillean observed. “I will keep watch over Silver; enjoy our daughter’s wedding and the company of your friends.”

  Kate had been thinking about talking to the other wytches, but until then she hadn’t realised Gaillean had caught on to her desire. She nodded slowly, “Thank-you.”

  With a nod, and a kiss pressed to her cheek, he disappeared.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  A NECESSARY SPLIT

  Silver looked at the two alien creatures chained to the walls of her dungeon. Pain had shed them of their disguises and now the sunken beings were covered in their own blood. She’d cut out their tongues first, unwilling to hear whatever they had to say. Lillian had been right; she would just read their minds. But when she returned their corpses back to Alda, she wanted to make certain her cousin knew they had suffered.

  A quick, brutal invasion of their minds told her exactly where she would have to go to find Alda before she sent their dead corpses back to their half-sister.

  “Do you not find it difficult to do that to them considering they were only following orders?” Lillian asked as Silver strode up to her caves from the dungeons.

  “Not when I know they were planning on cutting my niece from Romana’s womb and skinning the corpse in front of her.” Silver replied and then paused to look at the wytch queen, who – no matter what she said – was still a child. “I grew up with blood and death and most of the time it was the death of innocent people. I was desensitized at a young age.”

  “Romana wanted to speak to you.” The girl informed her. “Your familiars instructed dwarves to bind and blindfold her and her escort; they await your presence in the throne room.”

  Silver wondered what the girl was going on about until she realised that the wytches must have assumed, as the Ancients had, that all of her hellhounds were her familiars. In the back of her mind she felt Theria’s spike of jealousy at the thought of having to share her.

  “Calm down.” Silver instructed. “It is safer for you this way, and they will never be as close as we are.” She sent an embrace down their bond.

  “I know, mother.” Theria replied in a subdued tone. “But Romana is here, and she is extremely close to bringing your niece into the world on the throne room floor.”

  “What is she doing here?!” Silver mentally yelled. “She has an isle full of wytches to protect her! Can she not stay with them?” It had been three days since the wedding, and Silver had been expecting Romana to hide on the isle till Asha was born.

  “She swears she doesn’t feel safe with them.” Theria informed her. “Mother, please come quickly.”

  Silver forgot about walking and opened a portal to the throne room where her sister, the kingling, two wytch queens and Lillian’s triplet sisters stood waiting for her. Water had stained the trousers Romana wore and it was then that Silver realised just how close her half-sister really was to giving birth.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” She raged at Marten. “Why not stay on the Isle? I’m hardly equipped to deal with this situation!” Bringing a baby into the world was not a job warriors did.

  “I don’t trust anyone else more than I trust the people here.” Romana gasped out, her face contorted with pain as she kept her death grip on Marten’s arm. The wytches with her shuffled uneasily in the face of Silver’s anger, “You swore to protect my daughter.” Romana swayed slightly before Marten gave up on merely supporting her quaking form and lifted her into his arms. His eyes were fully animal in the face of his wife’s pain.

  “Infuriating girl!” Silver muttered. “Lena, are you able to deal with her … situation?”

  “Yes mistress,” The brownie replied, appearing from nowhere.

  “Keenan, Roan and your wytch friends will help me guard the perimeter. The kingling can hold your hand.”

  Romana nodded and looked imploringly at Cass and Lynette. “Please do as she says,” She looked at the triplets and then back at Silver.

  What was she? A babysitter? “Leigh and Miria will take the girls through training drills.” Silver announced. There, that was a suitable activity for children, wasn’t it? “They’re not to tell either of the centaurs about your condition, however.” Silver still couldn’t be certain of their loyalty.

  She conjured portals and directed everyone through into her room, following, she stayed just long enough to ensure Romana was on the bed and Lena had everything she needed before turning to go.

  A hand on her arm stopped her.

  “Remove the hand, or lose it.” She warned the kingling.

  “I just wanted to thank you.” The kingling mumbled, and she knew the words were killing him.

  “I’m not doing this for you.” She retorted. “Get back to my sister; she needs someone’s hand to break when the pain gets bad.”

  She wrenched his hand away with a vigorous snap and slammed the door.

  “And you wonder why he doesn’t like you.” Keenan smirked.

  “Actually, I never wondered.” Silver corrected, moving out of the caves with him following right behind her. “Use the link to contact me about anything out of the ordinary.” Usually she would frown at his using the demon link, but with Romana’s safety under threat she didn’t care.

  With a great push of her wings she took off the moment she was in sight of the sky. Keenan would run an outer perimeter with her hounds while Roan and the wytches would secure the mountain and the inner caves respectively. Silver would use the skies to watch for any signs of attack. Alda still had one brother left, and she wasn’t going to blindly believe Romana hadn’t been followed.

  It was a long night.

  Though Alda did not attack, her forces no doubt nearly wiped out after the wedding, the constant watching and sounds of Romana screaming put Silver and everyone else on edge. When, some thirteen hours later, a different cry pierced the night, Silver wanted to kill something.

  “Won’t you come and say hello to your niece?” Romana’s menta
l voice sounded exhausted.

  “Kate and Gaillean are with you.” Silver replied, having received a courteous message from their father upon his arrival. “I don’t think the whole family in one place would be such a good idea when there’s an infant around.” Such a situation was hazardous to an immortal, yet alone a tiny baby.

  “Get down here.” Romana ordered. “I’ve extracted a vow from my parents not to be hostile towards you or provoke you in the presence of my daughter.”

  Silver sighed, setting her hounds to continue guarding the perimeter; she swooped down to stand by Keenan.

  “You’re coming with me if I’m going to be around the child.” She told him and when he gave her a questioning glance she elaborated. “If it looks like things are going south or Alda shows up you’ll be needed when I push my sister and niece into the demonic realm to guard them.”

  “You’re assigning me to bodyguard duty for a baby?” Keenan looked incredulous.

  “There is no honour among the powerful,” Silver reminded him. “Alda would not hesitate to kill a child and Kate and Gaillean are not held accountable to any higher being. One slip of my power and I could hurt Asha. Bodyguard, peacekeeper, you’ll be whatever is necessary to protect her.” She strode towards the doors, annoyed that Roan and the wytches had already abandoned their posts to see Romana and Marten’s firstborn.

  When she entered the room, it was to see the strangest collection of people gathered around her sister. At first, she was so struck by the group of wytches, Ancients, demons, elves and children that she didn’t see the squirming bundle of soft yellow fabric nestled in her fatigued sister’s arms.

  When she did, she had to hold herself immobile. Every instinct she had said to flee; the small pink hands reaching up from the blankets had never seen blood. It was innocent in the truest sense of the word. But Keenan came up behind her, his arm winding around her back as if to offer support. It was the demon link that she’d let him use during their watch, feeding him information about her emotions.

  She had said she’d kill him for it, and she knew the moment Keenan sensed that thought because he stiffened.

  But he didn’t drop his arm.

  “Would you like to hold her?” Romana asked, her smile never faltering.

  Silver almost recoiled, but the practical side of her mind was saying she would have to evaluate the child’s proportions for reference if they were attacked.

  She walked, unaided by Keenan, towards the bed, giving the kingling a wide berth seeing as his eyes were feral with protectiveness.

  She reached towards the bundle that Romana had gently extended towards her, her hands steady as they had been through countless battles.

  But the moment her skin touched Romana’s there was pain up her right arm she wanted to draw back, except it seemed their skin had fused together.

  Romana’s features clouded in pain, and everyone seemed to explode into action, people tried to separate the three of them, Marten actually clawed at her arm, for which Keenan punched him in the face. The wytches started murmuring spells.

  “Stop.” Kate whispered. “It is meant to happen. It is necessary.”

  But nobody listened to her until a golden shield of Ancient’s magic surrounded the trio on the bed.

  “What’s happening?” Romana sounded scared, and Silver knew she was terrified for her daughter.

  “Peace child,” Kate murmured. “I promise this will not harm Asha.”

  Romana settled somewhat, but Silver didn’t. Kate hadn’t said anything about it not harming the two adults.

  “What is going on?” She demanded of Gaillean.

  But the Ancients were silent, and so was Silver until she felt the burning and the moving under her skin. Then she struggled, and she struggled more when the burning reached her eyes, she even tried creating a portal, but it was useless. The Ancients’ shield blocked magic and weapons alike.

  It continued for an age, the burning finally concentrating over her heart, putting her childhood training to the test as she fought to remain impassive. Romana had no such training and she screamed and wept. Her cries subsided as the pain grew worse for Silver, her eyes burned and her right hand side felt scarred.

  Asha just sat there, smiling and Silver attempted to focus through her watery eyes on the infant’s face. It was then that she realised exactly why Romana had wanted Silver to see the girl.

  One of the girl’s eyes was Ancient gold and the other was silver like those of the elven royals – like Silver’s.

  When the pain ended, Silver stepped back from the bed and the child, aware of the worry her presence caused to the others.

  “What happened?” She demanded of Gaillean, though her voice was scratchy from unvoiced screams.

  “The Dark Coven was born.” Gaillean replied and everyone tensed.

  “What does that mean?” Romana asked.

  “The wytches whose powers your coven were prejudiced against are now united in a way you cannot touch.” Misty announced, coming through the doorway and causing wytches on all sides to draw magic.

  “Kingling, take your daughter and step into the next room for a moment, Roan will accompany you.” Silver muttered.

  “Go,” Romana said, “Its wytch business, I’ll be fine.”

  Marten looked like he wanted to object, but Romana teleported their child into his arms and healed herself so that she no longer looked tired but alert and ready to deal with whatever her parents had thrown at them this time.

  He left, along with Roan. Meeting Romana’s insistent glare Silver received yet another shock.

  “Your eyes,” Silver pointed like an idiot at the now almost fully golden irises with a single ring of silver around the outside

  “No! Yours!” Romana was gaping.

  “What have you done to us?” Silver demanded of her father.

  “Your souls are finally aligned.” Gaillean replied. “Romana you were never meant to be the leader of all wytchdom, merely half of it. There is a duality to the nature of the gifts given to wytches, and you and others like you can never truly understand and trust the darker powers in this world. In their hearts, wytches have always had trouble accepting the martial gifts among the coven. Some of them have gone rogue for that very reason. Silver, as your polar opposite, is now queen of the dark wytches, while you are the queen of the light wytches.”

  “The names are so imaginative.” Silver muttered. “I don’t want to be saddled with a load of wytches to deal with, so change it back.”

  “You don’t have a choice.” Gaillean replied. “The wytches themselves came to us requesting the split, if we turn it back your souls will once again be in turmoil and the chances of you beating Alda grow slimmer.”

  “Stop giving me responsibilities!” Silver yelled. “I’m already queen of all demons! I don’t want or need wytches.”

  “You don’t have a choice!” Gaillean thundered back. “Look at the skin over your heart, half of the medallion of the Coven is settled there. There is no giving it up, no Ancient will remove it for you. You are stuck with it.”

  Silver growled and ripped open her armour to expose the skin there, sure enough the fifteen gems were lined up in a spiral above her heart. Seven of them were filled, and surrounding them were the tattoos that covered the left side of Romana’s body, except they were on Silver’s right hand side.

  Glancing back, she saw Romana looking at the smaller medallion on her chest with sadness, one of the gems was also empty.

  “Who is to fill the gap?” Romana asked.

  “You know who.” Kate mumbled. “Your daughter has been a bridge between you both since you learned of her existence. When Asha is old enough, she has a great destiny to fulfil.”

  Silver silently groaned, the child was not even three hours into her life and already the Ancients were screwing up her future.

  “How does this affect Silver’s ability to destroy Alda?” Romana asked, and Silver wanted to throttle her sister for being so resigned. If t
hey both fought against this, surely Gaillean would change things back.

  “Your soul will have less of an influence.” Gaillean replied. “The fragment of you which resides in Silver was slowly gaining power. It is a testament to Silver’s own soul that she is still fully in control of her own powers and emotions, however had we left it any longer that may not have been the case. The same is true for you.”

  Romana sighed and looked Silver straight in the eyes. “You will take care of them.” She ordered. “I don’t expect you to open up an Isle, but you will defend your wytches!”

  Silver didn’t break eye contact but nodded. “Damaging an asset makes no sense.” Romana flinched at her harsh words. “Spend time with your daughter, Romana. I have someone to kill. When I return you will consider the threat neutralised and return to your people.”

  She strode from the room and noticed that all of the newly proclaimed dark wytches followed her. Annoyed, she walked further out of the mountain than she had originally intended. When more wytches teleported in, she turned to face them.

  “I’m not interested in creating a community of airheads and babying you all.” Silver began. “If you’re going to be my Dark Coven you need to at least demonstrate some speck of independence.”

  “We wouldn’t expect anything less.” Silver turned to see Grandmother Black floating along on what appeared to be a swirling mass of writhing grey mist. On closer inspection she could see skeletal faces floating in the mist, it was likely that they were souls since that was the dark wytch’s branch of magic. “Many of us left the Isle as we were too independent. But protocol does dictate we swear ourselves to you.”

  Silver looked around, seeing familiar faces; Hannah - once a thief serving under Keenan - she recognised from Romana’s memories, and her friend Casey who Romana had rescued years ago. It was a small group of six women, but no doubt Gaillean and Kate had plans for her to swiftly gain a full coven of fifteen, the damned medddling idiots.