by Jaime Marks
Even more concerning perhaps was that though he knew Marcus was aware he went to her, yet he never intervened. In fact, he had reached out to him himself. He did not worry that Marcus had turned, they would already have her now if he had. What worried him was that his brother seemed to be imploring him to hold on. What reason would he possibly have for that?
His twin did not share well and he knew her heart as well as Cymeryn. If he was reaching out in this way something was wrong. Something that caused Marcus to feel Reyn was in danger enough that he needed his help. His brother would not be foolish enough to think he would be Redeemed but he knew when it came to Reyn he would always put her first. He knew because in this they were the same. He also knew he would try to take her for himself and present her to Lazurys to cement their bond so it still did not make sense.
Alayne entered the cavern and Cymeryn forced himself to maintain his breathing and remain still. He felt the surging power of the Darkness within him, all around him, and he knew that Lord Lazurys had returned.
“My Lord, you summoned me?” Alayne’s voice all but hissed as it echoed through the chamber.
“Yes, Alayne, it is time. If Cymeryn survives this eve you shall take him and help him heal.”
“If that is your wish, Lord Lazurys, but I do not yet believe he has overcome his obsessive nature when it comes to her.” Apparently whatever Alayne was up to, he was not yet ready for it to play out. “Setting him free now may yet be a risk.”
“Let us hope he never does, Alayne. You forget that I know more than you. Cymeryn is the key to obtaining Lunya. The connection between them grows stronger, I can feel it, and it is pleasing to me. I care not that he is obsessed with mine sister, only that he employs some control until she is delivered. I am more than willing to allow my progeny to see to her control and care so long as I have access to her gifts and power over her strength.”
“Yes, my lord.” Alayne replied curtly.
“Watch your tone, Alayne. Your efforts over this last month have been futile, as I knew they would be. You have no way to reach her now that she has connected with Marcus. Syneous’ hold on her was never more than skin deep. His only ability to control her rested in their young and that is no longer enough.” Lord Lazurys chastised. “My Father has reopened the Realm of Gray. She will remain hidden there unless she is drawn out. No, our Supryn is the key. The Protectors have a unique connection with her that cannot be broken. He will be able to reach her where none save his twin can. I know you listen, Cymeryn. Wake and hear me.”
Lifting his head in compliance Cymeryn met the gaze of his Lord. He bit back any reaction and humbled himself. This interaction would be crucial. If he displeased the Dark deity now there was no telling what the penance would be. “What is your will, Lord Lazurys?”
“My will, Cymeryn, it to possess the Lady Reyn, my sister Lunya in her mortal form. Do you think you are prepared to bring her to me?”
“Your will is the will of the Shade, my lord. I shall comply.”
“Once you have delivered her and I have cemented the hold of the Darkness in her I will return her to you, Cymeryn. She will be yours and yours alone. Unless you enjoy sharing her with your twin, then by all means turn him. I care not about your predilections.”
“You are most gracious, my Lord.”
“No, I am not. There is a price for your failure, Cymeryn. You will work with Alayne and should you lose your way again? I will hand her to Alayne for his enjoyment for eternity and make you endure her owning.”
Cymeryn forced himself not to react despite the terror that ran through him. “I would revel in it, my Lord.”
Dark laughter echoed through the cavern. “How well you lie to please me. I know your mind well. Do not fail me again.”
Pain seared through him as his body ripped apart. He held the image of her in his mind. He could endure anything if it meant he would have her once more, possess her as his own. He would not fail. The cost was too high. She would be taken from him and the fate she would endure as Alayne’s slave would be something neither of them of would be able to survive.
It did not matter the cost. If he needed to betray her to save her, so be it. He was no fool, Alayne had control of Syneous. He would possess Staryana if not now, then in time and Reyn would come for her daughter. Syneous would obtain her and once he did, Alayne would destroy her slowly, painfully in the most debase manners. It was the one thing that Cymeryn could not allow. The one thing he could not suffer. Once the Dark Lord overtook her, she would accept his actions. She would have no choice.
Chapter 2
Marcus stood in the training yard working through the paces of hand to hand combat on the wooden dummy in front of him. Byryn and Star were not due for a while and he needed to work out his frustrations. He knew what he needed to do but it was out of his reach and there was nothing he could do about it. It was beyond frustrating.
A full lunar cycle had passed since the realm had reopened, since his mate had been crowned Queen. A full lunar cycle and his twin had not reappeared. He had even left the Sanctuary and reached out to him, himself and he had not responded. From Reyana’s mind he could see clearly Cymeryn was being detained and tortured, most likely for failing to deliver her to Lazurys, but to what end? If they meant to kill him he would already be dead.
It was a difficult situation to endure. He needed to confront his twin and they needed to figure out how to best assist Reyana through what was to come; if they could even manage to work together at all. Marcus still wasn’t sure if he could trust Cymeryn but aside from that the Shade was still his twin. To know he was suffering, being tortured, and not be able to go to him was making him insane. He hadn’t felt this connected to his brother in years and he wasn’t necessarily certain it was a good thing. It would depend on whether or not he was right.
He’d been over the scenes in that room between the three of them a hundred times. Whatever his end game, Cymeryn had not tried to dominate him or Reyana, not in the way of the Shade. He’d also felt Reyana’s Gray essence coursing through him. It hadn’t taken much too free Demytria from the influence of Darkness. Could Cymeryn be slowly processing towards Redemption? If he hadn’t been when they made love to Reyana he may be now. The scenes he had derived from Reyana’s thoughts, moments they shared when he woke her from her mind, suggested he was…but what would that mean for them? If he were Redeemed would she choose him? Cymeryn had suggested the only way for Reyana to be whole was for them to share her. Was he prepared for that? Could he accept it? Even if he could what of her Kingdom?
He lashed out releasing his rage and the arm and head snapped off of the figure. He cursed. Perhaps he would show them weaponry this morn? He was running out of training dummies and his rage was far from abated.
“What is that three this morn, my friend?” Kato mused as he approached and leaned against the fence.
Marcus grimaced, not really in the mood for this confrontation. “Good morn, Kato, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Though he could well guess what this was about. He was beginning to detest living so closely to Kato. The Fae didn’t miss much.
“I thought it was time we discussed the situation that has you in such turmoil, Marcus. I have remained silent, and I will respect your wishes, but my silence has a price. You will discuss this with me. There was a time when you would have confided in me without hesitation. Do you not trust me enough to do so now?”
He met Kato’s stern gaze. “It is not a matter of not trusting you, Kato.” Though it would be easier if he believed that they trusted him enough to manage this. “There is not much to discuss. As much as I wish to usurp this situation and somehow deter their connection through it, I have no right to do so.”
“Do you think, for a moment, that he would not use it to his advantage?” Kato retorted. “That he would not twist it somehow? I can feel the essence in her, Marcus. It is Cymeryn’s. You must be prepared. You are trying to be honorable in this with a Shade who has no honor.”
Marcus resumed his destruction of the dummy firmly placing Cymeryn’s face on it in his mind, though in this moment he was almost tempted to use Kato’s visage. “I would not be so sure of that, Kato. He will put her first, as he did in that forsaken safehold.”
He took a step closer. “And what exactly did happen in that safehold?”
Marcus thought back to that room. He had gone to save her. His twin had taken her and twisted her mind, but only so much in that she had forgotten him. Was it a method to control her or had he been trying to protect her from the chaos that plagued her? When her mind had been restored she’d been so torn between them that she literally split in half as her essence and mind warred between Light and Darkness, unable to merge and unable to find dominance. It had forced her into a coma that only Cymeryn had been able to guide her from. Were his methods a means of preventing that? There was no real way for him to ever know.
What he did know was she had given herself to him freely after his consistent coercion and deceptions, but he had taken from her the right to choose by removing all other options. When she had seen Marcus, she had reached to him, called to him and he had gone to her. He had given himself over to her freely. Images assaulted his mind of her between he and his twin as they moved in unison taking her to the height of pleasure.
He shook himself out of the image. “It’s not important now. What is imperative in this is that we consider what she would want, what she needs, and despite my wishes that means I must reach out to Cymeryn. She is fragile, Kato, she will fracture and I alone will not be enough to prevent it. I have felt it in her. She is still torn, she doesn’t accept that both parts of her are truly who she is. If she were to know this she will send herself back into that coma, lost in her mind, and how would that help any of us?”
“You cannot mean to trust him, Marcus? He will take her and deliver her to Lazurys at the first opportunity. He will take her as his own and you will lose her. We will all lose her. The future of the Fae is at stake in this. You have to think beyond your own feeling. I know he is your twin. I know you wish to believe he may be Redeemed, but you cannot forget his nature.”
Marcus struck and snapped the dummy in half with a curse. They seemed to forget this was not always Cymeryn’s nature. They all judged him for his actions as Shade but they had forgotten all he had done, all he had accomplished as Fae. He was no more a Shade by nature than Demytria, but then the Lucerna Lines had not paid nearly as much blood at her hands as they had his twin; and they attributed even Demytria’s own actions as Cymeryn’s influence. It was hard for them to see any other fault than Cymeryn’s but the only fault lay with Lazurys.
That did not mean there was no risk or that he should rush ahead foolishly. He wouldn’t dare take action without careful consideration and calculation when it affected Reyana and it more than irked him that they did not trust his judgment enough to understand that.
“I, more than any know what is at stake, Kato. If I saw another way do you not think I would take it? Do you not know how difficult it is to even consider entrusting her safety in the slightest to him after all he has done? I simply see the situation more clearly than any of you and I realize the immediate risk goes far beyond that of my twin.”
“Then let me help you find another way, Marcus. We can reason this out together if you would only confide in us, tell us what happened, and what you see in her.” Kato implored him.
“What are we reasoning out?” Grifyn asked as he approached taking in the wreckage of dummies. “And what in the world has you in such a foul mood, Marcus? At this rate I’ll need to chop down the forest to keep you stocked with training dummies. You’ve destroyed seventeen just this week.”
Marcus ground his teeth. The last thing he needed was the two of them teaming up on him. “It’s nothing.”
Kato scoffed crossing his arms but remained graciously silent.
“It doesn’t look like nothing.” Grifyn replied picking up the wreckage of a dummy and removing it from the post. “I’ll replace these so you can break more of them.” He taunted with a smirk.
“Very funny.” He grunted crossing his arms.
“You are going to have to talk to one of us sooner or later, Marcus.” Kato replied shortly, “You have a week to decide who before I go to the King. Or would you prefer I go directly to the Queen?”
Marcus glared at Kato trying to contain his rage. He had known this was coming but he also knew he needed more time. He had no idea how long Cymeryn would be detained and without being able to reach him there was no ready solution. He needed to summon Shala and get answers to the questions that plagued his mind. If he was right, there was more to all this. If he was right, Cymeryn could be saved.
Turning the full brunt of the strength of his essence towards Kato he allowed him to feel exactly how much he restrained himself. He needed to gain control of this situation. “Do not test the limits of my friendship or the lengths that I’m willing to go to protect her or the realms. She will come first, always, and in this matter it is her decision what and when to reveal it to her brother; not yours, not even mine.”
Grifyn stared between the two of them warily. “My friends, I don’t know what has you both so angry, but you need to pull it together before the kids get here for their training session.”
Marcus sighed running a hand through his hair. “Perhaps it would be best if you led training, Grifyn. I am far too stressed and I don’t want to accidentally hurt any of them. I am still learning my new limitations.”
The three of them scanned the wreckage of dummies Marcus had left in his wake.
“This situation is affecting you greatly, my friend. I know that you do not want my help, but you need it. You are shifting Marcus. Surely, you can feel it within yourself.” Kato rested his hand on his shoulder. “What good will you be to her if you turn? Do you really think she would not follow?”
“What’s going on, Marcus, Kato?” Grifyn studied them both. “If the Queen is in danger, or if you are Marcus, I should be aware. I’m not just your friend. I’m your Second in Line and we are family.”
“The Queen is in no more danger than usual, Grifyn. She still fights the demons in her mind. It wears on me that I can’t do more to ease her, my friend. There are things that we will need to discuss in time but right now it’s not up for discussion and not imperative to her safety.”
Grifyn regarded him suspiciously, “That may be, Marcus, but Kato is right. I have sensed the shift in you myself. You’re impatient and on edge. If you don’t want to discuss it, I can’t force you, but you do need to address the issue before it consumes you.”
Marcus nodded. They had a point in some respects. He had been on edge and when he allowed his rage to take hold like this he did feel a shift, but he had far more control then they realized. This was just a release to ensure it did not consume him. “Give me time, my friends. I will not wait much longer. I implore you Kato, trust that she is my priority and that all I do is for her. I know I must talk to her soon and I will. I just need a little more time to ensure she doesn’t slip away.”
Kato nodded grudgingly. “It is not my truth to bear my friend, but I will not hold back what I sense much longer. For the sake of you both, and the realms, the matter must be addressed.”
Marcus paced. There was no denying all the issues he faced and he needed to placate the situation in some way. They wouldn’t leave this be. He had to give them enough to alleviate their concern for the secrets they knew he was hiding; but he couldn’t tell them everything. He didn’t even have all the answers himself. If he gave them just enough of the truth for them to feel he had opened up to them and was starting to trust them with these issues it would give him some peace in the least.
He drew a deep breath and faced them. “Cymeryn is being held against his will. He is being tortured immensely.”
“How do you know that?” Kato asked hesitantly.
Marcus sighed measuring them both carefully in an attempt to gage their react
ions to what he was about to say. As things progressed he would need to know how much of an uphill road it would be for them to trust his choices. “He reached out to her through their connection. He comes to her in her mind to gain strength from her…and I can feel him as well,” he conceded.
“How can you be sure it’s not a trick, a mental manipulation?” Grifyn offered calmly as he seemed to consider it, weighing out the information. “The Shade are well known for such trickery, especially Cymeryn.”
“Because I have seen and felt what she sees. Our connection is so profound that there is no corner of her mind that is hidden to me. He didn’t come to her to gain her attention, he hid from her. He blocks her from feeling his pain as much as he can, but it slips and she knows. She begs him to seek Redemption, to allow us to help him.”
Grifyn scoffed in disgust. Of all the Fae he had lost the most at the hands of the Shade. Not all of it had been Cymeryn’s doing, but it was he who had taken Demytria and twisted his sister in such a way that even Grifyn couldn’t fathom. “As if he were capable of it.”
“It does not matter whether he is capable or not, he refuses. He says he can and must endure this to protect her.” Marcus let the pain he held show. “In reality, I’m not sure how he survives it. I felt it myself when I reached out to him. The pain…it is so extreme that any normal Fae would go insane, even as Shade.”
“You reached out to him, Marcus?” Kato’s ire rose, “Without discussing this with us? How? When?”
“When I went on that scouting mission.” He admitted reluctantly. “I left the realm and allowed our essence to commune as it once did freely. I only sought the truth. I wanted to know if he was manipulating her or if he was truly protecting her from something. It’s why I chose to undertake that scouting mission on my own in the first place.” He turned and met their gaze. “I would not put any other Fae at risk for his deception.”