“No, the other part, about the library,” Selene prompted. “How did you get in?”
“Uh, I walked in. The doors were open. Sorry, I didn’t know I needed to get permission.”
The silence stretched on for an uncomfortable minute until I realized she was speaking telepathically with someone. “That room was locked as it normally is. The Talos on duty says he checked it himself only minutes before Guide Athan found you there.”
I remembered how the elevator at Titan Tower had taken me to the library during the first competition of the Games. Later Bennett had told me that there wasn’t a number in the elevator that corresponded with that floor. “Libraries in your world seem to like me.” I shrugged.
“Guide Athan says that you did something to the Moirai.” Selene’s lips pinched tight. “Is that true, Lia?”
I noticed that she didn’t call me “my lady” like everyone else but maybe she was high enough rank that she didn’t have to. “No!” I replied in irritation at the guide for tattling on me when it wasn’t even my fault. “I told him I didn’t do anything to the clock. It just hiccupped for a minute but it’s fine.”
“The Moirai doesn’t ‘hiccup.’ That clock was made by the first Kyrion Erebus himself when the Games were founded. It counts down the months remaining to complete all six competitions.” Selene explained with barely concealed ire. That must have been why there were only four metal pieces with numbers still turning on the clock; there were only four months left in the year. “Never before have the figurines moved or changed color. And never has that clock had a ‘hiccup’ in all the thousands of years since it was created. Yet both of those things have occurred since you bonded with Bennett.”
Great! I was like a bad omen that equaled apocalyptic-level on the oh-shit meter to these people. “I don’t know why that happened. I didn’t mean to break your clock.” Guilt and worry ate at me causing my powers to flare and sparks flew from my fingertips. “I didn’t mean to insult your servants or break your laws.” Those angry fireflies took flight again, stinging my veins and scorching my chest. “I don’t know why I’m the first Chosen ever, or what any of this means. I didn’t mean to hurt Dia or Molly.” Sweat beaded my brow as my chest heaved and every wrong move I’d made that led me here crashed over me. “Now James is dead and Grace too. I can’t find the twin Houses no matter how much I research, and time is running out. I never wanted any of this!”
Fireballs shot from each of my hands spinning crazily out into the room. I watched in horror as Selene calmly straightened and jumped over the desk kicking it back away from her. The table slid about twenty feet away as Selene held out her hand and caught the first ball of fire as if we were playing catch. She spun and leaped into the air, impossibly high. The ball of fire in her hand turned into a whip that she lashed at one of the other balls that was speeding toward the banners hanging from the ceiling. The crack of the fire whip disintegrated the speeding ball leaving behind tiny embers that floated harmlessly to the ground. Selene landed in a crouch and spun quickly in the direction of the other ball that was speeding toward the thrones, sketching a symbol in the air. A shield of rippling waves of heat formed like a wall in front of the platform, and the last ball of fire started to lose its form as it stretched and elongated before being absorbed into the shield.
I dropped to my knees as the heat inside me dissipated, leaving me feeling cold and empty. “I-I’m sorry,” I said quietly as Selene approached with that fire whip still clutched in her hands. I didn’t move as I waited for the lashes to strike. I deserved it. I had broken my word to her about being here at dawn and lost control of my powers proving that I was too incompetent to ever be a Kyrion.
Selene stopped before me, extinguishing her whip. “A Kyrion only kneels to our gods.” She offered me a hand and pulled me to my feet. “A Kyrion is always in control of themselves and their surroundings.” She looked at something over my shoulder, her lips pressed into a thin line of discontent. Her hand snapped out, and I stumbled backward thinking she was going to hit me. Something flew by my head, and she snagged it out of the air. I turned toward the entrance behind me, surprised to find Bennett there. For a brief moment I could swear I saw sadness and regret lining his face but then it was gone, and I was staring at the cold mask of Kyrion Chaos.
“Remember that I love you, Lia,” Bennett said through our connection, “no matter what I must do to keep you safe.” He nodded to Selene and then left without another word. An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach. He had to have seen my loss of control. He was a born protector, taking on the responsibility of trying to keep everyone around him safe. But how far would he go to achieve that? There was definitely something I was missing.
“Here,” Selene said pulling my troubled gaze back to her, “you will wear this during our lessons until you learn to control your powers.”
She handed me a silver cuff of leaves. I slipped it around my wrist and pushed it up my arm until it fit snuggly around my bicep. The moment it settled into place it felt as though my powers were being suffocated beneath a heavy blanket. The absence of my powers felt as if I had lost a limb but could still feel the phantom sensation of where it should be. It was extremely uncomfortable. I hadn’t realized until this moment how accustomed I’d become to the presence of my powers until they were locked away. I wanted to rip the cuff off my arm and hurl it as far away from me as possible.
“What is this thing?”
Selene glanced briefly at the cuff. From her pinched expression, it appeared that she wasn’t a fan of the pretty piece of jewelry either. “It’s called a kóvo,” she replied. “It basically puts your powers to sleep so that you can’t trigger them.” She must have noticed my puzzled look. “We use them to subdue criminals. Once it’s locked into place, it can only be removed by a Kyrion, Kafàli, or Archai.
“Time, as you said, is running out, let us continue your lessons.” Selene motioned for me to follow her and we skirted around the mess of papers scattered across the floor. I wanted to stop to pick them up, but I didn’t want to cause another scene so I followed obediently behind her. She stopped at the base of the steps in front of the thrones and turned to me. “Do you know why our Kyrion are important, Lia?”
“Because people need structure and leaders to guide them.” I answered thinking about my years as a business owner.
“That is a very human answer,” Selene replied, sounding as if she wasn’t surprised. “We need our Kyrion for survival. When the gods roamed this earth, they were our connection to the God of Chaos. It was through them that our powers flowed giving us greater strength. Before the gods disappeared, they imbued six gems with their powers and gifted them to their strongest descendants. Those descendants became the first Kyrion.” She motioned to one of the scenes depicted in the stained-glass windows that showed the six gems being passed down. “Our powers sustain our world. When you become Kyrion it is a promise to hold and guard that lifeline for all descendants of the House of Chaos. In thirteen days, you will make that pledge at the coronation. It is a duty that can only be passed on when the next person is blessed with the Kyrion symbol by the God of Chaos.”
It wasn’t lost on me that she called me out on promises made, and the fact that I had lost hours of time for training because of my tardiness. She was questioning how she could trust me with the safety of her people when I couldn’t even keep a simple promise to meet with her here for our lesson. I didn’t have an answer for her. Until she spelled it out so clearly, I hadn’t really thought of what my life as a Kyrion would be like. Somehow, I thought I would suffer through the ceremony and then go on as I had been doing, trying to complete my quest and find answers about my family. But now I was wondering how I was going to be able to do that in addition to my duties as Kyrion.
“I’m sorry,” I said solemnly, rubbing my sweaty palms on my jeans. Beyond her shoulder the black thrones seemed to taunt me. Selene made this all look so effortless, while I bumbled my way through. I didn’t know
if I’d ever deserve to sit on one of those thrones, but for Bennett’s sake I was going to try. “I’m here now, if you have a little more time to teach me today?”
I tried not to squirm under her cool assessment. Finally, she nodded.
“This throne,” Selene motioned to the smaller of the two black thrones on the platform, “has sat empty since Bennett’s mother, Calidora, died.”
I winced recalling the conversation I’d had with Lydia. No wonder she had looked at me as if I’d committed a cardinal sin. She had been talking about Bennett’s mother when she kept mentioning Kyrion Calidora. I’d called the woman a dress lover and said I was nothing like her. I hoped to whatever gods were listening that my gaffe wouldn’t end up in the rumor mill and make it back to Bennett or Selene.
Selene continued on oblivious to my mortification, “Kyrion Calidora was loved by all of our people. She was not only powerful but courageous. Daring to change some of our laws and bring us a more contemporary way of life. She wanted her people to be happy and healthy above all else. She left her mark on the history of our House.” Selene waved an elegant hand toward another section of stained-glass windows that showed people in fields struggling to raise crops at the mercy of harsh weather. In the next, the people looked healthy as they accepted packages from what appeared to be the runners Lydia had mentioned.
“Kyrion Calidora was the last of the arranged marriages. She wanted more for her son and future Kyrion than a life of duty.” A deep love and admiration were evident in Selene’s voice as she looked at the smaller throne. “Our mothers were best friends, and Kyrion Calidora treated me like a daughter. She believed in me and fought to give me a chance to fill the role of Archai even though it had never been held by a woman before.”
Selene turned to me, those sharp golden eyes seeming to pierce through to my soul. My head pounded as I felt a pressure pushing against my brain, and I swayed on my feet. Then it was gone. I blinked, confused, but Selene only nodded. “Good, you have strong shields,” she stated like she had finally found one redeeming quality in me. “Kyrion Calidora is the type of leader our people deserve. She raised Bear to be like her, and he is worth ten of any of the other Kyrion alive today.” As composed as Selene looked, it was her eyes that gave her away. A storm raged there, promising pain and retribution to anyone who threatened those she loved. “We are all fiercely loyal to him.”
Message received loud and clear. “I do want to be what our people deserve, and I would never hurt Bennett.”
“That’s a promise that I’ll hold you to,” she said coldly.
7
“To be a Kyrion, you must look and act like one,” Selene instructed as she paced around me with her hands behind her back. “A servant will bring one of the dresses the runners bought for you to change into. For now, let’s start with the pledge that you will make at the coronation.”
“What about the bonding thing, isn’t that coming up, like, tomorrow?”
“The Bonding Ceremony is very straightforward, but I’ll write down what you will need to say. It’s only a formality, really, to declare your intentions toward each other. You’ll say the words I give you with Bear as you ascend each step of the bonding altar. Just remember that you control the fire, it doesn’t control you.” Selene dismissed the bonding as if it were no big deal, but it sounded like we were getting engaged in front of the entire city. That was not a small thing in my book. If I’d learned anything since coming here, it was that I was woefully unprepared for becoming a full-fledged member of the Paldimori society and the chances of me screwing up that ceremony were high.
“It’s the coronation that you need to worry about,” Selene said, “since that will be when you will have to prove yourself fit to be Kyrion. It is also your responsibility to plan it, and you need to make arrangements immediately.”
My mouth fell open as I stared at her incredulously. Gallery exhibitions I could plan, but big fancy ceremonies—? Uh-uh, no way.
“Now, repeat after me,” Selene commanded, ignoring my impending panic attack. “I am a child of the God of Chaos. I was brought to this earth to bring balance. I am the light. I am the dark. To neither extreme shall I devote myself fully. I am all things as my duty demands. I vow to lead my people with courage and honor until the God of Chaos claims my successor. To the God of Chaos, I pledge myself, Kyrion Jillian Nova Davies of the House of Chaos.”
I repeated the pledge several times with Selene correcting me when I got parts of it wrong.
“Now that I can say it, what does it mean?” I had told myself I was going to keep my mouth shut no matter what, but if I was going to sign my life away to do this job, I wanted to know the fine print. “That ‘I am the dark’ part doesn’t sound like a good thing. I’m not going to the dark side for anyone.”
Selene paused her pacing, looking irritated at my interruption for a moment before she donned that Diplomatic Doll countenance. “This world was never meant to sustain a utopian society. There are many who think that’s why our original home was destroyed, and our people went to war. That our ancestors strayed too far toward the light and the God of Chaos punished us.” She motioned to another of the stained-glass windows where a bloody battle was taking place. “We are all—humans and Paldimori alike—imperfect. We all have different motivations and beliefs. One person’s idea of utopia can be another’s nightmare. Look at all the evil Hitler did, trying to achieve his version of perfection. We stepped in to help stop him, as we have stopped others before him. We intervene where we think we must in the human world, but we don’t have to create acts of evil. There’s enough of that already happening.” Selene sighed, looking tired. It was the first real emotion I’d seen her openly display. Then she was back to being stoic. “The point is that a Kyrion has to make hard decisions for the good of their people.”
“Can’t they make good decisions without wading into the dark side?”
“Would you do something that felt wrong if you thought it was the best way to keep your friend safe?” Selene turned to greet Lydia, who bustled in with a dress draped over her arms. A second servant brought in a pile of books and set them carefully on the desk. While Selene gave the servants orders, I stewed over her question. Keeping secrets from my best friend hadn’t felt right but I had done it thinking I was keeping her safe. Maybe I wasn’t as far from the dark side as I thought.
I found myself standing on that lonely highway inside me where I once buried my thoughts and emotions until I had nearly become a vacant shell. The sun peeked over the horizon, its rays reaching for the crumbling highway that stretched out in the distance, but not quite reaching it yet. Green grass dotted the once-barren landscape in small clumps. A resilient wildflower struggled to grow here and there. A viscous liquid dripped from my right hand onto the only remaining section of well-maintained pavement beneath my feet. I knew what I would find when I looked down, but no matter how hard I tried I could never stop myself from looking. My eyes drifted slowly down to the bloody knife in my hand. The pavement beneath me trembled as if a giant beast were trying to break through. The pavement cracked and started to tear. The knife disappeared as I dropped to my knees and pushed at the pavement trying to stop the crack from spreading. My hands cut and bled, mixing with the blood of the man whose lifeless eyes I could never forget. Finally, the trembling stopped as the crack sealed over with blood.
“You do not belong here.” Whispered across the land in that same voice I had heard in my room this morning. “Go now.”
A hand clamped onto my arm pulling me back to the present. I hadn’t realized I’d bent over to help the servant picking up the papers scattered across the floor. Selene pulled me away and steered me toward the tall wooden doors to the right of the thrones. “You must forget your human instincts,” she admonished quietly. “Each person in a House has a role to fulfill. Roles in direct service to the Kyrion are highly sought after and are a great honor when awarded. You are saying that a servant is unfit for their role if you help th
em.” Selene pushed the door open and motioned Lydia to follow us. We stepped through the doors into a short hallway with two more doors at the end. Selene asked Lydia to go prepare my dress, then turned to me after the servant disappeared behind the door on the left. “Be careful, Lia. Laws still exist to punish anyone barring a person from performing their duties.” Selene’s grip on my arm had tightened to a painful level. When I shifted uneasily, she released me quickly and stepped back as if she hadn’t even realized she was still holding onto me. “Follow Lydia, and she will help you change into your dress.”
What felt like hours later I stepped back through the doorway into the throne room. Being dressed by someone else wasn’t an experience I wanted to repeat. The scattered papers had been removed from the floor of the throne room, but the desk still stood in the middle with the books stacked on top. Voices drifted toward me, and I found Selene standing with Talos Gavril at the base of the steps leading up to the thrones.
“There was an attack just beyond the eastern tower,” the soldier reported.
“Did we lose anyone?” Selene asked, standing ramrod straight with her hands clasped behind her.
“Two runners who must have been caught by surprise,” Talos Gavril answered with a grim look.
“Are the towers secure?”
“For now, Archai,” Talos Gavril’s voice dropped until I could barely hear it. “They are getting closer and bolder.”
I stepped forward hoping to hear more and the damn robe swished across the floor catching their attention. Talos Gavril bowed to me, and Selene instructed me how to acknowledge him by making a hand motion in the air almost like drawing a triangle with a swooping ending. Now I knew why the servant on the stairs had nearly fallen when she bowed, and I only nodded to her with my mouth full of bacon and walked away. Apparently, a bow made directly in front of a Kyrion was a form of displaying loyalty and commitment, whereas a bow made off to the side or while backing away was simply respectful. I wanted to pull my hair out with all of these rules!
Paldimori Gods Rising Box Set Page 53