by Eva Brandt
“You want me to make an iceberg to meet with the undead?” Cassia let out a small laugh. “Sure, Eranthe. It’s no problem. But I don’t suppose you want me to do it right now, do you?”
Anyone else would have embraced the opportunity and taken the chance to leave, so that we wouldn’t have to continue our conversation. But Cassia always had been very brave, so it stood to reason that she wouldn’t turn away from it.
“No, I don’t. Everything has a beginning and an end, sister. You know that as well as I do. So let’s not hide any longer. Tell me the truth. I’ll believe you, I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, daughter,” my mother said. “Nothing is absolute in this world, and anything can change, even you.”
The comment finally made Adrian snap. My soulmates had been silent until now, but they didn’t appreciate my family’s stubbornness and lies any more than I did. “I find that highly hypocritical, Selene,” he said, “considering that this whole thing happened because you decided to take fate in your own hands.”
My mother narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s different.”
“It’s really not. The only thing that’s different is the truth you’re presenting as absolute and unchangeable. The so-called prophecy.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about, boy,” she snapped. “If you did, you wouldn’t be questioning me.”
“So explain!” I shouted. “Explain, so we can understand once and for all where you’re going with this!”
Predictably, it was Tarasia who folded first. When she spoke, she sounded like she was in physical pain, but she tried anyway. “Eranthe... When the Grand Lich said you’re meant to take up that position, it wasn’t completely accurate. The truth is... The truth is...”
Her eyes filled with tears and she couldn’t seem to finish the sentence. I almost wanted to tell her to stop, to not push herself. I didn’t. “Yes?” I prodded instead. “What is it?”
“The truth is you are already the Grand Lich,” a different, familiar voice replied in Tarasia’s stead. “It’s always been you.”
I turned, only to find the Grand Lich standing behind me once again. This time, though, there was a significant difference from our previous meetings. The black hood was down, and beneath it, I saw my own face.
* * *
Adrian
There were moments in life when you find yourself forced to reassess everything you’ve deemed a fact until that time. It had happened to me once, the day I had become a strigoi. I’d never admitted it to anyone, but in my heart, I’d never believed I’d fall into the necromantic arts so deeply that my fae nature would fundamentally change.
Centuries had passed since that day, since the magic of death had swallowed my innate sense of self. I still remembered those moments with crystal clarity. The pain had been excruciating. I’d felt like I was being torn apart limb from limb and being put back together in a different way. And the shock that had followed had been even worse.
The whole experience paled in comparison to the mix of confusion, horror, and betrayal that filled me when I faced my soulmate’s other self. I stared between the two Eranthes, trying to process how this was possible, but unable to figure it out. “W-What? But how? Why? I don’t...”
“Grand Lich, this isn’t amusing,” Cezar snapped, interrupting my incoherent mumbling. “We’ve accepted a lot of things from you as of late, out of respect for your position, but I’m afraid this is just too much.”
“Oh, I’m aware,” the Grand Lich replied with a soft smile that was identical to Eranthe’s. Her voice was no longer the male one I’d grown accustomed to, but the words had the same sway, the same accent. “I always knew this would be difficult for you to accept. I’m afraid I might have inadvertently made everything worse by getting close to you before you were supposed to meet my other self. Ah, this whole reality manipulation thing is really quite a problem.”
“You cannot be serious,” Eranthe whispered, sounding like she was going to fall over any moment now. “Reality manipulation? That’s not possible. This is literally... against all the laws of nature.”
“Well, yes, and it wouldn’t be doable anywhere else except on Chronikos,” her newly arrived other self replied. “You know as well as I do that everything works differently here.”
Baltasar growled at her. “Don’t give us that. There’s a difference between time dilution and... whatever you’re suggesting happened. This is absurd.”
It went beyond absurd. It was a paradox. The Grand Lich had been around in The Voievodat for as long as I could remember. He was much older than Eranthe. And obviously, there was the issue of the gender. We’d always known that the Grand Lich was male.
And yet, I could not deny that there were two Eranthes standing in front of me. I would’ve been inclined to deem it a trick or some kind of shape-shifting, but the second Eranthe’s magic was too similar for that to be the case.
Baltasar and Cezar didn’t have my skills, but their senses and instinctive awareness of Eranthe’s self were enough to make them realize that as well. It was just that... It made no sense.
“The Grand Lich is related to my uncle,” Cezar said, his anger drifting away, replaced by appalled shock. “You can’t be... It just couldn’t be you.”
“Actually, the original Grand Lich was Emperor Octavian’s half-brother. He just became unable to keep the position. Even liches have their limits about how much death magic they can contain at any given time.” The other Eranthe shrugged. “Once I took over his position, I pretended nothing had changed. It was easier, since it meant no one would look into my true identity too closely. It would’ve been inconvenient if people had realized who I was before it was time.”
“Time for what?” Eranthe asked. “Who are you really? Where do you come from? How can two of us even exist?”
“That’s my fault,” Selene answered. “Everything that has been happening is my fault. Two of you have already existed for centuries. Your sisters are in a similar situation. We might have pretended that your old names are just ways to preserve your past identities, but they’re so much more than that.”
Eranthe shot her a look filled with undisguised horror. “The ritual. The power transference ritual.”
Her mother nodded grimly. Her flowery hair withered, the soft blooms turning lifeless and gray. “When you underwent the ritual of becoming the avatars of the seasons, your natures were permanently altered,” she explained. “But you were too young to contain all the magic, so two versions of each of you were created, at a mental level.
“Mostly, it was never an issue, since those younger selves were buried in the depths of your consciousness. Your sisters dealt with the problem in their own ways. It might not have always been healthy, but a coping mechanism did exist. But you were different. In your case, the ritual had other consequences.
“You see, Eranthe, the avatar of spring is a deity of rebirth. So instead of creating another... side of you, the magic physically manifested your second persona, one that was your complete opposite. A deity of death. Someone who could never have a home in Chronikos.”
She rubbed her eyes, suddenly looking so very tired. “I’ve never regretted anything more than I regret that ritual, and your father feels the same. But by the time we realized what had happened, it was much too late. We couldn’t undo it, so we simply found a home for your other self.
“Helios made a deal with the leader of The Immortuos Voievodat. At the time, the original Grand Lich was struggling heavily under the weight of his magic. The emperor needed someone to take his place. He couldn’t allow his half-brother to lose himself to the death magic, but The Voievodat is built around the two positions. Without a Grand Lich, the whole political system would’ve fallen apart, and there was no other convenient death mage who could shoulder the type of power the Grand Lich wielded on a regular basis. So Eiar learned how, and took up the position.”
The different name finally snapped me out of my
horrified trance. “Eiar?” It was the official name of The Lady of Spring, the queen of Tis Ánoixis, so why had the Grand Lich taken it up in Eranthe’s stead?
The Grand Lich shot me a quick smirk, as if seeing straight into my mind. “I needed a name, and Eranthe was more suited to my other self. It’s not perfectly accurate, but it did the trick. At the very least, it prevented confusion when my parents had to talk to me.
“In any case, that’s all in the past. I was happy in The Voievodat, but unfortunately, this state of affairs is not sustainable. In the end, Eranthe and I are parts of a single whole, and we can’t be divided forever.”
“Which brings us to today,” Selene continued. “Eranthe, in order for you to contain the death magic of the Grand Lich, your body needed to change. The only way you could’ve ever done that was by going to Hades and drinking water from there. And you needed to do it of your own accord, because otherwise, your mind and your magic might’ve been overwhelmed and unprepared.
“Yes, I traded a lot of lives for it. In a way, I traded Tis Ánoixis, so that you could have a future. I don’t regret a thing. You might not believe me. You might even hate me for this. But it was the only solution we had.”
Eranthe’s sisters didn’t take that statement well. Even if they’d obviously been aware of this information, they were still very unhappy with their mother. “We could’ve lived perfectly fine like we did before!” Tarasia argued. “None of this was necessary.”
Cassia nodded. “Eranthe’s magic was never unstable before she went to the underworld. We would’ve all noticed had she had any trouble with it.”
“Her magic might have been stable, but mine wasn’t,” Eiar pointed out. “My body is an artificial construct. It will fade away. And when that happens, the magic I’ve been containing until now will be unleashed. A lot of people are going to die, far more than this war has killed. And we have no knowledge of how it will affect Eranthe, since it’s likely that my consciousness would be drawn to my original vessel either way.
“You of all people should know how dangerous it is to mess with such magic, Cassia. It’s why you never wanted to venture into it after you killed your lieutenant. And you knew, even then, what your sister could become, the potential she had. So do yourself and everyone here a favor and don’t deny it. That’s what Eranthe wanted, right? To stop hiding? To stop lying?”
Eranthe intervened in the conversation before Cassia could reply. “I appreciate your decision to be straightforward, but if what you’re telling is true, what about the prophecy?”
“The prophecy stands, which is why we’re meeting here. Our first option is to put us back together, to reintegrate my mind into yours. Like I said, our anomalous situation was never meant to be permanent. The power of Chronikos might have created me, but the coexistence of two versions of the same person is still unadvisable.”
The more we talked about this whole thing, the more horrified I became. I could only think of a few rituals powerful enough to blend two people into one being, and all of them had monstrous results.
“Do you even understand what you’re suggesting? You are the Grand Lich. Whatever else you might have been once, you’re an entirely different person now. There’s no way you can just... become one with Eranthe. People don’t work that way.”
“Oh, my dearest Adrian. You misunderstand. I’m well aware that our minds will completely change after we blend. Thus the prophecy. A queen who would be able to tear our kingdom asunder, remember?
“But that doesn’t worry me. Because you see, I think I’ve found another solution, a second option.
“I am and will always be a deity of death, and I’m more powerful than my other self. I could easily take Eranthe’s body from her. I don’t have Snegurka’s problem. Eranthe could never fight me. But I have no desire to do that.
“Death means order. I am a part of Eranthe. I always have been. Until I return to where I belong, the world can’t truly have order. But death is also a means to an end, so there might be a possibility to limit the damage done to this realm and family, as long as I am killed.”
She smiled brightly, and her whole face lit up, just like Eranthe’s always did when she achieved something. “To achieve the best result, my—or rather, Eranthe’s—soulmates have to be the ones to end my life. But that shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
The suggestion, coupled with her genuinely hopeful look, made me recoil. I had to take a step back, to put some distance between us. The idea was too horrifying to contemplate.
Selene stalked to Eiar’s side and grabbed her arm. “Eiar! We’ve talked about this before. This isn’t an option. I forbid it.”
Eiar’s expression went icy cold. “It’s not your place to forbid anything. This is your fault, just like you pointed out. The next step we make is up to me, my other self, and them. Personally, I think it would be practical.”
“You can’t be serious,” Baltasar choked out. “You can’t actually ask that of us.”
“Why not?” Eiar tilted her head like a confused kitten. “If it’s a choice between me and Eranthe, I should think it’s an easy one. We’re not the same person. You just said so. She is your soulmate. I’m not. Don’t you want to save her?”
Of course we did, and her earlier comment—the thought that she could take Eranthe’s body as her own—terrified me. Even so, the notion that I’d have to harm any version of her still hurt more than my transformation into a strigoi had.
Eranthe must have noticed this, because she grabbed my arm, and her magic settled over mine, soothing my senses and my wounded heart. When she spoke, though, she didn’t address the words to me. “I don’t think it’s reasonable to ask that of them,” she told her other self. “Haven’t we caused enough pain, Eiar? Haven’t we both done enough?”
“You know that I agree with you, but it changes nothing. There must always be a balance between life and death.
“This was always meant to happen, Eranthe. I’m not actually real, and I’ve always accepted that. Can you accept what it means for you?”
Eranthe clenched her jaw and straightened her back. “I will do whatever is best for my soulmates and for my people. I’m not afraid of you.”
Eiar shook her head, and as her dark robes moved, shadows licked over my feet, reaching out to my innermost self. Eiar didn’t seem aware of it. “Of course you’re afraid,” she told Eranthe. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have agreed to me sealing your death magic earlier. You’re more afraid of yourself than you’ve ever been of any creature, demon, or physical threat. But still, it’s up to you. You’re the only one who can decide the best way to deal with that fear.”
I wanted to believe it was all a lie, a bad dream, or some kind of trick. I wanted to pretend this wasn’t happening. I couldn’t. Even assuming the Grand Lich had been interested in such games, Eranthe’s sisters certainly wouldn’t have played along.
Their reluctance to discuss it made so much sense now. It wasn’t just about Eranthe’s mental state. It wasn’t just about her power. Just as the Grand Lich had said in our first meeting, the crux of the issue lay in something far simpler. “No matter what she decides, Eranthe won’t be able to remain the avatar of spring. She will have to leave her homeland and move to The Immortuos Voievodat.”
Eiar nodded. “No matter what, we will have a future of blood. But you already knew that.”
For a few seconds, silence fell over the throne room. Eranthe had said that less than half an hour before, when we’d still been in The Forest of Purity. It was now clearer than ever that we truly did have another side of her on our hands, one whose fate might very well be sealed.
“Yes, I did,” Eranthe finally replied, “but I’m still just as sure as I’ve always been that I belong on Chronikos. There has to be another solution, and I’m not giving up until I find it.”
“So be it. Do let me know what you decide at the meeting with Emperor Octavian. We have to prepare him for the unavoidable, you know.”
�
��Actually, I don’t think I will. I think that if we’re in any way alike, you can’t have lost all hope either. You’ll stay here, with us, and you’ll prove to me that you’re telling the truth. As far as I’m concerned, you might not be me, but you are my sister. And I’m not going to let family die, not while I still have breath in my body.”
Eiar blinked at her in a mix of surprise and amusement. “Sister,” she drawled. “You have an interesting definition of the word. Tell me... Do you make out with the rest of your siblings or is it just me?”
Wait... What?
Seven
The Grand Lich
Eiar
It was amusing to return to Chronikos after all the years I’d been gone. It wasn’t my home, and it hadn’t been for centuries, but I still found it interesting. At the very least, it wouldn’t be a terrible or boring way to spend the last months of my life.
Contrary to what my other self might have thought, I knew very well that her quest was hopeless. But maybe I’d borrowed a little something from the lifestyle and general beliefs of my vampiric companions, because I decided to stay, just the same. And I decided to make Eranthe’s life a little more complicated while I was at it.
“Tell me... Do you make out with all of your siblings or is it just me?”
Technically speaking, I’d been the one to kiss her, not the other way around, but I wasn’t beneath taking advantage of the situation to have some fun.
Eranthe’s face flamed at my comment. “That’s not... Of course I don’t have that kind of relationship with them! You know what I mean! That kiss was all on you.”
“Yes, but you enjoyed it,” I taunted her. “Don’t deny it. You know it’s true.”
I didn’t know what I found more satisfying, Eranthe’s helpless spluttering or the priceless looks on my vampires’ faces. They seemed torn between shock, dread and something strikingly similar to arousal.