Later, when Easton went off to talk with the Lord of Fire and Teagan, I went back to my rooms, though not the ones I had slept in the night before.
I needed to wash my face and calm down. My head felt too full. I still had books to read. Knowledge to gather.
As soon as I tried to close the door, a hand stopped it, and I went on high alert. When I realized who it was, I took a step back as Wyn, Rosamond, Brae, and Emory in her cuffs walked into the room.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Maybe nothing,” Wyn said, giving me a hug.
“We just wanted to check on you after last night,” Rosamond said, taking a seat on the bed and looking through the book she had handed me.
“Oh.”
Emory winked at me, then took a seat in the corner. She wasn’t really part of the group, yet still in the room.
“You know?”
“Of course, we know,” Wyn said, smiling. “You can see it all over your face. And Easton’s, too. Even though we’re all stressed out and worried and haven’t been sleeping because we’re trying to get this battle thing done, he looked relaxed. Not as high-strung as usual. You want to talk about it?” Wyn asked, and I shook my head even as Brae jumped into my arms. I scritched behind her ears, and then on her back between her wings.
“Well, you should,” another voice said as a woman walked into the room.
I turned, and Brae spat fire. Alura just knocked it away, a small smile on her face.
“Alura?” I asked, and she smiled.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. It took a while to get through the borders, and to ensure that those who were defecting from the Lumière had a path to get here.”
“I knew we would see you again,” Rosamond said, holding the other woman close.
I looked down at the bracelet on my wrist that had been so silent recently, and then back up at the other woman.
“Did you know I would need this?” I asked, shaking the bracelet a bit.
“Rosamond did, so I made sure you had it. Although you’re right where you need to be, and with the borders fading as they are, it won’t be much use to you now. It needed to get you to certain places at certain times. Now, it’s merely there as a talisman. To remind you of where you came from, and where you need to go.”
I looked down at the bracelet and nodded. “Okay, I can work with that.”
“Since you’re here, we were going to talk about what happened between Easton and Lyric last night,” Wyn said, looking through the books with Rosamond.
“I never agreed to that,” I said, blushing hard.
“Ah, so you’ve finally been with our king?”
“Maybe. I don’t really need to talk about it. Everything’s fine. He was nice. Gentle. And I really don’t want to talk about it with you guys.”
“Well, if you do, we’re here.”
“There’s something I need to ask, though,” Wyn said, and I looked over at her.
“Okay,” I whispered.
“Did you guys do anything special?” she asked. My brows went straight up, blush staining my cheeks.
“Um, what on earth do you mean by that?” I asked, laughing nervously.
“Oh, I don’t know, it could be the fact that I’m pretty sure that sleeping with Easton might have powered up the crystal.”
I stared at her, confused, and so did the others.
Then Wyn stood up, stretched out her hands, and the earth shook around us.
“Your Wielding!”
“Yep. Apparently, sex magic is the thing.”
“It is not,” I said, putting my hand over her mouth.
“No, but I do think that the two of you together is powerful. The crystal clearly healed, at least a bit.”
“That’s not going to be how she heals the crystal completely,” Rosamond said. And then she looked over at me. “But it is a nice touch.”
“And, that’s not all,” Wyn said, and then she went over to the water basin and hovered her hand over it. Water slipped out, wrapping around her wrist before splashing back. She looked at us then, and I froze, my mouth gaping.
“Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction. I have no idea how to Wield Water. I’ve never had it before. It seems the crystal wanted me to have it. Now, somehow, I’m a dual Wielder, something I’ve never been. I have a touch of Lumière, and a touch of Obscurité. So, thank you. And maybe I should thank Easton, too. Because I am going to need a drink. Lots, and lots of wine.”
“I think…I think I could use some wine, too,” I said.
“Okay, that much I can help with,” Alura said and then left the room, presumably to get some wine. Or food.
Something had happened last night. Something that had helped the crystal. I knew that sleeping with Easton wasn’t the reason. No, it had been the power that flowed through me, the fact that I had felt closer to the five elements within my body because I trusted the person I was with.
So, sleeping with Easton wasn’t going to save the world. Even as I thought it, my mouth quirked into a smile. I knew that everyone else knew what I was thinking.
If only that had been the answer. If it were, I would have gladly fallen into that outcome.
No, we would have to fight, blood would be spilled, and we would win.
For the moment, however, I would sit with my friends and talk about the things that I was supposed to talk about with girlfriends if I hadn’t crossed the veil into this realm.
If I weren’t the Spirit Priestess.
All those ifs.
One day, I would figure out what to do next.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Lyric
* * *
After all of our careful planning, all of our sleepless nights, and poring over maps and figures and trying to find out exactly how many people we had on our side now, we decided to take things on the offensive.
I had to pray it would work.
There would be no more trying to meet in so-called neutral territory. There would be no more hoping that the King of Lumière would see reason.
Though he hadn’t been the true King of Lumière for a while. He had been a puppet of The Gray, something that could not stand. Not if we wanted our kingdoms to stay whole.
So, as I cinched the armor at my side, I looked over at Easton and tried to breathe.
“We’re going to be fine,” he growled out, and I had a feeling it had nothing to do with me. I didn’t blame him for his frustration.
Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and I knew he hadn’t been sleeping. The two of us had tried to take naps when we could, but there was no time for that. There was constant battle planning, and when we weren’t doing that, we were making sure that we were trained, that our supplies were ready, and that those who couldn’t fight were protected.
The wards could only protect so much, especially when the strong fighters would be on the defensive at the Lumière castle.
“Are you ready?” I asked, sliding my hands down the leather of my top, hoping it would stay. I wasn’t used to fighting in this, and while my range of motion was still good, it wasn’t perfect.
Easton came forward and put his hand directly over my heart. I blushed. He wasn’t making contact just to be close. No, he was touching me where the tip of the knife had protruded from my chest, where it had pierced my heart, and he’d had to save me.
“I want you to wear like eight layers of this,” he growled.
I raised a brow and then put my hand over his, giving it a squeeze before moving my hand to his chest.
“Then you should do the same.”
“And then neither of us would be able to move our arms to Wield.”
“Pretty much. We’ll get to where we need to be.”
“We’ll have to make it work. I wish I could just lock you in here and make you safe.”
He lowered his head and kissed me softly. I sighed before taking a step back. There was no time for that now. Only time for war and death. Something I’d never thought to say or think.
“You can’t lock me up. Because I can’t do the same to you.”
“That just means I’ll have your back like you’ll have mine the whole trip. The entire fight.”
“You don’t even have to ask.”
“I wish there was more time.”
“There’s never enough time. We’re going to survive this. We have to believe that.”
“I just don’t know if everybody will. We’ve yet to come out of a battle unscathed. And I never want to see death in your eyes again. I never want to see my uncle scream because his husband is dying. I never want to see that look on Teagan’s face because someone he loves is dead. I want none of that. However, I don’t think we’re going to have a choice. This is our life now. Or perhaps it’s always been. After all, we were born into this.”
“We’ll make it through. We have to. Because if I think about any other outcome, then I won’t leave this room. And I sure as hell won’t let you leave.”
“We’ll survive. Because I’m not letting The Gray or the king or anyone else take you. If they try, I’ll slice their heads from their necks, and I’ll follow you into oblivion.”
I looked at him then and shook my head.
“You’re not allowed to die for me.”
“I can say the same for you.”
There was a knock at the door, and suddenly Wyn was there, her battle leathers on, and a sword on her back.
“Are you two ready?” she asked, and we nodded.
Easton frowned. “You never bring a sword to battle.”
She shrugged and looked down at her hands.
“My Earth Wielding is as strong as ever, but I don’t understand the Water in my veins. I don’t know if I can trust it. Plus, what if this is only a temporary thing? What if I’m fighting and suddenly…it’s gone again?” She shuddered, her face going pale. I didn’t reach out to her, neither did Easton. She didn’t want that.
And I didn’t blame her.
She needed space. I knew Wyn well enough now that I knew she needed a fight to work through whatever she was thinking. And we would give that to her.
“I understand.” Easton sighed. “We’re going to fix this.”
“Well, some of it might already be fixed.”
“Then I guess we should go,” I said, tugging at the bottom of my pleated leather top.
“Yes, let’s get this over with.”
Easton kissed me hard and then went to Wyn and kissed her on the cheek. And then, we were off.
Off to hopefully not die, to win this if we were lucky. Because if we could take the crystal, maybe I could use my elements to combine them.
I just didn’t know if that would be enough.
However, if I kept thinking like that, it wouldn’t be enough. We had to be stronger than this. So, I would be.
No matter what.
“We are going to survive this,” Easton said to me as we made our way to the others.
We were going to use the crystal one last time to get through the wards and to where we needed to go.
Because the wards were so thin between the two courts, I wouldn’t really have to use any of the crystal’s power. Instead, it would be my power, along with that of the Lumière and the Obscurité to get us where we needed to go.
The crystal would only be the vessel. Hopefully, we would be able to leave some power behind when we did so.
Not enough to strip us of our own powers if we attached ourselves to the crystal for too long.
“We will,” Rhodes said, coming up to Easton. He held out his arm in the way of a warrior, and Easton looked down at it for a bare fraction before gripping Rhodes’ forearm and squeezing it.
“I trust you by my side, always,” Easton said, and a hush filled the room.
I swallowed hard and looked over at the others. I knew that some of us were trying not to say goodbye, even though we were doing it.
We were going to fight, and I hoped to hell that we would win. Or, at the very least, survive.
“We must begin. If we don’t, we’ll be too late. It’ll be too late for everything,” Rosamond said, shaking her head. Her grandmother was there, rubbing Rosamond’s temples, and then she kissed the top of her granddaughter’s head.
We were ready to begin.
I closed my eyes as I stood by the crystal, and the others stood near me. Those of our inner circle tucked in close, including Lanya and Teagan’s father.
The Lord and Lady of Earth were gone, but the Lord of Fire and the Lady of Air were with us. As was the Queen of Lumière, though I was sure she had lost her title by now. Regardless, she was still royalty, still a fierce fighter even if she had been forced to hide it for so long. Delphine was ready, and I wanted to trust her, wanted to believe that she wouldn’t betray us. I knew that Lanya would be watching the other woman the entire time, but we had to trust a little. If we didn’t, then no one would be on our side when we fought the enemy.
So, I pushed all those thoughts out of my head and tried not to think about the fact that I was going to bring hundreds of people through the crystal to the wards. Not just those in this room either, the people in the court, ready to fight. All forms of Wielders were ready to come to our side, ready to be a part of this, and I had to bring everybody through the crystal and the thin wards.
The magical barriers that were so translucent at this point, you could see the other castle far in the distance if you looked really hard on a sunny day.
The realm was fracturing, the kingdoms were crumbling, and we were running out of time.
So, I closed my eyes and thought of the crystal. I thought of the light crystal in the Lumière Kingdom and how I wanted them both to be whole. I didn’t think there was a way to combine them completely.
Not as they were right now.
So, I pushed my energy into the dark crystal, used all five of my elements as they whirled around me and pulsated within my body, and I pushed.
Someone sucked in a breath, another gasped. Air moved over me, Water glided up my legs, and the Earth rumbled. Fire licked at my fingers, and warmth spread through me even as it chilled me to the bone. I knew that all five elements were there. And they were waiting.
As I opened my eyes, we were where we needed to be. Where the battle would be fought.
The King of Lumière was waiting.
I knew we had a traitor in our midst. Either that, or his spies were that good.
Easton had tried to find all of them, as had Justise over time, but there was only so much you could do in a court full of lies and whispers.
The King of Lumière and his people were waiting with some of ours until the battle was fought, right where Rosamond had Seen, right where it needed to happen.
The castle itself still looked whole, unblemished from all the taint of The Gray and the King of Lumerie’s darkness.
It seemed odd to me that the Lumière, the kingdom of light, would be the one that became filled with perpetual darkness. Maybe that was just.
Because while the Obscurité might have been named for the dark, they were the ones who pulled through, that saw beneath the shadows and tried to protect their own.
Not all of their people, not all of those in charge.
Because I recognized some of ours on the front lines of the battlefield. Some of the warriors who had once fought for our side.
Two of them I knew. Two of them I had seen in the Spirit territory at some point.
I knew them, I had seen them, and they had looked at me with disgust and fear when they saw me almost lose control of my four elements at the time.
They had seen the darkness in me. Or maybe they recognized it in themselves and had fled to the King of Lumière.
The others with me muttered to each other beside me, and I knew that they could see the faces of their enemies now. Those who had, at one point, been their compatriots.
The betrayal stung, but we didn’t have time for that.
I looked up, and even farther up, to where the King of Lumière sa
t upon a white winged horse, the regalness of the majestic beast bringing tears to my eyes. I didn’t even know that Pegasus was real in this world—or in any other.
Its wings were pressed tightly against its side since the king was on the top of the hill and not using the creature to fly. I didn’t want to hurt the beast. I wanted it to be free. It wasn’t like I could actually save those fighting against me, though.
I could sense The Gray all around us. Could see the shadows billowing and snaking amongst the people who fought against us. Who stood in front of us, their Wieldings at the ready, anger on their faces.
They were doing what they thought was right.
They thought us evil, and they believed what the King of Lumière told them.
They put their faith in a false god and believed the lies of a traitor.
There would be no reasoning with them.
“You could have ended this, Spirit Priestess,” the King of Lumière called out.
“As could you,” I answered, the others letting me speak.
“If you had only come to us, had seen the side of good, you would not be responsible for so much bloodshed.”
I ignored the hurt in my heart at that, even while Easton murmured that it wasn’t my fault. Rhodes did the same.
I knew it wasn’t completely my fault.
However, I also knew that if I wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t cunning enough to win this, more blood would be shed.
It wouldn’t only stain my hands but that of the man who rode a Pegasus as if he were a god.
“So be it,” the king snarled, and then there was no more talking. There didn’t need to be. He had said his piece even before this. He had spewed his lies and egged on those who wanted to believe that nothing was wrong, that there wasn’t a higher power orchestrating all of this.
They didn’t want to give up what they had, and they wanted to put the fault on someone else.
So, they cast blame on Easton. And they blamed their beloved prince who had betrayed them in their eyes.
And they accused me, a prophecy come to life.
Because, in their estimation, I was the one stripping them of their powers.
Regardless of what they thought, I would protect them.
From Spirit and Binding Page 29