I stick my nose up and shake my head stubbornly. “I’m not changing and you’re escorting me to this thing.” I tell her as I brush past her where she stands in the doorway of my chambers. “Theon wants himself a pretty little plaything to show off. Well he’s not going to have it. Not today.”
The party is in full swing when Clea and I arrive, which is in the garden where tables and canopies are set up for guests and the musicians. It’s warm in Llìria, especially for high summer and today is no exception. The sun scorches above, but I am a fire user and fire users draw strength from the flames of the sun. I don’t even break a sweat like most of the other guests try to pretend they haven’t.
“I need a drink.” Clea says when she notices Theon glance over from where he’s talking to some of the people he calls nobles.
Clea is slowly losing her cool and failing at pretending her soul is still gone, for her brother. I wonder how long it’ll be until he figures it out, and removes it a second time.
I expect it to be some time before I actually get a true introduction to Dariella, but like most things, I am sorely mistaken.
The young, beautiful girl marches straight up to me once she sees I’m alone. “Hello. Um…” She stares at me blankly, fishing for a name, though I am damn sure she knows exactly what it is.
“Kara.”
“Kara, right. The pregnant fire user wreaking havoc in a kingdom that isn’t hers. I’m Dariella, but I suspect you already knew that.”
“I know you’re nothing more than a spoiled brat who through a temper tantrum as soon as she didn’t get what she wanted and cut through all her friends like a tornado and fled the palace to lick her wounds.”
Dariella’s jaw drops. She expected only half of what she said. A pregnant girl in a kingdom I don’t know, but I guess she didn’t expect my fire. “How dare you?” she hisses at me. She starts to march toward me and I back up, clutching my stomach when Clea swoops in suddenly.
“Dari, come on now. You’re not actually going to hit a pregnant girl, are you?”
“Who the hell does she think she is?”
“Well right now she’s Theon’s pet and you know how he feels about those so I’d leave her be if I were you.” Clea eyes me with disinterest, playing her part as a soulless succubus here to do her brother’s bidding. But I don’t need some psychic bond to see into her mind to recognize the apology in her blue eyes. Or the warning. Don’t mess with Dariella. She’ll eat you alive. She wraps her arm around Dariella and begins to lead her away from me.
“She’s a nether user ya know.” Kol says from my side. “Dariella Aguillon was the closest any Serpentarian ever came to being Amara.”
When my eyes turn to my right and up to him, I know my eyes must burn with questions. “We have spent months being told Amara was the last nether user. Is anything either of you said true?” He knows I mean him and Clea. It goes without question that Theon is a liar. Or, at the very least, a deceiver, one incapable of sharing the whole truth all at once.
“Honestly we thought she was dead.” Kol begins to walk. Wanting to hear the story I follow him. “Despite Theon deciding against making her queen Theon did love her so he kept tabs on her. The last we’d heard she was in Zakaria, trying to win herself a crown there instead.”
“But how? I thought the reigning monarch was a woman.” Kol simply smiles down at me in amusement. “Oh. Oh.” I say, realizing. “The queen is…huh. I suppose Dariella will do anything for a crown.”
“Oh she’s boundless, that one. Anyway, the Zakarian palace was attacked and we hadn’t heard anything from Dariella’s whereabouts after that so we assumed she was dead.”
“So tell me the reason Theon discarded her, Kol. In fact, while you’re at it, you can tell me why Theon wants to hand his crown over to you in the first place.”
“I’ve already told you that Kara. He’s a fallen prince. Amara is a lost princess. You do the math. Who’d you want leading you?”
“That isn’t the only reason, but I suppose he’ll reveal that to me too, in slivers, eventually. What makes Dariella so special?”
“Typical nether users Kara, they present with the three basic nether abilities. Intention Perception, communicating with ghosts, and Soul Manipulation, and even that last one takes years of practice. Dariella, she mastered all of that, as well as Blasting. She was brilliant, but the moment Theon spoke to that Seer Dariella knew she’d lost him.”
“What Seer?”
“How do you think Theon knew about what Amara would one day be able to do? A Seer told him.”
“What? Like a prophecy?”
“No, prophecies are a bit different. It was just a vision she had, of a young girl who would one day master every nether ability there is, including Death Inducement and Soul Extraction, which is the one thing Dariella could never do. Well, that and Anti-Regeneration.”
“What is Anti-Regeneration?”
“It’s the ability to reverse any sort of magical healing that’s been done to someone. Like when Aaric healed you that day in the woods, when I took Amara to the cabin. A nether user with that ability could undo what Aaric did.”
Tears spring to my eyes when I realize something, something that turns my insides. “Wait, wait, nether users can undo supernaturally healed wounds?”
“That was a slightly better way of saying, but yes, that’s what I said.”
“Tristan, Tristan was healed. Aaric healed him and resurrected him, and then he died and we couldn’t figure out why. This is why, Kol. Someone undid Aaric’s healing powers, but Amara is the last nether user so explain to me how that happened? In fact, explain to me how Clea’s soul was extracted when Amara is supposed to be the last nether user?”
“Kara, you need to calm down.” Kol says sharply, eying the onlookers witnessing my breakdown.
“Kol, I don’t understand.”
“When an ether user resurrects someone they can intentionally leave the soul behind. It’s easy to do. That’s how Theon managed it. This is not some huge conspiracy Kara. We all believed she was the last nether user, Clea, Theon, and me. All of us. Now, if there is another nether user out there, someone who undid Aaric’s healing magic and killed Tristan, it’s very possible, but it certainly wasn’t our doing.”
“Why should I believe you?” I snap.
“Because I loved you!” This time when the people stop they’re staring at him, not me. Kol recovers before me, yanking on his jacket, brushing a nervous hand through his hair to calm himself. “Because I loved you Kara. And I wouldn’t hurt you like that. Why do you think Theon tasked Clea with the job of killing Tristan? Because I refused to do it.”
My breath comes in hard, painful. Finding out Tristan might have been murdered, not once, but twice brings on a rage I haven’t felt in a while. It’s quenched only by the confirmation of what I had hoped was true. Then it’s brought back by his last words. I refused to do it.
I swallow the lump in my throat and find my voice. “But you didn’t stop it.” I say, my voice barely a whisper as it breaks towards the end. I move a hand over my stomach and will myself not to fall apart in front of him. “And that…that I can never forgive you for.”
But as I start to leave Kol says something that makes my blood run cold.
“They aren’t his ya know.”
Fear slithers back in as I stare at him. “What?” I breathe.
He eyes my stomach. “They aren’t his, Kara.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your babies, they aren’t Tristan’s.”
“Yes, they are.”
“No, they’re not, Kara, and I can prove it.”
“How?”
Kol steps toward me and presses a hand to my forehead. “Sorry, Kara, but this may hurt a little.”
I let out a strangled gasp as I am suddenly plunged into my own memory.
Five Months Ago
I march up to a table in the library where Tristan, Jayla, Niykee, and Bay are all seated, doi
ng some research for one of our classes. “My ex is back.” I say, but none of them look up. I slam my hands on the desk, grabbing their attention. “Hello? Did you guys hear me? Kol is back. I need a distraction. Is anyone with me?”
Jayla looks up at me skeptically. “That sounds like trouble, Kara.”
“Trouble is the best kind of distraction, Fairchild.” Niykee slaps her hand on Jayla’s shoulder before following Bay over to me. “What did you have in mind Volterra?”
“There is quite literally a cabin in the woods. All we gotta do is get past the guard.”
Bay smirks mischievously at me. “I think I can handle that.”
“I’ll find a bottle of something with a bite and meet you in the courtyard.” Niykee winks at me and skips off.
“Well alright then.” I smile. “Tristan, you coming?”
“I lost a girlfriend recently. Why the hell not?” Tristan sighs, throwing an arm around my neck and dropping a kiss to my cheek. “Points for ingenuity, Volterra. Let’s go have some fun.”
Sneaking past the palace wall is easy. Bay does some reconstructing with his earth magic, making it so a tree on the other side of the branch hangs low enough for us to climb up and over. Then he uses that same magic to distract the guards stationed near the tree. A jump, some maneuvering, and we’re gone.
When we get to the cabin, which appears to be living quarters for some of the palace staff—though it is deserted at the moment—we get into the bottle of rum Niykee stole. It isn’t long before most of us are inebriated and I start feeling guilty for not inviting Amara along.
Amara and I have always been what you might call socialites. Though Amara is a scholar in school, she does not let that deter her ability to drink any one of us under the table, maybe even Aaric. She would have loved a reprieve like this. The place feels empty without her and Aaric, so I do what I always do when I don’t have my partner in crime at my side. I wander.
The lake isn’t far from the cabin and so I wander down to it. I step forward, kicking off my flats and sinking my feet into the cool water. It’s February now, though we are in the south where it grows warm much sooner than the end of winter. Still, I’m a fire user and the cold doesn’t bother me as easily as the others.
I brush a hand through my fair hair, anchoring my head to the side when I see the silhouette of someone approaching me. I gasp, jumping back from the water, dirtying my feet in the sand as I look up to the approaching stranger.
“I’m sorry, love.” The boy smiles, impossibly blue eyes widening. “Didn’t mean to frighten you.” He’s a handsome boy, from the far north judging by his accent. Early twenties, ash blond hair, those blue eyes, dressed like most of the guards, save for the uniformed jacket they all wear.
“I-it’s okay.” I stammer. “I just thought I was alone.”
“Now that would be a crying shame, love.” He smiles softly at me. “I’m Theon.”
“Kara.” I offer softly.
“Kara.” Theo repeats back to me. “That is very unique. What does it mean?”
“Ah, beloved, I think.” I say, half-smiling because I’ve always found it a little ironic. In a group of girls Amara is always chosen first, the beloved one. I hardly ever get picked first for anything and poor Jayla even less than that. We are overlooked when standing in Amara’s constant starlight. It makes me wonder if this man would even give me a second look if Amara were here.
“Do you know what that word means?” he asks, approaching slowly to stand by me towards the water. “Beloved?” I only shake my head. “Dearest love. I find that entirely accurate.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“I’d like to.”
The moon is high in the sky by the time I realize Theon and I have been sitting here in the sand, talking for hours. No one from the cabin has come looking for me.
Theon makes me laugh like no one has before. Is it odd or just inevitable that I might find such solace in the presence of a stranger than in the presence of my own friends? A lot of people think that I’m shallow, materialistic because of the way I present myself, but it is all to mask an inferiority I have always felt towards my brother. But here, on this beach, with this boy, I feel the mask recede.
“Aren’t you a guard at the palace?”
He glances down at his clothes. “It appears so.”
“Then why aren’t you taking us back?” I ask with a challenging smile.
He chuckles. “Well, you don’t look like you’re ready to go back.”
“I’m not.”
“So why were you out here all alone love?” Theon asks, offering me a soft smile.
“Hah, I just…needed a minute.” I say, meeting his eyes, but the look he gives me tells me that is not enough to satisfy him. I let a small laugh slip. “Kol Kasanoff is my ex.”
“Ah, I see. The king’s bastard.”
“Yeah. And Amara, she’s my best friend. She and I have always been attached at the hip, ever since I can remember, but it isn’t just because we like the same things or because we share the same fears. She keeps me in check.”
“In check?” he asks questionably.
“I’ve always been somewhat crippled with self-doubt, dejection. Amara, she…she keeps those thoughts at bay.” I turn my eyes away, needing a private moment for myself, to push those rising feelings down. “She keeps me sane. With her so absent now I feel like a part of me has been torn away. My friend Jayla calls it separation anxiety. She thinks I’m being dramatic.”
“Kara,” Theon’s long fingers curl around mine, forcing my eyes back to his. “It isn’t dramatic at all. It’s love.” Our eyes linger on one another for a long moment before Theon suddenly begins to pale. I sense the cold fear pouring off of him in waves. “Kara, I need you to run.”
“What?” I choke out.
“Run.” he growls, a low sound coming from deep in his throat. If I wasn’t sitting so close I might not have heard it. In seconds Theon is on his feet, using lightning speed I have never seen any Zodiac possess and when he turns there are four dark figures approaching quickly. I can’t see who they are through the black hoods masking their faces, but it is abundantly clear to me that they are here for me. Maybe for my friends too. Why, I simply don’t know.
I stumble back on the sand in shock as Theon quickly begins to fight off the advancing men. He grabs one by the jacket at the neck area, tossing him to the water nearby while grabbing another in the same place. This one he tosses into a tree. His hands curl around the neck of the man—no, boy I see clearly as his hood falls away from his face—and I hear the break before his lifeless body even hits the ground.
I watch a safe enough distance away as Theo drops the other three like it’s nothing. I’ve never actually seen a dead body before, other than Clea’s, but I am oddly not as afraid as I thought I would be. I am simply in awe of this man.
When Theon turns around to me with a busted up lip, the only sign that he is injured, all I can do is stare back at him. “Please don’t be afraid love.” he says, approaching me slowly, a hand stretched out toward me in caution.
“I—I—I’m not.” I stammer out. “You saved my life.” I tilt my head up when he reaches me. I reach a hand out toward him and he visibly flinches at the thought of my touch. Questions for later, I tell myself as I cup his cheek in my hand. I run a thumb over his bleeding lip softly.
What I do next is brave, something the girl shielded by her mask would do, not the girl I am. I move up on my toes and press my lips to his. I haven’t kissed anyone since Kol abandoned me and so I am surprised at what the sensation of another’s lips on mine does to me. It twists something deep in the pit of my stomach. I expect him to break the kiss and for me to have to apologize for my actions, but none of that happens. Instead Theon circles his arms around me and deepens the kiss.
When my eyes open Kol is stepping away from me and Theon is ever-present in the garden., peering over me and somehow I know he knows. He knows what Lol has just done. I wonder i
f he’ll be angry. I gasp, clamping a hand over my mouth as the memory hits me. But it’s not the only one. A dozen more follow. After meeting Theon that night I’d snuck out of the palace to meet him a dozen times after, until one day I did the unthinkable.
I slept with the enemy.
Without even knowing it.
“Kara,” Kol prompts when I say nothing.
My eyes flash to Kol and then back at Theon. And then suddenly I can’t take it anymore. I do the only thing that makes sense to me.
I run.
I keep running through the garden and through the courtyard, but Theon is much faster than I am and he rushes after me.
“Kara, wait.”
“You stay the hell away from me.” I sneer at him.
“Kara, please. Just let me explain.”
I stop and whirl around to face him. “Explain? I—I remember. After we…” The only sliver of dignity I have left won’t allow me to say it. “I remember Kol taking it all away. That’s why I don’t remember how Tristan and I ended up sleeping together, but I do now. Kol compelled so that we’d think we—but we never did anything.” My eyes fly to Theon. “The twins, they’re really yours.”
“Yes they are.” Theon approaches me slowly, but I back up, out of reach.
“Why were you there that night?”
“I sent Kol to the palace to watch over Amara and to get her out once I decided it was time for her to come with me, but I had to scope the palace, see where it was weakest so when it was time for him to break her, and you out, I could with little incident. I wore something similar to guards’ clothes so that if I was caught I had a convincing lie to tell.”
“Did you know then, who I was?”
“That night you were just a girl on a beach. I didn’t know who you were at first, but as we talked and you started to tell me about you and Amara, it’s then that I realized you both had a Psychic Echo.”
Most of that, at least, makes sense. Though, in the future, I really need to practice better standards. “Kol is your ether user, but his element is water. I don’t understand.”
Savage Reign Page 17
