Imperial ((Imperial) Web of Hearts and Souls)

by Jamie Magee

Vade was obviously not content to let me do just that. He pulled me back to his side once more. Gently, his hand caressed my long hair out of my eyes as he drank in every part of me.

  “I feel your agony. I understand that the beautiful sovereign you are would leave your entire flock for one…that you have done so before. But you cannot do that now. You cannot risk the confrontation.”

  “I’m not sending a deadly thought to him,” I bit out.

  “And you will not roam this Realm alone,” he countered.

  “Mazing will be at my side, as she has always been.”

  That cold stubbornness came to his eyes. “I have held you for mere hours after our everlasting absence. I’m not letting you go, now or ever.”

  Within an instant, I manifested beside the bed we were in and glared down at him. “I am not property. And if you feel that I am, then you are sorely mistaken.”

  Matching my power, he manifested at my side, fully dressed. “And pray tell, why do you think I would consider you as such?” he asked sternly.

  “Pray tell? You need me to do that? I have been imprisoned for lifetimes, and when I return I find that the line that I thought was forevermore gone, exists. Not only do they exist, but also I have Fated souls under my reign. The world I knew is gone. Our fellow kings ensured that. And now you are telling me that I can do nothing to avenge this—that there is some web of spells—that we must stand by and watch them blindly destroy themselves. Exactly why am I here now? Did you expect me to hear this and send a deadly thought to him, then bask in a rush with you like nothing happened? Like Silas doesn’t mean something to someone beyond me?”

  “Glad to see that basking in an everlasting rush is not appealing to you.”

  “Oh, stop it right now. Do not twist my words or even try to turn this into something that has to do with us.”

  “This has everything to do with us!” He spoke his words so powerfully that I felt my being vibrate.

  “You, my dear, sweet rush—you would not send one damned thought at your Fated Escorts—even if they destroyed the corporeal realm itself, you would let them be and smile with pride.”

  “I would not!” he seethed “Do you think that lowly of me? That I would knowingly let anyone in my line bring harm to you?”

  “He has not brought harm to anyone. For all you know, they provoked him.”

  “They did no such a thing. That was done by Xavier and Donalt, the pair of them.”

  “Then you should be striking them, not demanding that I end one of my own!”

  “Exactly when did I demand that you do such a thing!”

  “How am I not seeing this clearly? You told me not to go him—not to leave my flock—not to roam this Realm now that you had me back. Why now, Vade? Go ahead and say it.”

  He balled his fist and the room responded—the flames of the candles were well over my head at this point. “You must learn to listen.”

  “How dare you!”

  He raised his finger to stop my words. “I said listen—not listen to me. You are saturated with wrath right now, and you are choosing to hear what you want to, not what I said.”

  Okay, so he had a point there. I offered a sharp nod to tell him to explain himself.

  “I would never ask you to end any Escort of yours, especially a Fated one. Your Silas is guarding something precious to the pair of us. Something that I cannot speak of until our Creator deems fit. I know you will reach him, and I know if by some horrid circumstance you cannot, that our Creator will move what I deem precious out of harm’s way and together we will grieve for your loss—for the end you must bring to your Fated.”

  I stepped forward, holding my glare firmly on him. “What is Silas guarding, Vade? What did the Creator show you the day I perished?”

  He clenched his jaw.

  “Why would He take your words? Why would He not allow you to speak of something that clearly involves me?”

  “The both of us.”

  “The both of us. Therefore, I should be well aware of what is, has, and will occur.”

  “Then you need to take that up with the Creator,” he said as his eyes became hooded. Agony was exhausting him, an agony that I could not see.

  I threw my hands in the air. “Do you think that I have not called out to Him daily—hourly? That I have not asked Him what I did to deserve such a hardship?”

  “Are you telling me that you were hurt in the Veil? That the Reaper was cruel to you?” he bit out.

  That was not a sarcastic comment. He was sincere. How could he not understand what I went through?

  “I was hurt. You hurt me. I yearned for you. I yearned for the bliss of the life we had. For the kingdom we dreamed of. For the souls under my reign that I lost. The Reaper was gracious, as always, but my thoughts imprisoned me. I thought I was forgotten. And now I don’t know what to think.”

  Misery filled his eyes. “We shared the same prison.”

  “I didn’t see you there, and still do not understand why now. Why you waited.”

  “I assure you, the reason is precious. That if you were aware of it, you would have not only endured the Veil with a smile on your face, but you would have gladly extended your stay…the kings had to think you were gone. We had to wait for corporeal time to move. We had to plot for this day, as they have plotted for theirs.”

  “I should be aware of such plots. You and the Reaper have no words, and the Creator refuses to speak to me.”

  “He is not refusing you. His silence teaches us just as much as His words. You know that.”

  “Nothing could be worth this agony,” I said with utter disdain.

  In that instant, I was in his arms. I didn’t fight to move away. One arm pulled me against him as his other hand gently held my face. The smell of roses filled the air. “Something is…I swear to you it is.”

  I held in the tears I was too stubborn to let fall and nodded once before I reached for his face to pull him closer. “I trust you…but you have to trust me, too…Silas deserves a chance. They all do. If I have to drag them all here and draw them a map so they can see how they all connect, I will do so.”

  “In time, they will know. I swear.”

  “In this time,” I said as I looked away.

  His hand urged my stare to return with a gentle turn of my chin. “In this time, yes. I only meant for you to see your line first. They have suffered with grief. Let them know you have returned, that you are there for them. They will help us with this feat.”

  “I ache to see my line, and doing so before I reach out to Silas is a request I can honor, but I will not send them to tell this soul that he is mine.”

  “I would never ask that.”

  I was so confused. Did I imagine that argument we just had, or did I truly not hear him correctly?

  “Rasp will be with you. I want to ensure Mazing is cloaked as well.”

  “Why can you not tell me why my return must be masked?”

  “I can tell you that.”

  “You just said—”

  He raised his brow, asking me to halt. “I told you that I could not tell you the purpose of our absence. As I said before, the other kings assume I know nothing of the mist they have taken. If you lash out now, we will fail. This is a massive web of souls that must be tenderly unwound.”

  “I cannot leave them to face these kings alone.”

  “They are not alone. Our Fated feel deeply.” He glanced away. “They are connected with lights—soul to soul.”

  I gasped. “Explain.”

  “We never claimed them. They fell for hearts that belong to pure lights. They speak the sacred word, for they feel it.”

  His eyes poured into mine. I knew he was telling me that our fated could say that four letter word that began with an ‘L,’ and I could almost swear he envied them for that. But that was a foolish assumption. The King of Anger knew better than to even think of saying or feeling such a word.

  “And because they speak it, I am more than sure that the kings
are assuming them as weak—that the power we are will not rise within them. But they are fools. Our Fated are empowered by the emotion.”

  My eyes were wide, full of shock. “Vade…are they metallic?”

  He glanced away, shielding his eyes from me, hiding the answer I would see there, and his thoughts offered no answers either. “No...”

  “They could create it, though. If they are truly adored by a light, then they could create what you have always dreamed of—couldn’t they?”

  His jaw clenched and his body tensed. I didn’t understand—this is what he always wanted: souls perfectly balanced that could teach others to harbor pure emotions and rise above them. This desire of his was deep-seated and powerful, deep enough that I would do anything to give him this dream. It was the purest wish I’d ever heard, peace for souls that will never know that he even existed.

  Our dark Fated Escorts coupled with pure lights could pull this off. I knew they could.

  The rigged emotions Vade was at war with subsided and his body relaxed as his eyes returned to mine. “Souls that are connected on a divine level are capable of creating such a thing…a precious soul…a powerful soul that will symbolize everything we have ever dreamed of. With the symbol of that soul in place, our fellow kings would no longer be able to harvest the emotions they invoke, for those in our charge will have risen above them.”

  We stared at each other for countless seconds. I had no idea what he was thinking, what he was hiding from me, but I could feel a mix of joy and apprehension in his essence.

  Vade had always been a stoic being, but right now I was going to weather as much of this conflict as I could. I would go to my Fated and sway Silas to find peace. I would redeem the dead taken from the Reaper, and I would avenge my line. I was going to avenge the time that was stolen from me. And one way or another, I would find a way to give my rush his dream: Metallic Energy.

  A moment later, Vade nodded gently in my direction. A warm rush surrounded me just as my warrior clothes vanished and the garments of a queen replaced them to adorn my ivory skin. A long satin dress with a wide skirt and lengthy train was now covering me. The deep crimson was the color my line represented. My long, deep red hair was pulled flawlessly back, revealing my bare shoulders.

  Within Vade’s hand now was a precious jewel, the first material gift he had ever given me. It was a necklace made of diamonds, the large ones, outlining the constellation of Leo, the stars that were above me at my birth, death, and rebirth. It was the royal constellation, one that both Vade and I shared. The mark was clearly visible on both of our chests, above our hearts. He gave me this gift so that all could see it, for only his eyes had or ever would see the flesh where my natural mark rested.

  Carefully, he stepped forward and clasped the precious necklace around my neck. “My Queen, your line awaits you.”

  His hands slowly fell from my neck and slid down my arms. On my finger he placed another sacred gift from him, a ring made of rubies in the shape of a teardrop that failed to meet—that is, unless his hand, his ring, was next to mine; together, the rings displayed the symbol of eternity, the span of existence we had witnessed several times over together.

  His royal attire manifested on his body in that instant, a pristine black suit marked with crimson and a white tie. He was breathtaking in any light, but when he prepared to stand before his line his image was so powerful that I often lost the will to breathe properly.

  I didn’t know if I could do this, see them all. I knew if I did, I would see all that was at risk, which knowing my almighty rush…that was the point.

  Chapter Nine

  Assembling the lines in one location is rarely done. In my past reign, it was only done thrice. Once when I was said to be a sovereign, Vade’s line was the only one that assembled at that time. Obviously, the other kings had their reservations. At that assembly, Vade announced that I would rule wrath and rage and those under his reign would assist me in such a manner until my line was established. The second was when Mazing called out to me and was introduced to Vade’s kingdom as my First—that was a glorious night, one that the Creator Himself attended.

  The third and final time was when I called my line forth and informed them that we would no longer embark on the journey that the other kings were charging. I told them that though their hunger was intensified, they would not invoke such emotions but find nourishment within natural sources of the universe. I urged them to reprieve the wrath of Mother Nature, to subdue the storms that would harm the souls under our watch. No one in any line would openly protest their sovereign, but we can sense their approval or the lack thereof. That day, not one of them opposed my declaration. They each knew how dangerous wrath was and that invoking emotion would destroy more than it would ever create. Even though we could very well be at risk of starvation, they openly welcomed the stance I had taken.

  Vade had no need to ask his reign to do the same. Because the other kings were invoking fear, shock, grief, joy, and obsession, his emotion of anger lingered within each, meaning that nourishment for his line was in abundance in perpetuity.

  The gathering of lines was not needed simply because each Escort could sense not only each other, but also their sovereign. We were one without assembly.

  Each time an occasion like this would occur, anxiety that I should not have would claim me. I was not one to stand on a center stage or to hold a spotlight. I did not care to roam this priceless mansion while my line carried out our charge. I wanted to be next to them, and often I was, which is more than likely why Mazing was so lethal. She knew she was not only guarding the solitary queen, but that she was the only female that was a First. I was honored to have her at my side each time we followed the path our Creator had given us.

  Vade held out his arm, urging me to claim it like the queen I was. Whatever emotions he was fighting had subsided, and right now I saw pride and relief in his eyes. “This time has been long awaited,” he said sweetly to me.

  I breathed in deeply, feeling the diamonds of the Leo necklace gently clenching my chest.

  Within that thought, Vade moved us. Now before us was a vast stairway. Each step was black, but there was a crimson path down the center, one that we would ascend side by side.

  Silence was the only sound. Though I could sense his line, the priceless souls in mine—they were still. I clenched his arm, my soundless retreat. I couldn’t face them, not now. I had to make everything right, I had to bring them vindication and proof that my time away from them had been avenged before I faced each of them.

  Vade gently leaned to his side. With one arm embracing my waist, his humming lips met my temple. A rushing calm absorbed my being. He had taken my anger, and in the absence of that emotion I found a calming bliss.

  I nodded once nervously as his hand clenched my waist then slowly moved across my back before claiming my hand, connecting our rings, our symbol of eternity.

  Gracefully, we began our descent. With each step, I could see their images in my mind. Rapidly, yet utterly slowly, I remembered each one, each call, each time I claimed them. Though I felt bliss with those memories, I also felt agony. They were not all here. I was missing exquisite souls; ones that have never known me, ones that I did not answer when they called. I swore to my soul that one day very soon they would all be here, and that day we would celebrate the fall of the kings that had wronged so many.

  I had closed my eyes and was fully trusting Vade to guide me as I remembered each. When he stopped, when the silence reigned on, I carefully opened my eyes to a wonder that was nothing less than extraordinary.

  Before us now were countless souls. One half of the room was adorned in the deep crimson that matched my dress, the other in black; only the hint of crimson and white was in their attire.

  Mazing was to my right, and Rasp was to Vade’s left. The second my eyes opened, not only did my line silently bow to one knee, but so did every soul before me. In every direction, as far as I could see there were souls, my line, Vade’s,
side by side; there had to be millions of them. I would dare say they were infinite, yet I knew their names. I knew each face, each past.

  I could not comprehend how powerful my line looked. I had no doubt the nourishment that Vade had given me, that beautiful place where creative beings met and shared that gift, was afforded to them as well. The vitality and power lingering within their souls and vessels capitalized on the beauty that they were in my eyes.

  I felt the power of them vibrate the room. I thought to myself that if one soul could create an everlasting change…this many souls working for one cause could not fail.

  That was when I realized, like always, that Vade had more than one purpose in each action he took. He wanted me to see them, feel them. He wanted the same for them. He knew that the risk of loss would be clear to me, but also by the same measure I would feel the power of all of us. He knew if I witnessed this that no matter what course was before me, what horrid things that he along with the Reaper and the Creator were shielding me from, I would know that I could withstand them.

  “Rise. Your queen has returned,” Vade stated boldly.

  My line along with Mazing rose gracefully. His line remained bowed, waiting for his command.

  “Rise. Your king has found his rush once more.”

  Crimson was the color of my ivory skin at that moment. Openly calling me his rush was something Vade had never done. I can’t recall if there was ever an opportunity that he missed in the past. I just knew that when he called me such, we were always alone, embracing each other. I felt claimed, validated when his line not only rose, but roared with happiness.

  I gave a simple nod to my line, and they joined in the celebration as Vade tenderly pulled me to him and let his lips sweetly frame mine. He pulled away slightly so his eyes could see mine. “I swear to you that in time, this room will celebrate the return of all that is ours.”

  I could not hold the young girl deep inside at bay; she reached up for him and offered a deeper kiss that made both of our lines’ roars of happiness explode in the air. You could feel the energy dance across your skin, a warm, tingling sensation that made you feel as if we were all truly one.