Imperial ((Imperial) Web of Hearts and Souls)

by Jamie Magee

  When our kiss ended, Vade looked deeply into my eyes before he raised his hand and silence came.

  He turned to face them and began his speech using his all-powerful, deep, velvet voice. “Each of us is aware that anger is a gift. That within that emotion great change can be accomplished…” His eyes seemed to meet each of theirs as he paused. “A great tragedy fell upon each of these lines, and in turn we endured the emotions that my fellow kings rule…I felt the pleas of each of your souls. I felt the bliss of each of you as Glory’s line was restored. As we became one once again. Today, we end one tragedy and embrace another.” Silence echoed through the air. “We are at war.”

  The fierceness in each of their eyes sent powerful vibrations through my being.

  “As sovereigns, we along with each of you were designed to be a cure. Several of my fellow kings have decided that it is best for us to be both a disease and a cure. They feel that in order for us to gain power that we must invoke emotions that were already at critical levels, and have been for some time. We are meant to be the cure—the cure that releases the souls under our watch and allows them to rise higher…that act and that act alone empowers us, not the former. We will be that cure and not embrace the savage ways other kings have chosen.” He paused, allowing his words to be absorbed by the masses. “At this moment, we only have one choice: to become an element of calm at the center of chaos. We will prevail in this war—a war that has angered us to our core and caused each of us not to embrace the past, or the present, but the future. A future that will be like no course that time has revealed. A future where our charge will not only be to take the emotions that create evil in souls, but also to help them rise, rise and embrace the royalty that is in each of our souls. We will reach this prized goal by measuring our every step, by evaluating every possible outcome. We will reach this goal by harming no one that has not thoroughly deserved such cause.”

  Vade glanced across the masses, then to me. “We are not all here tonight.”

  Unrest fell over the crowd before us. His returning stare settled them instantly. “Those that are missing will need our guiding hand and our protection; you will protect them by not hindering their anger…that is the emotion that they will use to defeat those that have imprisoned them. The emotion they will use to bring great change—the emotion that was meant to hinder them but will in turn be the weapon they use to render their enemies asunder. You will return to both the corporeal and non-corporeal realms of the universe; there, you will continue the charge that was given to each of you. You will prevent evil from manifesting within souls that cannot harness the emotions we rule. Every sense you have will be highly elevated. You will tell me of any revelations you find. You will not act until I charge you to do so.”

  Vade gently squeezed my hand, telling me it was time for me to speak. Every part of my being was tingling. I think in the back of my mind I assumed that my line would be enraged at me, that they would feel forsaken by me and feel that they could not count on protection under my reign. I was wrong. From the moment they laid eyes on me, I felt their intentions, their emotions. My acts, my sacrifices, were applauded by them. They felt as if I would do the same for each of them, and they were correct.

  “There is no finer bliss than hearing your souls call to me…I remember each one…each of your voices…your images. Those moments have saturated my memories in the time that I was away. I never thought I would see the likes of any of you again; therefore, this moment is not only a gift, but also a power that you have given me. Our line has suffered a personal assault. One that I will avenge.” I glanced to Mazing at my side, then to the crowd once more. “I imagined all of you in peace, living lives that brought you bliss. That was my intention—my intentions were not honored. I’m grateful that all of you found your way to Vade, that he found you. That you are in safekeeping.” I clenched Vade’s hand before I went on. “Wrath seizes my being, for I know that we are missing a precious few. Few that do not know of my name or our purpose.” I had to hesitate long enough to ensure that the quiver that was attempting to seize my tone was restrained. “I will avenge them as well, as I would avenge each of you. I’m eternally grateful to call you my own.”

  With those last words, they each bowed, my line and Vade’s.

  “I bid you courage as you carry out your charge,” I said so quietly that I knew their vessels could not hear my words, but surely their souls could.

  The majority of them vanished at that moment to do just as Vade and I had asked. The only ones that remained were the ones that stayed on this level, the ones that managed the springs and the information and nourishment those waters gave us. Each of them went on their way, returning to the charges they had been given.

  I knew Mazing was miserable in the gown she was in. I offered her a simple nod, and within that instant her warrior clothes returned. She moved from my side and leaned against the banister of the stairs. Rasp followed her lead, both ensuring that Vade had the private moment that his essence all but commanded.

  Vade gripped my hand. “I ask that you not leave now,” he said under his breath.

  Almost timidly, I glanced up at him. “Time is of the essence…Silas is in pain, and that pain puts your line at risk.”

  “Yours as well,” he murmured with pleading eyes.

  “That is why I must go to him now. You can come if you wish.”

  “You know I cannot.”

  If I had the strength, we would not only embark on the argument that those words always invoked, but for once and for all end it. I never really cared what others thought, what my actions led them to believe. Vade didn’t either, I’ll grant him that, but by the same measure he plotted his every move. He knew if he went with me at this instant that the other kings would not only be aware that I was given a temporary reprieve by the Reaper himself, but that Vade was aware of the mists that were stolen from each of us. That we were aware that they were silently seeking to bring Vade’s rule to an end. You would think that after what we have endured that he would boldly do so, but I knew this king, this boy that held my rush. He was protecting something that I could not perceive now, something that he had sacrificed deeply for; perhaps as deeply as I had sacrificed on some level.

  “And you know that I have no choice,” I replied solemnly.

  “You can send for him. Call him here. Let him see this place.”

  “You mean drag him here. Imprison him and tell him to behave or I will smite him,” I bit out.

  “Glory, you have no idea what the corporeal world is like now. We are enemies to what he has become. Evil that we fought to hinder, has manifested.”

  I had no fear of evil, for I knew I was the cure to its existence. “I went to each before him. He deserves no less. I dare say he deserves more at this juncture.”

  “You went to them in dreams. Dreams that they called to you in. He never called you, for you were never aware of him, and he is yet to be aware of you.”

  “Dreams that I doubt he takes the time to have.”

  He could not argue with that. I knew Witnesses barely slept. If he was risen as such, the opportunity for either of us to meet never existed.

  After an obvious internal battle, he reached for my hand, and in that instant my dress was replaced with my warrior clothes; only a long black jacket that reached just below my hips was added. The priceless necklace vanished, yet the ring remained. I felt him squeeze his powerful hand around it. Agony pierced my soul as I remembered throwing it at him at the end of our last fight, as I remembered wishing I had it when I was in the Veil, thinking that maybe if I did I could tell him exactly where I was, or at the very least have a part of him with me.

  His other hand reached behind my neck and pulled me to his lips. A slow, yet commanding kiss laced with subtle seduction was within each movement of his mouth. As the kiss ended, his long fingertips slowly slid down my neck, across my collarbone, then down my chest bone, stopping just before the peak of the Leo mark on my skin began. “You leave h
ere just as you came, with the mark of royalty on your vessel and my eternal devotion within your hands…Glory, I will warn you of this…your absence from me has shortened any patience I may have had when it comes to the likes of you. Return swiftly, or I will come for you.”

  His tone was low and deep and held meaning. It was as if he were standing between his two greatest desires and could not assure himself that the course he had chosen was correct. I knew I was one. The secret between him and the Creator was the other.

  “I would wish for no less,” I whispered to him. I didn’t intend for those words to hurt him, but I could see the sting in his eyes. Not regret. No, he still felt that our absence from each other was necessary, but he hated that I was blind to the reason.

  “Rasp will cloak you and stay at your side.”

  “What kind of sovereign would need another’s First to guard her?”

  “I assured the Reaper you would be safe. The only way for you to leave the Veil was for him to hold the majority of your power. Otherwise, your escape would have been felt.”

  “Power comes in all forms, and I would dare say that the wrath of a woman scorned is more powerful than any supernatural power I may have possessed.”

  His flawless jaw line tightened before he spoke. “I will say this again, you must think of your line as you. If your actions are too dangerous for them to embark on, then they are for you as well. The Reaper may hold part of you, but your line will feel your pain as I do. Rasp comes with you, or the Reaper himself will pull you back into the Veil instantly.”

  I suppose I’d forgotten that my stay here was measured by my words, that in the end I would return to the cathedral of the Reaper. Some consequences never leave you. “So be it.”

  I offered a simple nod. He kissed my forehead once more, squeezing my arm, then vanished, trying to hide the angst I still managed to see.

  Warily, I looked just behind me to find Rasp and Mazing both with crossed arms and in full-on warrior stance.

  “The springs,” I stated before I vanished and manifested before them.

  The springs were nothing less than majestic. Every soul knows that water is life itself, powerful, tender, moving, still, and everlasting.

  Before me now was a vast hall that extended as far as the eye could see. White marble had flowing water encasing it, and within this fraction of water the universe was opened for us to witness.

  Vade’s speech before was on point. We were meant to be the cure. Once, I asked the Creator if I was evil because I could not only withstand emotions that others could not but also consume them. He offered a very simple answer: because I exist, evil cannot be born.

  What was intended to occur in The Realm was that the souls would dream, and in that state their minds would unravel and relieve their emotions. The Escorts would collect those dark emotions, in turn allowing the dreamers to see a clear path.

  The negative energy that Escorts released was sent through the springs, where each of our kind could consume those emotions and cleanse them. The pure energy traveled through the water, returning to The Realm, giving the dreamers the power to harness it and imagine life as they wished.

  Imagination leads to creation. Full circle. Creation often leads to more powerful positive emotions. If we had stayed on our course, there was no telling how illuminated our reality would be.

  Instead, kings betrayed their charge, altered our purpose, and let loose an evil that never should have existed.

  I would stop that. One way or another, I would stop that. The Creator may not be using words with me now, but I felt Him within. I felt Him tell me that I could be the cure I was meant to be. That I was powerful enough to not only cure the emotions I was meant to take, but also the damage that my fellow sovereigns had created.

  Metallic energy was the answer. My Fated Escorts may have been lost to me, but pure lights found them. They could create such an energy if they wished. I was sure of it.

  Before this time, I would have cringed if any soul from my line asked to be coupled with the likes of any light in human form. I would fear they would harm that light, or at the very least they would both be forced to leave their course of life unfulfilled. My opinion had vastly changed. I knew because they were Fated Escorts that they could do both.

  I didn’t understand this web of hearts and souls that Vade spoke of, but I would honor his request and take no action to harm my Fate’s path. If that meant that I could only watch from a blind distance, I would do just that. My only issue was my dear Silas.

  The springs were darker than I had ever seen them. I could see the disease of evil lurking everywhere. Those foolish kings. How could they not see the damage they have created?

  I glanced at Rasp. “Is there no light?”

  “There is…you just have to peer closely to see it.”

  My eyes slowly moved across him. He had changed, too. At one time he’d had a dark humor about him, a way of making everything around him appear sensual. This turmoil had either changed him or he was having trouble finding comfort in my presence.

  I could only hope that he and Mazing had rekindled their friendship. Once upon a time they’d been the best of friends. They’d really had no choice in the matter. They were usually side-by-side. I remembered thinking that in a distant future the two of them might have asked to be coupled, that they would have changed history with that request because not only would I honor it, but I would also persuade Vade to do so as well—even if it meant that my line would fall with his once again. I knew that no matter the outcome, Vade would never subdue the power that I had, the power that produced a deep, seductive fever within him.

  I suppose that request would never come now. Mazing had little trust for the opposite sex, and Rasp would never see her the same after the betrayal she had committed. Rasp placed his king, his line, and me highly above himself. Anyone that would bring harm to us was his forevermore adversary.

  I nodded for Mazing to walk at my side as I took in the visions of the springs. Rasp seemed somewhat hurt that I was silently asking him to wait for us, but I knew the conversation that I was about to have with Mazing was one that she would not wish to have in front of him.

  “This is a righteous situation we’re in here, Glory.”

  “Truth,” I said under my breath as I gazed at the water we were passing. Right now, I could only see the whole. I would have to touch the water to find the one I was seeking, and even then I would be the only one that could see the one I was searching for. It was an authority that only a sovereign had.

  Right now, I just wanted to see the world Silas was residing in; that way, I could understand his point of view more clearly when I left here for him.

  “I know we have never spoken of your betrayal,” I said to her as I kept my stare on the water and passed through the vast hall. I could feel her energy seize. “We must speak of it now.”

  “I will tell you anything, I swear,” she offered with great remorse.

  I stopped my walk and faced her. “How long did this fever between you and Colton last?”

  She took in a breath sharply before she answered, obviously fighting her mind’s eye as it produced the past I was questioning.

  “An orbit.”

  A year in Earthly time; that was longer than I would have guessed. Hot fevers last a few nights, maybe a course of the moon. An orbit was quite some time and a heavy burden that she had to carry each moment of that course.

  “At any time did Colton lead you to believe that he was not Xavier’s First?”

  Her auburn eyes grew wide for an instant. “Not in so many words.”

  “Mazing, I know this is hard to remember and to face, but I have to know how long my downfall has been plotted. In what words did he say such a thing, or did he say it to you?”

  She blinked, forcing her eyes to swallow tears of rage. “Honestly, until you said that I would have never thought otherwise. If I had thought he was not the First, I would have found the courage to speak to you about my fev
er.” She glanced at the dark springs, then back to me. “He was miserable. I don’t even know why I bothered to speak to him.” She seized another breath before she spoke. “We were both on the first level of The Realm. I was doing as we were meant to, and those under his watch were causing shock in the dreamers. For the sake of showing off or silently telling him that his actions were foolish, I stood on the other side and pulled the negative emotions out of the dreamers so no matter what he or his line did, the dreamers were safe. It was a foolish display of power, I understand that, but I guess I just wanted to point out to him how cruel his actions were.”

  “You realize that was very close to an act of war,” I cautioned her.

  “I thought it was too playful to be considered as such. He was smiling at me, then for no reason he began to do the same, yet his line did not know it was him. We both laughed as they scrambled to hold their charge…the next moonrise after my charge was done, I played the game once more. This time, he manifested beside me and sat down in the field and gazed forward. He asked me tenderly if I thought I had the power to take his emotions. If I could make him see his existence differently.”

  “How do you know that was not a ploy?” I questioned.

  “Oh, I thought it was,” she said as she clenched her fist. “I listened to him talk for days, and before long we were not speaking to each other as Firsts of a sovereign; we became friends. He often stated that he never felt the connection he was supposed to, that when he questioned Xavier about it, Xavier told him that it was because the emotion was shock and it would claim him when it saw fit. Colton didn’t believe that. He said that the rest of the line felt what he could not.”

  “So he had no loyalty? Is that what you are telling me?” How could she not see how obvious his actions were?

  “He had loyalty to our existence, but not his sovereign. I remember one night we were watching the mists fall from above, watching the energy of you and Vade divide and find beings that wanted to become what we were…he spoke of how fragile those mists were, how fragile they would be when they were born. He even asked me if I thought it was possible for a mist to be taken from its sovereign.”