Wariness settled on my shoulders as they slouched, and I pushed further into Shanton, as if he could take away all the horror bouncing around in my head and make it all better. “Just tell me.”
“It’s a ceremony when someone is executed. First, they are stripped of their existence, of who they are. They are made to feel what it is like to have nothing and be nothing.” Her eyes met mine. “We take their magic first. Then their energy. We take it and return it to Nature. We believe that we will be reborn and by taking their power, they will be reborn without it. They will not be an elementalist anymore.”
“I’ve seen a lot of fucked up shit,” Shanton said. “And that is by far the worst.”
“I know,” Atasha said, her voice thick with unshed tears. “It is tradition though, and one I have not been able to touch. Only two of the Highborn council have voted favorably to abolishing it. We have not been able to change that yet.”
“So before execution, you break them,” I said.
She nodded. “Yes.” She sobbed, and I wanted to feel for her. This was something she was clearly against in her society. Realization dawned on me. My father would have had to go through this process. My chest twisted. “My father?”
She blinked furiously and attempted to fight back a sob. She tried to answer, but all that came out was a small croaking noise. She nodded furiously instead.
Rage rose through me. A soul-burning rage against the fuckers who did that to others. They destroyed a living being, took what held them together, and watched as they shattered. And it was a frickin tradition to do it too. I wanted to burn the whole damn place to the ground.
The ground rumbled in agreement.
“Rein it in, Laila,” Shanton whispered into my ear. “Control yourself for now. She still has more to tell us.”
I nodded stiffly and pushed my magic deep down within the depths of my being. Taking a few deep breaths, I forced my body to relax. Finished, I nodded at Atasha to continue.
She cleared her throat. “The Council managed to take his magic away. But before they could finish and take his energy, he escaped.”
“And now he’s running around out there in search of magical resources. How is he still alive? That should have killed him.”
“We don’t know. That was one reason we didn’t bother searching for him. We thought he’d die.”
“Should have hunted him down anyway, just to verify,” Shanton said.
“If he is alive, the only explanation I have is that he found a way to put his body into stasis.”
I frowned hard. “That’s possible. He’d have to have acted quickly though. What do you think is his ultimate goal?”
Her eyes were pleading as she said, “To destroy us all. We don’t know how he survived. With the loss of his magic, he shouldn’t have. You saw those two bodies. The same should have happened to him. And now, with that machine, he can collect all the magic he wants and use it how he wishes. It can make him whole again. That is a very bad idea.” Her eyes flickered behind us and we turned to see two guards coming our way. They stared at me curiously as they walked past and disappeared inside the ice box. “Come back to my cottage. I have a gift for you.”
Atasha’s eyes stayed on the small shed as she led us back to her place.
“Wait here.” She disappeared inside.
I glanced at Shanton. “Do you have as many questions as I do?” I asked.
“I don’t think anyone can have as many questions as you do,” he replied. “But I definitely have a lot of questions. I’m still not clear as to why they look like that. From the reports, the ones at the park still lived though their magic was stolen.”
“I’m not sure, but best guess, it’s the energy. What happens when something becomes imbalanced? When something is in perfect harmony but an element that keeps it in harmony is removed?”
Shanton’s jaw flexed. “Chaos.”
I nodded. “I’d say the energy turned on the body. It’s why it would be an effective execution plan if they want the person to suffer. First remove the magic and put their body into chaos. The energy will attack and there’s no buffer any longer between the body and the energy. I’d say a death like that can take a few hours.”
“But it’s sped up when they then take the energy.”
“Yes.” I nodded. “And the body is already exhausted, all its nutrients depleted after losing its magic and then fighting itself.”
“When magic is taken out, the process begins and the body begins to shrivel,” Atasha said, coming back out. She held a small pouch, but didn’t hand it over. Instead, she motioned us back into the garden. “It only takes a few hours. During an execution, we leave them in that state for an hour or two before removing their energy and killing them.”
“Don’t try to make it seem like a mercy kill,” I snapped.
Her haunted eyes met mine. “I would never.”
Her response made me wonder if she watched my father, her brother, go through the process. Again, my chest ached at the loss of a man who had probably desperately wanted me. Except my mother took that option away from him. Stole his child away from him. It was impossible to think about what he went through during his execution. I couldn’t hold onto those thoughts without turning murderous myself.
The moment we settled down, she handed the pouch over to me, sliding it across the table between us. “This is for you. You cannot stay here anymore.”
The sudden twist of pain in my heart took me by surprise, and I gasped. “What?”
“The Highborn Council will not let you leave us, and they have spies all around. The longer you stay, the more dangerous it becomes. They’ll poke at you until they find your weakness and then they’ll use it to keep you.” Her eyes flickered to Shanton briefly. “Be happy that it is the dragon that you brought. They would never dare to defy him or his people.”
I stared at the pouch before reaching over and pulling it to me. “What is this?”
“Your awakening.”
She didn’t expand, and I took that time to open the pouch and look at the contents. It was a mix of herbs I wasn’t familiar with. I didn’t recognize any of the scents either.
“Mix it with boiling water, seep your magic in with it, and then drink it. You will awaken.”
My head snapped up in surprise, eyes wide, mouth popping open.
Shanton shifted closer, his nose flaring, mouth partially open as he took in the scents. “Nothing poisonous.”
“You think I would poison my only remaining family?” Atasha’s voice was hard as she dared to glare at the dragon.
“I don’t know what you’re capable of doing,” Shanton replied simply, not feeling bad.
She took in a deep breath. “This will unlock your energy. Be warned, the moment you drink it, you’ll be out. This is a hard and dangerous transition to go through. Only those here who wish to go through it do. It is not something we force on everyone. Most are willing to risk it, but there are some who don’t.”
“What’s going to happen to me if I take it?” I stared down at the pouch, seeing it in a new light now that I knew it could give me full access to power without having to borrow energy from those around me.
“It’s going to change your existence on a fundamental level. It is going to remake you, strengthen your body to handle the power that will flow through it. You notice how you get tired now when you use too much magic or power?”
I nodded. “I go to sleep if I drain myself and it can last for days.”
“Your body is not capable of handling that much as it is. You do have a wealth of magic in you, I can feel it, but when you try to use a lot of it up, your body tries to break down. You go into a healing sleep as your body repairs the damage done to it by funneling so much magic. When you unlock the energy hidden deep in you, your body will also change to support all that it holds. You will no longer tire as easily.”
“And I’ll be able to use power? Without having to take the energy from others?” For some reason, I
couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“Yes.”
“What are the risks?” Shanton asked. “If you usually have a whole ceremony behind this, what are the risks of her doing it on her own? What should we prepare for?”
“While she’s out, there isn’t much to do, it is a wait. She will be out for about a day. When she wakes up, that initial moment is the most dangerous. Her magic and her energy will flow together and it can be volatile. We let them sleep and while they do, we create a ward that will contain them when they wake. It absorbs the explosion of power that will be released from the body. After her power explodes, she will faint again and sleep for a few hours as her body adjusts and replenishes itself. Then she will wake and need to learn control.”
“An explosion of power will need to be contained.” I mused over how I would have to go about doing that. I’d be out of it, and if my body was going to be all out of whack, I wouldn’t be able to sustain a ward myself. Plus, if it were my own ward, the power explosion would easily tear it down, the ward recognizing my magic signature.
“That you will need to figure out on your own. I suggest if you wish to go against Padraig to find a place soon that will allow you to stay there for the day. Take the medicine, awaken. Your chances to fight against that man will increase. He was powerful before we stripped his magic away, and he’s still powerful working only at half his potential.”
“This awakening, what is the mortality risk?” Shanton asked. I nodded in support of that question.
“One in ten.” Her lips tightened. “We tried to pinpoint the why in it, why some people make it and others don’t. We’ve had people with weak magic levels die, but we’ve also lost people with strong levels. Even now, we do not know why they were the ones to die.”
“So it’s Russian roulette?” I asked.
“I do not know what Russian roulette is.”
“I’m not sure either.” I gave her a weak smile. “Someone explained it to me. You put one bullet into a revolver and then shoot it, never knowing when that bullet was going to be discharged.”
“Ah, yes, then Russian roulette. We have not been able to determine if a person will make it through and it feels random.” Her expression saddened and there was a haunting look to her. “I had a younger sister. She decided to go through the awakening. She did not make it.”
Atasha tilted her head to the side, and her green eyes flared brightly for a moment. When she straightened, her smile was heartbreaking. She had lost both a younger sister and a younger brother. There was no mention of her parents, and I didn’t want to ask. Atasha had already said I was her last remaining blood relative. That was all I needed to know. I didn’t have any more room in me to miss or mourn people I’d never met. My parents were enough.
“Time for that tour I promised you.” She stood up, and after I shared a glance with Shanton, we followed after her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Once Atasha gave us the grand tour of the property, she dropped us back off at our room and left us with a tight smile. I didn’t need to be able to feel emotions to know hers. She was worried for me.
That woman, my aunt, was worried for me.
I didn’t know what to do with that information or how to feel.
“This place is impressive,” Shanton said as he moved around the room. He waved his hand, motioning me to keep talking.
“I can’t believe it’s able to remain hidden.”
Shanton stalked over to a corner and paused to take in a deep breath until moving on again. “I imagine after we leave, I won’t be able to find this place again. There is a lot of power floating around here.”
“I can’t disagree with that. Do you think they’ll let me find this place again?”
Shanton disappeared into the closet, his voice floating out as he said, “Yes. They want to court you, for you to join them. They won’t exile you from their lands.”
“How kind of them.” My voice came out bitter as I sat on the bed and waited until Shanton came out. He motioned for me to make a ward around the room, and I did.
“Clear. They didn’t bug us.”
“Good. Now for the bigger issue here. What the fuck are we going to do?” I asked.
“Well, according to your aunt, we need to sneak out.” He approached me slowly and when he got close enough, pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him and enjoyed his scent and the feel of him surrounding me.
“Sneak out and find a place to hide for a day while I unlock my full potential,” I muttered. “Easy.”
“Can you teleport us out of here?”
I shook my head. “Not with that ward. We have to go old fashioned until we get outside, and I don’t think it’ll be a good idea to go to a place I’ve been before. They’ll be able to find us easier if they decide to hunt me down.”
Shanton’s hold tightened on me. “They don’t get to have you,” he growled out. “You’re mine.”
“Okay, caveman.” I pulled away and patted his shoulder. “Maybe we should figure out how to get out of here. And I need to find Siitha.”
I went into the closet and grabbed our bags. Shanton took them away from me and put them on the bed. We didn’t have much to pack, we’d never unpacked to begin with. He collected the few odds and ends we had needed while I went through our bags and created a mental checklist of everything we had and what we would eventually need if we stayed out here for much longer.
“Siitha will join us while we’re sneaking out. There’s a smaller village about a day from here if we are where I think we are. We can get provisions there if need be,” Shanton said.
“Okay, good, because I’ll need to get more potions and you’ll need more food. Plus our clothes need a good washing. I’d rather not stick around here while we wait for our clothes to get clean.”
“We won’t be able to stay there either, though.”
“If Atasha is right about the power explosion, I’d rather be isolated from everyone. I’m still not sure how to do the ward. If it was keyed to me, it wouldn’t be as strong against my magic.”
“What if we mix the ward with my energy?” Shanton asked. He reached over and rubbed my back, smoothing out some of the tense muscles. I bit back a groan. His hands felt so good.
“Attune it to you?” I mulled that over. “It could work and you’re a powerful man. Let’s just get out of here first. I don’t really want to think about it too much right now.”
“Laila.”
I didn’t look at him as I rearranged the bags.
“She’s your aunt.”
“I know.”
“Some days, I wish I could read your mind, like right now. What are you thinking?”
I huffed. “More like, what am I trying to not think about.”
Shanton grabbed my wrist, stopping me from stuffing clothes into the bag. “She’s your aunt.”
Glaring at him, I yanked my arm away. “I know that. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that. Can I build a relationship with her if I wanted? Especially when she paints such a beautiful picture of the Highborn Council locking me up to keep me. I can’t come here again. You know I can’t, not without pissing off the Council or them trying to keep me. And it doesn’t seem as simple for her to leave. When we walk out of here, I might not—” I drew in a sharp breath. “I might not see her again. She’s here, and I know she’s here, but there is a good chance I won’t be able to see her again. So, I’m not going to think about it. Not right now. We’re leaving and I’m going to ‘awaken’ or whatever the fuck they call it, and then we are taking that bastard down. He’s done enough damage.”
“If you want to build a relationship with your aunt, then it will happen. Trust me on that?”
I nodded, and without my permission, the hope blossomed. I had real family, real blood family who knew who I was and what I was capable of doing. For once, the dark tunnel I’d been fumbling through since I was born didn’t seem so dark anymore. She had answers and by the set look
on Shanton’s face, he was determined to make sure I had the opportunity to get them.
Hopefully, this time I didn’t get burned.
Once we were packed, Shanton took the lead, making use of all his senses. I was too afraid to use any magic in case they were able to sense it. We were also betting on them being too distracted with the men who’d been killed to pay any attention to us.
Shanton shimmied the window open and jumped out. I followed soon after with his help. He nudged me to skirt the building toward the back. My heart pounded painfully in my chest as we snuck about in the dark, the sun having just set.
The sneaking around was slow, but we were managing. We made it out to a small cabin, slowly inching toward the ward when a sound caught our attention.
Shanton stilled and in response, I did too. His eyes narrowed as they focused off into the darkness, leaving me feeling blind.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Atasha said, stepping out. “I came to help. They increased the guards tonight and since they didn’t think to watch me, I won’t put them on alert if they sense me. Let me help keep you hidden.”
“Very well,” Shanton replied.
“I will lead. I know a spot you will be able to slip out of.”
She led us further out, toward the barrier. The closer we got to it, the more my skin buzzed from the feel.
“Hold,” she whispered, and we both froze.
I didn’t pick anything up, but Shanton clearly did. He moved me so I was tucked into his side and he was between whoever was out there and me.
“Come,” Atasha whispered after a few long minutes and we were sneaking around again, bent over to stay low.
My muscles ached from the way we hunched down and with the building tension. We were getting closer, and I expected to get caught any moment. Wasn’t that how it worked? I’d make it to the very end only to get caught at the last second.
“Here,” Atasha said. “Shanton, if you please, there is one guard here who will need to be knocked out, and if I do it, they will know I had a part in helping you leave.”
Magical Redemption Page 22
