“The fact that we’re no longer family is your fault. You were the one who disowned me.”
“I’ve made many mistakes. That was a grave one, but truthfully, not the worst of them.”
The cluster of candles on the altar flickered, and Korbin noticed Graiphen had tears on his face. He had never in all his life seen his father cry. His heart clutched, and he hated that the sight had the power to move him.
“What do you want?” he asked, his tone quiet.
“I want only to see you survive, to undo some of the wrong I’ve done. I can’t untangle myself from this web, but perhaps I can save you from it.” He reached into his robes. “Take this to the Hall of Records in Vol.” He withdrew a parchment and handed it to his son.
Korbin unfolded the paper and scanned it. It was a legal document bearing Graiphen’s seal and signature at the bottom along with the impression of a token marked as belonging to an official city clerk. I, Graiphen Ulbrich, do hereby reinstate my son, Korbin Ulbrich, as my rightful son and legitimate heir…
“This is my payment for taking Octavia away from Durjin?”
“No,” Graiphen said. “This is my attempt to say I was wrong about many things.”
Korbin wanted to believe him, but how could he? His father had never apologized for anything before, never given so much as an inch in his life, certainly never admitted to wrongdoing.
“How can either of us trust you? The last time you saw Octavia, you nearly beat her to death.” Korbin breathed the words angrily.
“Despite my reasons, I was wrong.” Graiphen didn’t deny it, make excuses, or shy away from the truth.
“You drove away the woman I loved, drove her father to suicide.”
“I was wrong,” Graiphen repeated.
“And you think saying that makes up for anything?” Korbin clenched the paper in his hand. “You think this makes up for anything?”
“No,” Graiphen said. “Leave the city, son, before Zain kills you both.”
“I don’t think I can talk Octavia into leaving, even if I tell her about Pendra. We’re working on important research here.” Considering how easily she abandoned that research when the emperor called, he wasn’t convinced of his own argument, but he refused to relent easily.
“What research?” Graiphen asked.
“Why should I tell you?” Korbin felt instantly suspicious. “You would likely try to prevent us from learning anything that would help our cause.”
“Let me prove my sincerity to you. If there is anything I know that can help, I will tell you.” He met Korbin’s eyes and held his gaze. “You won’t know if you do not ask.”
Korbin considered. Was there really any way knowing this information could be used against them? And what if his father was sincere? As head of a temple, he likely knew more than most about the Spirits and had access to tomes he and Octavia could never hope to see, even here in the palace.
After a pause, he said, “She’s trying to find out about the phrase Child of Eurmus. We’ve spent several days digging in the emperor’s private archives for mentions of the phrase.” He didn’t need to mention that he’d done most of that digging alone.
Graiphen’s eyebrows went up. “Ah yes. I had forgotten. I can see why she would be curious.” He paused. “There is nothing in the history books of Talmor that will tell you those truths. You are wasting your time in the archives.”
Korbin didn’t want to agree, but after several fruitless days, he suspected Graiphen might be right. “Can you tell us anything about a person or place called Eurmus? You must know something.”
“Not really, no. I’ve heard Octavia and some of the other conduits referred to in this manner. Even Pang has called Octavia as such. Does it matter? Are you sure you’re asking the right questions? I assumed he was the founder of Octavia’s religion.”
Korbin hadn’t voiced his doubts before, but they resurfaced strongly now. “Conduits are educated on their own history. She would know if that were the case. We’re looking for some evidence as to the origin of the Spirits, not Kilovian practices.”
“If I tell you what I know of the Spirits, will you leave Durjin?” Graiphen looked tired.
“Maybe. It depends what we learn.”
Graiphen stared at the candles on the altar and described to Korbin the moment he saw the portal into the Spirits’ world, when part of Pang’s being came through and possessed him and how he brought her here, where she left him to use Kiarana as a host.
“Is there only one portal?” Korbin asked, fascinated by what he’d heard.
“For now, yes.”
“What do you mean for now?”
“Priests of Braetin figured out how to rebuild the portal over a year ago, long before I left the senate and joined the temple.”
“If they can figure it out, they could do it again. Perhaps someone else from another temple can too.” Korbin paused. “And now Pang is breeding with humans and looking for a way to come through the portal in physical form, not that I’m convinced she could achieve that. But even if she doesn’t, she could overrun the empire with her spawn before the year is out.”
“Exactly.”
Korbin suppressed a shiver. “What are you going to do?”
“It’s too late for me,” Graiphen said. “I have given myself to these Spirits, these alien beings. But it’s not too late for you. Go. Please, son.”
“I’ll talk to Octavia,” Korbin said.
Graiphen closed his eyes. “Thank you.”
Korbin stood, still watching his father. Everything he’d been told matched what he’d suspected, plus Graiphen shed some light on things they’d had no inkling of.
Still, no matter what he learned, he found it difficult to trust Graiphen. He needed to think, to talk to Octavia, and work out what Graiphen’s real motive was. He knew better than to think his father had a sudden change of heart without good reason.
Graiphen continued to stare at the altar, so Korbin left him alone. He put the letter in his pocket, uncertain if he would ever file it with the Hall of Records, even if it would make some aspects of his life easier. No matter that he’d inherited Eliam’s title and wealth, some people would never fully trust a man whose father had disowned him, especially when that father was someone as powerful as Graiphen Ulbrich.
Korbin considered these things as he headed back to the guest rooms, hoping Octavia would have returned from wherever she’d been all day.
He stopped dead when he rounded a corner and saw two imperial guardsmen standing in front of her bedroom door. These weren’t just average guardsmen, either. They wore the crest of his personal guards on their chest. The emperor was in Octavia’s bedroom.
With them at her door, at least she didn’t have to worry about Zain getting to her, Korbin thought bitterly. She hardly needed Korbin to protect her. What could he do that the emperor could not, or that she herself couldn’t do? Korbin was a Dul, likely soon to be a minor senator, but what else did he have to offer that was actually of use in their current situation?
Going into his own room, he removed Graiphen’s letter from of his pocket and read it again. Octavia was safe here. That’s what mattered. He put the letter on a table and pulled out his trunks. It was time to go home, with or without her. He would tell her what his father had said, but if she chose to stay, that was her own business. Although they’d only been in the city six days, it was six too many, as far as he was concerned. He wished he’d never come, that he’d accepted the emperor’s offer to serve in the senate. Either way, he had no further reason to be in Durjin.
Chapter 19
When the emperor left Octavia’s room in the early evening, she rushed to knock on Korbin’s door, but he didn’t answer.
She sped to the archive room, only to find it locked. She hoped Korbin wouldn’t be too angry at her for abandoning him for the past couple of days, but he would have had a lot to occupy his time. Still, she wished she’d made more of an effort.
Jorek had kept
her so busy, though, that she’d not had a moment to think. He was rightly concerned about the influence Zain had over his son all of a sudden, and he’d given her opportunities to talk about the reality of religious persecution. All of this was between meetings he invited her to attend as his advisor.
Every moment of his day was scheduled, and he worked much longer hours than she’d thought possible. Many of the meetings she attended had little to do with her or Kilovia, and were instead petitions coming from all over Talmor. She began to see, however, that he wanted her there because he wanted her to see the scope of his own responsibilities. Korbin would understand.
She walked back to the guest wing where their rooms were, and knocked again. When she got no reply, she pushed the door open.
All his trunks were pulled out and left open. Most were packed, but a few of his things were stacked on various tables and the bed. She placed her hand over her heart and let out a little gasp. He was leaving? Was he that angry that she’d been occupied and had left him to do the research on his own? Or had something else happened, something she didn’t know about?
Her eye was drawn to an open letter on a side table. Flicking it with her fingertip, she peeked at its contents. I, Graiphen Ulbrich…
Her heart clutched as she scanned the letter down to his signature, marked with a seal in red wax and witnessed by a clerk of Durjin.
She jumped when the heavy door closed behind her. Spinning around, she faced Korbin.
“Octavia,” he said.
“You startled me.”
He looked as though he was about to say something, but instead, he just went to one of the trunks and put a few more things inside it.
“You’re leaving?”
He nodded, not meeting her eyes.
“Without saying a word to me?”
He glanced up. “No. Of course not.” A look she couldn’t interpret passed over his face. “I have things I need to tell you.” He gestured to pair of chairs in front of the empty fireplace.
Following his invitation, she took one of the chairs, and he sat opposite her. “I’m sorry,” she began. “I didn’t have a chance to get a message to you the past two days. I’ve been so busy until quite late, and when Jorek and I were finished, I was so exhausted I just wanted to sleep.”
He looked down and his mouth quirked. “I discovered something in the library, an interesting reference you might want to investigate. Cledilion made a copy and noted the tome.”
“Korbin,” she said softly, reaching out to touch his hand. “I’m truly sorry. I can tell you are angry with me. Forgive me, please. I was thoughtless not to insist on sending word. I assumed—” She stopped and shook her head. No, she shouldn’t make excuses. “I’m sorry.”
“How can I be angry with you?” He said softly, the black centers of his pale blue eyes widening as he held her gaze.
She looked at him, confused, until it dawned on her, the realization hitting her hard. “You saw the guards this evening.”
He gave the barest of nods.
He was jealous? But all those months after her recovery earlier this year, she’d scarcely seen him. She thought back. She’d not seen him because she’d been standoffish. She’d declined invitations, been too busy to meet him, and he’d kept a polite distance, but never lost touch. He’d been giving her the space to heal.
Seeing the look in his eyes now, though, his feelings were painfully clear. Why had he never spoken up? She knew why she’d never allowed herself to think about him in a romantic light. He was a Dul, she not just a foreigner, but a conduit. They belonged to different worlds. There could never be anything romantic between them.
She realized she’d been silent far too long. “It isn’t what it looked like.”
“You don’t have to explain your actions to me.”
“The emperor has been insisting that I attend meetings with him. His schedule is brutally demanding. I had no idea. Then this evening, he asked me to teach him some meditative techniques. I had some counting beads in my room, it was comfortable and quiet there, so we worked there.”
Although he looked relieved at her words, he spoke warily. “But you do care about him. You’re attracted to him.”
“We’ve become friends.” She knew it didn’t answer the question, but it was the best she could do. Her feelings for Jorek were unexpectedly complicated. She couldn’t deny being attracted to him, but his life was his work. Even if she could find a place in his world, neither of them would ever forget she was only a poor immigrant conduit. They could never be true partners.
“Friends,” Korbin repeated.
“He doesn’t have any friends, you know,” she said. “And he wanted one. I know what that’s like. I know what it means.”
“You don’t have any friends?” The hurt returned to Korbin’s face anew.
“No,” she said quickly. “I have you. I know what it would mean to me to lose you. These past months, I have tried to deal with everything that happened to me alone. I’ve faced my nightmares by myself. When you came back into my life, I realized I didn’t want to lose that again. I’ve been alone too much.” She glanced at his trunks. “Please don’t go.”
He sat back in his chair, watching her, his black curls loose about his face. “I spoke to my father this afternoon,” Korbin said. “Zain is plotting to kill us. My father made it clear we would be safest away from the capitol.”
Her tumult of emotions froze and she snapped her attention to the present moment. “Kill us?”
“We’ve become a threat to Pang’s plans. She and Zain are concerned about what you’re saying to the emperor.”
How would Graiphen, much less Zain, know what she’d been saying to the emperor? “Tell me everything your father said.”
Korbin went through his encounter with Graiphen, describing the emotional scene, Graiphen’s warnings, and then what he’d told Korbin about the portal and the arrival of the Spirits in this realm.
“Do you believe him?” she asked quietly.
“I do up to a point,” Korbin replied. “I also believe he has a reason for wanting us gone. I don’t trust him. I could never forgive him after what he did to you…”
“I know.” She cut him off, not wanting to relive that moment. “Korbin, there are things I haven’t told you.”
“What kind of things?” Korbin leaned forward.
“About me. What’s happened to me since I woke from… from the dead. There have been nightmares. Terrible things.”
“It’s all right. You don’t need to go through it all again.”
“But my problems are more than just dreams. I’ve had difficulty.”
“Tell me.” He watched her intently, his blue eyes catching the flicker of the candlelight.
“I struggle to work.” Somehow, saying it out loud was more difficult than she expected. She twisted a bit of the fabric of her skirt in her hand. “I can’t concentrate. I need focus to meditate well, to achieve the results I need to help those around me. These past couple of days, I’ve had the first good meditations in a long time.”
“Because of the emperor.” Korbin looked away sharply.
“No,” she said quickly. “Not directly.” She told him about what happened three nights before at the fountain. She didn’t want to spur his jealousy either, so she skirted mentioning that the emperor touched her arm and that he’d invited her to stay.
“A dam burst inside me,” she said. “I don’t know, maybe I needed to come here. Maybe the break from my usual work helped. Maybe the idea of confronting your father and Seba, as scary as that was, also helped unblock me.”
“Octavia, there’s something more you need to know. Something I’ve been keeping from you.” He furrowed his dark brow.
“What is it?” She tried to smile at him, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“I can’t tell you. And I’m afraid you’ll be angry with me when you do find out.”
“What is it?” Her heart squeezed. Something was wrong. What co
uld have him so worried?
“I really can’t tell you.”
“But why—” Then it hit her. Only one person could stop him from telling her something. “Jorek?”
Korbin nodded. “He ordered me directly not to speak of it, and going against that command would be treason. Even telling you this much means I’m defying him.”
Octavia breathed deeply for a moment. “Is it something that causes a direct danger to me or to someone else?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“So there’s no threat in me not knowing?”
“No,” he said quickly.
“But it’s something you believe I would want to know.” She couldn’t imagine what this secret might be. “So why would Jorek command you to not tell me? Can you tell me that much?”
“Can’t you guess?”
She turned the possibilities over and over in her mind. “Because he thinks I would leave the palace if I knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re telling me now because you want me to leave, and you think this will persuade me?” She felt a ripple of annoyance to have her emotions toyed with so.
“No,” Korbin said firmly. “I’m telling you because I am planning to return to Vol. I didn’t think it would be fair to leave you in the dark. Not only that, I feared if I didn’t at least give you some clue, when you eventually learn the truth, you’d never forgive me. I couldn’t bear that.”
Too many secrets, Octavia thought. “Can I not persuade you to stay?”
“Can I not persuade you to come with me?” he asked. “Zain is not just a man. He’s a demi-god. One who wants you dead. You understand that, right?”
She smiled and tried to steady her voice and fill it with courage. “Before I’m done, they’ll all want me dead. This is the task I was given. I’m as safe here as anywhere. Being a friend of the emperor is not a bad protection. Zain won’t dare move against him. Yet.”
“Yet,” Korbin repeated.
“I need you here with me.”
He glanced around at his half-packed trunks. “Why? I’m not any help to you. I don’t have anything to add. I wish it wasn’t true, but…”
Born Of Fire And Darkness (Book 2) Page 15
