Ascension (Unbound Prophecy Book 1)

by J. L. Jackola

  At times, he questioned why he put up with Tynan as he knew his Council did the same frequently. He had no good reason just a loyalty he’d felt to him since they were young. They’d been close before their father decided it was time for Sinow to learn the duties of his future role. It was then that they’d grown apart, slowly at first, but as they grew older the distance grew. Since the ascension, Sinow had noticed Tynan acting out even more. His behavior was more secretive, he uttered comments under his breath as he walked, eavesdropped on conversations, and now this. If Sinow had been more mistrustful, he would have suspected Tynan’s intentions, but he wasn’t and to the Council’s frustration he never did. If he’d heard the words of the rewritten prophecy, he might have put the pieces together, might have had some idea of the snake that lay among them, but he didn’t nor would he until everything was lost.

  Twenty-Seven

  Violissa sat by the window with a book in her lap. She’d begun to read to clear her mind, but as was typically the case, her mind wandered and so the book sat unopened. It had been several days since she and Sinow had parted ways, and she couldn’t stop thinking about all that had happened that day. It was as if two different people lived within his one body and both were vying for rule. He had begun the morning so possessed by that Darkness within him and then suddenly he was back to the man she’d first met so many moons ago. She knew the calming spell she had quietly woven was part of it, but she couldn’t help thinking that the part of him she found so attractive fought for dominance when she was near. Almost as if he felt the need to maintain control in order to protect her from whatever that Dark side of him might try to say or do to her. She smiled at the thought of him trying to protect her, as if she truly needed it. She sighed and looked longingly out the window. To be honest, she felt drawn to both sides of him. When he was evil and moody, he projected an aura that stirred her deep within. She desired him no matter which side had dominance, but her desires were more animalistic when he lost control. A shiver went down her spine. She wondered what it would be like when he eventually accepted his Dark powers and that split person he’d become finally merged back to one identity. Would she be able to resist once that happened? She doubted it; she was having such a difficult time as it was.

  Her thoughts were disrupted when Cyric’s voice entered her mind. Violissa, we need you down in the lower wings. There’s something you need to see.

  She looked down at the book in her lap. “A lot of good you did clearing my mind,” she said to it as she stood and placed it on the seat where she’d rested only moments ago.

  I’m on my way, she replied to Cyric. She stretched and wondered what could be so important that Cyric would call her away from her private time and to the lower wings at that. The only things down there, aside from the Council’s library, were dampness and spiders; both things she could do without on this beautiful sunny morning. Glancing out the window one last time, she let out another sigh and shifted to the source of Cyric’s voice.

  Violissa was surprised to find how deep within the lower chambers Cyric was. In fact, this was somewhere she’d never found herself.

  “Cyric, what is it and why the urgency?” She looked beyond him and noticed Brom in the background. He bowed slightly, and she smiled in return, silently wondering why both of them had brought her here. She was beginning to get a sense of foreboding which was solidified when Daneele appeared from behind Brom. Where he’d emerged from, she couldn’t tell as a stone wall had previously stood where he now was.

  “Violissa, we need to show you something. Daneele,” he gestured to Daneele to move back. Daneele waved his hand and mumbled a quiet spell, the wall behind him dissipating as he did. Violissa took in a surprised breath. “What? How did I not sense the magic in that façade?”

  “It’s old magic, my Queen. An Elvin spell that only I know,” Daneele responded as he continued forward. “You are entering a section of your castle that has been hidden since it was first built. The only time anyone but myself has been here was the day of your creation.”

  Violissa walked past him, drawn to the end of the hall. The hallway was wide, wide enough to fit her entire Council. She easily walked past him, not stopping until she was standing before what appeared to be a doorway carved into the stone, although to the mortal eye it would only appear to be a dead end. The door, carved delicately into the stone, emitted a rich and ancient power whose source could only have been Elvin. She brought her hand up to it, and a line of beautifully carved words appeared over the top of the doorway. Etched upon the door, a pattern of flowers rose to greet her hand. That’s when she noticed the source of her Council’s concern. Along the seam of the door lay a thick black film that seemed to be stretching around the outer edges of the doorway as if it were attempting to escape whatever lay beyond the door. As she watched, it appeared to move slightly. She took a step back in reaction.

  “This is similar to what I saw at the sacred grove,” she stated, looking back at the men. “What is it doing in my castle?”

  “That’s what we need to find out, Violissa. We don’t know what it is or why it’s here, but the fact that it’s escaping from that doorway is a very bad sign,” Daneele replied, the concern in his eyes revealing the true seriousness of the situation.

  “The three of us have been down here debating who should be informed of this, other than yourself of course, and we can’t come to an agreement.” Violissa looked at Cyric quizzically as she let him continue. She wasn’t sure where he was going with this. “Some of us are of the thought that we need to inform the Dark King since this will surely impact his realm as well as ours.”

  “What? Why? There’s no reason I can’t simply send this stuff back where it came from like I did in the grove.”

  “Violissa, I don’t think you understand what this means.” Daneele stepped up to the doorway and rested his hand almost reverently on the door before them. That’s when it dawned on her.

  “You said this doorway was only used on the day of my creation? This can’t be…” She stopped momentarily as the thought took shape in her head. “This is the doorway to the Hidden Realm?”

  They all nodded.

  “It was under us all this time? Why didn’t I know?”

  “Because you weren’t meant to know yet, my Lady,” Cyric replied. “The Fates said the doorway would open again only after the prophecy was fulfilled.”

  Daneele stopped him as he began to say more. “All of this can be discussed in depth at a later time, Violissa. What matters now is that something is happening beyond that door and if this is indeed the same substance we saw at the realm borders, then the problem may be worse than I fear.”

  It worried her to see the deep concern in his eyes. He took his role as Keeper very seriously and was very protective of the Hidden Realm as well as anything that affected the prophecy.

  “Daneele,” Violissa began, “that part of the border where we saw it last, does that area touch the Hidden Realm?”

  He nodded. “Yes, in fact, it sits at the exact place where the king’s keep once sat. This is why we must alert the Darkbearers, Violissa. When we hid the realm, it became lodged in a collapsed piece of our world. The magic we used caused our world to fold in around it as if it were in an eternal void. If it were to reappear, it would now sit within both our realms. It would split a part of the boundary in half. If this substance,” he touched the black part of the doorway for emphasis, “is indeed leaking out of the Hidden Realm, then it stands to reason that it will be seen in both our realms. Since we don’t know what it is or what it can do, we need to warn them.”

  Chewing her bottom lip, Violissa began to pace the corridor. She didn’t have an issue with sharing this with Sinow, but she did have a concern about how to share it. There had never been a Darkbearer on their soil apart from her ascension, and there definitely had never been one in their home other than that day. Having him down here with the Hid
den Realm, the birthplace of their people and that of the Elvin, well that was something unprecedented. If she invited Sinow in, she would be giving him a glimpse of something so sacred that her Council had not even shared it with her up until now. She pulled at one of her curls and looked back at the three Council before her. “Fine, send a message to Sinow’s Council that I request his presence at the height of day and that it is of utmost importance he meet me.”

  “I would recommend he brings Kanine,” Cyric said. “As the king’s eldest Council and one who was present during that fated day, he may add insight.” Violissa started to object, but she knew that Cyric, the only Council left from that period, would know best. He and Kanine were the eldest of any living Council, and if anyone could figure out what was happening here, then they would be the ones.

  She nodded. “Brom, please send the message.” She looked up at the blackness around the doorway one last time. “I’m going back up to think on this. I’ll be in my chambers if you need me. Please call me when they arrive.”

  They nodded to her as she turned to leave. Daneele walked ahead of her and released the magical force that shielded the corridor from the rest of the castle. She realized as he did so that she had the power to walk through without him, but she kept it to herself.

  “Daneele,” she said as she stepped past him, “do you have any idea what it is or what it means?”

  “No, for once I’m at a loss. I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing, Violissa. I only hope that we can figure out a way to stop it. I wish we knew what was going on beyond that door to cause it.”

  Violissa smiled wearily at him then shifted. She needed time to take in all she had been told and to think on what all of this meant. She worried about the spreading blackness that was creeping beyond the doorway and wasn’t sure she knew of a way to stop it. She thought she’d taken care of everything at the border, but apparently the source went deeper than they could see. There was not much she could do but wait for Sinow. She felt gritty from the lower levels and touching the black substance so decided to take a hot bath while she waited. Yes, a long soak in the tub would relax her and help her think more clearly. With that last thought, she headed toward her tub room and prepared for some much-needed quiet time.

  Sinow handed the reins of his horse to the stable boy who took them and quickly backed away from him. He gave the boy a hard stare then laughed as the boy cringed with fear. He leaned in closer to him and whispered, “You’re very wise to fear me, young man. Remember that as you get older. I’m not someone you want to ever cross.”

  “Yes, my liege,” the boy stuttered then ran off toward the stables with the horse. He knew there was no real reason to scare the kid, but the earlier in life he knew that fear, the more obedient citizen he would become when he grew up.

  Sinow brushed the dirt from his pants as he walked toward the castle. He had gone riding upon waking to clear his head but instead had spent the entire time thinking about what had happened the last time he had met with Violissa. The calming spell she had woven had worn off quickly, so thinking about her was a struggle. He had clamped that unpredictable power down deep within him, but he could feel it seething, waiting for just the right opportunity to overtake him. That opportunity came quickly as Kanine shifted before him.

  “My liege, I have urgent news.” Sinow looked at his eldest Council whom the others often referred to as Elder. Dealing with the torment within him had put Sinow on edge, and the last thing he wanted at this moment was to hear any kind of urgent news.

  “Can’t it wait until later today, Kanine? I’ve just returned from a ride and would prefer some more alone time before I’m hassled with matters of the realm.”

  “No, Sinow, it cannot wait. We’ve received a message from the Lightbearer Council. The Queen has requested your presence at her castle at the day’s high point. For some inexplicable reason, she has requested that I come as well.”

  “Just the two of us and no other Council? And at her castle, on Cirillian ground rather than the meeting grove?”

  “Yes, my liege. Strange as it sounds, that’s what we were told.”

  Sinow had stopped walking, the Dark within him twisted and howled for escape as a thought came to him. “So Violissa feels she can summon me now? Hah, as if I’m one of her Council? Really. I don’t like being summoned anywhere, do I, Kanine?”

  Kanine eyed him questioningly but must have realized that Sinow’s demeanor had shifted and so held his tongue.

  “I don’t feel like being summoned at her command. Are you in the middle of anything, Kanine?”

  “No, nothing in particular.”

  “Then we are going to pay the queen a visit, only we’re going to do that on my time and not hers. If the matter is that urgent, then it mustn’t wait.”

  With that he closed his eyes and focused on finding Violissa. The war raged within him as his senses drew him closer to her. There, he could feel her power emanating from her so strongly it was as if she were in the next room rather than a realm away. He reached over and grabbed Kanine’s arm, knowing Kanine couldn’t travel into Cirillia as he could. Then he allowed himself to follow her power and shifted toward it. Inwardly the Darkness rebelled at the prospect of being in her realm, but the anger it felt at having been summoned by her kept him in shift.

  He shifted in with a fury and felt the floor beneath him buckle in protest. He looked around and as he did he heard Violissa gasp. “Sinow!” He turned toward her voice, ready to bring his anger down upon her but lost all ability to focus as he faced her. She was standing in a water-filled tub, holding a long towel in front of most of her body. She’d been so startled at his arrival that the towel only covered the important parts. The curve of her hips and thighs were left as exposed as the sides of her stomach were and Sinow had to catch his breath at the reaction that exposure caused within him. He took a step back then remembered Kanine was with him.

  He smacked the man hard across the chest. “Kanine, turn around now.”

  Kanine turned quickly in embarrassment. “Yes, my liege.”

  “Sinow, what is the meaning of this?” Violissa questioned, her voice powerful. She pulled the towel up closer to her as his eyes followed the curve of her body. “Sinow?”

  Just then Brom shifted into the room. “Violissa, is everything all right?” He asked. Sinow watched him as his expression shifted from concern to horror upon the realization that his queen was barely dressed. He had to chuckle as Brom averted his eyes quickly and a pink blush colored his entire face.

  “Yes, apparently, my message was misunderstood by the king, Brom. I clearly said the day’s peak, but it was somehow taken as immediately. Please take Kanine to Cyric so they may begin talking. The king and I have some things to discuss.”

  “Yes, my queen. Would you first like me to remove said king so that you may be more…decent for your discussion?” Brom continued to look at the floor while he addressed her. Violissa’s eyes, however, never left Sinow’s.

  “No, that won’t be necessary. I can take care of that myself, and I think it just punishment for his assumption, thank you, Brom.”

  With that Brom turned and looked with relief at Kanine, who still stood with his back to Violissa. “Kanine, shall we?”

  “With pleasure, if you don’t mind, my liege?”

  “Go,” he said, holding Violissa’s stare. Brom shifted and Kanine followed, leaving them alone.

  “I imagine you have good reason to come crashing into my tub room, Sinow? Judging from your entry, I don’t think seeing me in such a form was your intention, so why is it you’ve assumed that this is somehow appropriate?”

  Her quip angered him. “The assumption was on your part, Violissa,” he said, saying her full name even though he wasn’t completely lost to the Darkness. “I do not take well to being summoned, especially by you.” He felt the power swell slightly within him, knew his eyes had
just darkened another shade.

  “Ha, this is about your pride? You don’t get summoned? Sinow, you really think this is just about you? I asked you here to share urgent matters that will affect both of our realms, and you complain about how you were asked?” She threw up her hand, and the towel shifted, the skin of her right breast sliding free, more of her hip becoming visible. He took a step back and grabbed the chair behind him. Desire raged through him only to be challenged by the fire within him. He growled in reaction and glared at her.

  “Seriously, Sinow? You deserve to be flustered right now, and I’m thoroughly enjoying your reaction.”

  “Vi… please put some clothes on and we’ll talk. I may have made a mistake rushing in here.” He hated giving her the upper hand and admitting he’d been wrong, but he had to remove himself from the situation before he destroyed the entire room.

  “Why hold back, Sinow? Maybe it’s time to finally give into it…this is our opportunity.” The green in her eyes turned to a lush hue, and he watched as she released the towel. It dropped soundlessly, but he didn’t watch it as it did. Instead his eyes surveyed her body. It was just as he’d remembered from their time in the Dream Realm. He’d memorized every detail of it and here it was before him once again, waiting to be taken. Her breasts rose and fell with her breath, and before he knew it, he was upon her. He pulled her to him, wrapped his hands through her long golden tendrils and kissed her. She rose to meet his kiss, pressing her body against him. Her mouth was sweet and needy, her skin quite possibly the softest thing he’d ever touched. His hands ran along every inch of her, and she groaned in response. She ripped his shirt open and pressed her body even harder against his chest. He’d waited so long for this he couldn’t stop the momentum, knew there was no turning back. He backed her against the wall and she lifted her legs, inviting him in as his hardness increased. The need for her raged through him as she cried his name. Her hands were at the buttons of his pants as he nestled his face to her breasts, licking the sweetness of her skin. “Sinow?” He paused momentarily, that time his name sounded different. “Sinow?” He heard again as he looked up to find her standing across the room once again, the towel still covering what his mind had subconsciously uncovered. His breath was tight and ragged, the chair he’d been holding onto disintegrated in his hands. Violissa’s cheeks were flushed as if she’d caught every minute of his fantasy. How had he let that happen?