Phoenix Rising (Maggie Henning & The Realm Book 1)

by Lisa Morgan

“We argued. He demanded to know what I’d told Irabella and I answered him ‘the truth’. Luc swore at me and before I could try to reason with my brother, we felt the pull of the king.”

  “The pull of the king?”

  Michel nodded his head. “As we are his offspring, he can summon us at will, pulling us to wherever he is.” I gave a shiver at the explanation while he continued, “We came through in the Throne Room. Father sat on the dais staring down at us, his expression pleased. Irabella stood below him, her back to us.

  “The king welcomed Luc back to the war with his arms opened wide as he rose to his feet, and promised that the witch would be dealt with.”

  “What do you mean, ‘dealt with’?”

  “Irabella had told our father that she’d bewitched Luc when he’d arrived at her cabin,” Michel forced. “That she bewitched him to gain secrets she could sell to the revenants in order to keep her grove and people safe.”

  I was stunned. I’d heard what the incubi had done. Now I had a new image to put to one of the acts of punishment handed down by the king. My heart ached for Luc.

  Sensing my emotions, Michel squeezed my hands and finished the tale, his words struggling to leave his mouth. “Luc was irate. He refused to believe her. He raised his sword to the king and was immediately surrounded by guards. Our father stepped down his riser, prepared to order the death of my brother.

  “Irabella turned from the king, and with a wave of her hand, time slowed. She looked at Luc, smiling and reaching out for him, touching his chest before she took his sword. I heard her words, just as Luc heard them, and like my brother, I felt the honesty behind them.

  “She simply said, ‘let me go’,” Michel whispered. My breath caught in my throat, and I could feel the fracture this had brought to the vampire who’d saved my life a short time ago.

  “Luc’s eyes shimmered, and truth was plain behind the smile on Irabella’s enchanting face,” Michel struggled again.

  “Irabella lied to the king,” I whispered, knowing it was true.

  Michel bowed his head before he finished. “Taking the punishment from Luc’s shoulders to hers. He tried to stop her, but to silence him, Irabella spun the fabric of time forward, switching her position with Luc’s. When the guards came to, they rushed Irabella and cut her down in front of him. She died there in the Throne Room, in front of my brother.”

  “Why didn’t he defend her?” I begged, not disguising the pain or tears that wanted to slip free.

  Michel answered softly, “Irabella used her last bit of magick at that moment to bewitch him. The very crime she’d been innocent of she used to soften the blow to Luc’s heart. He felt the pain of watching her killed, but he was useless to attempt to prevent it. It wasn’t until her body was set alight on the pyre that the spell was broken. When Luc came out of it, he was like stone. He shut himself off to all emotion except anger and hatred.”

  “I don’t understand? How could Luc just shut down his feelings?”

  Michel rationalized, “He realized that the love he’d had was gone and no matter what he may have wanted, he was helpless, left with no way to get that back. So instead, he closed himself off and threw all his emotion into the battles he fought.

  “Luc became more fearsome than he’d ever been. He’d run into a fight, not caring if he survived or not. We were able to throw the revenants back, we even foolishly let ourselves believe we’d eliminated them as they retreated and went into hiding. Luc was heralded hero because of his swordplay and battle prowess.

  “However, Luc vanished the night of our victory celebration,” Michel remembered. “I spent years searching for him to no avail, until a few years ago, when I stumbled onto his scent in America. I’d found my brother, but the smile he’d worn so effortlessly for years as a child had soured. He was a shadow of what he’d been before Irabella. He didn’t speak of her, instead becoming the person that you know; snarky, rude, and unfeeling. This is Luc now, a shell of what he was.”

  Luc’s words, the ones spoken before Michel arrived and he vanished into the forest, played over again in my brain, like a record that was skipping.

  Michel would be wrecked. He’d be changed.

  Luc knew this for a fact, because he had been wrecked and changed. But he hadn’t been the emotionless figure that Michel just explained his brother had become after losing Irabella. Luc had been tender, gentle with me as he’d tried to ease my fears.

  Michel tilted his head, looking at me. “I can’t hear your thoughts.”

  “What?” My focus directed back to him.

  “You look as if you feel a great deal of pain, yet I can’t hear what it is that makes you suffer.”

  “My head,” I lied, feeling I shouldn’t share my concern about Luc with him, but not clear why. Maybe that part of Luc was closed off to the world because that’s what he wanted it to be. It wasn’t my place to illuminate him differently. “Its throbbing, but I think I’m okay to head back to the house.”

  Michel nodded and took my hand, leading me through the matted grass left behind by his brother’s motorcycle. The headlight was still lit and offered light to our path. The vampire scanned the area around us, ensuring it was safe to move.

  “What about your brother?” I asked when Michel and I made it back to his bike hidden on the side of the road.

  “He’s probably already back at The Trust,” Michel explained. “Vampires move so swiftly. Even running, he could beat us there. He’ll return later for his motorcycle.” I nodded my head as we climbed on. Michel’s motorcycle rumbled to life, sending stabs of fresh pain through my skull. As we headed away, I spared a moment to look back into the trees.

  I could see Luc’s green eyes watching us leave.

  Twenty Four

  The sun was just brightening the sky when I felt the drag of the motorcycle. Gravel crunched under the tires as the machine made its way up the drive. My head had continued to ache, so I’d rested it against Michel back during the ride. Luc’s helmet he’d offered me was still on the lawn where I’d thrown it.

  I looked toward the porch. Liam stood at the steps with a shorter man I recognized as the healer who’d chased me from Seatha’s bedside. I wobbled as I tried to swing my leg over the seat. Michel scooped me into his arms effortlessly and took the porch steps two at a time.

  “Where?” he asked with determination.

  “The settee will be best,” the healer spoke. His voice was easy on my ears, like a soothing drink of water. I felt calmer.

  Michel, followed by my grandfather and the elvish healer, strode into the library and gently lowered me to the small couch. Reluctantly, he stepped back when the healer asked him to. I watched the elf hover his hands over my body, hearing Liam and Michel speak softly, but unable to determine the exact words. Revenants and unintentional were the only words I was sure about.

  “Margaret Henning,” the elf spoke, drawing my attention. “You have a fracture in your skull and two broken ribs. They are already beginning to heal, but I will enchant you into a slumber so that you may recover without pain.”

  I tried to shake my head in protest, but it felt heavy, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get it to move.

  “Just relax,” the elf spoke again, soothingly.

  I felt a cool hand take mine, but my eyes had already closed. A strange smell, like lavender and fresh cut grass, snuck into my nose. It was relaxing, and I easily slipped back into darkness.

  ***

  I could hear the sound of birds singing loudly and calling to me. The songs were unfamiliar. While I was positive it was birds, they sang with words, not the chirps I’d always heard. I opened my eyes, blinking at the bright sunlight filling the room around me. The smell of lavender remained, but it was lessening with each second I was awake.

  I became aware that the pain in my head was completely gone, and I touched the injured spot. It was still tender, but didn’t send the stabbing pain like it had before. I noticed that my hair was soft; the mass of tangl
es I always carried on my crown were neat and clean.

  I sat up, taking in the room. The bright light was, in fact, sunshine. It filtered into the room through a pair of extremely large stained glass windows, bigger than I’d ever seen before. The floor was covered in plush, snow white carpet, and as I wiggled my toes against it, it felt almost like what I could imagine walking on a cloud would feel like, its softness reminding me of my bed at The Trust. I wasn’t dizzy, but I reached out and held the spindle bed post as a precaution. My legs felt weak, but they didn’t threaten to give way.

  “You will regain your strength quickly,” I was told. Turning, I saw Liam sitting in an overstuffed chair, newspaper in hand.

  “Where am I?” I asked him over the birds singing again.

  “She’s awake,” they tweeted in high-pitched voices. “She’s awake!”

  I watched as one flew to sit on my grandfather’s shoulder.

  “She’s awake,” the robin bird sang to him, sounding pleased to be sharing the news.

  “That she is.” Liam smiled to the feathered informant, folding the paper in half and setting it in his lap. “You may spread word.

  “Where am I?” I asked again, watching the birds fly out of a crack in the door.

  “You’re in Celine,” my grandfather explain. “The seat of our world. This is the main stronghold of King Edwyn, Lord Ruler of The Realm.”

  I was in a castle? It didn’t look very castle-like. I’d expected a citadel to feel drafty and cold, to have walls made of rough grey stones like I’d seen in movies. This place was warm and welcoming.

  “Having you asleep, we felt, would make the journey here less uncomfortable,” Liam explained, standing and making his way to the bedside.

  “What do you mean,” I asked, suspect, “uncomfortable?”

  “Those who have not come fully to their power, or those who are new to The Realm, tend to become violently ill the first few times they are transported here.”

  “What the hell do you mean?” I shot out. I hated not knowing things, and the fact that my grandfather didn’t see the need to give me a straight answer was beginning to frustrate me.

  “Calm yourself,” Liam spoke, rubbing my arm. “I’ve been away from those unfamiliar with The Realm and its working for many years. I sometimes forget that you lack certain knowledge.” I nodded my head stiffly and sat back on the bed beside him.

  “The fastest way to get to Celine is by transporting. What that means,” he explained before I could ask, “is the use of magicks to draw a physical body here through a plane of existence unseen by humans. It takes only seconds, but as the body merges with the magick, it becomes more of a vapor, if you will.”

  I questioned, sarcastically, “What you are saying is, King Edwyn turned me to mist and brought me here?”

  “That is what I mean,” Liam said matter-of-factly. “After your injuries, Michel transported here, explaining what had happened to you. King Edwyn then brought us here together, allowing you to rest in one of the castle’s bedrooms. You have been well attended to.”

  “Us?”

  Liam offered a nod. “Seatha, you, and I.”

  I questioned him, ashamed that I hadn’t thought of my fairy friend. “How is Seatha?”

  Liam exhaled. “She is recovered. Back to her old self.” That made me smile. Finally, some good news. I couldn’t wait to see her. “Her wing?”

  “It is repaired.”

  “What about the spot where she was punished years ago?”

  Liam’s face drew together before he told me sadly, “No Maggie. That was a punishment exacted by the king. No matter how many times her wing may be removed and grow back, without angelic intervention that scar will always return.”

  I grew angry. She’d been injured, her wing ripped from her body, delivering a message on the king’s order. I would think that could’ve allowed for a little forgiveness. I was beginning to suspect that King Edwyn and I were so not going to get along.

  A knock came from the door and Liam offered entrance. I watched as Seatha’s smiling face danced into the room.

  “You know,” she jested, “if you wanted all the attention, there are better ways to go about it than try to lure a revenant squad to kill you.”

  I laughed and stood, crossing to the fairy who opened her arms for my embrace. I was mindful of the newly grown wing, worried I may hurt it. Seatha made no gesture to tell me I caused her pain, nor did she try to temper her hold on me, squeezing me so hard I thought I’d break in half. She pulled back and examined me head to toe.

  “You’re well?” she asked, scoping out my face for honesty.

  I nodded. “All better.”

  Liam smiled. “I shall leave you two. Girl time and all that.”

  I chuckled at his words and watched him head for the door. Before it closed fully, I called out, “Grandfather?”

  He opened the door just a tad and peeked back inside, looking at me, “Yes?”

  “I just …” I began before looking to the floor then back to him. “I wanted to thank you.”

  He bowed his head slowly to me. When he raised his eyes, I could see the dampness in them reflecting the sunlight that encompassed the room. Silently, he closed the door behind him.

  I had no doubt, after seeing his expression, that Liam really did love me and was remorseful that he couldn’t have done anything to spare me from last night’s encounter. I made a determination to get to know him better, to grow closer to him and be a family, when this nightmare ended.

  Seatha, taking my hands, walked me to sit on the bed again. “Are you really okay?” she asked carefully.

  “Physically?” I offered, not wanting to lie. “I feel better than I ever have.”

  “But?”

  I inhaled. “But I’m scared, Seatha. I saw those things, up close. I heard their voices. I saw their yellow eyes.”

  “I know,” she soothed. “They’re frightening. When parents tell tales to their children of boogiemen living under the bed, I am sure the revenants are those boogies. Luckily, you’re alive. They didn’t take you, you’re safe.”

  I shook my head in denial. “Not because of anything I did.” A new wash of shame poured over my head. “Luc fought them off. He saved me.”

  “Luc?” Seatha asked, visibly astonished.

  I nodded. “Michel and I’d argued, sort of. He wanted me to fight, held his sword to my throat more than once. He said awful, hurtful things to try to trick me into fighting him.”

  “He didn’t mean them,” Seatha broke through. “He fears for you. He cares about you.”

  “How is that even possible?” I asked in disbelief. “I’ve known him for what? A millisecond?”

  “I told you,” she said, fluttering her wings to stretch them and I was so happy to feel that breeze. “Vampires do everything to the extreme. That includes their feelings. If one becomes enchanted, they will go as far as to give their lives to protect what they care for.”

  Enchanted. The story about Luc and Irabella came to mind, grief filling me.

  “What is it?” Seatha asked, holding my hand again and sensing my changed mood.

  “Michel told me about Irabella’s death, about how it changed Luc. He said that’s why his brother is the way he is now.”

  Seatha nodded in agreement and spoke with such sadness in her words I thought she’d break into pieces where she sat. “I remember Luc before Ossa came to power, before the fighting and the war. He was so full of life, Maggie. He’d be the first to smile or jest, and he was so exuberant all the time, seizing life in every moment it passed He spent hours with his mother, the Queen, walking in the gardens with her. He put a value on those he cared for that was beyond measure. His changes truly began when she was murdered. Irabella’s death was the final catalyst that sent him over.” Shame washed across her expression.

  “Luc immersed himself in battles after her death, bent on avenging his mother, taking no consideration of his own wellbeing. It has been told that one time h
e stood before Ossa himself, his katanas drawn to cut the creature down, but before he could strike, a vision of his mother flashed before him.

  “They tell Luc dropped his weapons and fell to his knees, unable to cope with the vision of her. The revenant leader took the opportunity to lash out, knocking him to the ground and kicking him. Luc still bears the scars of Ossa’s claws on his back. To this day, Luc is the only vampire to stand before the revenant king and live.”

  I was beginning to understand how one could become so hardened. Everything Luc had been through, all the emotions and torment he’d been forced to face alone. Maybe turning off his feelings was easier than meeting them day-to-day and suffering all over again.

  “How did he live?” My heart was breaking for Michel’s brother.

  “Not how,” Seatha said, whispering sharply, “why? Why didn’t Ossa destroy him then?”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “I’ve heard, passed down from vampire guards who supposedly witnessed the attack while in hiding, that Ossa made a pledge to Luc, a premonition of sorts.”

  “What did the bastard predict?”

  “That Luc would suffer more than any creature before him or to come after,” Seatha informed. “More than his father, more than his brother, and more than any other being from The Realm or Mortal worlds. He vowed that Luc would feel the sharp sting of death over and over until it finally consumed and broke him.”

  “And he did,” I whispered. “Irabella.”

  “No,” Seatha replied sorrowfully, and my eyes went back to hers. “While yes, that was painful and it tore Luc to shreds when he realized he’d stood idle while she were murdered, but it goes further than that. When Ossa vows pain, it’s far beyond just the loss of someone. Luc already blamed himself for Irabella’s death, but now he walks every day, waiting.”

  “Waiting for what?” I asked, timidly.

  “For the next death, the next splatter of blood on his hands. The next pyre to be built because he failed another. Maggie, he is truly cursed.”

  “If it’s a curse, then why can’t Autumn or one of the older witches lift it?” I questioned, rubbing my hands in my hair.