“But I already have.” Silver muttered, as she fell to her knees, her last reserves leaving her as she lost the strength to keep her magic within her.
Her last sight before her eyes closed for the last time, was a pair of blue-as-the-ocean eyes. Odd, she thought. Leigh’s eyes were brown.
Chapter Forty
SACRIFICE
Silver looked down below her at the scene unfolding. She was hovering on the spiritual plane, a place she’d been to many times before when she’d swapped bodies and merged souls with other people.
She could feel the other souls she’d melded with during her life melt away slowly, even as she watched her body shimmer, and fuse together to become Romana. Marten fell to his knees, and reached out towards the body, needing to see if it was real. Leigh was going to have to do a lot of explaining for them both.
Among the souls peeling away from hers, she found Romana’s and sensed her anguish at being forced to leave like this. Truthfully, Silver hadn’t wanted to kill the girl. She’d just been collateral damage when Silver had sacrificed herself to save the world.
She forgot about the scene below her, and looked around. So this was the afterlife, she thought, not very impressive considering it looked the same as the real world.
“You are wrong to assume this is what awaits you, Talia.” Kate’s mental voice reached her, even as the Ancient’s ghostly image appeared before her. “Your act of selflessness has been ruled as greater than all the evils you have caused. You will be able to go onwards. Some of your former inhabitants may not be so lucky.”
“Onwards?” Talia questioned. “And what about Romana, she is your daughter after all. Does she get some sort of free pass?”
“You will be reincarnated, for the third time, if I’m correct. As for Romana and your guess concerning my relationship to her. Well, she has a destiny that is yet to be fulfilled.”
“Don’t I have some destiny left?” Silver asked.
“Your destiny lies in being reborn.” Kate informed her. “But as with all you have a choice. You can go onwards, or live a shadow life in this plane until you are ready to go onwards. Either way, you will be reborn eventually.”
And with that, Kate moved forwards to the ghostly image of Romana, took her hand and floated down with her to where the girl’s body lay. There was a flash of all consuming light, before the Romana on the physical plane, drew in a gasping breath.
“Choose Night Angel.” Kate informed her, returning to her side.
“Do I get to keep the mask in my next life?” Silver asked, sarcastically.
“I can promise you that none of your future lives will ever be boring.” Kate assured her with a sad smile.
“Onwards it is, where’s the reincarnation queue.”
“You get a fast pass.” Kate told her. With a click of the Ancient’s long fingers a shimmering doorway appeared before her.
“Goodbye, Princess Talia.” Kate said, with a sad smile. “Rest assured you will be a wytch however many times you are reborn.”
Silver wasn’t listening anymore, she was striding towards the door.
Destiny here I come, was her last thought before she ceased to exist as Silver.
Chapter Forty-One
A LONG TIME COMING
Romana surfaced with a gasp, finding herself surrounded by a cocoon of warmth, and with water staining her clothes.
She fidgeted, trying to find a way out of the warm cage.
“Romana?” Marten’s voice drifted to her.
“Well I presume you know who you’re crushing.” She muttered.
“I’m hallucinating.” Was his immediate response.
“No, I think we can safely say, you are not, young king.” Kate’s voice drifted to her from beyond Marten’s arms as he moved her to sit on his lap more comfortably.
“What’s going on?” Marten demanded. “You looked like Silver.”
“Marten, I was Silver.” Romana tried to explain. “But I really didn’t have a choice.”
“What Romana is trying – and failing – to explain, young king, is that for the last eighteen years, her body has been home to both her soul, and the soul of Princess Talia.” Kate began. “She was unable to tell you this because the princess would not allow it. Talia also took over her body almost every night, and used her knowledge and powers to her advantage. So rest assured, Romana was not actually the one who nearly killed you, twice, although she probably could, considering she is in fact my daughter.”
“Your daughter?” Romana pushed her way out of Marten’s embrace and looked at Kate properly. “Why did you never tell me?”
“Because it was felt by the council that you should never be allowed to know my identity or that of your father. However, once Silver had left your body it was felt that you could be trusted to know of our identities.”
“So who is my father?” Romana asked.
“I cannot tell you that, it is his to reveal when he wishes.” Kate replied in the mystical tone of voice that annoyed the hell out of Romana most of the time. “But I can tell you that there are still pieces of Silver within you; your eyes will stay the same, your speed will be increased, you will also forever find her in whatever life she is in. The two of you are like yin and yang. She is drawn to you and you to her. But you will recognise her when the time comes.”
“How?”
But the conversation was ended as Ash and Icarus landed next to her with a loud thump and started nuzzling her all over.
“Don’t you ever do that again!” Ash told her.
“We felt your death like a hammer blow to the skull.” Icarus explained, pushing his head under her hand and stroking her face gently with a claw.
“Do I still have powers?” Romana asked Kate desperately.
“The stones over your heart are proof that you shall forever be the queen of wytchdom.” Kate informed her. “How can you be that if you have no magic. You are still the most powerful wytch in existence, even more powerful now you have defeated Kobos.”
“How does that work?” Romana asked.
“Think of it as a reward for services to the council.” Kate said. “I must go now. But I will be back for the next time you get yourself into trouble.” She pecked Romana on the cheek, the task made difficult by the way Marten, Ash, Icarus and now Averna were all clinging to her like vines.
“More trouble?” Romana groaned. “I think I’ve had enough.”
“That’s not what Kobos’ siblings think.”
Kate just smiled and waved as she teleported away.
“Guys, if you’ve quite finished mauling me would you mind giving me a minute to call the wytches together, I have to make sure that everyone’s okay.”
“No you don’t.” Marten told her. “You need to rest, and recover. You’ve been through an ordeal.”
“Oh really?” Romana arched an eyebrow. “I can think of better ways to rest, on my sunny isle, once all my people are okay.”
“Teleport us back to the camp.” Marten commanded.
Since she was in a giving kind of mood, she obliged.
Two hours later and she was tucked in a bed in the palace tree in Elvardis, snuggled around her were her three wards, Marten in jaguar form, and her two dragons were surrounding her on the mental plane.
Marten had practically forced her to the palace tree the moment that she’d seen to her wytches. After that she’d been ambushed by her wards who had insisted they sleep in her bed after the scary events of the day, and Marten, being a cheeky cat, had snuck in to lay over her feet when the girls were all asleep.
To be honest though, it felt kind of … nice. Being so close to them all. Perhaps now that things were better and less chaotic, she’d be able to have a normal life, well as normal as life ever got for a powerful demi-goddess wytch queen.
Nah, she thought as sleep claimed her. Her life was never going to be normal. She’d get bored.
(Soul Merge Saga Book 2)
Kate's Legacy (Soul Merge Saga Book 2) Page 29
