Gathering Darkness

by Morgan Rhodes

  Alexius shook his head. “It’s not nearly that easy. Your magic is a part of you, but it is powerful enough to survive beyond death.”

  She struggled to understand all of this and her place in it. “Why me? Why was I the one chosen to receive Eva’s magic after all these years? Why not some other girl?”

  He looked around the room as if searching for answers, and his gaze caught on the silhouette of a golden hawk soaring past the balcony in the distance. His expression grew wistful. “It was meant to be you, princess. It’s your destiny, no one else’s. But I’ll admit I can give you no tangible reason as to why you in particular. It simply . . . is.”

  “Lucky me.” She paused for a silent moment. “In the dreams we shared, you told me that my magic can save you—save everyone—from destruction. You said I can stop magic from fading from the world.”

  Alexius turned to face her, his eyes filled with admiration. “You can. And you will.”

  “How?”

  “When the time is right, we will talk of this again. This is your destiny, princess. You are stronger than you think.”

  She raised her chin, frustrated that he refused to tell her everything right here and right now. “I never said I wasn’t strong.”

  “But if you ever start to doubt yourself, don’t. You are a mortal girl, that’s true, and Eva was an immortal. But it doesn’t matter. You were meant to hold this power within you. I believe that with all my heart.”

  His words warmed her, chasing away her doubt. “Thank you.”

  “However, this doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on you this afternoon. We are going to work very hard. You might just hate me by the end of the day.”

  “Impossible,” she told him, finally smiling again. She glanced at the soaring hawk against the blue sky. “Why hawks?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Immortals—Watchers, guardians, what have you—can take the form of hawks. Why not eagles? Or sparrows? Or lizards, even?”

  “It’s said that when the maker of the universe created Eva, a hawk flew past at the precise moment the elemental magic was forming her body. The hawk’s spirit was fused with her soul, and with the soul of every immortal created afterward.” He searched her eyes for a reaction, smiling slightly. “What can I say? Even my people tell legends to each other.”

  “But in other words, you don’t know for sure.”

  “No. Not entirely. However, the feeling of taking the form of a hawk and flying high into the sky to keep an eye on all of you mortals is like no other feeling in the world.”

  “I’m sure you’re right.” She couldn’t even imagine how incredible it would be to fly high up in the sky, away from all earthly troubles. “I’m sorry you’ve had to give that up.”

  The barest edge of a shadow crossed his expression. “Don’t be. There’s no other place I need to be than here, now, with you. Believe that, princess, for it’s the absolute truth.” He took her hand in his and squeezed it. Her heart skipped a beat as their gazes locked. “Now, shall we resume our lessons?”

  Before she could reply, there was a knock at her door. Annoyed, she asked, “Who is that?”

  “Only one way to find out,” Alexius said.

  “The servants know not to disturb us.” Reluctantly, she left Alexius’s side and walked across the room to unlock and open the door.

  “You,” Cleo said without waiting for Lucia to welcome her. “I’m very cross with you.”

  Lucia raised her brow in surprise at this unexpected greeting. “Oh?”

  “I haven’t seen you in two days! Not a word since the chaos at the executions. I had to hear from servants that you had returned to the palace, alive and well. I couldn’t wait a moment longer to see it for myself, so I came here. And now, I see that you look just fine. Actually, you look particularly lovely today. I can’t tell you how relieved I am.” She gave Lucia a bright smile.

  Lucia had come around to find Cleo disarmingly exuberant and friendly. Yet she continued to feel guarded toward her. Still, she couldn’t deny that, after a long morning of lessons, Cleo was a pleasant sight, even if she had interrupted her private time with Alexius.

  “All is well,” Lucia said. “Thank you for stopping by to check on me.”

  Part of her had wanted to visit Cleo yesterday after Alexius had bid her good night, in the hopes that she might ease the sensation of darkness rising within her from using so much more magic than she was used to. She knew that a mere moment with the princess had the potential to chase it away.

  Instead of going to her, she’d waited, having decided it was still too early to fully trust the other princess. The darkness had faded on its own eventually, allowing sleep to claim her.

  “I hear you have a handsome new tutor,” Cleo said, glancing past Lucia. “And here he is.”

  Lucia looked over her shoulder at Alexius, who stood silently in the center of the room. “Yes, here he is.”

  “His name is Alexius,” Cleo said.

  “That’s right.”

  “That’s the same name as the Watcher you told me about.” Lucia spun back around, and Cleo held her gaze unflinchingly. Lucia’s heart began to pound, hard and fast. “It appears that he’s real, and not just a dream,” Cleo finished.

  Lucia grabbed Cleo’s arm and pulled her into the room. She’d entrusted Cleo with that secret in a moment of weakness, never thinking that Alexius would actually appear. “I shouldn’t have told you about him.”

  “Don’t worry.” Cleo’s smile was calm as she reached down to take Lucia’s hand. Immediately, a sense of serenity spread through her. “I won’t tell anyone else. I swear it.”

  Lucia searched Cleo’s face and found only sincerity. “Good.”

  Alexius now approached the two girls. “Will you introduce us?” he asked Lucia.

  “Of course.” Lucia hastened to find her manners. “Alexius, this is Princess Cleiona—Cleo—my brother’s wife. Cleo, this is Alexius.”

  Cleo gave him a sweet smile and extended her hand. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

  “And you as well.” Alexius took Cleo’s hand and frowned down at it.

  It charmed Lucia to see this, an ancient boy seemingly uncertain of how he should greet an unfamiliar princess.

  “Is everything all right?” Cleo asked after a moment, when Alexius didn’t release his grasp.

  His frown only deepened. “It’s just . . . your ring.” His quizzical gaze snapped up to hers.

  Cleo yanked her hand away and tucked it behind her back. “I should go. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

  Lucia watched the pair with confusion. “Her ring? What are you talking about?”

  Alexius continued to stare at Cleo. “How did you get that? Where did you find it?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is my mother’s ring, passed down through generations. It’s a family heirloom.”

  “Of course,” Alexius murmured, as if speaking to himself. “It’s all a matter of destiny, isn’t it? You’re here. Lucia is here. Melenia had to have known this already, I’m sure of it. But I didn’t.”

  “Anyway,” Cleo interrupted, a cool smile on her lips. “I must be going. Have a lovely day.”

  She turned for the door and opened it slightly, but Alexius darted in front of her to block her way. He shut the door and flipped the lock. “Not so fast, princess,” he said.

  “Explain yourself right now, Alexius,” Lucia demanded, shocked by his unexpected rudeness. “What about Cleo’s ring has you acting so strangely all of a sudden?”

  His gaze shot to hers and he took a deep breath as he rubbed his chest again, as if the golden mark on his flesh caused him deep discomfort. Slowly, he gained authority over his expression.

  “Eva once possessed a ring that helped control her overabundance of magic. The ring is said to have been
created from pure elementia, drawn from the Kindred themselves. As such, it allowed her direct contact with the Kindred without any ill effects. But after her death, the ring was lost.” He glanced at Cleo, who still had her hands tucked behind her back. “And yet, here it is now. Resting on the hand of your brother’s wife.”

  CHAPTER 20

  CLEO

  AURANOS

  Cleo was reminded of how she’d felt when she’d stood up on the dais next to the execution stage as the detonations went off, causing bright, fiery plumes to rise up before her eyes.

  Her world was exploding all around her.

  She fought with every last ounce of strength to remain impassive in the face of the Watcher’s revelations.

  He knew. There would be no denying this, no way to get out of this situation unscathed. She’d reached the end of the road.

  She’d been such a fool to think she could wear this ring without anyone ever knowing what it was, that it might be safer on her finger than hidden behind a stone in the wall of her private chambers.

  But she couldn’t despair, or all would be lost. She couldn’t let on that she’d known the secret of the ring all along, had even seen an illustration of it in a very old book about the original sorceress. Cleo had torn that drawing out and burned it, so no one else would ever see it, even though it had pained her to think of how appalled Emilia would have been to know that she had destroyed even a small piece of the palace’s rare tomes. Her sister had loved books.

  And Cleo had loved Emilia.

  She held on to that love now and let it strengthen her in this moment of despair.

  Lucia stayed silent for a while, regarding Cleo with shock and confusion. “Did you know this?” she finally asked.

  Remain calm, Cleo commanded herself. Do not lose everything you’ve worked so hard to gain.

  She looked down at her amethyst ring, forcing a frown. Then she raised her brow as she directly met the gaze of the other princess. “Did I know that the ring my father gave me moments before he died in my arms once belonged to a legendary sorceress? I can’t say that I did.” She turned to face the Watcher and boldly held out her hand toward him. “You truly believe this—my mother’s ring—is the same ring you speak of?”

  She saw confusion on his face as well, which helped lessen her fear by a fraction. If she were to be exposed as a liar and a manipulator in her attempts to befriend Lucia, it would be the end of everything.

  An irony, really, as she’d honestly come to care for Lucia, despite her horrible family.

  Not her real family, she thought, remembering Magnus’s drunken confession. She’s a Damora only by name, not by birth.

  “It is the ring,” Alexius said with certainty. “I can feel its power. This ring—along with your magic, princess,” he spoke to Lucia now, “can awaken the Kindred.”

  Lucia spun toward him, her eyes wide. “You can’t be serious.”

  Cleo had never seen a boy look more serious than Alexius did now.

  “You said you want to know about Melenia: what she tells me and what she’s discussed with the king. I wanted to wait, but now . . . this is part of your prophecy. The king knows your magic is the key to what he desires most: possessing the Kindred, which he believes will give him endless power over this world. Melenia has guided him in many ways, but she has a secret that he doesn’t know. That he can’t know.”

  Cleo went as quiet as a corpse. Alexius continued to speak as if she were not in the room, as if he didn’t care if she overheard any of this.

  Perhaps he didn’t see her as a threat, only a clueless girl in possession of a ring with a long and magical history.

  Good.

  “What is it?” Lucia reached down to take his hand, gazing up into his tense face. She, too, seemed unconcerned that Cleo was present for these revelations.

  Cleo barely breathed as she waited for his answer.

  “The king cannot claim the Kindred for himself,” Alexius said. “It can’t be allowed. I told you that Watchers are guardians. We’ve searched for the lost crystals for a millennium, to no avail, all with the goal to return the four Kindred to the Sanctuary where they belong, where their magic will be safe and protected. Their absence all these years has resulted in a slow fading of the worlds—both yours and mine. Magic—life itself—has drained away. You see this in Limeros’s transformation to ice, in the wasting away of Paelsia’s farmlands while its people starve. And here in Auranos, the temperatures have been steadily rising. It may not seem so drastic now, but before long the heat will become unbearable. After that, this fading will stretch beyond Mytican shores to lands—and worlds—beyond. A thousand years of this fading magic and the only solution has been for the Kindred to return to its rightful home. All this time, the missing piece has been you, princess. Your magic will light the way. And this ring will help you.”

  Cleo’s head spun. She wasn’t sure she believed Alexius’s little speech, though his prediction of Auranos’s future was beyond disturbing. The Kindred were meant to be hers, to give her the magic it would take to reclaim her kingdom.

  But if what he said was true, she had much to consider.

  “Without the ring, I could still find the crystals?” Lucia said after a ponderous silence.

  “Finding is perhaps the wrong word. But, yes, your magic is sufficient. However, since this magic is so new to you, it would take months of hard work and practice to build up the necessary skill. But now . . . everything has changed.” Alexius rubbed his chest and began to pace back and forth in short lines, his forehead deeply furrowed. Finally he glanced at Cleo, his expression more curious than accusatory. “Did you know anything about this?”

  The attention again on her, she raised her chin and pretended to consider this, wondering how transparent she should be. How good were Watchers at sensing lies?

  “I know about the Kindred, of course, through legends and stories. I even met an exiled Watcher a few months ago in Paelsia, when I was there searching for a cure for my sister’s illness.” It was best to have a layer of truth to help cover any deceit. Still, to relate this memory caused her heart to ache. “She told me a story, a truly fantastical tale . . .”

  “About what?” Alexius asked after she trailed off, uncertain of how much she wanted to say.

  She licked her dry lips and forced into her voice a confidence she didn’t feel. “About Eva and the mortal hunter she loved, of the child born to them who was lost after her death. And the goddesses and how they weren’t really goddesses at all, but immortals who had stolen the Kindred and murdered Eva. When, years later, they destroyed each other in a battle for power, the hunter took the crystals and hid them all over Mytica, where no one has been able to locate them since.” She tried to smile. “I’m not sure how much of it to believe.”

  “Some of it,” Alexius said. “But certainly not all. I’m not surprised. Very few of my kind know the whole truth apart from the legend we tell ourselves, even after all this time.”

  “What’s the truth?” Lucia asked. “And why hasn’t anyone been able to find the crystals?”

  “Because in the thousand years since Cleiona and Valoria ceased to exist, the Kindred have not been physically here. Not buried, not hidden, not anywhere in this world. But now they can be summoned back. Melenia has worked so hard to lay the groundwork for this quest. No one is more dedicated to it than she is.”

  Cleo recognized the name Melenia from the conversation she’d overheard between the king and Magnus. She must also be a Watcher. Cleo desperately wanted to ask for clarification, but she held her tongue.

  “I’m ready, Alexius,” Lucia said brightly, as if this strange conversation had energized her. “If this is really my destiny, I’m ready to do whatever it takes. It’s all so hard to wrap my mind around, but I want to help you, and Melenia. My magic can be used for good, like you said. To help save the world from destruct
ion. This, precisely, is what you meant, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” Alexius’s expression remained rigid, pained even. “Perhaps tomorrow . . .”

  “No, today. Our morning lessons haven’t exhausted me. I’m ready. If we’re going to do something, let’s do it now. Why wait a day longer than necessary when you’ve waited so long already?” She smiled, her sky-blue eyes lighting up with excitement. “Show me what to do. You’re my tutor. Tutor me.”

  “Very well.” His jaw was tight. “Do you want her to stay?”

  Lucia glanced at Cleo for a long, heavy moment. “That depends,” she said. “After all you’ve heard here, do you even want to stay?”

  Was that a trick question? To gauge how strong Cleo’s interest was in this subject?

  No reason for her to falter now.

  “Yes,” Cleo said firmly. “It’s all so incredibly fascinating. I want to stay, if you’ll let me.”

  Lucia didn’t speak for a moment, her attention sharp and unwavering in its assessment of her. “Yes, you can stay,” she finally said. “After all, it’s your ring that seems to be the important piece here.” She held out her hand. “May I have it?”

  “Of course.” Cleo didn’t hesitate to pull it off her finger and give it to Lucia, who looked down at it with awe.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said.

  It was. And it wrenched Cleo’s heart out of her chest to see it in someone else’s possession.

  Breathe, she told herself. Just breathe. This could still work.

  Alexius pulled the shutters over the windows and closed the balcony doors, casting the room into shadow. He lit several candles and placed them in a cluster in the middle of the floor.

  “Melenia went over this spell with me in detail, which will channel all four parts of your elementia,” he said. “Please, sit, both of you.”

  Cleo sat on the floor, about five feet away from Lucia. Alexius sat down in front of them, creating a triangle with the candles at the center.

  “I will warn you, princess,” Alexius said to Lucia, “that this will drain both your magic and your energy. I don’t yet know how much. But if I find it’s harming you, I will put a stop to it.”