A Soul for Vengeance

Chapter 9



Dev paced the length of Sazi’s chambers, his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes downcast. Over and over, he replayed his last conversation with Arden, his heart aching every time he saw the hurt in her eyes. He’d been so determined to keep his feelings a secret that it had backfired on him, and now he was paying for it with a string of sleepless nights worrying over her. If he’d just taken the time to pull her aside, to tell her why he was resigning—by Jessup, even kissed her back—maybe she’d still be here today.

“You’re going to wear a groove in the stones if you keep that up,” his father said from the chair by the fire.

“Impossible.” He paused long enough to stretch his back and resumed his strides. “Why did you have to create that bracelet?”

“You’re the one who wanted to keep her safe.” He puffed on his pipe. “Sometimes, I forget the consequences of my own power.”

“As soon as I find her, I’m going to rip that bracelet off and toss it into the nearest fire.”

“Pity.” Arano continued to puff on his pipe, each smoke ring adding to Dev’s annoyance.

His pace doubled, his boots stomping against the stones with more force than before. “You know, instead of sitting there, doing nothing, you can use your power to help find her.”

“I don’t need to use my magic, not when I have the power of deduction.”

If he wasn’t his father, Dev would’ve yanked him up from the chair and dragged him to the edge of Sazi’s balcony. Thankfully, the Ornathian returned before he gave into the temptation to try it. He waited until Sazi had tucked her wings behind her before approaching. “Any sign of her?”

She shook her head. “I have traveled along the road to Hebera many times, but I have seen no sign of her or Cinder.”

“And you won’t either,” Arano said. “She’s not going to Hebera.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Father, of course she is. It’s the quickest way back to Ranello.”

“Yes, but she’s not going to Ranello.” He emptied the ashes from his pipe. “At least not at this moment.”

The hairs on the back of Dev’s neck stood up, followed by an uncomfortable fluttering in his stomach. Arano was entirely too relaxed with a missing Soulbearer on the loose. He exchanged glances with Sazi, who nodded in agreement. He moved in front of his father and crossed his arms. “What aren’t you telling us?”

“Just what I have told you. Arden hasn’t gone to Hebera.”

The fluttering turned into a heavy plunk. “You know where she is, don’t you?”

“No, not exactly, but I have a pretty good idea.” Arano reached into his robe, exchanging his pipe for a rolled-up piece of paper. “I received this from Varrik di Miloria this morning.”

“Varrik?” A dozen scenarios flashed through his mind, all of them bad. Arden hated her father, and if there was any connection between the two of them, it was likely to end on a fatal note. He took the note from the Mage Primus and brought it over to Sazi so they could both read it.



Arano,

I appreciate you informing me of my daughter’s disappearance, and your generous apologies are accepted, but unwarranted. Arden is safe and well at this time, and you should not be overly worried about her.

Varrik di Miloria



Dev read through it once more, then checked the seal to find the Milorian rose. The blood rushed from his head when he found it, and his palms grew damp. “The last thing I wanted was for Caz di Miloria to dig his claws into her.”

Sazi’s brow furrowed. “Are you suggesting Caz kidnapped her?”

“Of course I am. Now that he knows she’s a member of his family, how could he resist pulling her into his schemes? She’s the Soulbearer, Sazi, a weapon he could use if anyone challenged his power.” He wrapped his fingers around his sword’s hilt, already imagining how much he’d love to slice the blade through the Lord Chamberlain’s neck for taking Arden.

Arano rose from his chair and snatched the letter from Dev. “Stop and take a moment to think, you hot-headed twit. Varrik sent this letter, not his brother. And you know as well as I do he’s one of the few people in the Empire who refuses to bend over and kiss Caz’s ass.”

Dev’s anger bled out, leaving his fingers cold as he removed them from his sword. He reviewed the contents of the letter once more, this time looking for what was said between the lines. “The only way Varrik could know Arden’s safe is because he’s seen her.”

“Precisely. And more importantly, she’s probably still with him.”

“Preposterous, Father. Arden would never willingly go to Varrik.”

“Not even if he had something she treasured?” A wily grin formed on his lips.

“Arden only treasured one thing—her mother’s necklace—but that disappeared the night she battled Nelos.”

“No, we found it, remember?”

“Yes, but the last person who had the chain was…” He caught himself, everything becoming all too clear. “Varrik.”

Arano nodded. “You know her better than any of us. What are the odds she’d leave Gravaria without the one thing she treasured the most?”

“Fine, you’ve explained why Arden would seek out Varrik, but I wouldn’t describe the two of them in the same room as being safe.”

“And that’s where you underestimate Varrik,” his father said with a laugh. “Or have you forgotten who taught you that containment spell?”

Sazi stepped forward, her flawless face lined with worry. “But if she has gone to him, then we have bigger problems to deal with.”

Arano met her gaze, then looked away and pulled his pipe back out. “Perhaps, but I don’t think Loku knows.”

Dev’s mouth went dry. Whatever secret they shared, it involved the chaos god, and that always meant danger to the Soulbearer. “What?” he demanded.

“That letter came from Lothmore Palace.” Arano lit his pipe, but his eyes never left Dev. “Any idea what’s hiding in the vault below it?”

His lungs constricted, forcing his heart up into his throat. When he became the Soulbearer’s Protector, there was one place in all of Gravaria he was to keep the Soulbearer from going to at all costs.

Lothmore Palace.

The silence was keeping Arden up at night. Or perhaps it was the absence of a familiar presence that let her know she was never alone. Either way, she missed Loku.

A week had passed since Varrik contained the chaos god, locking him away in the deepest part of Arden’s mind where he no longer threatened her. But, in the same respect, she’d become so accustomed to hearing Loku’s endless commentary that she realized with some surprise that she’d been using it as a compass in her life, a measure of where she was in the grand scheme of things and where she should go next. Without him, she had to rely on her own judgment.

Without him, she was lost until she could trust her own bearings.

And she certainly could have used him tonight as she lay in bed trying to unravel the mystery of her father. Varrik hadn’t called her Daughter since the day he contained Loku, which was fine with her because she couldn’t bring herself to call him Father. They still treaded lightly around each other as though they were scared to move too quickly and have the ground shatter from underneath them. But with each lesson, she came away learning a bit more than she had that morning. Each day, he helped her trust her intuition more than the day before. And each interaction left her wondering if she’d be able to put the past behind her and forge a new relationship with him.

Her thoughts swirled around her head until they all ended with even more questions. She threw back the covers and grabbed her robe. Cinder hopped off the bed and followed her to the door. If she wasn’t sleeping, she might as well get a book from the library and try to read.

Arden jumped as Cinder growled in warning.

A cold voice asked from behind her in the hallway, “Going somewhere, Soulbearer?”

She turned to find Callix watching her, the moonlight glittering in his eyes. She wiped her palms on her robe. “Yes, I’m going to the library.”

“Let me accompany you.”

Her heart beat double time as he walked beside her. “Loku, where are you? Why does this guy act like he hates me?”

But no answer came.

Callix opened the door to the library and stepped aside so she could enter first. “Are you looking for something in particular?”

“Just something to occupy my mind.” Her eyes never left him while she backpedaled to the nearest shelf. “Any recommendations?”

The cavernous library held more books than she could ever imagine—even more than the Conclave seemed to have—but Callix wasted no time grabbing a book from a shelf five cases down from her. “Try this.”

She glanced at the title, relieved to recognize the letters. “A Realm Unleashed. What is it about?”

He closed the space between them until she could feel his breath on her cheek when he replied, “Why don’t you read it and find out?”

A none-too-subtle nudge from the elf let her know his patience had worn thin. He followed her back to her room and closed the door behind her. A shiver coursed down her spine. That was plain creepy.

She paused to see what Loku would add, but the silence only added to the crawling sense of unease that canvased her skin. The warmth from the covers helped chase it away, though, and she started reading about a time when the three kingdoms were engaged in constant warfare. By the end of the first page, her eyes grew heavy, and she remembered nothing after turning the page.

The book was still sitting across her lap when she awoke. Sunlight sparkled along the gold-leaf lettering, giving some levity to the otherwise oppressive weight of the book. Perhaps Callix had been wise recommending the book to her—it certainly put her to sleep. She set it aside and dressed before going downstairs.

From the moment she reached the bottom of the stairs, she felt Callix’s eyes on her. He silently watched her from the landing above until she joined Varrik in the drawing room. “Can you tell me about your little watchdog?”

Varrik looked up from his book. “I don’t have a dog.”

“I was talking about Callix.” She tossed a piece of bacon from the tea tray to Cinder before taking one for herself. “I have the distinct impression he hates me.”

“Hate is a strong word,” he replied, turning back to his book.

“Then intensely dislikes me.” She sat in the chair across from her father. “I don’t recall ever meeting him before last week, and I don’t see any marks of Nelos on him.”

“That’s because he follows Ivis.”

Ivis, another name for the Lady Moon. “Have I done something to piss her off?”

Varrik laid his book aside with a heavy sigh, marking his place with a silk ribbon. “This has nothing to do with the gods and more to do with our family.”

“Oh, so the grand Milorian family is ready to claim me, even though I’m a half-Ranellian bastard?”

“You are my daughter, whether you choose to acknowledge that or not.” He crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side. “Were you this sarcastic before you met Loku?”

“Worse.” Although the god gave her powers that made some quiver with fear, he also thrust her into a world of kings and empresses where she had to be careful what she said to avoid offending the person who could order her execution.

“Glad to know he’s had somewhat of a good influence on you.” He relaxed, the sternness in his voice softening to seriousness. “You are aware that the Empress is your cousin and a member of our family, too, correct?”

“Kind of hard to miss since we look so much alike.” Arden buttered a piece of toast and tossed another strip of bacon to Cinder, making a note to take the fire wolf down to the kitchen later for a more substantial meal. “So Callix hates me because my cousin is the Empress? Or is it because my existence is soiling the pristine Milorian reputation?”

“Hardly.” He leaned forward. “They have rival families in Ranello, do they not?”

“Of course. Every town has a blood clan in power and another trying to peck away at it. The nobles are no exception. Kell’s father is only the third king from the House of Sanguazur. Before that, the House of Fermo ruled Ranello. But what does that have to do with me?”

“Gravaria is not that different from Ranello. The Jaquoix family has been and still is the Imperial family.”

“But I thought Marist was a Milorian.”

“She is half-Milorian. My sister married the former Emperor, a member of the Jaquoix family, thus uniting our two families. However, some members of the Jaquoix family,” he said as his head jerked to the closed door, “saw this as attempt by our family to seize control of the Empire.”

“But wasn’t it?” Caz lived and breathed power based on her limited interaction with the Lord Chamberlain.

“Depends on whom you ask. Reena offered to sacrifice her happiness and marry the former Emperor in order to align our two families peacefully. My brother saw it as an opportunity to tilt the scales of power in his favor. As soon as Marist was born, he began whispering his schemes in her ear.”

“So she’s his puppet?”

A subtle grin appeared on Varrik’s lips. “You’ve dealt with Marist. Does she seem like a puppet to you?”

“Hardly,” she replied in the same dry tone he’d used earlier in the conversation. “So Callix hates me because I’m a member of the Milorian family that took power away from his?”

“He doesn’t hate you, Arden, but he’s extremely wary of you because you—not Marist—could be the ultimate factor in tipping the scales of power toward the Milorian family, all because you’re the Soulbearer.”

“Is he scared I’m going to bring ruin to the Empire?”

Varrik paused, a flicker of indecision flashing across his face because he said in a slow and cautious manner, “Perhaps.”

Arden inwardly groaned. “If you keep secrets from me, how will I ever learn to trust you?”

“It’s not you I’m keeping secrets from.” He nodded, sending a wave of magic toward her.

And for the first time in days, a familiar presence roared to life within her.

Or to be more precise, exploded with a flurry of curses and swearing that made her ears sting. “That arrogant, small-pricked, son of a whore! How dare he toy with me?”

“Loku?” Her heart fluttered, both from fear and excitement. She closed her eyes and quickly erected a series of mental barriers in place as Varrik had taught her to do to keep the chaos god from taking control of her body.

“Who else would be talking in your head? Dev?”

Bitter laughter died in her throat. She’d only heard Dev’s voice in her mind once—the night she’d battled Nelos. Since then, he hadn’t bothered to contact her that way. “Do you have any idea what he’s hiding from us?”

“Ask him about what he’s guarding here in this palace.”

She opened her eyes, only to find Varrik missing from his chair. A finger pressed against her left temple, and Loku’s voice died within her. When she turned in that direction, she found her father standing next to her, his face grim. “You let him distract you too much, Arden. One of the many ways he’s a danger to you.”

“And you’re not?” She knocked his hand away and jumped to her feet, adding some much needed distance between them. “Funny how you decided to silence him when he was about to tell me the truth about what you’re guarding here.”

An expressionless mask settled over his face, revealing nothing. “Ah, so he managed to convince you I’m hiding something here? Very well, I’ll tell you the truth.”

He beckoned her to follow him out of the drawing room. Cinder clung to her skirts as she went into the hallway after him, his amber eyes never leaving her father until they came to the library. He opened the doors and gestured to the rows of bookshelves. “This is what I’m guarding here.”

“Books?”

“Not just books, Arden. Knowledge.” He ran his fingers along the spine of a book like he would a lover’s cheek. “Lothmore Palace is the home for all Gravarian lore, and I’m its keeper.”

“And let me guess—you got this position because of family connections?”

“Yes, and no.” He tucked his hands behind his back and continued down one of the aisles. “What has Dev told you about the history of the Soulbearers?”

“That they all go mad.” Like I’m about to become if you don’t stop dodging my questions. “I don’t see what that has to do with you, me, or the grouch out there.”

“Patience.” He led her to a tapestry along the far wall and stood beside it. “Tell me what you see here.”

The silk threads depicted a war-torn landscape with shattered castles and charred homes. People ran toward the edges of the fabric, their screams echoing through the embroidery. In the center, a group of humans and elves wearing the crests of the three kingdoms circled a man consumed by flames, their solemn faces and pointed fingers so out of place among the chaos surrounding them. The tips of the man’s black hair burned, and his yellow-green eyes flashed with anger. But even though the tapestry had to be hundreds of years old, she recognized his face immediately. “Loku?”

Varrik nodded. “This tells the story of how his body was destroyed and his soul was trapped within the first Soulbearer, Piramus.” He pointed to the green mist that rose from Loku’s body and the brown-haired elf standing beside it.

An elf that looked a great deal like Callix.

“Let me guess—Piramus was a member of the Jaquoix family?”

“Yes, as were the next four Soulbearers, ending with the Soulbearer Dev was first charged with protecting, Quertus.”

She traced Loku’s face on the tapestry, marveling at how accurate it was to the face that haunted her dreams some nights. A shock raced up her arm, stealing her breath away and making her teeth ache. She jerked her hand away and rubbed her arm. “But Dev said it was tradition for the Protector to become the next Soulbearer.”

“It was, but the Jaquoix family was beginning to feel the heavy toll it was placing upon its members. As fate would have it, Dev’s request to become the next Protector came at a time where they were looking to move the burden of containing Loku to another family.” He backed away from the tapestry, put his hands behind his back, and appraised it once again. “The rest, as they say, is history.”

“Or just Gravarion lore.” She continued to rub her shoulder, the ache still throbbing all the way to the bones. “So, does it make the Jaquoix family nervous to know a member of their arch-rival family has taken over their traditional role as the Soulbearer?”

“Very nervous.” He turned to her, his bright blue eyes piercing her mind like a blade. “Especially since the current Soulbearer is the daughter of the current Lore Keeper.”

A sharp chill replaced the dull ache, this time shooting straight for her heart. “And why would that make them nervous?”

He gave her a smug smile in reply and turned around. “Come along, Arden, you still have much to learn about controlling Loku.”

It wasn’t until they passed Callix at the end of one of the rows that she realized the elf had probably overheard their entire conversation. This time, she saw a glint of revenge glowing from his narrowed eyes.

“Loku, what kind of trouble have you gotten me into now?”