sorcery and science 04.5 - masquerade (3 page)

~ 5 ~

510AX May 10, Rosewater

THEY MANAGED TO make it back to the temple in just over an hour, jogging every step of the way. Emperor Selpe’s wheezing breaths huffed out the time as effectively as any clock, yet not once did the emperor utter a single complaint. He just kept going and going and going. The man was nothing if not stubborn. And like him or not, Silas did respect him.

Silas and Livia carried the three outlaws inside the temple. When they stacked them up on the floor of Essence’s office, the healer gave Silas the evil eye. Two evil eyes actually. Two evil eyes that glowered orange-gold.

“More bodies? Oh, Wrest, you shouldn’t have.” She turned to Livia. “Though I never expected this from you, Allura.”

Livia shrugged. “I just carried the one girl. This is Silas’s doing. He knocked them out.”

“Just a few times,” Silas said. The other two outlaws had had the misfortunate of drifting back into consciousness on the way to Rosewater. They hadn’t stayed awake long.

Essence set the Prophet on the first bed. “Never mind. I think I’ve gotten used to all the bodies by now.”

That wasn’t true, not by a long shot. Healers like Essence didn’t get used to violence. They abhorred it. It was just as well. There were more than enough Elitions who had no problem with dealing damage.

“At least they’re alive this time,” said Silas.

A snort exploded out of her uptight nose. “Indeed. How thoughtful of you. You’re like a pet cat bringing presents to me.”

“More like a tiger,” muttered Livia.

Essence put the second and third outlaws into their new beds. “Besides the amethyst-eyed woman’s stab wounds to the chest, I don’t see any serious injuries. Though you might want to stop pounding people in the skull. These two each appear to be healing a nasty concussion.”

“What do you suggest I do instead?” Silas asked. “Ask them very nicely to fall down?”

Essence turned her back on him, but he could still see her shake her head. He was mostly sure he was anyway supposed to see it.

“Why are you healing them?” Emperor Selpe spoke for the first time since they’d started their run. “They attacked us. They’re criminals.”

“The high queen will want to have them questioned,” Silas said, heading for the door.

“And where are you going?” Emperor Selpe asked.

Or was that
demanded
? There was a commanding edge to his words. Silas let it bounce right off of him. It was not even noon, and the day was already too long.

“My clothes are stained with the blood of three different Elitions. I’m going to change them. But first I’ll send a few Rosewater guards your way.”

Emperor Selpe’s mouth opened, as though he actually wanted to stop him. He slammed it shut again, then said, “Ok. Though I’d prefer you to any other guards. I’ve seen you fight, and I have to say I’m glad you were on my side. You are the fastest and most skilled fighter I have ever met—and to be perfectly honest, by far the most terrifying.”

Silas gave him a smooth bow. He’d had several hundred years to polish it, so he knew it was good. “I aim to please, Your Majesty. Now try not to get yourself killed in the next two minutes. The guards will soon be here.”

~ 6 ~

510AX May 10, Rosewater

AN HOUR LATER, Silas stepped onto the temple’s back terrace in clean clothes, whistling a happy tune. He set his food tray down at the table just over the waterfall drop. Between the fight and the loaded jog through the forest, he was hungry. And his meal was begging to be eaten. He dunked a hunk of bread into the meat stew, then sucked the thick liquid right off.

“Silas.”

He didn’t need to look up at Livia to know something was wrong. He could feel it with every ripple of her resonance—and because she’d passed up a prime opportunity to tease him about his disgusting eating habits.

He looked at her. Even with her eyes pooling up with tears she was fighting to contain, she was beautiful.

“You’re early,” he told her as she sat down opposite him.

“Or too late.”

Silas dropped his bread onto his plate, then hit her with his hard Phantom stare. “Look, Livia, you can either tell me what’s bothering you, or I will pin you down and sit on you until I can extract it out myself.”

“That’s not how extraction works,” she said, tugging at her sleeves.

He phased his eyes lighter. “Sure, but it might be fun anyway, right?”

Livia picked a crumb off his tray and tossed it into his soup bowl. “Emperor Selpe claims to be in love with me.”

Silas scooped the crumb and the surrounding glob of soup onto his finger. Then licked it off. “He’s infatuated.”

“Are you sure that’s all it is?”

“It took me centuries to find the woman I love. You.” He took her hands. “People don’t fall in love in just half a day. Not even humans. It’s infatuation.”

“He…” Livia sighed. “He wants me to marry him.”

Silas had heard a lot of crazy things in his lifetime but very few as absurd as that. “Not that you aren’t easy to love, but don’t you think his brain’s just muddled from all those Enchanter vibes you were throwing around? You were laying it on pretty thick.”

“Jasmine told me to make him like Elitions. To care about us. I didn’t think he’d get it into his head that he was in love with me!”

“Humans aren’t used to magic. You need to use a lower dose with them.”

“You’re not helping, Silas.”

“Ok.” He squeezed her hands. “Well, you could always tell him no.”

“Rhys says tying the Selpe emperor to Elitia means he’ll look out for our best interests. Especially…”

“Especially if you have children with him,” he finished for her, his voice harsh and hoarse.

She nodded, and her hair slid over her shoulders like a shimmering gold waterfall.

“Ignore him. King River doesn’t care about your happiness.”

“I think he does, at least as much as it affects Jasmine’s happiness. But he does care about the good of Elitia. And he’s right. If I were to marry Emperor Selpe, it would be good for Elitia.”

The three candle glasses sitting on the windowsill shattered. Silas gripped two sides of the wooden table, trying to count down backwards from ten.
Ten. Nine. Eight.

“Rhys mentioned Sorin’s kidnapping. They’re desperate to put an end to these excursions.”

Seven. Six.

“Then I talked to Jasmine.”

Five. Four.

“As my sister, she doesn’t want me to go. But as the high queen, she has to admit it would be best for Elitia.”

Three.
The rage was bubbling up inside of him, threatening to burst.

“I’d have to take an Inhibiting Serum, one strong enough to make me appear human. The Selpe aristocracy can never know. I won’t see my sister again.”

Two.
He saw blood. Lots and lots of blood. Crimson. Smooth. Spicy.

“And I won’t see you.”

One.
He pulled away, releasing her hands before he crushed them.

“Silas,” she said, reaching forward.

“I see. You’ve already agreed,” he said.

A tear spilled from each of her eyes, falling into the stew.

“And this is your goodbye.”

Livia reached under her hair, unfastening the rose pendant, the symbol of the high priestess of Rosewater. “Silas, my heart will always belong to you.” Her hands shook as she set the pendant on the table before him. “Always.”

She scraped her chair back and jumped up, tears streaming off of her as she ran around the temple and out of sight. For a few minutes, Silas just sat there, staring down at the metal pendant as the last of Livia’s warmth drained off of it. Once it had faded completely, he stood up. He walked past the temple, past the trees, past the flowers and buildings of Rosewater—until he reached the portal to Laelia.

In a situation like this, there was really only one thing to do.

~ 7 ~

510AX May 11, Rosewater

OUTSIDE THE PALACE of Laelia, beneath the canopy of snowing cherry blossoms, Silas stood opposite Emperor Selpe. He was wearing fifty-two knives—and his massive Decimator sword on his back. His clothes were made of the fitted black leather the Selpes seemed to find so intimidating. His hair was styled into high orange spikes. And for the final touch, he’d phased his eyes ice white.

“Magnificent,” Emperor Selpe said, turning to King River. “He is truly a menacing sight to behold.”

“Silas Thorn is one of Elitia’s oldest and most powerful warriors. He will be the perfect bodyguard.”

“My territory rulers will certainly appreciate him. The moment they see him, they’ll be screaming for Elition bodyguards of their own.”

“They will get them. And the assassins you requested,” said King River. “If you protect our borders, we’ll help you protect yours. Your war with the Avans is inevitable. And with our assistance, so is your victory.”

“Yes, it is.” Emperor Selpe nodded, an eager spark in his eyes. “And we’ll keep your borders safe. Elitia is now too precious to me to do otherwise.”

The front doors of the palace spread wide, and Jasmine Cross took a step outside. The high queen of Elitia extended her arm back through the doorway, and a gloved hand took hers. The woman who had once been Livia Cross walked forward. Her true resonance masked beneath the Inhibiting Serum, she looked almost human. Her swirling hurricane eyes had dulled to a dark grey-blue. Her shimmering gold hair was now only dull blonde. She’d pulled most of it back and topped it with a large cream-colored hat accented with a blue satin ribbon. The rosy bloom of life had faded from her cheeks, leaving only pasty pale skin. Though she didn’t look entirely human, it was close enough to fool the Selpes.

Seeing her like this, stripped of the vivacity and vibrancy that made her who she was, scraped against Silas’s heart. For all he wanted to run forward, to drag her away from this lie of a new life, he held his ground. She’d made her decision, and he’d made his. He would be there, close to her, for as long as it took her to reclaim herself. Years, even decades…he would wait. And he would watch. Even if that meant protecting the man who’d taken her from him.

Emperor Selpe spread his arms, smiling out at her. Livia kissed her sister on the cheek, brushed the wrinkles from her dark blue pencil skirt and matching jacket, then walked toward him. Her high heels sank into the wet, mushy grass with each step that she took. It was as though fate were screaming out at her, begging her to stop. She didn’t listen. Slow and steady, she took step after step, finally stopping before her future husband. Her mouth dropped when she saw Silas there beside him, but she pressed her painted lips right back together again.

“I’ve heard back from my contact in Orion. Your party made it back there early yesterday afternoon,” King River said as Emperor Selpe took her hand.

“Good.” He looked at Livia. “We’re going to Cerulean now. The story is you are a doctor. We met in Cerulean yesterday, just after I left Elitia with a new alliance all wrapped up. I was supposed to spend only the night there and fly across the ocean the next morning. After meeting you, I decided to extend my stay in Cerulean. I ended up staying there longer than planned, and when I could delay my travel plans no further, I asked you to come with me. We’ll leave Cerulean in two days and take my airship to the Western Territories. We’ll visit four of the territory leaders out there, two per day. On the last day, we’ll announce our engagement.”

Livia had kept her eyes on him for the entire explanation, but she wasn’t really looking at him. Silas could feel her stare boring through the emperor’s head to him.

“I understand,” she said.

Emperor Selpe addressed Silas next. “The Avans have eyes in the Western Territories. They’ll be watching.”

Meaning, he wanted the Avans to see he had a big, scary Elition bodyguard now.

“I’ll make sure to spit in the sea between the two empires,” Silas promised.

The emperor burst into delighted laughter. “I’m beginning to think that taking you on as my bodyguard will turn out to be one of my better decisions.”

“Yes.”

Emperor Selpe laughed again, adding an enthusiastic slap to Silas’s back. Silas hardly felt it. What he did feel, though, was the shard of glass lodged in his heart, drenching him in poisoned fire as the emperor walked down the path hand-in-hand with the only woman Silas had ever loved.

Silas reached for the rose pendant beneath his shirt and gave the metal a gentle squeeze. He would always love her. Always.

STORY TWO

The Pendant

~ 1 ~

514AX November 25, Chrysalis

IT WAS AUTUMN, just on the cusp of winter, and Jason stood at his bedroom window. Winter in the kingdom of Pegasus meant less sun and more rain. In anticipation of the changing seasons, the skies over Chrysalis had sprung a leak, gushing down a continuous avalanche of rain for the past week. Only today had the downpour stopped, but smokey grey clouds still loomed overhead, threatening to split open at any moment.

“Today is a special day,” Jason’s father intoned. “A momentous day. Today is the day the Chanz and Cross families are united.” 

“Edward, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Mother said. “Today is only the day Jason and Terra are betrothed. The wedding will not happen for many years.”

“We’re anyway too
young
to be married,” Jason commented.

Father looked at them both and smiled. “Of course, of course. I do sometimes get ahead of myself.”

Sometimes? Father always gets ahead of himself.

“We have hardly more than a decade to wait until that joyous day that Terra comes of age,” Father continued.

He sure had an odd sense of time. He was so ancient that he’d forgotten what it was like to be young. And Jason was pretty sure his father had never been faced with the prospect of a ten-and-a-half year betrothal at the age of eight. The idea of marriage was almost as weird to Jason as the idea of marrying Terra Cross, his best friend. She was like a sister to him—but not annoying like his own sister Lana.