A Soul For Chaos (The Soulbearer Trilogy) (25 page)

BOOK: A Soul For Chaos (The Soulbearer Trilogy)
4.36Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Dev smiled warmly at the Ornathian as though they were old friends. “Yes, Sazi. I apologize in advance. You’re going to have your hands full with this one.”

A spark of jealousy chased away her cold fear of the woman. Would it kill Dev to be that nice to her for once?


But then you’d miss all the lovely tension that keeps you two dancing around each other,
” Loku teased.


I’d really wish you wouldn’t distract me right now.
” Her feet remained fixed to the ground, her eyes never straying from the Ornathian.

A beam of sunlight broke through the clouds and fell on Sazi’s wings, creating a shimmer of iridescent greens and yellows along the feathers. She stretched them out, the span filling the entire opening, to let the light filter through them and play along the walls. The effect was beautiful in a terrifying sort of way.

Sazi’s lips slowly rose into a shy smile. “Dev, what kind of tales have you been filling her head with?”

If Dev’s accent was musical to Arden’s ears, Sazi’s bore a different melody—one that had a full, rich lilt punctuated by the staccato way she pronounced each hard consonant. It didn’t flow well, but it still produced an intriguing song.

Dev chuckled. “I’ve tried telling her she has nothing to fear, but she’d been terrified of you Ornathians since she first saw one flying overhead a few days ago.”

Sazi flattened her wings and crept toward Arden, her hand outstretched. “It’s quite alright, Soulbearer. You have nothing to fear from me.”

Except that you possess the ability to destroy souls, according to Dev
.

Sazi halted, her brows drawing together. “Shall I prove to you that I am a friend?”

“How?” Arden stiffened and spread a shield around her mind in case Sazi attempted to do the same thing Fane and the Empress had.

Sazi made a clucking sound with her tongue and shook her head. “She is a hard one to reach.”

Dev stepped between them, placing his hands on Arden’s shoulders. “I’ve known Sazi for over a century. I trust her with both my life and yours.”

She peered over Dev’s shoulder at Sazi. “How do you intend to prove that I can trust you?”

“By showing you the light of my soul.”

“As opposed to showing me your thoughts or trying to steal mine?”

Sazi nodded. “Minds can be corrupted easily, and your thoughts can be used to manipulate both yourself and others. Souls know no forms of guise. They are honest because they are the core of our beings.”


What do you think of this, Loku?”

“You’re the one with an extra soul residing in your body
.”

Arden inched closer to the Ornathian, keeping Dev in front of her. Sazi’s description of souls whetted her curiosity. Perhaps she would be a good teacher when it came to containing Loku and understanding his motives. “How would I be able to see inside your soul?”

“Come closer and I will show you.”

Arden moved past Dev and came within a few feet of her, her shield still raised.

Sazi took her hand and pressed it into the center of her chest. Her skin was warm, despite the coldness of the room and the thin fabric of her dress. Her heart beat slow and steady. “Close your eyes and look inside.”

Arden complied, closing her eyes while Sazi began to chant in an unknown language. Now, her accent became music, the notes wafting from high to low like a kite playing on a breeze. As the song ended, a golden light filled Arden’s vision.

“Do you see the light of my soul?” Sazi asked. “A soul full of malice is dark like the intents of the bearer. A benevolent soul is bright enough to chase away the shadows.”

The light grew brighter, blinding her other senses. Her fear vanished. If this was truly Sazi’s soul, then there was nothing to hide. She opened her eyes to find Sazi smiling at her.

“Are you satisfied, Arden Soulbearer?”

“Yes.” For the first time since she arrived in Gravaria, Arden knew peace. It flowed through her, calming her heart and easing the tension from her weary muscles. Sazi had kept nothing from her, unlike the others. Perhaps she’d be able to learn more than just magic from the Ornathian. “I’m ready to begin my training now.”

“Then I will leave you in the care of Sazi.” Dev bowed to them and left.

Sazi snapped her fingers, and the fireplace roared to life. She grinned. “I have heard you already mastered that spell.”

“Yes. It was one of the first ones Dev taught me.”

“Then we will not waste our time with the basic spells.” She went to the stacks of scroll along the wall and pulled one out. “I think this will be a good place to start your training.”

“Are you going to teach me how to contain Loku?”


Eager to be rid of me?”

“Eager to learn what I need to so I can return home.”

“And shatter poor little Kell’s heart.”

A moment she’d been dreading. Ever since Dev kissed her, she knew that there was no use in pretending her feelings for Kell would reach the same intensity of those for Dev. She’d only be lying to herself and him. The sooner she let Kell go, the better. But she still didn’t know how she’d explain it to him.

“I will teach you soul magic once you have proven to me you have the capabilities to use it responsibly. Until then, we practice more advanced spells.” She gave the scroll to Arden. “Would you like to learn how to walk through walls?”

That spell had been quite useful when she and Dev were prisoners in Trivinus. She nodded and unrolled the scroll.

***

Arden focused on the knitting needles in front of her. They twitched at first, then rose into the air.

“Very good,” Sazi said next to her. “Now teach them to knit.”

She looped a piece of yarn around one of the needles and refocused her energy from one needle to the next, orchestrating their movements bit by bit.

Sazi laughed. “I take it you are not a very skilled knitter.”

The needles rattled to the table. “What gave that away?”

“You are skipping stitches.” She held up the mess of tangled yarn to show the gaps. “But you demonstrated good control of two different objects. You are improving.”

Arden plopped down in a chair and sighed. She’d spent the last week in Sazi’s tower, practicing spell after spell until she could barely keep her eyes open. More than one night found her leaning on Dev as she stumbled down the stairs to her room, skipping dinner in favor of sleep. But her arsenal of spells grew daily, and that kept her coming back.

A ring of light appeared on the table. When it faded, a tiny folded piece of paper sat in its center. Sazi picked it up and opened it. “Dev wishes for you to stay up here tonight.”

“Did he give a reason why?”

“No.”

Of course not, she thought as she pinched her lips together. Why should he explain his commands? He expected her to follow his orders, no matter what.

Sazi burned the note in her hand, scattering the ashes over her balcony. “You are not happy with his request?”

“I just wish he’d stop hiding things from me.” She rolled one of the knitting needles across the table. “I’d probably fight him less if I knew why he asked me to do things.”

“Perhaps I can provide you with some information.” She beckoned Arden to join her on the balcony.

Arden stepped outside and immediately felt the icy bite of the wind tear through her dress. She rubbed her arms and came as close to the edge as she dared. Several men on horses waited outside the main building of the Conclave. “Who are they?”

“The Lord Chamberlain and a few of his men.” Sazi placed her hands on Arden’s shoulders and pulled her back inside. “We should not let them see you.”

“Why?” Arden warmed her hands in front of the fire. “Is he behind the attacks?”

Sazi let her fingers drift down the stacks of scrolls. “I cannot say, but I sense Dev thinks he may bring you harm.”

“Me?” She laughed to settle her nerves, but it wasn’t easy to forget the way Dev told her to hide that night the Lord Chamberlain came looking for her. “Do you suppose it has anything to do with the Empress?” Or my little attack on her?

“I would be lying if I told you it did not.”

At least Sazi was answering her questions, unlike Dev and his father. She pressed on and asked the one question that had been bugging her since she first saw the Empress. “I couldn’t help but notice that I look a little like the Empress.”

Sazi’s hand stopped. “Yes, you do bare a strong resemblance to her.”

Finally, someone confirmed her suspicions. “I mean, we almost look like we could be sisters, but I know that’s preposterous. After all, I’m a Ranellian, a human, not some Gravarian elf.”

“Half-elf.” Sazi pulled out a scroll. “The Empress is a half-elf. Her father, the Emperor, was human.”

The hairs on back of her neck stood on end. She grabbed her necklace. Dev wanted her to keep it hidden, but why? Because it contained some clue about her father? Because it might link her to the Empress? She pulled it out of her bodice and showed the pendant to Sazi. “Does this mean anything?”

Sazi touched at the side with random scratches. “It belonged to someone named Alisa”

“Alisa was my mother’s name.” Arden tucked her necklace away, wanting to ask more questions but fearing the answers. “My father supposedly gave it to her.” She waited to see if Sazi offered any more information about the man who’d been a complete mystery her entire life.

Sazi cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips. “Do you remember anything about him?”

She shook her head. “He abandoned my mother before I was born.”

“I do not think a man who would give such a gift as this would so quickly abandon her.” Her dark eyes softened.

“He did.” The cold metal stung against her chest, reminding her of the heartache her mother had suffered because of him. She returned to the knitting needles, gripping one like a dagger. If she ever found out who her father was…

Sazi came up behind her. “You have much hatred in your soul for this man you know nothing about. Perhaps your soul is hanging on to this hatred because you cannot remember the truth.”

“I only remember my mother’s tears.”

“Yes, your mind remembers that, but your soul’s memory goes back much further. May I help you tap it?”

Arden’s throat constricted. To gain the truth, she’d have to revisit the pain of her past. Would it be worth it? “How can you access my soul’s memories?”

“With your permission, I can help guide you into the recess of your soul. From there, we can learn what it hides and perhaps free you from your hatred.”

She set the needle down on the table. She trusted Sazi, but could she trust herself? “I’m ready when you are.”

Sazi stood behind her and wrapped her long, dark arms around Arden’s chest. She began chanting, her wings rising to enfold the two of them. The black feathers blocked the light and plunged her into darkness. As the chant continued, her mind drifted off, and the world blurred around her. A pair of steady arms held her up as everything else fell away.

The first thing she heard was her mother’s voice. The sound made her heart ache with longing. She missed her so much. Then, the darkness faded to reveal her mother’s face. Tears gathered in the corners of her mother’s eyes as she said, “She looks so much like her father.”

Something Arden had known for years. How else could she explain her blond hair and blue eyes in a land where brown features dominated the population?

“She’s cursed,” another unfamiliar woman spat. “You’d be better off drowning her.”

Her mother’s arms tightened around her. “No.”

“You’d keep the spawn of a man who cast you aside?” the other woman asked.

Her mother looked down at her, pain flashing across her face. “Yes.”

“Then I wish you good riddance. One look at that child’s ears, and the whole town will want to burn her.”

The door slammed, and her mother broke down in tears.

Arden’s own eyes burned as she watched her mother cry, a familiar memory of her childhood.

After her mother wiped away her last tear, she stood and fetched something from the other end of the room. A look of resolve hardened her face when she returned. “Forgive me, Arden, but I have to do this. They can’t ever know.”

The light flashed off a pair of sharp scissors before a searing pain ripped through the tops of her ears.

Arden screamed, and the world faded to black.

***

Dev paced outside his father’s chambers, hoping the Lord Chamberlain wouldn’t demand to see Arden. He already knew his father wouldn’t allow it. The Mage Primus ruled over the Conclave like a king, and the Lord Chamberlain had little power here. Still, the unexpected arrival of Caz had him on edge. Until he had a chance to speak to Varrik himself, he didn’t want anyone else learning of Arden’s bloodlines.

Out of nowhere, a scream of pain filled his mind, dropping him to his knees. He pressed his hands against his ears, but it did little good. His breath quickened as he placed the source of those screams.

Arden.

Forgetting about Caz de Miloria and his entourage, Dev raced up Sazi’s tower. His heart rose into this throat. The screams had stopped, and the silence left behind awakened the fear that he was too late to save her.

He flung the door open to find Arden on her knees, crying against Sazi’s chest. Relief turned his muscles into clay. She was alive, but pain still laced her sobs. “What happened?”

Sazi looked up, an unspoken question burning in her dark eyes. “It is my fault. I did not expect to find such a painful memory.”

Dev knelt down next to Arden and pulled her into his arms. “What did you see?”

A few seconds passed before she stopped crying long enough to look up. Her red-rimmed eyes pleaded with him for comfort. “My mother…” Her voice drifted off, and her hand came to the scars on her ears.

He hugged her tighter and scowled at Sazi. “Why did you delve into her memories?”

“She wanted to know why you wished to keep her from the Lord Chamberlain.” Sazi lifted her chin and rose to her full height. “You cannot keep secrets from her if you wish to gain her trust.”

A string of curses rolled through his mind. He focused his energy on easing Arden’s tears instead of letting them loose off his tongue. “But there are some things she doesn’t need to know right now.”

BOOK: A Soul For Chaos (The Soulbearer Trilogy)
4.36Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

SANCTION: A Thriller by S.M. Harkness
Gallow by Nathan Hawke
A Splendid Little War by Derek Robinson
Eidolon by Grace Draven
Fragment by Warren Fahy
A Different Blue by Amy Harmon
Be on the Lookout by Tyler Anne Snell
204 Rosewood Lane by Debbie Macomber
Bully Me (Bully Me #1) by C. E. Starkweather