Hail to the Queen (Sage Trilogy, Book 3) (41 page)

Arimus stood to his feet and glared at Thorn as he continued talking.

“And James, well, yours is even easier. I’ll just kill Catherine right in front of you. Literally rip the stone right from her heart. Then I’ll put it back in and heal her. Over and over, the same nightmare relived as she begs to be put out of her misery! Hmmm? Is that real enough for you? Or AM I BLUFFING?!”

“Are you done?” James grunted as the wound on his chest healed completely. “You have to remember. Your mind games don’t work on us anymore. See, my eyes, my ears, all of my senses may be fooled, but my eidolon isn’t.”

James stretched his eidolon right at Thorn.

“It tells me that you exerted too much energy. That knocking us into the mud was an exaggerated display
of power to get in our heads - to make us sloppy. It says you’re on the brink of collapse and that you’re in need of a good rest. It says that you should just die…like old people are supposed to do.”

“A
ll you’re doing is talking too!” Thorn screamed. “What are you actually going to do about it? Huh? You’re no closer to victory than you were a minute ago.”

“Yes we are,” James replied. “See, I’ve been getting ready for your demise the whole time you were spouting off at the mouth, but you’re so exhausted, so frantic,
so desperate to convince us of your everlasting power that you weren’t even listening to the eidolon in your hand, screaming at you to beware.”

“What are you…you…” Thorn stopped as he finall
y began to listen. He shot up his head with wide eyes as James stood confidently before him.

“Are you ready, Arimus?” James asked as he
placed his hands in the pockets of his sage robe.

“Been ready,” he muttered, standing next to the young Sage
.

James closed his eyes, and the hilts of eidolons began bursting out from beneath the mud, rising up slowly until the blades shone off their brilliant and vibr
ant colors, all of them infused with energy, yearning to be held. Arimus began calling forth his winds, and they began picking up the eidolons, one by one, and swirling them around Thorn, creating a prison of swords, ready to strike at Arimus’ command.

“These are only the ones I could commit to memory,
” James said through his anger. “The eidolons of our fallen warriors. Maybe you’ve seen some of them before…but it doesn’t matter, I’m sure you know these.”

One by one, at James feet, four hilts
slowly emerged from the ground until their owners were easily identifiable: Scarlet’s halberd, Chloe’s longsword, Achan’s scimitar, and Dominic’s machete. The eidolons of the friends he had lost in battle.

“You will die now,” James said with assurance
, fighting back angry tears. “By the blade of each Sage you’ve killed. You can fight back, or you can accept your fate. The choice is yours.”

“Of course I’m going to fight back!” Thorn
shouted. “I am a god! I am a –“

The first eidolon cut through his torso, stopping his words. Then another, and another, Arimus orchestrating his demise slowly and carefully, ensuring that he was inca
pacitated but far from death. Arimus picked up Thorn’s wounded body, riddled with blades, and threw him towards James. In one fluid motion, James struck him with each of the eidolons before him, thinking of their contribution to his maturity upon each strike. Scarlet’s halberd struck through Thorn’s right lung as he remembered her fervent spirit and determination. Achan’s scimitar cut through Thorn’s heart as he remembered his best friend’s loyalty and compassion. Dominic’s machete sliced into Thorn’s right rib as he considered the young Sage’s power and confidence. And lastly, Chloe’s long sword stabbed deep into the King’s stomach, as he remembered her cheerful spirit despite the pain of battle, and her inner strength.

As Thorn’s body
was let down to the ground and he slumped to his knees, James cried for each one, remembering how they had turned a boy into a man, how they had each made him into something beyond himself, and he was so, so grateful. Without their sacrifice, he would have never known love, friendship, happiness and peace…and he swore that he would honor them all for the rest of his life, while paying his respects by ending Thorn’s…

Thorn sat on his knees and swayed deliriously, trying to focus on James as the young Sage called for his white eidolon. He placed it next to Thorn’s neck, and hesitated.

“Do it,” Thorn coughed through blood. “Do it.”

“No,” James said. “Not me. Because
I’ve seen what pride does to a man. Arimus and Kyran have taught me that you have to know yourself, and I know that if I kill you with my own blade, I’ll get an ego trip, and that’s something I just don’t need. See, I care about this world, and my future wife, and my friends. I want to keep improving on my character so I can be a better friend, a better lover, a better husband…so I contribute to their world. Because if you’re not helping someone’s world become a better place, you’re destroying it, and that means I would become just like you. No, I’m going to let the man, whose wife you kidnapped, have that pleasure.”

Thorn began to say something, but Arimus had already swung his eidolon forward, making it utterly impossible. James took one look at the fallen King of Zen-echelon and pointed a finger at him. He took a deep sigh, and shook his head.

“Incinerate.”

The wedding was gorgeous
, especially since it was held outside in the meadow at night, and nothing could have gone more perfect except for the shortage of chairs, and the length of the ceremony. All were in attendance as the three remaining Kingdoms, under one proverbial roof, watched their Queen…marry a commoner.

As promised, James turned down the offer of becoming a King during his vows and that was that.
Kyran refused to participate in the ceremony, but Arimus was happy to give the bride away, and her mother, Ashalynn watched from the front row, clapping for her daughter and new son-in-law vigorously. Jennings was the best man though Leidy demanded that she should have been and called the whole thing sexist. In the end, she settled for being a bridesmaid, but she did mutter one more complaint after the ceremony, asking why did she have to get so dressed up if it was only going to be five minutes long.

T
he short ceremony was Catherine’s idea, of course. She was never one to be in the spotlight unless she had to rally the people for a worthy cause, which a wedding in her mind, just wasn’t it. All she wanted to do, after fighting for so many years, was just enjoy the rest of her somewhat leisurely life with her husband.

“Do we have to dance?” James asked as the Prattlian band found their place
in the grass.

“It’s tradition,” she giggled as James rolled his eyes
and reached out for her.

“Not
really liking that word lately,” he muttered as Catherine dodged him.

“Just dance…with Leidy!” Catherine cackled as she threw Leidy into James’ arms. James gave her a look of horror as he saw his Queen navigate through the crowds and away from him.

“Are you serious?” he shouted. “Where are you going?”

“To take care of something!
” She shouted back.

“WITHOUT ME? REALLY? WHY DO YOU GET TO ESCAPE?” James cried out as Leidy slapped him lightly on the cheek and forced him to slow dance.
“SAVE ME!”

“I can’t hear you!” Catherine giggled as sh
e ran away as fast as a wedding dress with a long train allowed. No one bothered to follow her as they were suddenly caught up in the music, enjoying the reprieve from years of conflict and fear. There was trust and unity now, a sense of community that no one in their generation had felt before, and for the first time in a while, the Allayans were actually having fun.

Catherine groaned and finally turned to rip the train off her dress. Once it was good and dead, she continued marching forward, until she found the
black cat she was looking for, sitting up in a tree, with the weight of the world still on his shoulders.

“Kyran, why aren’t you at the wedding?” Catherine demanded. The Sage glanced at her and then jumped out
the tree to face her directly.

“I was at the wedding. This is the reception.”

“Noted,” Catherine giggled. “But c’mon. You look a little gloomier than usual today.”

“I am happy for you,” Kyran said without emotion. Catherine shook her head and dug around in her wedding dress.

“Now where did I put it…” she wondered as Kyran looked at her curiously.

“You have pockets in your wedding dress?”

“Ah! Here it is!” Catherine proclaimed, holding the stone of Zen-echelon in her hand.

“Why are you carrying that?” Kyran frowned. “That’s not safe.”

“Don’t worry. It’s a gift for someone.”

“You’re g
iving gifts at your own wedding?” he sighed. “And one of those gifts happens to be one of the five most powerful stones in existence? Catherine, I don’t know wedding etiquette, but I think you’re breaking it.”

“The gift is for you, silly,” Catherine said, taking Kyran’s hand and plopping it into his palm. “I’m tired of you brooding all the time.”

“What am I supposed to do with this? Try to take over the world?”

“Was that a joke, Kyran?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“Listen to me,” Catherine said, placing her hand on his. “I’ve had this on my mind ever sinc
e we found them in Thorn’s castle, and I’ve already talked to Zain and Tyuin. We’ve all agreed to destroy the stones. For good. They’ve just caused too much trouble, and eventually, generations from now…its effects will be watered down and eventually disappear.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“Before I get rid of them, I want you to use this.”

“I can’t. I…I don’t have a carrier…what would I even need it for?”

“A male usually can’t use the stones of power without a carrier because they would abuse it, but that just means you won’t use it for greed or power, won’t you?”

“I don’t understand.”

“The ether is gone, Kyran…” Catherine said, pointing to the moonlight and stars amongst the dark blue sky. “The souls were released upon Thorn’s death. Call her.”

“No,” Kyran said, clutching the stone. “I won’t. That would be…to
o painful.”

“What I mean is…you should use the stone to see her…and then go with her.”

Kyran looked into Catherine’s eyes in surprise, and then back down at the stone.

“I’ll give you your space,” Catherine said. “There’s no need to say good-bye. We’ll see each other again someday.”

“Thank you,” Kyran said low, turning around to face away from Catherine. He patted the stone while he thought about what to do, and then he placed the stone on his chest. He closed his eyes as it began to melt through his coat, his skin, and attach to his heart. He took a big gulp, and then wished for Chloe to appear. He felt a warmth on his chest, and then someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“It didn’t wo
-“ Kyran said as he turned around, but Chloe interrupted him as she leapt into his arms and gave him a long and hard kiss. He embraced her tight and they held it for over a minute. Chloe parted from his lips to wipe away the tears streaming uncontrollably from his eyes.

“Kyran,” she said gently. “I’m…I’m proud of you…for hanging in there.”

“I tried…” Kyran bowed his head. “I…I want to die…but, I don’t want to die if it means we’re apart forever. I don’t know if it was enough. I don’t if –“

“It’s enough,” Chloe said with a smile. She kissed him once more and began to cry herself. Kyran embraced her again and Chloe burrowed her head into his shoulder.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she whispered. “They love you here. Catherine getting married. Arimus finding Ashalynn. It’s –“

“ – causing me to think of you too often,” K
yran said, looking in the distance at the celebration going forth. “I’m ready.”

“I’m just sad that you’ll die with everyone still thinking you’re still the same old person. You’ve changed so much over the years, and only I can see it. I wish they could see what I see.”