Regius (21 page)

The stench of the sewers
was fading, replaced with a soft, fresh breeze flowing its way
around me. My footsteps resonated through the tunnel. When I
reached the bottom, my lips parted while I stared and took in the
space.

This didn't look like the
dungeon or the very luxurious and detailed room the three keys were
in. This was a cave. Literally and a huge one at that. The ceiling
went way up high, and it was rounded. And the bottom. I wasn't
standing on it, instead I was on a circular balcony with a
beautiful metal railing, reminding me of Edge in LV. The view
wasn't an ocean though. Straight ahead, was an exact replica of the
huge balcony I was standing on just mirrored and instead of a
staircase leading up, there was an enormous wooden double door. A
large distance separated the two balconies and I already knew what
I was expected to do here as a row of ropes hung one after the
other from the ceiling.

I worriedly stepped over to
the railing, looking down to see where I would land if I
accidentally slipped. I could only gulp when I was stared back at
by a black pit of nothingness.

* * * *

"He isn't breaking any
laws, Cali." Caltha said apologetically, as he and Ilex watched me
pace in front of them in the wrestling sandbox. "Galax kept
important information concerning an Altor soldier in training and
took matters into his own hands. Datura kept him hidden and lied to
an Elder's face about knowing where the heir was."

"How are those major
offenses?" I asked, running my fingers through my hair in
frustration. "It needs to be put in perspective. Galax only did
those things because he knew following protocol would not help
Solenum and Datura recognized that." Stopping in my tracks, I
looked at the Trainers. "And how am I not being punished for any of
these things? I was as much a part of hiding Galax as
Datura."

"You've not taken the
soldier pledge yet," Ilex said, "The laws haven't yet been made
clear to you, so the system recognizes you wouldn't know if you'd
break one."

"You're leniency isn't very
consistent." I muttered, pacing again.

"We are in no place to
argue Aram's decisions." Caltha reminded. "He is as much our Elder
as he is yours and Datura's."

"They've been in the cells
for two days!" I growled. "Isn't that punishment
enough?"

"The moment we set Galax
free, he'll run and continue to create an uproar in both our
communities." Ilex pointed out. "Flux made very clear to the Elder
that he was the one to take charge of the heir. As for
Datura..."

I sighed. "You know he
didn't do anything wrong."

"He's different,
Calycanthus." Caltha murmured. "We have to take into account that
his powers are far greater than..." He looked thoughtful. "Maybe
even the Seers. Or at least the same scale. He needs a strict black
and white lifestyle. If he enters the grey area or leans towards
the black, a time out is needed."

"I know about the different
stages in a Keeper." I muttered before Caltha could speak of
Mediums, Necromancers and the living dead. "But Datura-"

"Soldier Lovelace will
remain within the cells until the Elders and District Leaders have
had a chance to discuss his matter." Aram cut in, leading myself,
Ilex and Caltha to look in the man's direction as he came from the
door that led down to the cells. "Don't let your feelings for him
blind you of the fact that he can be dangerous if he isn't kept in
line." The Elder gestured for me to follow him, and although I
didn't want to, he seemed to be allowing me to go down. "Ilex,
would you be so kind to pick up my daughter in Copper Town's
harbor? Vervaine left Iron Island last night."

"Yes, Sir." Ilex
straightened, clicked his heels together and then nodded at the
Elder before turning away.

"I have permitted Iso and
Ivy to return to Pallium territory with Galaxi, seeing as Flux will
be traveling to the Coliseum with the Briony bodyguards and Galaxi
said she would feel safer with her cousin at her side until her
husband returns from the desert." Aram told Caltha. "Ivy asked if
one of you Osgoods would let her know when I'd delivered the news
and assure her it wouldn't be an inconvenience."

"Of course." Caltha raised
an eyebrow at me, mutely telling me to
try
to behave while he made the
phone call and saw Ilex off.

"The heir would like a word
with you, Seer."

I smiled tightly up at
Aram, allowing him to guide me to the door and then down the
stairs. "You hate me because I may be Sage's son, don't
you?"

"I dislike you because you
remind me of your father." The Elder murmured. I wanted to push
further on the matter of him and Sage, rather sure it would be like
pulling teeth, but to my surprise, he elaborated all by himself. "I
could never hate Vervaine's mother. She is the love of my life, and
unfortunately, she always will be." He waved his hand when I was
going to tell him he could have tried not to give up on her. "But
we are far too different. Not even Vervaine can bring us together,
and she is our child." His sharp grey eyes and his harsh face
turned to me as we reached the last step. "I will be present while
the heir speaks to you." He pulled a large key out of his pocket
and then opened the ancient looking door, allowing me to go in
first.

There was a narrow hallway
formed between the square cells that could hold prisoners. Datura
and Galax were in the far back and as I made my way over there, I
saw that they were the only ones being detained. Datura's cell was
the first with Galax's neighboring his.

"Cali!" I stepped over to
the cell quickly, smiling at the cheer in Datura's voice. He
slipped his arms between the bars, pulling me closer the moment he
caught a hold of me. He looked just fine. Maybe a tad frustrated
and suffering from cabin fever, but otherwise they were feeding the
guys properly and the beds looked comfortable.

My eyebrows rose when I
felt him tuck something into the pocket that wasn't visible to
Aram, but Datura made sure I couldn't look too shocked and give him
away by guiding my face closer with his other hand, kissing me
between the bars. My eyes fluttered closed and my heart skipped a
beat as he deepened the lip lock. I'd expected a chaste kiss, but
he ignored Aram's annoyed grunt and made sure I felt it all the way
down to my bones.

"I hate that we are apart."
He breathed against my mouth, his fingers in my hair tugging me
closer and closer, as though he hoped he could make the bars
magically disappear and hold me properly against him. Reaching
inside the cell, I placed my hand over his heart.

"Me too." I murmured
against his lips. "We'll fix this." I promised.

"I know." I felt a smile
form on his mouth before he reluctantly released me and stepped
back.

"Hey." I detached my eyes
off Datura so I could look over at Galax, and nod at his hello.
"With Aram's permission, I am allowed to tell you what Solenum and
I discovered before she was taken."

The Elder cleared his
throat. "I am permitting it because you claim the information to be
of great importance and the only person you are willing to tell it
to, is the boy. Now speak and don't take all day." Frowning at his
grumpiness, I waited for Galax to start talking, sticking my hands
in my pockets and noticing that Datura had slipped a piece of paper
in the right one. Glancing to his red gaze, I pursed my lips and
tried to remain nonchalant when he winked discretely at my
realization.

"I thought Solenum to be
part Civilian rather than Seer, since it is claimed the only Seers
still alive are Vervaine and Sage." Galax started, pausing when
Aram sighed at the mention of his family. "The blue blood cell
never got at an advanced stage in the poison since we didn't let
it, thus, we didn't get to see the delirium. And because she became
aggressive during the trigger, whatever doubts the color of her
eyes gave me were gone." I nodded, actually quite impressed he'd
even considered her to be part Seer for a moment before the
trigger. "I even thought she didn't carry enough Altor blood in her
system to need the trigger to begin with. When she walked on the
platform in the Pallium castle, her shine wasn't grey, it was
amber. Altors who need the trigger
always
produce a grey light. But as
hers wasn't pure gold and didn't light up the whole room as it had
done with Vervaine, I deduced Civilian."

"What changed your mind?" I
asked, leaning against the bars of Datura's cell, smiling when he
came to stand closer to me.

"She told me about her
recurring nightmare." I winced and he did too. "The fact that it is
recurring is what had my doubts return on her origin, but when she
told me the details of the dream and explained that she remembered
her father told her mother that she had to believe because
he'd
seen
them
coming, I just knew." Galax was animatedly pacing his cell, his
blue eyes occasionally looking in my direction. "We sought out my
father, Flux, and he then revealed he knew much more than he'd led
on."

"Excuse me?" Aram cut in.
Datura and I frowned over at Galax, having assumed that if Flux
knew, the Elders must have known as well.

"Exactly." Galax implored.
"Not even the Elders knew. Flux said that the only people who did
were him, the Jacoby's, the Esquivel's and the Everhart's. If my
father knew, it's only because Aster, Solis' mother, had asked him
to help her fall off grid."

"You know the reason as to
why Aster Everhart fell of grid? Acacia, her own sister, knew and
kept it from me? The Elders?" Aram growled.

I'd zeroed in on one
specific thing though. "Acacia is Solenum's aunt?!"

"Everyone." Datura cut in.
"Just, let Galax get everything out and then we can ask questions."
I nodded frantically at my boyfriend before pinning curious eyes on
the Prince.

"Yes. Acacia and Lupinus
are Solenum's family. Her father, Leann Everhart, married Aster
Greenwich when she helped him escape Regius trackers. In the end,
he didn't need it because he is Seer and can create the barriers to
protect himself. But they fell in love, had Solenum and then kept
off grid, hoping to live somewhat regular lives, all the while
knowing they'd have to run from Sage at any given moment were she
to locate them." Galax grabbed some bars, leaning onto them.
"Sage
knew
there
were more Seers out there besides herself and Vervaine, but made
sure nobody could find out so she could hunt them down and have
them killed without the Altors in the way."

"Do you know if I'm
Sage's?" I asked softly, carefully.

"You're not." Galax smiled
as he said this. I was breathless. Datura was too. Aram was beyond
surprised as well. It had never been a certainty, but to hear that
I wasn't, it was a relief. "Kalmia Esquivel is your father, as you
know, but after his time among the Regius, he left and ran into
Linn Everhart, whom he then married."

My eyes nearly fell out of
their sockets. "Solenum is my cousin?!"

"She reacted quite
similarly to you." Galax snickered, clearly amused with my
shock.

"While this allows
Calycanthus to achieve peace of mind," Aram cut in. "I do not see
how this is particularly important for other people."

"Kalmia and Sage did have
a child. It's just not Cali." Galax murmured. "We don't know her
name, but we do know she can
see
as Vervaine can."

"I have a sister?!" I
shrieked, grasping Datura's hand when he put it in
reach.

"I'm sorry." Galax said
softly. "I don't know her name or any details at all. Flux was only
given the general overview so he knew what it was he was
protecting."

"Why would he keep this?"
Aram demanded.

"Because Linn and Leann
were Seers who could have visions and Aster and Kalmia trusted them
to guide them in the right direction. They told your soldiers that
falling off grid would be best to keep this all under wraps, and so
they made sure it stayed that way. The only time Flux was allowed
to reveal the secret, was if either Solenum or Calycanthus would
ask him of their origin." He detached his gaze off Aram and then
looked over at me. "The Everhart's and Esquivel's only way to
communicate with one another was through Flux. When your mother
died because the curse of the Seer consumed her, the protection
barrier she'd constructed around you and Kalmia broke. Your father
was forced to run from Sage always. Flux said Kalmia tried to make
it work, until he just couldn't anymore and he deemed his lifestyle
far too dangerous for a child of barely one."

I licked my lips, gulping.
"So, he gave me to Ilex and ran until Sage caught him."

"Yes."

"I have a sister." I
breathed. "And Solenum is my cousin."

* * * *

Nervous like I had never
been before, I tugged the car door open, watching over my shoulder
to make sure neither of the Jansen's or Caltha had followed me
outside of the Coliseum and to the small parking space where the
soldiers kept their vehicles. The idea of this car being mine was
quite honestly the last thing on my mind. I was grateful Lupinus
had taught me the basics, hopefully making my first car drive
easier. He'd prepared me and Solenum. With the full facts on our
blood lines; he must have known there was a large possibility she
and I would need the trigger. But, even that wasn't the most
important thought. The thought that monopolized my mind was the
message on the piece of paper Datura had given me.