Shadows of the Keeper (43 page)

“He had visions of torture upon
your person that I will never reveal to you.”

“Trust me, I’ve seen enough movies,
I have a pretty good imagination.”  She looked up into his beautiful blue
eyes.  “You forget, I was there for some of his
ideas
.”

Dezenial entered her mind with more
than just their connection.  Strength enveloped her.  She felt him as
if physically placing his strong arms around her.  Gently, her fingertips
rested on his arm.  “I know nothing like that will happen again.”

“Arrogant.”

“Regardless of you being in my
mind, I doubt you truly understand the depth of what I feel for you.”  She
looked away, embarrassed by her words, and his stunned silence.

“Anyway, I was wearing the
medallion and really didn’t notice it missing, just figured it was lost during
the car accident.  I found another in a chest, hidden in a room. 
Broc’s castle—can we change the subject?”  She turned.

His hand snaked out, grabbing her
arm.  “You miss your Forest Lord?”

“He hurt my feelings.  You’d
rather I lie?  You dwell in my mind.  You tell me what I’m thinking.”

“He betrayed you.”

“Then why are we discussing it?”

“Perhaps I need to eradicate him
from your memories?”

“You can do that?”

He grinned.  “You would begin
to experience lapses and, in the end, would resent me, wondering what else I’ve
forced you to forget.”

“And, of course, you’ve never done
this before.”

His eyes burned brilliantly, then
cleared.  “You will regain memory of a personal server—“

Emily’s eyes widened.  “I
forgot about him . . . no?  You’re shaking your head.  You
eradicated
the memory?”

“You seemed transfixed over
amputation of his hands.”

“Wait, what? When?”

“Your first dinner amongst my
scheming guests.  He was assigned to prepare and serve your meals. 
Apparently, the chore was above him.  So, he’s now missing his hands.
 Hungry?”

“For hands? Oh. Real food.  If
I gnaw the furniture, would you be convinced I’m starving?”  With each
word, her voice grew in pitch.

“Females are temperamental when
hungry.”

“Hence the term: raging hormones.”

She hightailed it to the galley and
began foraging.  “I’d
really
enjoy bottled water.”

“You have been provided the
necessary nutrients and liquids in my kitchen.  Touch nothing you do not
recognize.  We eat differently.”  Inzyr turned back towards the
massive pane.  “The fungus we use for spice might kill you. 
Dezenial, your attention.”

She wondered what they debated,
what Inzyr pointed at.  Mutterings could be heard as she rummaged through
a cabinet of odd foods, then glanced the two males as her father pointed to
stalagmites in the far distance, eye level with the great window. 
Food,
then nap.  They’ll be able to speak more freely.
  “Squeeee!  You
have Oreos?! 
And
, they’re 
Double stuff
!  Oh my God, oh my
God, oh my God!”  She ripped open the bag and inhaled.  They could
have their secrets.  She had gold right here!

Respect I do not keep secrets
from you in betrayal, but in protection of your mind and what I know you can
and cannot yet handle, Keer’dra.  Just as I have removed the human scourge
from your life, all things pertaining to you are now through me
.

Nodding, she didn’t bother looking
at him as she twisted apart another cookie, licked the white treat from one
side; gobbled the other.  What the hell to drink around here?

A smile of satisfaction, their
mental connection now subconscious to her, he resumed his attention on spies
attempting to slip past scrutiny.

She whirled, facing him.  “Be
wary, Lumynari, for so too can I see
your
thoughts . . . though
Emily
may not.”

Amber eyes illuminated the large
dim room she found herself in. 

“What is your desire with the
modern, that you dare claim her as your own?”  Her hand shot out. 
“Sheath your weapon, Lord Inzyr.  It is not my wish to war this day. 
You sire her by
my
choosing, and Hades’ wicked humor.”  She tossed
her head a bit, luminous hair swaying and shimmering.  “Resentful, I
thought to cast a twist of fate by being reborn as the Lumynari the Elders
despised.  But,” amber gaze softened on Dezenial, “I had not realized the
depth of our bond.  I think your father knew, however, which explains why
he readily agreed to my proposal.”  She shook her head.  “The extent
you have taken, vowing allegiance to her . . . many things have changed in this
age I find myself visiting.  It would seem you father delights in keeping
his secrets.  Yet, some events remain consistent, such as the Outlander betraying
Emily’s trust.  You restore her dignity, but both of you will shed your
lives, should this be Lumynari-intrigue  In all the lives this soul has
lived, each has ended at the hands of your brethren.”  She took a step
closer, her voice lowering.  “Emily may not have the power to slay you,
but
I
do.  She will not die prematurely, as we have before.  I vow
it!”  She inhaled deeply.  “Great effort is required to submerged
into Balkore, the journey exhausting the last of my strength.  I will
return within Emily no more.  Which is why, here and now, Dezenial and Inzyr,
you either survive, or forfeit your lives.”

“Remaining veiled, you watch, yet
now you show yourself.”  Dezenial’s voice oozed lethally across the chasm
between them.  “Why?  I have sensed you, but thought you realized my
feelings.”

“Lumynari prize themselves in the
art of revenge.  It isn’t necessarily the death, but rather, the
destruction of their victim’s mind.  Complete annihilation.  What
better way to disintegrate Emily’s, than to convince her of your love . . .
then mock her for believing you were actually capable of such an
emotion?”  Amber glow heightened.  “Degradation would follow, amusing
to your kind the insult to command, having any whim obeyed.”

“She is my daughter.”

“Because I
allowed
it. 
And since when do Lumynari claim offspring,
especially
an Im’pyur? 
I was under the impression you would rid yourself of your
get
as quickly
as possible.  I was to walk in the Outlander’s world, not yours. 
Yet, contradicting the Lumynari of
my
time, you claim Emily, regardless
the consequences.”

“You would prefer I treat her as
Xyn did you?”

“Fair enough.”  Aurelia
contemplated Dezenial’s words.  “It has not passed from my memory, your
words that eased my pain, nor your caress as I died.”  She glided
closer.  “Your father was most kind and protective. But, tell me, will
Emily die as I have three times before?  Oh yes, Prince Dezenial, I, as
Aurelia, am very aware of our time as children, along the beach, running,
playing, splashing each other . . . until your mother learned of your friendship
with a human child and had me killed for daring such liberties.”

Dezenial’s eyes glistened, his
voice a whisper.  “Almost ten millennia ago.  I had not forgotten; I
had not realized that child was part of . . . great
Zeus
.”

“A long time, you and I have been
entwined.”  She lifted her hair off the back of her neck before allowing
it to fall back into place.  “Each time, you live, I die.”

Dezenial’s fist clenched.  “I
cower from nothing.  I answer to none.  You dare show your presence.
 It is not my nature to ask twice your reasons, regardless who you are.”

“I will answer your question when I
reached an accord to do so.”

Dezenial’s gaze flatlined.

Aurelia’s hand flung out.  A
great clattering resounded.  “I will not warn you again, Inzyr, sheath
your various weapons, or find yourself being put
through
your viewing
glass.”  Her brow arched.  “Doubt my power?  I am not little
Emily.  I have full faculties, and am sure those down below will find it
quite amusing the great assassin lays quivering, every bone broken.”

She snapped her fingers. 
Inzyr slammed against the window.  “My threats are not idle,
Shadow
Master
.”  Her eyes flicked to Dezenial.  “You cannot keep her
here forever.  You know this.  I would know your crusade,” she
demanded.  “She loves you deeply, though she battles herself.  Humans
complicate everything.  I tell you this most innermost sanctum of emotions
previous to giving you counsel.”

“I need no counsel from a
sorceress.”

Aurelia laughed. 

Dezenial found he did not like this
woman, nor the sound of her bitterness.

“Deception is like death. 
Eventually, its stench leads to the pillage.  You cannot ever rule
Quemori.  But, Dezenial, son of Shadow and Hades, she will grant you
entrance.  She will even crown you.  Forever, she annihilates rules. 
Be that your intent?”

“I rule
here
.”

“Yet even now, your mother plots
your death and to capture of the Keeper’s soul.”

Dezenial’s jaw ticked.

“You didn’t know?  The
priestess outside this very door was sent, your mother knowing the female would
gain Inzyr’s interest.  Her mind is not her own.  Your mother travels
within her, seeking entrance to the one chamber she is barred from.”

Inzyr growled, his own fangs
lengthening.

“Think me fool, Shadow
Master?  Three thousand years residing with your sire, I learned a few
things.  You have crossed over and become the Dark Prince.  Your time
here is marked.  Again, I ask, what is your intent?”

“Quemori holds no interest.”

“Why is it, your hunt for Drakar
has thus far failed, with the advantage of so many centuries to proceed? 
Does your skill fritter away?”

Dezenial charged.

And catapulted back, up over the
couch and landed in a heap.  “Once more, and then I finish this, most
especially before your mother has a chance to yank free our souls.  I will
take both myself and Emily back to Hades.”

The Dark Prince slowly picked
himself off the floor.  When he turned to face his nemesis, powerful wings
erupted from his spine.  Eyes were now burning fires of Hell. 
Fingers elongated into talons, fangs sharp and ready to sever arteries. 
“Think to take Emily from me?” he said in a voice Inzyr had not heard in
several millennia.  “I will swim the vile Styx to retrieve her,
after
I have made sure you’ve burned for eternity!”  Dezenial gaze
broiled.  Inzyr’s loft glowed red.  Shadows slithered and hissed as
they climbed down the walls.  “I-will-not-live-without-her!”  Floor
vibrated and shook, toppling various artifacts Inzyr collected. 

Emily’s sharp wit, and scathing
tongue amused him.  But it was her complete love, freely given, and the
way she made him her slayer against all her dragons that endeared her to
him.  He loved her to the depths of—

“I resided in your father’s
realm.  Your daemons and shadows do not frighten me.  Call them off,
and leash your fury.  I merely need you to understand, I am not
Emily.  My questions will be answered.  Is this too much for you to
bear?”

“Rumors swarmed of a sealed room
being disturbed,” Dezenial’s voice dropped, “in a castle no longer in existence
for this realm.”  He breathed deeply, forcing himself to calm. 
Because the alternative would be that all of Balkore would be reduced to a
burning pit of sulfur.

Aurelia pondered his words for a
few minutes.  “Dulinia’s chambers.  Beyond evil.  Voices
lingered from spirits she’d manipulated.”

“My father has them now, Lady
Aurelia,” he soothed.  “But a book was taken.”

“Book?  Saints!  I know
of which you speak.  Do
not
utter a
word
from that
tomb!  You must destroy it!  Only the fires of—“

“Olympus.”

“Not even your powers will
withstand what I witnessed etched on those parchments.”

“I am a god.  A few spells are
hardly a danger—“

“It is the Book of Hera, written as
she cried tears of blood when Zeus slept with another.”

“A scorned woman.”

“A very lethal book—against
male
gods.”

“The human it was placed upon was
murdered.  Possession is not mine for the claiming, though I now
understand my mother’s fixation in obtaining it.  Hmmm. Inzyr?”

“Puzzle pieces fitting together,”
the assassin said.  “Now we understand why Shadow tolerates Drakar.”

“And why he dares to transgress her
authority,” Dezenial finished.

Aurelia pinched the bridge of her
nose.  “You two make my head pound.  You are like Aunsgar with his
infuriating riddles.”

“Drakar possesses the book, though
in a different realm.  My mother’s voracious quest is to own this book.”

Aurelia tapped her lips
thoughtfully.  “It explains his continued presence.  His madness must
know no bounds, having lived this long, for, I assure you, Drakar does not
enjoy any god in his lineage.  But your mother coddles him, and that is
something.”

“So it is rumored.  My mother
manipulates and dangles his ilk like puppets.  He thinks to plot against
her.  Company she keeps is not my concern, only when it crosses over into
my domain.  My mother and I parted company three thousand years ago. 
Amends have never been made, nor will they be.”

“Why do you not embrace all that
you are?  You will need the power that has always been yours for the
taking.  Your skill with blade will be wasted against prophecy of Drakar’s
intentions.  If he possesses his mother’s magicks, his own honed after so
many ages of existence, plus your mother’s vile power . . .” she glanced
Inzyr.  “Is this your intent with Lady Emily?  Take advantage of her
hidden power, turning her into one of your priestesses—the ultimate power
against Drakar . . . against Shadow?”

“Emily belongs to me, Princess
Aurelia, exiled Queen of the Realm.  I would join her in the light, not
keep her in darkness, as your Elders did you.”

Cold laughter filled the large
living area, so unlike Emily’s wild abandonment of giggles that always promised
tomfoolery.  Or a scathing retort. 

“Mention of my sacrifice does not
bode ill my feelings towards you.  My revelation will be enough revenge
for your slight.  You see, I lack knowledge of how to return to those
cloaked lands.  Very perplexing, isn’t it?  You do not seek the
Keeper’s power?”

“I sought to protect.  It was
not my intention to claim your soul only to have you die from my world again.”

“Yet, Emily is now your mate.”

“The woman vexes me.”

“She is madly in love with you,
Lord Dezenial.  Do you understand what power that gives you over
her?  The woman is a fool.”

“As she takes in air, she is my
ability to breathe as well.”  He would
not
lose Emily to this
ferocious, cold warrior.  He was well aware that this specter standing
before him had the power to have Emily awaken completely despising him. 
It would be irrevocable.  It would be his death.  Never, could he
live without Emily.  The realization nearly had him flopping to the floor.

Aurelia nodded.  “A gift, I
present to you.”

“I need no gift, warrior princess.”

Her eyes took on such bravery, such
fierce determination, he was riddled with remorse for having not located her
soon enough in her own life, that he could have given her warmth in a world
that had only shown her coldness and contempt.

But, something about Emily made him
walk away from millennia upon millennia of abhorring mortals and welcome his
new position as their protector.

“If you wish her to be better
prepared against Drakar, then you will cherish my offer.  Mock me, you
will not, for my offer is given grudgingly, Lumynari.  I do not know if
the modern is ready to face what she truly is.  Have you explained life
with you, and what that accurately means?  My time ends.  I will
sever ties with Emily.  It is her turn to guide this ancient soul.  I
have used the last of my strength, and a bit of help from your father, to
journey into your world, seeking revelations.  You will tell her your
motives.  And, you will tell her the
truth
of who and what you
are.”  Her scrutiny flicked to Inzyr.  “
You
will tell her the
truth of her heritage.  You cannot keep it from her.”

“And what revelations did your
journey here garner, Princess?”  Dezenial asked.

“That I leave a foolishly in love
woman in very capable hands with no other motive than that which the two of you
claim.  If only the Elders had granted me the same.”

Emily’s entire body glowed for mere
seconds, then diffused.  She stumbled.  Grabbed a chair, and gulped
huge mouthfuls of air.  “Dizzy.”

Dezenial remained rooted.

“I had . . . and episode . . .
didn’t I?”

“So it would seem.”

Perplexed by his tone, she tried
focusing on his face.  “You’re angry.  Did I attack?”  Her
father had his sword drawn. 
Not good
.  “I always attacked . .
. Broc.”

“It is too bad you did not
succeed.  But his blood spilled will be by my hand, nonetheless.”

“You must tell her,” Inzyr
stated.  He lowered his weapon; his stance remained battle-ready. 

Oh, this
is
bad
. 
Emily inhaled slowly, deeply, and did her best to shake off the
dizziness.  She’d felt a tingling sensation, but before she could shout
for help, her conscious had been stamped out.  She clutched the chair
tighter, her body trembling.

“Look at me,” her husband
commanded.  His voice terrified her.  “When you come into your full
power, I may not be able to proceed with you.”

“I hate riddles.”

A deep breath swelled him.  A
look passed between he and Inzyr.