Page 18 of The Goddesses' Gifts

I glanced around, but Rhemvile was gone, well on his way to the surface, opposite the direction I had to go to gather the boys from the stables. The fastest way to that part of the main cavern required a different route and Dulanzo was no doubt monitoring my actions. There would be the expectation of expediency in my task, but I needed a little time to think through the situation. I took the expected route but didn’t hurry. And by the time the stables were in sight, I had a plan.

I found the two older of Lobikno’s boys moving hay bales along with some of the cavalry. The pair had reached their adult height, though they were gangly, the older of the two only just starting to put on the muscle that came with maturity. But their size meant they could do the tasks that the smaller children could not. The little fellows were stuck cleaning up after the horses, caring for them, and gradually learning how to one day be the soldier riding them.

“Boy,” I called. Every child in the stable stopped what they were doing and turned to look at me with wide, startled eyes. “You and you,” I pointed at two I wanted specifically, “with me.”

“Yes, subcommander,” they both murmured before putting aside their task and scrambling to stand in front of me. They looked me in the eye and waited for my instructions.

“Follow,” I said and spun on my heel. They kept pace, moving light on their feet. I led them further away from the cavern, passed the living level and down to that fucking prison wing where the woman was. All the way to the very last cell … the only place in this gods forsaken shit pit that wasn’t carved from the rock of the mountain.

The gatehouse was a front, of course. The compound itself sprawled out beneath the forest, in the caverns of the mountain’s roots, and this cell was the furthest point from the damned thing. Masonry stone was all that kept loose rock and dirt from backfilling the space. No doubt the slaves that built this place were pushed to complete their work in accordance with the plans no matter the obstacle.

Though I was certain Dulanzo’s ability to hear didn’t extend beyond the mountain roots, I still put up a barrier of silence around the three of us. The boys searched my face for some kind of insight, but I knew they’d find nothing.

“You two have to break your bond to Lobikno. Your life depends on it, do you understand?”

They looked at each other with wide eyes and remained silent, frightened by the peculiar circumstance.

I rested my hands on their shoulders. “Do you trust me, little cousins?”

They nodded, and the use of the familiar term reassured them enough to free their tongues. “What’s happening?” the older asked.

“Much, I’m afraid. Dulanzo has ordered me to end your lives and I have to ask you to become adults ahead of your time to avoid that fate.”

There was a slight glimmer of fear in their eyes as they processed the information.

“I don’t know how,” the younger said, his voice cracking. “How do we do it, cousin?”

“There’s no easy explanation,” I shook my head and thought furiously for the right words, to at least try. “You need to reject it, though I know you rely on it still. Your father is a great survivor, and you’ve learned much from him already. Perhaps you’ve learned even more on your own. You have to be confident in your own abilities and … trust yourselves.” I squeezed their shoulders. “I trust you to do this, because my own life is forfeit if we don’t accomplish this thing.” That, and I was all but certain I couldn’t lift my hand to end them.

They gathered close and put their arms around me. Giving me the affection that was due their father. But I embraced them in return. They deserved better arms and a heart that could love them in return, though I wouldn’t deny them what I could offer.

“Can you help us?” the older asked. “You’re strong enough to do what mother did, aren’t you?”

“Not on my own,” I hedged. What their mother had done was another gift from Irnon, to dissolve the bonds to sons she didn’t want in order to move on and focus on her daughters.

“I’ve never tried to sever someone else’s bond,” I admitted. “But if you try along with me, we might manage it.”

I held out a hand to each boy. They swallowed and exchanged glances again before accepting my hands and joining their own.

I closed my eyes and let my power cycle through us, drawing out the threads of their magic and allowed it to mingle with mine. Our currents intertwined and gradually blended until we were in tune. And when I opened my eyes, I could see the bond sprout from their chests like thin, scraggly vines. Bonds that had never been nurtured. Not for lack of desire on their father’s part, though. They’d never been permitted nurturing aside from my cold hand.

I stared at those shriveled vines and ground my teeth. This is what Irnon and Dulanzo did to all of us here. Deprive us of those things that would make us thrive. For what!? And I let the rage those sad little vines stirred fuel my will.

I let go of the boys and reached for the vines, wrapping them around my forearms before giving them a tug.

The boys rocked forward and grimaced. The younger whimpered.

“When I pull again, you must push it out, reject it. The roots are deep and strong, I cannot do this myself,” I ground out between clenched teeth.

I pulled again and the roots gave a little, though not without painful cries and whimpers of grief from the boys. “Strangle the root, force it out!” I barked at them. Sweat dripped down my face while I exerted myself pulling, digging my heels in, as did the boys.

“It hurts,” the younger gasped and stopped resisting.

“Would it hurt less to have a blade in your chest?!” I bellowed. “Fight it boy! Push it out!”

He sobbed but continued to pull and the roots were suddenly no more. I almost stumbled with the lack of resistance.

And with a final, furious cry, the older pulled free of his.

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