Page 71 of Ties of Deception

Sebastian straightened up, his lips firming into a straight line. “Mother doesn't know, but I’ve already chosen her replacement. Constance will be the next empress. She is my wife and marriage bonds can’t be broken.”

Constance gave him a brief, tender smile. “Sebastian was flirting with the other Graces to try to provoke a reaction from the Aidis. A nicer alternative to threatening lives. We tested the Graces however we could, whether trying to make him act out of jealousy or cause him to rescue one in danger.” Her expression became solemn, almost pleading. “He’s heartless, Purity. He doesn’t care about anything but gaining his Fated and only because she can be useful to him. He could have stepped in to help so many others.”

I shook my head. “You’re wrong.” If any relationship was heartless, it was hers and Sebastian’s. Who plans to make somebody jealous by having their husband kiss as many women as possible?

She removed her hands from Sebastian’s and took my hands instead. “Oh, my poor sweet girl. Think about it. It’s time to stop letting other people control you.”

Sebastian folded his arms as he loomed over me. “Did you never hear what happened to the last Aida prince? He didn’t return with his Fated. He married a different Grace who bore him a son—the current Aidis. Don’t think you’re not replaceable, Purity. Don’t think that your mortal death was the only way for him to find a bride. It was unnecessary—cruel, what he did to you. And now, do you really want to bear a child of death who will also kill any mortal he is around for too long? Fated ones might be powerful, so of course you’ll be his preference, but you’re nowhere near as important as I’m sure he’s been telling you.” He spread his hands. “Because of course, you have no way to verify his words. He can tell you any lie he wants without proof.”

I wrapped my arms around myself and swallowed. “That’s not true. I’ve found proof that we loved each other.”

Constance took my hand, gently pulling it away from my body and rubbed the back with her thumb. “Your home is here now. We won’t harm you. You are precious to us too.”

My heart was pounding. I needed them to say more. I needed to understand. “Constance, how exactly are Graces made?”

Constance inclined her head slightly. “Our bodies and our souls are recycled to create something powerful. Whatever the Aidis has told you, it is not sinister. We live a mortal life then are reborn into luxury and peace with an immortal, beautiful body which is no longer needed by its former occupant.”

I frowned at how accepting she was. “Don’t you wonder who you were?”

She shrugged. “There’s no way to know one’s past life. No memories are left. The bodies and the souls don’t come together, so we don’t look like our previous selves. The bodies come from Atos and are prepared by the priests, carried through tunnels to the temples. The souls come at random from all around the world, and their powers of life make their new body youthful and beautiful.”

I pushed her, no longer concerned about hiding my curiosity. “How? How are the souls taken?”

Constance met my eyes, and the strength behind them seemed unwavering and fathomless. “The Aidis wishes to stop this practice, doesn’t he? Have you ever thought of the consequences of not having Graces? Would you really wish famine and ill fortune on the entire empire? We flourish because we allow souls to be reborn.”

I frowned. “But it’s not fair. There is still so much poverty. Only the rich have easy access to the Graces, and much of their power remains inside the palace.”

Constance nodded passionately, her eyes pleading. “There are reasons things have ended up the way they are, but you can help us to change that. You are immortal, Purity. And powerful. Make it your aim for all people of Atos and beyond to be Blessed. Fight for what you believe in—not to destroy the whole system on behalf of somebody you barely know. Your vision of a fair Atos still requires Graces. Don’t run away to a dead world. Purity, you could do so much good here.” She brushed my hand. “One of the followers of the Aidis told me what you were like in your last life before he interfered. You helped so many people. That is who you are.”

Her words stirred something deep within me, resonating with what I so desperately desired to do. I wanted to help the people of Yienna. I really did. The thought of abandoning the hospital patients or the girl begging me to save her father made me feel sick.

But Ethen had always given the impression he wanted to help the forgotten people too. He had shown that far more clearly than anyone I had met from Atos. Constance had been here a long time. If she truly believed the system was corrupt, couldn’t she have done more to change it?

I straightened, trying to keep calm and remain focused on the most pressing problem. “So you’re going to catch the Aidis when he comes for me? And then do what? What is it you want him to do?” If he came at all. He hadn’t come to my rooms earlier. What if he had left Atos?

Constance patted my knee. “It’s nothing too terrible. We simply wish for him to marry somebody else—just like the last Aidis did. Only this time, she’s an Amazone.”

My eyebrows rose. “An Amazone? But I thought only Graces could bear them children?”

Constance inclined her head. “Amazone’s were also Blessed with life by Ismara, even if they are not as powerful as Graces. We’re hoping they will create a new type of offspring, one whose creation we can influence.”

My mouth was so dry it could barely form words. “What do you mean, influence? What offspring?”

Constance and Sebastian looked at each other for a long moment, silently communicating something between them.

Sebastian cleared his throat. “We want you to work with us, Purity—when we take control from Mother—so we will tell you this as a peace offering to remove the secrets between us. But please do not share it with anyone else. One hundred and eighty two years ago, the priests of Atos gained the power of life from Ismara in the form of a daughter. Many know of the son she and Ienar had centuries before, the one who became the first Aidis and from whom all the rulers of the Unseen Lands are descended. But more recently, they had a daughter. And she inherited the gift of life instead of death.” I blinked in shock. Another goddess. I remembered the sandaled feet in the torn page of the book Ethen had found. It made so much sense. If Ienar and Ismara were meant to balance life and death, of course they would have two children. The world would have been unbalanced by the son of death until they had a daughter of life. The Aidis needed a counter balance.

Sebastian continued. “She is far more like a goddess than any Grace, and she has much more power. While living in Atos, she can claim a soul all the way from the Unseen Lands and grant it to a dead body brought by one of the priests. But unlike her mother, the souls come at random from the Vale, like seeing bright lights from afar. She has no idea who they were, how long they have been dead for or which one might be a Fated chosen by Ismara. She didn’t know for the last Fated, who came only shortly after she gained the ability when she was only seven years old, and she couldn’t tell for you either. We believe the Fated must be easier to claim, so she would have taken you quickly before Ismara had a chance to put your soul back into your own body in the Unseen Lands. The only way we knew to hunt you was because of the arrival of the Aidis.”

My eyes fell back to Constance as everything started to click into place.One hundred and eighty two years old. “You? You are the daughter of Ismara and Ienar?”

She smiled, and for a second it was like I was seeing the depths of her beauty for the first time. She had always stood out, even among the Graces. “My powers are nowhere near the strength of my mother’s, but yes. I give new life to those who have passed. I give beautiful bodies new souls so they can breathe again. I am the mother of all Graces.”

I stared at her in shock. “But…but…”

Sebastian scoffed at my reaction. “She hides it well, doesn’t she? The fact that her powers could outshine those of a thousand Graces. And so, you see, Purity, we have no interest in you as the Fated, for you could never match a true goddess. We’re not after you. We have all the power of life we need.”

“But…but, surely if your mother is Ismara, she would never approve of you giving life to so many Graces?”

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