Page 236 of Kingdom of the Two Moons

“Do not be delusional, old woman. Time is going to prove that I will end her once I get what I need. That you and your prophecies signify nothing because you have long since lost your power. I have altered the course of fate a million times before, and this time it will be no different, even if you think you gained the upper hand with your little gimmick.”

The oracle steps closer, one long, slender leg out of the blue, rushing column of pure, undiluted light. Her body is half made of pure, blue light herself, part insubstantial, part solid, but enough for Riven to watch how she leans even further out and puts a hand on Caryan’s cheek.

Riven freezes, holding his breath for what is inevitably going to come next. But… nothing happens when she touches Caryan.

Caryan’s skin is miraculously unharmed. “Oh, my dear fallen angel, so full of ancient rage. You still deem me cruel. You still think this is a power play. It is interesting that you cannot see that I tried to do you a favor when I weaved in that bond with her.”

Riven stills by the words. As a part of him, in him, fractures. So it is true, all of it. Melody is Caryan’s mate, and he forged the bond already. Riven feels as if the ground has been pulled from under his feet, as if part of his soul has just been shattered thoroughly.

The laugh that works up Caryan’s throat holds nothing human. No warmth. No life.

It is as empty as the look in his eyes.

“You’ve always had a bizarre idea of favors and an even more grotesque idea of cruelty.”

“Maybe you just believe me a monster, unwilling to see that I am not.”

“A monster recognizes another when it sees it. Shackling a half-mortal girl to someone like me is a callous thing to do, even for you.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But letting you live on without any feelings at all, angel—wouldn’t that have been just another testimony of my alleged cruelty? I can only imagine how dull everything must be without any emotions at all. I felt your world-weariness, your lethargy. And I merely answered your wish—I gave you a way to end your blighted existence if you wish, or let you live, truly live, for one.”

Riven frowns at the change of her tone. At the sudden sadness in her face, the gentleness in her eyes. What is going on between them? Caryan must have known her for a long, long while then. But nothing Riven sees makes sense.

“Trulylive?” Caryan makes a vicious hissing sound as he pulls out of her grasp, his own eyes hard and cold like star-flecked onyx. Shadows have gathered all around him, swirling all around the column of light. “All I’ve felt is her pain and despair since the day she was born.”

“For now, sadly. Yes. But that made you want to find her all the more. How many days did you try to track her down? How many nights did you spend with her so she would not be all alone?”

Caryan’s hand shoots out, curling around the oracle’s throat. “In herdreams,because you would not let me find her inreality,” he spits. “You would not tell me where she was. Before you cut me off from her entirely for years. She was still a child, alone with that monster.”

What are they talking about?Caryan... visiting Melody in her dreams?But the oracle just frowns down at him, her voice soft andtinged by compassion. “I know it drove you out of your mind to feel her misery, her despair, day after day, night after night, Caryan. I swear, I could not prevent that. I would have, if I could. But giving her another fate would have required powers even beyond my ken. Lyrian shielded her from you and not even I could do anything against it.”

“Liar!”

“It’s no lie, Caryan. But despite it all, haven’t you felt more alive than ever before?”

“Where is she?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“Where is she?” Caryan’s response is an animalistic, primal groan full of pain and fury. His teeth are bared, his eyes as blazing as the oracle’s.

Riven watches with horror as the energy starts to peel away the skin of Caryan’s hand, bit by bit, until bare bone shimmers through. It reaches a point where Riven thinks he’s going to hurl the contents of his stomach up, but Caryan still doesn’t let go of her.

The oracle just shakes her head, regret limning her otherworldly features. “You will find her when the time is ripe. Now let go, you’re only hurting yourself.”

“I will accept that,” Caryan grunts. “Tell me.”

The halls start to shake and rumble, the very stone they are hewn out of cracking open like split skin, and Caryan’s power erupts. For a second, everything is dipped in absolute darkness before her light rips through it, blasting the cloud of darkness away like a sun, so bright it burns Riven’s eyes. Caryan’s magic lashes back and, for a second, the two forces swirl around each other in a deadly tornado, the two of them still in the middle. Untouched. Unruffled.

“Do not fight me, Caryan. For I am fate, and you have been fighting me all your life. It’s time that you accept that not even you can erase fate from this world.” The oracle’s voice is still soft, despite the violent collision of their magic ravaging the halls and shaking its fundaments.

“Do not tempt me, Kalleandara. I might just prove you wrong and end you once and for all. Now tell me where she is!”

“I cannot. You made her run from you.”

“Do not chide me, old woman. Tell me where she is!”

“You tell me—why did you fight so hard against her when you finally found her, Caryan?”

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