Page 111 of The Ballad of a Bard

“His illness…” She inhaled sharply as tears pricked her eyes once more. “The reason we could never find a cure, it wasn’t because of my failing. It was because of your curse.”

Another tendril of hatred filled her for the man in front of her. But as it floated through her like a leaf on a river’s current, she found it dissolving, sinking for the amount of distraughtness he must have carried for himself because of his foolishness.

“Yes,” Connor sniffled. “And I hated myself for it every day. Because the only way to break the curse was to find the man who did that to your mother and kill him.That’swhy I had to leave, Crimson. Not because I didn’t want you or love you. I loved you more than I loved anything else, more than I ever thought possible. You filled some part of me that hadn’t been whole since the very start of time and creation. But I had to go, because if I had stayed then Cobalt would have become even sicker until he eventually died, and I couldn’t let him die.”

She was trembling, her world spun on an axis so far away that she wasn’t sure it even existed anymore. Over and over again it rotated as her mind swept up the pieces of his story, weaving and threading them in place until a full, complete tapestry of answers lay before her. As clear as the dawn that brought a new day with it.

“You were hunting him, weren’t you?” She questioned, laying back with a deep sigh.

He silently said yes.

“Did you find him?” Crimson asked next, tilting her head tolook at her father. Steel bars separated them, but there was only a few feet that passed between.

“Yes,” He said in a rasping, cold voice that reminded her what death might have sounded like. “And he threw me in here before I had the chance to kill him.”

Terror filled her like she’d been tossed into the ocean without the knowledge on how to swim, to save herself. It coated her entire insides with a clammy feeling that made her want to empty her stomach.

“Altivar?” She bolted upright from her position on the wall. “Altivaris Cobalt’s father?”

He nodded. “Yes. When I crossed paths with him, my senses went off. In a way that belonged to nothing other than my powers recognizing my own power.”

Crimson let out a light gasp. “Saints sake, this goes far deeper than we originally thought. But it confirms my theory that Altivar was the one behind the notes.”

She knew that what she was rambling about wouldn’t make any sense to the Saint in the cell, but she didn’t care. The loose threads had tightened, as she got the full picture. There were still a few things that they needed to figure out, but her mind buzzed with anticipation to tell West everything she’d found out.

“We?” Connor repeated. “I’m assuming you meant North by that statement.”

By her confused look in his direction, he explained. “Men and maids talk, and I’ve been here for quite some time waiting for you. There are rumours that you and North are together.”

She heard the slight tone of judgement in his statement, one that he didn’t get to make.

“Whatever we are, it is none of your concern nor business. You are here for the nefarious purpose Altivar has for you, andthat is it. The only reason that I was looking for you in the first place, was because he threatened Cobalt in order to motivate me to find you faster.”

“I know,” He responded, his chin lowering.

Her chin, she realised.

Most of her features had come from him.

Her head curiously levitated towards all Saints and their offspring, thinking about how similar Altivar looked like his mother. Perhaps it was the immortal blood that ran strong, dominating the other parents’ features and taking over. Though, Cobalt looked nothing like him, so that theory was firmly knotted off.

“Then why are you even bringing it up?” Conversation felt good in the damp dark off the dungeons, even if it meant conversing with him. Altivar had been the only one to see her, talk to her and this was far better than arguing with the arrogant Prince.

Connor crossed one leg over the other, worn leather boots shuffling in the dirty stone. She couldn’t tell if they were originally an oak shade or if it had just been the years of use shoved into them. “I heard him, you know. When you both used my talisman, both of your voices came through.”

“Fascinating.” She mumbled flatly.

“It is,” He informed her. “Because Saints can’t control other Saints. And yet you were able to use my talisman because you have my blood in your system. Any other lesser Saint would not have been able to do so. Which is the part that intrigues me, since I heard North’s voice, sure and strong as he was also able to command me.”

“What are you getting at?”

“When I created the Saints, and we had lived for enough timeto know that we were missing something- I gifted them with a partner in the world somewhere. One chance to find the truest of love. A life without love, even an immortal one, is a prison sentence on its own.” He smiled fondly as if he were reminiscing at the idea of her. “Your mother was my soulsaint. She was the very reason I expanded on it, allowing the others to have a taste of the most joyous thing in the world if they wished to seek it out. Muse did, finding Satori I believe. I know that Imp never wanted to engage in anything sexual, but their partner is out there as well, should they long for it.”

The word sent shivers down her spine.

She wasn’t sure if they were good or bad.

“Are you saying that we all have one?”

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