Page 116 of The Ballad of a Bard

“I want to leave this place.” He said, voice muffled. “And I don’t ever want to come back.”

“Me too,” West admitted down to him.

An idea came over him, one that wasn’t too terrible once he truly thought about it. He’d pictured it before, over and over again when he imagined himself to be anything other than an immortal who had seen ages come and go. But everything with Crimson and Altivar and Heartache only made him yearn for that life even more. So he offered it to the young boy, uncaring if he ever recovered from the raging war of feelings that he had yet to deal with.

Instead, they sat frozen within a block of his own adamant ice, refusing to even so much as touch them until Crimson was back and safe.

“When this is over and done, when we get your sister back, we can leave, Cobalt. We can leave this place and never look back.” He’d only joined the Watch to look after Muse, to protect her and he’d failed at that. There was nothing in it for him anymore. No reason to stay like a loyal guard dog that he’d become over the years.

“Where will we go?”

“Back to the Spinning Compass. I’ve got an apartment just like this at the very top level, with nearly the same amount of rooms. We can turn one into one just for you, with your own bed.” He smiled fondly at the idea. “How do you like the sound of that?”

“Will you be there too?” Cobalt questioned.

“Yes,” He promised. “I don’t intend to be anywhere else again.”

“What about my father? He’s back. I don’t want to leave him out.” The covers moved as he straightened his spine, pushing out of West’s comforting grasp and sitting just like him against the backboard. “Can he have a room there too?”

“I don’t have enough space for him in my apartment, but I’m sure that he’d love to return to his old home.” West was sure that the Saint missed the place where Crimson had grown up. Where Cobalt had been born and they all lived together as a family.

Now, West was creating his own family.

Fifty Six

When Altivar came to see her again, he smirked like the cat that caught the canary as he saw them both together, nearly asleep against the cell wall that they shared. That is, until Crimson opened her eyes after hearing the click of his boots and rose to greet him.

Sleep hadn’t come, as it hadn’t any of the other nights that she’d been stuck down here. She’d spent most of the hours speaking with Connor and running over every small thing that he’d done in the last eight years. He’d willingly shared everything with her, truthfully answered any of her questions and offered up some of his own that she responded to.

It helped heal those deep wounds inside of her, and she assumed that time would heal them over completely.

The Prince’s feline smirk disappeared almost instantly as he took her in, immediately noticing the glimmer of immortality as it shimmered over her skin, the blaze that she felt behind her gaze, the way her hair even seemed to shine like freshly spilt blood. There was no way to hide it and she didn’t want to. Theanticipation of having West see her like this, it was a spider crawling up and down her skin constantly.

She pondered over what he would say, what he would do, what he would look like when he examined her newfound gifts.

“What have you done?” He was aghast as he threw himself closer, gripping the bars and scanning her from head to toe.

Then he saw the vial on the ground, the smile that her father let loose as he chuckled roughly.

“I threw a kink into your plan, little boy.” Connor pushed off the ground, angling closer until he was only a couple of inches away. “You couldn’t have consumed your mother’s heart, but my daughter could. And she did, last night. So thank you for reuniting us, because it was truly a memorable occasion.”

“You can’t control me anymore, Altivar.” She took pride in that, in the fact that she wouldn’t have to tell West that she killed Muse. “Not with my knives, since I’m a full Saint now and youare not.”

West’s very first lesson had come back to her in the middle of the night, glory filling her until she felt as though she might shatter into a thousand pieces.

Little lesson there, Heartstrings. Lesser Saints can’t affect full Saints. I suggest you do some research before attempting to change the emotions of just anyone.

Altivar’s face contorted into a mask of fury, of confusion, of frustration and she watched each shift with delight. Until it fell into another cunning, savage smirk that made her doublethink everything that they’d done.

“I have your father in the cell next to you. I have your precious captain locked in his rooms upstairs, guards on his door for all hours. I have your brother in the healing ward, under my command. One wrong move, one attempt at anything, Heartrageand I’ll make sure that you never see any of them again.” He glanced at Connor. “Make any show of power, either of you, and two out of the three most important people in your lives are gone.”

Her heart sank.

“But don’t worry.” He sank a hand to his chest in false consideration. “I’ve changed my plan up now that you’ve gained the full immortality of my mother.”

She raised an eyebrow, daring him to continue. Whatever it was, whatever he had up his sleeve, it wouldn’t be good.

“You’ll still fight War at the end just like I originally planned. But Red Lyric has been gone for quite some time now, enough that your fans have found other fighters to show their love and devotion to.” Altivar explained as he paced back and forth between the two cells. “So since I can no longer control you with the blades, I’ll use your lover and your brother instead.”

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