Page 78 of Seized to Sacrifice
CHAPTER10
NYX
Nyx and Rye stood outside the tent, arguing quietly.
‘We need to tell her everything.’
‘No,’ Nyx said. ‘She's not ready.’
‘When will she be ready in your eyes?’ Rye muttered. ‘She's right. You shouldn't coddle her.’
‘And you should stop trying to tell her what she is when she won't understand,’ Nyx returned.
Rye let out a growl, turning away as Thorne arrived.
‘What did you find out about the cup or whatever it’s meant to be?’ Rye asked.
‘Not much,’ Thorne said. ‘I have more to go through, but it was all so long ago. The Brothers barely existed then. We were merely a small band of men fighting the Dark Realms before the wards were put in place, ironically by Elle herself. Anyway, it was not the Army we know now. Little survives from that time. We may have to make the journey to Kitore to search the Great Library after all.’
‘It’s unlikely that we’ll find much in the Library either,’ Nyx said. ‘You remember what it was like back then.’ He glanced at Thorne and grimaced. ‘Well, perhaps not you Brother. Apologies.’
Thorne let out a grunt.
‘Come,’ he said. ‘We have to tell hersomething.’
Nyx sighed. ‘Fucking fine then!’
They went into the tent, Nyx the first to notice Elle on the floor. The lamp that Bastian had given her was on its side next to her.
Open.
‘What is that?’ Thorne asked, pointing at the lamp.
Nyx ran over to her. ‘What happened?’
She didn’t answer.
‘Iknewthat nothing good would come of this,’ he growled.
Thorne picked up the lamp and its lid from the floor and looked at Rye. ‘The book said a cup or a chalice … but perhaps that word meant lamp.’
‘You think what we came here to find just fell into our laps?’
‘Yes. Her magick is connected to the Realm. She could have ensured that it would come to her if she ever needed it.’
Nyx cast a look at both of them to be silent.
Elle didn't move. She was lying on her back, staring at the ceiling of the tent. Every few moments, a tear would track across her temples and slide into her hair.
She turned her head to look at him and the anguish he saw in her face made him want to look away.
She sat up and, to his horror, she began to sob; great choking broken cries so full of sadness that he couldn’t bear them.
He took her in his arms and held her tightly. She tried to speak but was too upset to get the words out.
‘What is it?’ he asked her as the others looked on. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I remember,’ she choked, closing her eyes as more tears welled in her eyes. ‘I know why I did it.’
