Page 84 of Seized to Sacrifice
He’d been dismissed, he realized, but she was true to her word and, a few moments later, Bastian appeared.
‘How is Gaila?’ he asked, looking concerned.
Bastian glanced at the two women watching them, his expression softening on Lily, Rye noticed.
‘Can we speak privately?’ Rye muttered.
Bastian shrugged. ‘So long as you know that I have no secrets from my Fourth … and my Fourth has none from Maeve,’ he said, looking amused.
Rye nodded and they left the tent, walking along the main thoroughfare.
‘She used the vessel,’ Bastian guessed. ‘So her memories have returned?’
Rye shook his head. ‘Some of them, but she doesn't know what happened to her still. She has knowledge from before; whenever it was that Elle sent the vessel to the Light Realm, but nothing after that.’
Bastian frowned. ‘Everything I know about the vessel states that it's a conduit. It should have given her everything she needed.’ He looked away, clearly pondering. ‘I don't know why it hasn't. But that's a problem. How can she save the Light Realm if she doesn’t know how?’
Bastian glanced around them, ensuring there was no one close enough to hear his words.
‘You know what’s happening and why?’ Rye asked him.
‘She was kept from this realm for a very long time and no doubt Ceres has been helping it along to its destruction while it’s had no protector.’ He lowered his voice. ‘I’ve researched everything I can on Gaila, and I think there’s power here if she can just open the door to it. She can knit this realm back together, secure the wards, and rebuild the portals. The balance of energy must be restored, or everything here will cease to be. Only the Dark Realms will remain, and Ceres will become the First. That’s what he wants.’
Bastian stopped and turned to face him. ‘Is there nothing that you can think of that would bring her back in tune with this world?’
Rye shook his head. ‘In truth, she never … we loved her,’ he said, ‘but our connection with her was never …’
‘She never confided in you,’ Bastian guessed, and Rye nodded.
‘It was a long time ago. We were young, in love. She never shared that other side of her, and we were content never to ask, fools that we were … are.’
Bastion shrugged and began to walk along again. ‘We're all fools. Even the gods on the Mount.’
‘What was she like there?’
‘Lonely,’ Bastian said. ‘I was probably her closest friend on the Mount. She rarely came to visit and when she did, she didn’t engage with us much. We were always …’ he shook his head, ‘doing what gods do, I suppose,’ he murmured. ‘Being selfish, gorging on delicacies, wines, other pleasures, living lives in the mortal realms. Wasting time. When I did go and visit her in her fold, we would talk, but she was always remote, a sadness locked inside of her.’
Bastian looked grim. ‘She would spend most of her time staring at a window in her chamber that showed her the Light Realm, watching the lives of the mortals. Her mortals.’
He shook his head again. ‘What Ceres did was a long time before the other gods came into being. I didn't even know of it until I came here and began to research at the Great Library and in the archives here, until I spoke to Priests of the Mount and learned of the old texts. She never spoke of it to any of us. I suppose she just hoped that you were living your many lives happily.’
He glanced at Rye. ‘Were you?’
Rye didn't answer him. Instead he asked, ‘Is there anything you can think of that might bring her memories back, her power?’
Bastian let out a long breath. ‘There's someone you could ask. Drake's Fourth. She lives in Kitore with the First Scholar’s unit. She’s a powerful witch. She may know more, or at least have an idea. Or the fae may be able to help. They've always recalled Gaila in their oldest songs. There’s another unit who keep their home in Kitore as well. All of them including their Fourth are fae.’
Rye nodded. ‘My thanks, Brother.’
Bastian nodded. ‘Of course. Please give Gaila my best. I’ll do whatever I can to help.’
Leaving Bastian, Rye went back to their tent. Inside, it was dim. Nyx was nowhere to be seen and Elle was still in the bed. She wasn't asleep, but he knew better than to bother her while she was still trying to comprehend everything.
His chest ached.A babe.There was so much they’d never even known, never bothered to ask her about. He hated himself for how he’d treated her after he’d found her in Evesmere, for all the awful things he’d thought she deserved punishment for. He had to do everything he could to make it up to her, though he knew neither he nor his Brothers deserved her forgiveness nor her love.
He looked up and found her watching him, her gaze unblinking.
‘Do you remember where Gaila found me?’ he asked quietly.
