Page 12 of Mystique of the Fallen
“Courage and I imbued them with everything they needed to do their jobs,” Justice retorted. “Your idea, yes, but it was a group effort. It had to be. You know what they face. You know how long Roman has waited. He is the last of the leadership waiting for his other half. How long have we begged Fate to do something about his loneliness? But never in my wildest dreams did I expect he’d be with a human. They murdered his bosses. The men he loves.”
“You don’t have to educate me on the particulars, Justice,” Death stated calmly. “I know exactly how lonely Roman has been, and I’ve dearly wanted him to find happiness. And this human? Have you looked through his life? He is a mess. His issues are far too large for him to be at a point where he can be the partner Roman needs.”
“I fear the bond will never be strong enough,” Eternity lamented. “Vampires rely upon their humans. Cherish them. For them, there is no greater gift. Fallen knights are confronted daily by humans unwilling to deal with them cordially. Humans who’d rather destroy evidence and prevent crimes being solved because of their hatred of fallen knights and sentinels. While I can applaud a good enemies-to-lovers matebond, this is…”
“A disaster,” Death finished for her.
Courage shimmered into the hallway, dressed in armor from head to toe with her brown hair tied away from her face. Her green eyes were militant. Like Justice, she had a weapon in her hand, and the mace glowed with bright light.
“No need to ask if our dear sister has been using a viewing mirror today,” Death drawled.
Eternity opened her mouth to greet Courage, but a shout distracted her.
Another goddess—this one dressed more peacefully in a shimmery white gown—ran toward them and stopped so fast she had to grab one of Justice’s arms to prevent herself from falling on her magnificent face.
“Should we wait for anyone else before we begin our hunt?” Death mused as Life righted herself.
“We have to find Fate,” Life huffed out as she released her hold on Justice.
“We know that,” Courage retorted. “Let’s get moving. We’re not going to find her in this hallway. If she has an ounce of intelligence, she’s likely hiding.”
“If we can’t find her, we summon her to theTier’llomen,” Justice replied. “As far as I’m concerned, she broke the rules. There should be consequences.”
TheTier’llomenwas created by their mother to settle disputes between the many goddesses in charge of different aspects of life. It was impossible to resist the summoning, and it randomly picked ten among them to listen to the issue. Punishment was then dispensed and enforced immediately. Eternity had spent her fair share of time in theTier’llomenboth as a party with a problem and as a goddess charged with resolving them.
To Eternity’s shock, Fate appeared out of nowhere, and her blue gaze was a mixture of concern and fear. She held up her hands as if to ward off her sisters, and Eternity glared at her.
“Let me explain,” Fate rushed out.
“Get started,” Justice demanded. “Leave out nothing, Fate, or theTier’llomenawaits you.”
“You know I don’t like discussing my matches, especially in more recent times, but this couple is not new,” Fate explained. “Come, I don’t want the entire palace listening to my business. If they have concern for Roman, they will find me.”
“Move into the garden,” Justice ordered with a wave of her sword.
Fate didn’t argue, and she nearly sprinted to the garden Eternity had left moments ago. With a half smile, Death filled the doorway with a spiderweb of bones to keep nosy sisters from entering until their discussion was over. It would irritate any goddess that passed it, and Death prided herself on annoying the sisters who constantly unfairly judged her.
“Explain,” Justice prompted Fate.
“The Order of the Fallen Knights was imperative to the survival of the Council of Sorcery,” Fate said. “We had to take care of the leaders. The Reverent Knights weren’t an issue, and neither was Arvandus. Life pulled him through, and he already had his soul connected to Albrecht’s.”
“Chander’s magic was strong enough to demand a soul already resurrected permanently,” Life replied. “Arvandus deserved a second chance. He made a promise to Albrecht, and I wanted him to keep it. Since he is a former sentinel, I couldn’t imagine anyone more well suited to the role of Venerable Knight.”
“Roman was just as worthy as Arvandus,” Fate continued. “As soon as his resurrection was carried out, I looked back upon his life. It was horrid. In the end, he was condemned for a crime he didn’t commit, and his execution was brutal. He’d been a soldier since he was a boy and served the Roman Empire faithfully. He lacked any happiness.”
“We know his life,” Justice retorted. “I’m sure all of us had your same instinct when Life chose his soul. You don’t have to recap it fully, and it doesn’t matter; Roman has no recollection of it nor will he ever.”
“I’m trying to explain my thought process,” Fate argued, her blue eyes narrowing.
“Then get on with it,” Justice said.
“You interrupted me,” Fate responded, but she gulped at the murderous glare Justice gave her. “Okay, I wanted him to be happy. His matebond was a priority. There were issues already in the Council. We know that. Arch Wizard Egidius was jealous of Chander. Egidius wanted power. I thought a good way to mend some of that would be to find a wizard mate for Roman. It took me a long time to consider the options. I had to find his perfect complement.”
“So, how did you go from a wizard to a human?” Courage asked.
“I think all that plate mail is keeping the blood from properly reaching your brain,” Fate retorted. “Clearly, I didn’t pick a human. Tell me how a human would still be alive if he was an adult in 1369 at Roman’s resurrection.”
“You don’t have to be nasty about it,” Courage said. “I assumed he died and has been reborn…perhaps many times through the centuries.”
