Page 3 of Eclipse of Fate
“I wish that our bonding wasn't stained by the evil of Cano. You deserve more, Raelle.” My heart swells with the fact that he is thinking about me at all after everything, but the way his eyes are darkening… the pain lacing his words, I’m sensing he has more to say.
“But?” I question.
“But… You are about to see a side of me that you have not seen before. No one has. There is only so much that I can handle, and Cano broke my resolve by taking my sister’s life. I will only accept retribution for her life in payment of his. I will not stop until he is dead, and I will make it happen by any means necessary.” His words send shivers down my spine, and my hair stands on the back of my neck. Something about the confession seemingly shifts the air around us as, though him speaking this decision has altered fate.
A knock at the door breaks my focus from Dax and the fire building behind his hazel eyes. He purses his lips and then turns to answer the door. He opens it wide, and Ambriel stands on theother side, her eyes shifting to Dax, but they quickly flick back to me nervously.
“Can we talk?” She asks, looking back to Dax. “Alone?” He slowly turns his head in my direction, and I nod. The hum in my chest tells me that Ambriel’s intentions are pure. I’m learning to trust the hum that can only be my magic surfacing—I can sense it from her just as I did Trent outside the tunnels—after I lost my memories. I know she’s not a danger to me.
“I suppose I will go speak with my brother and Maki to discuss the plans for the soldiers and leaving for the ruins.” I close my eyes, taking a deep breath. I want to tell him no. I want to tell him not to. That instead we need to come up with a plan to take the kingdom a different way, but I know that his head is not in the right space for it.
He nods to Ambriel before brushing past her and sauntering away down the long hall in search of Maki. Reluctantly, I watch as he disappears from the doorway and I hear his footsteps fade in the distance.
“Come in.” I sweep my arm out, inviting her to join me in the library, letting out a huff.
“I wanted to talk to you about something pretty important, and I’m hoping you take this the right way… I don’t know all of the details, obviously, but I wanted to tell you about it regardless.” She begins to pace in front of the fire, just as I had been doing only moments ago. With each step she takes, the line between her brow deepens as she screws up her face, making it clear that whatever is on her mind is really eating at her. The muscles in my shoulders tense further as she continues her pacing. We both need a drink.
“Drink?” I cross the room, pour two fingers into a crystal glass, and offer it to her. She takes it without a word, knocking back thegolden liquid with a pinched face before handing the glass back to me. I laugh inwardly and pour another measure for her, and then I pour my own glass and follow her lead, swallowing the whole lot in one go.
“Look, I’m just going to spit it out, ok?”
“Please,” I respond, brows raised.
“I had a vision at the end of the battle, as Cano left…” She says, and I didn’t think it possible, but the crease between her eyes deepens even further as a frown pulls her lips down at the corners too. Her eyes track up to meet mine, concern written plainly on her face. “I think I know how you lost your memories, but it doesn’t make any sense....” She shakes her head as she gains my undivided attention.
“How?”
“Well, that’s the part I don’t understand. The vision I had, I think, was of the past. Specifically, when you lost your memories—was it in a cave? Or underground somewhere?” I stand facing her, my feet planted into the ground like the roots of trees. Unmoving as I shake my head. I am unable to believe what she’s telling me.
“I was in the tunnels that run through the Soule Mountains, between Ravendene and Demetrey.”
“I think your memories were wiped, Raelle. Magically—and the part that is confusing me the most—I think it was my brother who wiped them. My brother—who isdead.” She drops into the chair Dax had just been sitting in, expelling an exasperated sigh. Sinking into the deep red leather upholstery, she rubs her hands down her face as I just stare at her in disbelief.
“What do you mean yourdeadbrotherwipedmy memory?” I finally whisper.
“I’m saying that I don’t think my brotherisdead, Raelle. I don’t know how or why. That's a huge part that doesn't make sense, but the other is, why would he do such a thing? I know what I saw, though, and I know he has a power unlike any I’ve ever seen before. He is a master manipulator of the mind. With a simple touch to your temple, he wiped away all memories of the last year of your life. I just—I don’t understand why he would do it. Any of it. Did he fake his own death? He must have; that’s the only way it can make sense. I think it’s important that we find him and figure out what he was doing in those tunnels and find out more information about why he would wipe your memories...why he would do any of this...” She shakes her head, the denial of her own words is evident.
I sit in the chair next to her, sinking just as deep, “We will figure this out. Don’t worry about it too much.” I tell her, but as I say the words, worry starts to eat at me.
“I’m so sorry, Raelle.” She stands and looks down at me.
“Don’t apologize. This isn’t your fault. We will get answers—in the meantime, don’t tell anyone else about this. I don’t need them to worry about it. We just need to get through this together. All of us… I need to stop this duel between Dax and Cano. I won’t risk my mate’s life, and being that it is my birthright to be Queen, I feel that there should be something I can do to put a stop to it.”
“I’ll help you in whatever way that I can. I am yours to command.” She drops to one knee before my chair, offering her blade to me, her head bowed low, surprising me.
“You don’t have to do that…” Shaking my head, but she continues anyway.
“Please accept my pledge of loyalty. I shall lay my blade at your feet; it and my life will be yours to wield, my Queen.” The words she speaks are those the queen’s war maidens would recite. I knowthe pledge from my studies, and I know what they mean. I stand, taking a deep, shaking breath, and place my hand on her shoulder.
“I accept your pledge, and as you rise, you do so protected by my word, my hand, and the gods. Stand tall, my war maiden, my friend.” Chills race along my skin as she lifts her chin, meets my gaze, and stands before me as a ripple of magic seals her pledge.
Magic sizzles on the skin of my wrist, and we both look down at the same time. Lifting our wrists in unison, the same marks brandish the inside of the delicate flesh. Two wings connected by a horned moon in the center. Our eyes meet, and she smiles. The magic thrums through me with the connection to her.
Chapter three
While I know shemeans well, Raelle’s constant gaze and hovering is smothering me. She's worried, and I understand that, but I also feel like being under her perpetual scrutiny isn’t helping either of us. As much as it pains me to think it, I’m thankful for Ambriel needing to speak with her alone.
I amble alone through the halls of the Loema castle. Many of the Fae rushing through the once opulent halls are disheveled. Tears wet their cheeks—their emotions are plain for all to see, but some still have the crimson stains caked on their clothes and skin. Either their own blood, that of their loved ones, or the opponent they slayed. Each somber face that I pass causes my heart to ache with the loss of Ella, my sweet, charismatic, and hopeful little sister. My hands tremble with the memory of her small, lifeless body lying slain across Trent. Curling my fingers into tight fists, I try hardnot to think about what life will be like without Ella’s bright light shining on me.
