Page 18 of Bonds of Blood
“I wish I could say that this was entirely surprising, but alas. I had my suspicions when we learned that your mother was an elemental. What are the chances, as they say? That a summoner would fall in love with someone outside their own species, without it being a relationship not only of romance, but of power and convenience as well.”
My mouth automatically opened to protest, but Aphrodite was completely right. This was just a case of history repeating, me and Sylvain accidentally echoing what had happened to my parents decades ago. I wanted to believe that I treated him with more kindness and respect, but that only made me feel worse for my mother.
Why didn’t I ever notice that Baylor was using her as his eidolon? Mom was never anything but loving when it came to him. He must have had some way of controlling her mind, if not of rewriting her memories. Maybe she did it out of love and loyalty. But would she really overexert herself in battle to the point of needing years to recover in the Wispwell?
“But Sylvain would do the same for me,” I muttered.
“Sorry?” Aphrodite asked.
I shook my head. “It’s nothing.”
And it really should have been nothing. Humanizing my asshole father and making excuses for him wouldn’t help matters at all. Here was a goddess standing before me with a gift of her own to offer. I needed to stay in the present. Aphrodite might actually help.
“Your gift,” I said, mustering enough excitement, because yes, I actually was more than a little curious. “What is it?”
She smiled and unclenched her fingers. It was a fifth gemstone, rosy pink and translucent, but not rounded like the others, not like a tumbled stone from a riverbed. This had been cut into the shape of a faceted heart, so meticulous and perfect that it could have been at home in a particularly gaudy wedding ring.
Oddly, it also reminded me of an especially pretty piece of candy. When the jewel floated out of Aphrodite’s hand, I had to resist every urge to open my mouth.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” she breathed. “I mean, not to fluff myself and my husband up, but I do think that this is some of our best work. Don’t be rude now, sapling. Accept your gift. Cup your hands together. Yes, just like that, if you please.”
I did as the goddess requested, sensing the comforting warmth of the jewel on my skin as it hovered into the safety of my hands. When it touched my fingers, I moaned out loud. Something like electricity tingled throughout my body. I was a bottle, and my blood had turned into sparkling wine.
Pleasure, excess, adoration — all of it radiated from this tiny gem. This was a fragment of the goddess herself.
“Gods above and below, Aphrodite.”
She tittered. “I know, right? This gemstone contains my essence. A mere fraction of my power.”
I looked down at my chest, then back up into her eyes. “But, the medallion. It’s gone now, and this was supposed to fit in the last spot.”
Aphrodite scoffed. “Surely you know by now that your power isn’t limited by the medallion. It was only decorative. A holster for your weaponry. A scabbard for your sword, if you like.”
“Then you’re saying that this gift is a weapon, too.” I pinched the jewel between my thumb and forefinger, admiring the clarity of it, holding it against the light. Something to go with the other gems of elemental essence, didn’t she say?
And that was when it hit me. I dropped my hand, careful not to drop the jewel with it.
“Does this gem do what I think it does?”
“It does, indeed.” Aphrodite smiled. “Tell me, summoner. How would you like to summon a goddess?”
10
Dust and gritfell from the ceiling as the castle walls rumbled once more. Another attack from the Oriel of Earth. It had only been a day. Baylor was already turning the dimension’s inhabitants against us.
I crossed my arms and sighed, looking up the staircase as if I could see what was happening in the Spire of Radiance. Was it another ancient tree, like the guardian he’d stolen away from me? Or was it a moss giant this time, similar to the creature we’d defeated on our last visit?
The academy’s residents had begun to take shifts in the defense against Baylor and his minions. News of his bizarre takeover hadn’t yet left the castle. Ideally, it never would. I didn’t want to imagine how the arcane underground would react to the knowledge that a grand summoner of the Wispwood had gone rogue.
My mother stepped up next to me and shook her head. “He’s always been so temperamental. We’re creatures of water, you and I, Lochlann. Our moods change with the tides. And yet the two of us combined would never compare to your father’s tantrums.”
I scoffed. “I hear that. Growing up around him wasn’t great, but then you knew that already. I wonder how much longer before he gives this up.”
Another rumble, another faint dusting of rubble and dirt drifting down from the next level up. We were some floors down from the Spire of Radiance, safe enough from the scourge of Baylor Wilde, resting up before it was time to step in for our share of the watch.
What an utterly bizarre development. It only felt like yesterday, fighting the watery woman who’d emerged from the Wispwell, only to discover that she was my supposedly long-dead mother. And now the two of us were fighting arm in arm against a siege, staged by my supposedly long-lost father, no less. How had we come to this?
I reached for my throat, never having realized how much I’d come to use Aphrodite’s medallion as a touchstone. Something to stroke to keep me grounded, to remind me that everything was going to be okay. I was only slightly surprised to find a faceted gemstone instead of the golden amulet.
