Page 110 of A War of Embers

Samuel nods slowly. “I see.” Half turning around, he beckons for us to follow him deeper into the Godlands.

Zeke grabs my arm before I can follow the High Lord. Lowering his voice, he murmurs, “Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t trust them.” He quickly scans the area. “He’s the only one showing his face.”

“Maybe they hide when newcomers arrive, like a certain other place I know,” I whisper back.

Zeke scowls and releases my arm. “Stay behind me. If something happens or I get a bad feeling, I’m removing us from here immediately and we’ll find a different way.”

“There is no other way.” He knows this as well as I do. If there was another way, I never would have come back here. I never would have put myself in such a vulnerable position if I wasn’t at my wits end with no other viable source of information to go on.

Inclining his chin in understanding, he marches on towards Samuel’s retreating form. I keep pace behind the dragon, doing as he says to maintain our distance in case this is a trap of some sort.

We don’t end up walking too far into the village before Samuel gestures towards a building off to the left, overlooking the realm around us through magnificent windows. The interior is plain as I duck through the archway. Cream couches, books, and a small kitchen command the entirety of the space.

“So, you no longer wish to be an immortal?” Samuel asks, sinking onto one end of the couch.

There’s no point in regaling him with my life story, so I answer bluntly instead. “Correct.” Zeke settles down next to Samuel on the couch while I remain standing.

“And your mate is fine with this?” Samuel asks.

Both Zeke and I grow still at the High Lord’s comment. I know my mark is visible on my face, but I had no idea others outside of Aïdes would recognize it.

Samuel chuckles. “You are not aware of our treaty with Lord Rowan, I take it?”

Zeke says nothing, his body stiff beside me. I can’t tell if he’s pretending or if he truly didn’t know.

“No,” I say slowly. “We figured you had an alliance with the Lords and Ladies here in Tellus.”

“We do not interfere with anything that happens here per our deal with Lord Rowan.” Samuel raises his hand, his palm facing outwards as I startle at the white ink marking Rowan’s bargaining brand. The same one on the back of my hand.

“I don’t understand.” I shake my head, trying to make sense of Samuel’s words. “You met Rowan. You made a bargain with him. But you’re High Lords. You’re the most powerful beings in this realm.”

“We were.” Samuel doesn’t seem to mind admitting it, though I have no idea why.

“Are you insinuating Rowan has more magic than you do? More than all the High Lords?” I ask carefully. Because there’s no fucking way that’s what is being implied here.

“I’m saying Lord Rowan has never used his magic to capacity in any setting, however we are aware of what could happen if he were to go that far,” Samuel says. “We do not plan on causing a catastrophic event, therefore we accepted his bargain to stay out of the business of Lords and Ladies.”

Slowly I sink down beside Zeke on the couch. What Samuel is implying is impossible. “Rowan isn’t that powerful.” Twisting to look at Zeke, I shove a hand through my hair. “Tell him that Rowan isn’t that powerful.”

But Zeke remains quiet, his reptilian eyes narrowed to slits as he watches Samuel.

“The dragon won’t contradict me,” Samuel smiles. “Secrets have a way of being exposed if you stick around long enough. Don’t they?” Samuel looks directly at Zeke with a knowing glint in his violet eyes.

“This is irrelevant to why we’re here,” Zeke cuts in. “Are you going to aid Keres in removing the immortal souls?”

Samuel presses his lips together, disappointment flashing briefly on his face before he kindly smiles at me. “Of course.”

“And you can remove those without removing the godlike one?” I ask carefully, lifting the corner of my shirt up to reveal my stomach and the neon blue veins glowing in the dim light.

Samuel nods, not looking surprised by my revelation. “Yes. To remove the godlike soul would condemn its fractured piece to death.”

Frowning, I try to recall if Micah specifically mentioned the piece of my soul being connected to anyone else. He said there would be consequences, but not killing an innocent person. “A soul isn’t connected to another being–” I start but Samuel cuts me off.

“Normally no. Rowan’s blessed soul was fractured during the Province Wars while he was struggling to overcome the death of his brother that was killed moments prior. You cannot fully remove it because of the type of power he wields. So it broke a piece off, and when Rowan went to fight for it back, it broke again. A soul broken once is still salvageable, anything broken again is connected. Kill one soul,” Samuel gestures towards my chest, “you kill the other as well.”

Is he implying I hold a piece of Rowan inside of me? “Other people have had their souls fractured. It’s not uncommon during fights or battle.”

“You have a part of Rowan’s soul,” Zeke interrupts my emotional rant. He levels a stare at me that would send a shiver down my spine if I wasn’t on the verge of raging and bursting into hysterics. “He’s aware of it.”

---