Bonds of Flame & Desire

Chapter 3 - Alliance

I dreamt of Cassandra again. She was all I could see in my dreams. Her laugh I heard when holding the fragment of her soul I had stolen. The way she brightened when she was happy and burned when angered. How her soul was such a dichotomy that I ached to understand.

The feel of her dark curling hair in my fingers when I had finally kissed her. The taste of her lips, the way she let out a small breath when I touched her. Those eyes blue as sapphires. The body I had known her in was beautiful, but her real body was beyond anything I could ever desire. When her soul was finally at home, I couldn't imagine how exquisite she would be.

But now, I couldn't hear her. I couldn't sense her. She was separated from me by entire worlds and her absence left a hollow ache deep inside me.

My wing was still a broken mess, the pain a constant reminder of what had happened. How close Iosephus had gotten to Cassandra before Theis had taken her to the seraphim.

I didn't blame Jens for not allowing me to heal. I also didn't blame him for keeping me shackled in his castle. I had threatened him. Many times.

But still, I answered every question he and Malthe threw at me.

Who was I working for?

Myself.

Was I ever loyal to Iosephus?

Of course not.

How did I know how to free Cassandra's soul?

Anahel told me.

Why did Anahel tell me?

She sought me out after Ascelin's execution. After I murdered my father for voting to execute the prince.

What else did she tell me?

That Cassandra's body is in the realm of the seraphim. Kept alive all this time so that they could take her soul and make her a weapon that will be our final destruction.

I shifted, wincing as pain shot down my back. Shattered bones rubbed against one another and it momentarily stole my breath. I shut my eyes, waiting for the shooting agony to stop.

The door opened and Jens walked in, followed close behind by Malthe. Neither looked too pleased to see me so I flashed them my best smile.

"Iosephus slaughtered the entire city of Maulun," Jens said and my cockiness vanished immediately.

"You're lying," I said, gritting my teeth and sitting upright. I ignored the agony of my wings, the biting sting of the shackles on my wrist.

Jens shook his head and I felt as if the ground had given way beneath me. Jens was not a devil who joked or liked to torment others like Iosephus did. He only spoke the truth and his words cleaved through me.

It had gone so wrong. All wrong.

Cassandra should have taken her throne that night. Her soul should have been ready to return to her body. But that damned contract put her soul in a precarious position and having a small piece of it myself was the only thing keeping her from Iosephus.

I had gambled too high and now my people were suffering for it.

"Did anyone survive?" I asked, my voice unbearably weak and wavering.

"No," Jens said, his tone softening. "No child, no livestock. It's decimated, Firion."

Magic surged beneath my skin but couldn't break through thanks to Jens' bindings on me. It burned my veins, needing release. I had to let this rage out. I needed to tear Iosephus into pieces.