Chapter Seventeen
Golden vines wrap around black, marble pillars, rising high to the ceiling where the glass roof allows the gray sky above to be put on display. The dark hall stretches not too far, the size of the hall nothing compared to Kyril's throne room, as this is a palace which is home to a small population of the subjects within the King's realm. The walls are a white stone, stain glass windows holding every shade of blue as they portray the running of water, dark blue fish swimming within, and a war upon the water. The pillars run in two rows parallel to the other, leading up to a humbler throne, a throne woven from white roots, behind the throne a massive window that looks out to the river that runs behind the structure, small houses built on the other side as a wooden bridge leads to them. Around the room are different entrances to halls, either stairs leading up or halls leading further into the building as I wonder if my father is down one of the paths.
Standing beside the king, I can sense how tense he is, how stressed, and I know that although he does not keep his hands close to his sword, he has magic running through his veins. If a fight must occur, I should choose to stay beside him, as he will use his magic and I can easily take hold of his sword, but if he turns his magic on me I am out of luck.
"My King, the High One will be with us shortly," the elf that led us here announces as the doors we came from shut behind us, all the men on this journey standing in the hall as we await the elven ruler. With my heart beating fast and I find myself on edge, my eyes scan the hall over and over, looking to the doorways in case I catch sight of my father.
The elven women leaves us along in the hall, swallowed in the shadows of the hallway she enters, leaving us to the silence of the room. "It is a truly interesting story how this elven ruler gained her title," Kyril disrupts the silence, turning to me as he tries to make conversation. "The battle she fought five decades ago when she was just finding herself, that battle marked her out as a force to be reckoned with."
"What did she do?" I ask, knowing a conversation will help calm me down, to take my mind off my father.
Kyril looks to the throne, eyes swirling with a dark green color, a silver ring created around his pupil. "A dragon had attacked the mountains we just traveled over, her tribe fighting against a swarm of goblins whose ruler had trained a dragon years back. Her brother had fallen in battle beside her, body turned to white ash as he was scorched by the beast. When the dragon landed and was to bite the head off the elven ruler at the time, she took her axe and chopped off its head in one swing. She trapped the dragon's soul in a locket. Dragon souls require a dark magic to trap, but many have tried to do so because when you trap the soul of the dragon, you can feed off the strength they once had, allowing you to live longer, to even become stronger."
"So, because she trapped the soul of the dragon she has become feared by many?" I ask, the men around us listening in.
"No, not just that, Lady Candice," Kyril informs. "It takes a certain person to use that soul to help them live longer and become more powerful, but it takes a dark soul to craft that dragon soul into a weapon they use to destroy even the innocent." I raise an eyebrow, hoping he will elaborate on what exactly this elven woman did. Kyril leans in, face close to mine, a storm of gray and dark blue swirling in his eyes. "She killed a god with it, trying to capture that god's soul as well, but because the magic she used was so powerful, it destroyed the god's soul before it could even escape his body."
Duke Gravon looks to me, an expression of fear all because of me. "It is one thing to kill a god, Lady Candice, but it is another to destroy their soul."
Footsteps echo in the hall, coming closer as Kyril's men get to their knees, bowing their heads as the King stands still. As the footsteps draw even closer, I find myself following Duke Gravon as he gets to his knees, wanting to show respect for this woman. She killed a god because of the dragon soul she absorbed. If my relative absorbed the soul of a god, his power would have been even greater compared to this elf's.
"What a beautiful creature you have beside you, my King," a voice announces, one that sounds stern, overflowing with authority. I find myself looking over my shoulder, only to be surprised when I see right behind me the elf I was just informed on her power. Her dress is unlike many women I have seen here, how a split runs up the left side of her dark blue dress. The slit reveals a slender and long leg, only, it holds what appears to be massive scars from a giant creature. Perhaps the dragon she slayed many years ago, as the scars are hard to take my eyes off, looking like more pain I have ever felt in my life. As my eyes travel up her figure, I see her chest, how her dress scoops down to reveal a flat chest and a bronze locket in the shape of a diamond. The skin around the locket looks like green scales, as if slowly spreading across her chest, the tips of her fingers turning a dark green as her fingers hold several silver rings. "A female human, something time has forgotten. Women are the deadliest of creatures and yet you trust one beside you," the elf comments, fingers fidgeting suddenly as the elf reaches out to touch me.
Kyril grabs her hand, knuckles turning white from how tight his fingers are locked around her wrist, wanting her to not touch me. "She is not to be tainted by you," he snaps, releasing the elf's hand, warning her. The elf looks back to me, her eyes a dark orange, pupils not circular, but oval like a dragon's, what appears to be bags under her eyes are actually a set of dim blue scales just let the set on her chest. So, this is what happens when you trap and use the soul of a dragon, how it too absorbs you, creating one soul out of two. "She is not a gift, she is my mate."
The elf smiles, lips pulling back to reveal a set of pearly whites, but her back teeth are sharper than most, taking on the frightening teeth of a dragon. "What a shame such an innocent creature to be the one you are mated to, she deserves so much better."
"You dare disrespect your King?" Kyril growls, the walls shaking as the elven women offers a small laugh, as if trying to ease the King. "You know better than that, Lucretia, to try and disrespect your king." The elf looks back to me, her dark brown hair braided to the side, her ears not like the rest of her kin. Sure, they are pointy, but they turn a burnt red at the ends, golden piercings set at the ends, and just above her ears lays a silver crown that fits her head, emeralds running along the top as sapphires run along the bottom. "My men and I are passing through the forest to the mountains. They are training to become guards and we are seeking shelter for the night."
Lucretia nods, walking past me as her dress trails behind her, and from the back, there is no sign of any dragon features as she looks just as anyone else I have seen. "I have already made room for you and your men within the gathering hall, cots laid out for those who travel beside you. After all, I have expecting you since sunrise, my lord," Lucretia responds, looking over her shoulder to me, eyes meeting mine as chills run down my back. I am not a fan of the look she offers me. "I have set yours up within one of the guest rooms, my King, and for your human friend, I have prepared her a room in the same location." Lucretia turns back to face us, taking a seat upon her throne as her eyes scan me over, not looking me over like many have that I have met, but she looks at me like Dregh did, as if seeing right into my soul. Her eyes seem to darken the further she looks to me, as if reflecting what she sees. "But you must join us for our evening meal before the sun descents."
Kyril rolls back his shoulders, reaching his hand out for me to take, telling me stand on up. Reaching up, I take his hand which swallows mine, aiding me up to my feet as I am allowed to stand before the High One. What feels like electricity sparks between us as our skin comes into contact, it seems to pull us closer, beyond a simple gesture that lasts just seconds. The moment my hand slips away from his, the sparks are gone, just remains left over as they fade away as they climb up my arms. "We will join you for the evening meal, Lucretia, but before the sun can rise in the morning we will have to be leaving." With my mind wrapped around where my father could be here, as a conversation starts up again, my eyes wander off to the hallways, trying to see if someone is watching from the distance.
A hand takes hold of my arm, pulling me back to the conversation surrounding me as I see Duke Gravon and the rest of the men are back to their feet, Lucretia sitting down upon her throne, legs crossed as her slit reveals even more of the scar upon her flesh. Elbows set upon the armrests of the chair, she rests her chin upon her fingers, thumb brushing over her chin as she keeps her eyes focused upon me. She is not just interested in me, no, she does not look at me just because she is wondering what a female human is like, but she looks at me as if trying to figure me out, try and predict my next move. She does not see me as many I have met, how they assume me to just be someone who stands beside the king and offers him some pretty face or companionship. She looks at me as if she thinks me of more importance than the king of her land, as if I hold more respect than the man who wears a crown. She knows who I am, what I can do according to what she has seen my father do. They way she looks at me only establishes more proof that my father has committed the acts I fear are true of him.
"Then we shall take you up on that offer," Kyril finishes off the conversation, taking me with him to a hallway Lucretia conduct him towards. Kyril's men follow us, not looking to the elf whose skin has become consumed by the scales of the dragon she ended. We are led from the throne room, down a hallway to the left as silence fills the air. Kyril leads us into another room, one with open space and a small group of several elves, each turning their heads as their King leads his men through the place they call home. They seem tense as we pass by, stopping their discussion as we briefly remain in the open room, their eyes glued to the weapons with us.
Within the next few minutes the same elf that greeted us in the forest stands before Kyril, informing us she is to help me to my room as him and his men are led to their corridors. She explains that the women are separates from the men in this community unless bound in a ceremony which sounds like marriage to me. Separated from the men I have spent the majority of my time in Iduna around, I find myself alone with the elven women, led up a staircase and down a hallway. The walls of this hallway are higher now, the windows wider too as they overlook the river below, and a balcony perched over the widest area of the river. There she stands, Lucretia, hands placed on the balcony railing, and as the sunlight shines down upon her through the trees, the scales of her skin becoming more evident under the light. She is awaiting me, wanting to be around me without Kyril to interrupt every second.
"The High One has requested a private discussion with you," the elf informs, taking me right to the balcony doors as Lucretia stands just outside, her locket not around her neck, but the chain wrapped around her middle finger, the locket dangling as it shines under the sunlight barely present. "Go."
And go I do, walking onto the balcony as Lucretia gives me a soft nod, having me stand beside her. Placing my hands upon the railing just like the elf, she holds out her hand to me, the locket held out as well. I raise an eyebrow, holding out my hand as she drops the locket into my palm, motioning for me to take a look, to perhaps even open it. The cold metal is in my palm, the chain feeling heavier than it appears, my fingers brushing across the top of the locket. "You remind me of a man who once told me of his mission within this realm, how it fit right along with a belief we elves have held for ages," Lucretia informs, leaning her back against the railing as she takes a lot at her hands. "He told his name, of who he was related to." Lucretia smiles, placing her hand down as she lifts her heels off the floor and leans her head back to look at the sky. "I met that man once, before I had ever fought in battle. I was a child then, before the worlds had separated and Iduna was crafted."
"You met Heka, the one from the Nile?" I ask, one of my fingernails fitting right into the slot to open the locket.
"We elves take much time to age to our adult form, to become a warrior only means more than a century of age and wisdom must have been earned by us. It was so long ago when I met the man who held the gods in constant fear." I look back to the locket, wondering the appropriate moment to open it up and see what it inside. "I watched the battle the day the goddess fell from the sky, a mere mortal taking her down, and as I watched him as he carved her soul out, trapping that soul within his blood."
"So, he became the reason why you trapped the soul of that dragon?" I ask, finding the desire to open the locket and see what belongs within.
"I saw the power he absorbed, but I also saw the weakness he had the night he was murdered. The moment Heka of the Nile passed, I watched his children hold the blood with the goddess's soul, but by the time they tried to seek revenge, the realm had been made and closed off to the human race." Lucretia motions for me to open the locket now, my fingernail pulling on the locket as it clicks open. As I expect to find some sort of dark magic swirling within the locket, what I find is a simple locket, hallow as nothing comes out. "I captured the dragon's soul within the locket, afraid to absorb it right away as that kind of power could drive one insane with pain. Overtime I allowed the soul of the beast to feed into my body, into my soul, and you can see the evidence of that, on my skin, in my eyes."
Closing the locket, I find myself handing over the locket to Lucretia. "You speak of this to me because you know who I am already." Lucretia nods, taking her locket back, securing it back around her neck as the scales on her chest seem to shimmer. "Is Heka here?"
She pushes off the railing, heading back indoors as I get the cue to follow her, trying hard to not step on the train of her dress. "He has come and gone from this tribe for quite some time, a man who strikes fear into the King himself." Lucretia leads me into what appears as some mighty ballroom, a dome for the ceiling as it contains a beautiful oil painting of the night sky, constellations set up just as I recall from my astronomy class back in high school. The exam same constellation structure like back home as I have already discovered. It gives me hope when I look to the night sky these days and see the exact same layout of the stars. "Heka and I have a treaty, Lady Candice, one that keeps us elves as an ally of his as well as help cover his tracks."
"And Heka only plans on exterminating the children of the gods. What happens when he passes away and these children still are around?" I ask, Lucretia leading me towards the center of the room, a balcony at the far wall which overlooks what is the throne room. "These children will continue to be born unless the gods are killed off, and the gods are not easy to kill off."
Lucretia paces herself, walking in a wide circle around me, eyes trailing down my figure as she takes in my shape. "You think me to just speak of secrecy when you surround yourself with my enemy?" So Kyril is her enemy. It makes sense, as she knows him to be a demi-god, a child of a god which she may wish to take down.
"You have told me that Heka comes here and you are an ally of his. You have told me more than enough to land yourself as a traitor and dead at the hands of the king. Besides, you know what and who I am," I state, pointing out the obvious that she has already told me secret information that could get her killed.
"What you are is human and who you are is a child who has not yet realized her strength."
"I am not here to shed blood, but to find my father," I snap, "I am not going to find myself shoving a sword through someone's chest." Lucretia raises her chin, eyes hardening, and the scales upon her face seeming to spread.
"You think your father who has been missing from your life for so long and never thought of returning home will suddenly drop his destiny all for his precious little girl?" Lucretia asks, tone harsh as she clasps her hands behind her back. "He had so many years to go back to you, but he stayed here, knowing what had to be done." I shake my head. "You know this, but you are too blinded by a childish hope to come to your senses and accept the reality around you."
My eyebrows pull together, my lips pressed into a firm line. "Then you must also know that my blood line has a history of being loyal to family."
Lucretia shakes her head, laughing slightly as she does so, the tension only growing within the room. "Loyal to family, yes, but not as you think. They are loyal to the family cause, not to family alone. The loyalty to one another is only because of their loyalty to their goal." I shake my head, not enjoying the fact that as this elf talks more, her eyes only seem to glow. "You are just a coward to accept the fact your father will not come back. You are not here to find your father and bring him back, Lady Candice, but you are here because of a darkness still asleep within you."
"Where is my father?" I ask, voice stern and commanding, a certain strength added to my voice that I have never felt before. My chest rising and falling heavy, my shoulders begin to tense as I just want to force the answer out of her.
The corner of the elf's lips pull upward, revealing those pointy teeth, her answer so close to being freed. "He will be joining us for dinner, Lady Candice, to fix a mistake he made long ago." Bloodshed. "A mistake that has lived on long enough."
Kyril. My father plans on killing Kyril tonight to fix the mistake of killing Kyril's father years ago. Like I said before, I am a loose cannon today, and I have no idea what I will do.