“Yes,” Auriel said. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
I shook my head. “Auriel, come on.”
“No, I mean it. You are going to march up to the mouth of the cave. You are going to demand entry to the Wall of the Prince, like the warrior you are, and you’re going to tell them that Lyriana Batavia is here. Because your name is power. All you have to do is say it, use the leverage it gives you. You’ll be brought inside, and taken to Rhyan directly, if he doesn’t come out to greet you himself.”
“And what if he doesn’t do that?” I asked. “What if they don’t listen? What if there’s orders to kill me?”
“There aren’t,” he said.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I know Rhyan better than I know anyone else in this world. I know today was hard, and he was—” he sighed, “He was awful to you. But, before he lost his soul, his personality formed—and it was influenced by mine. In the end, he and I are one. And I swear to you, I know some things that will never change. You saw it yourself. Things stuck even with his soul gone—things that formed him, that made him who he was before he was akadim. Things that are so core to who he is, they can’t be taken away, even by the void in his body. His hygiene,his organization, his lilt, his strength and discipline, even his humor—albeit twisted by the magic animating him, but it was still there. And most importantly of all, the one thing that will never ever change—that can never be broken or tampered with because of how central it is to his being—is how protective he is of you.” I frowned.
“He didn’t let anyone hurt you,” Auriel said. “And he wouldn’t let anyone touch you. He killed every akadim who tried to. His goals might be twisted now, but he’s not just hoarding your weapons for tactical reasons, or because he needs them. Not one akadim is looking at them. Because they don’t care. And you know why. You remember the second rule of being a soturion?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, still recalling that day of training. Being alone with Rhyan for the first time in our training room as he patiently explained the rules. Stop the threat. That was the first rule of being a soturion. And then the second rule. I met Auriel’s gaze. “Akadim are the weapons.”
His jaw clenched as he nodded. “Exactly. And the third rule, follow the chain of command. Rhyan has no need for your weapons.Heis the weapon, and as Arkturion, especially considering the soldier he was, he’s making sure his orders are followed. I guarantee it. He has one reason to hold onto your things and one reason only—they’re yours. They remind him of you. Because as twisted as he is now, that never goes away. You say your name and you will have safe passage to him. From there, it’s up to you. You say your name, go before him, and then, the fight is on. Everything you need will be in one place—Rhyan, and the red shard.”
“And what about you?”
“I’ll be right behind you. Watching your back. Fighting any akadim who break through Rhyan’s command. He has a lot of control, more than I’ve ever seen—I don’t know how. Losingcontrol over a handful of akadim is nothing. He shouldn’t have control over even one.”
“It’s not just him. It’s the collars,” I said.
But Auriel shook his head. “No. It’s something else. Those only give Morgana control. Still, this will work in your favor. It already did. I’ll follow behind you. Watch your back. And while you’re with Rhyan, I’m going to get my shard back. Because I’ll be damned if after all that, it ends up in the wrong hands again.” He eyed me carefully. “Nothing’s going to happen to you, Lyriana. I swear. I won’t let it.”
“And if I fail? If I can’t cure him?”
His eyes darkened. “You won’t fail.”
“Auriel, I need to be realistic. We haven’t seen the cure work once. Not that we’ve had many opportunities.” Only Auriel using the shard on one akadim our first night here. All the other Godsdamned akadim have been hiding. Digging in the mines with Rhyan. I drew my knees to my chest. “I know you’ve seen it happen. But that was a thousand years ago. What if things have changed?”
“This hasn’t. The power of the Valalumir—even in its crystal form, even shattered into pieces—it’s still as strong as the day it was created. Even now, I can sense the green shard in ways I couldn’t even a day ago.”
“There was one moment,” I said, “between me and Rhyan, when my hands were finally free. I touched him—I touched his heart, and it was like a flash, like he was back.”
Auriel frowned, his gaze distant. “You didn’t mention that before.” His eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean he was back?”
“Like it was him,” I said. “His eyes were green. He looked confused, like he didn’t know what was happening. Couldn’t remember where he was. And he—he said my name. Just my name. And when he spoke—his voice was his. Not just the lilt,but the timbre, the tone—everything. It was his voice. There was no akadim inside him when he spoke. For a moment it was like … like Rhyan’s soul had returned, like he was looking at me through the monster’s eyes.”
“That would explain it,” Auriel said.
“Explain what?” I asked.
“There was a strange moment for me. I think I felt it,” he said. “This was just before you escaped?”
I nodded.
“I was fighting an akadim,” Auriel said. “I had the upper hand, I was about to knock him out—it was almost too easy. And then I stumbled and I missed. For a whole moment, I couldn’t recover. Like I lost all my strength.”
By the Gods. Auriel had said he couldn’t be here if Rhyan’s soul was. That they both couldn’t be here at once. Had my touch called it back?
“What does that mean?” I asked, my heart pounding. “What—What happens to you if he’s cured?” It was a question we’d been dancing around. Mercurial had figured out how to activate the impossibly rare scenario that would bring Auriel back—but this had never happened before. What would happen to him next?
Auriel shook his head. “I’ve been wondering that every day since I arrived. And honestly, I don’t know.” His jaw clenched. “I just don’t know.”
I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a hug, burying my face in his neck.
