Erich curled his hand into a fist. Hadn’t he come here to save her? Either he convinced her to join him, or he gave in to the monster he was becoming; those were his choices.
“I will not force her. She must come to me willingly.”
“Then change her mind. She has been locked in the tower. Go to her,” the raven urged.
One of the guards grabbed Erich’s shoulder, and he spun, muscles tense and poised for action.
“Is something the matter?” the Midnight Guard asked him.
Erich felt his power coiling inside him like a snake about to strike.
“Please, I’ve come from Sundland. My father is sick, and I need the avatar to cure him.” He wrapped each word with power, tugging at the threads of his sympathy. Erich watched as the guard’s eyes glazed over.
“She’s not seeing pilgrims today.”
“Just let me through the door,” Erich said, resting a hand on the guard’s shoulder. He found physical contact strengthened the bonds of his persuasion.
“I don’t know…” But Erich could see the power overcoming the guard, molding him into submission.
“I will go willingly into exile if you let me gaze upon her once,” he pleaded.
The guard rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Go quick, and don’t get caught or else…” He wasn’t able to finish the thought before Erich was racing past him and into the hall beyond the guard. Thankfully, it was empty, and he wouldn’t have to exert more of his power. This was madness. If he were caught, he’d likely be arrested, and yet his feet did not slow as he ascended the stairs, guided by the raven, who flew ahead of him.
“Stay to the shadows,” it instructed.
Erich did as he was told and pressed his back against the wall. In the same way Fritz could slip in and out of the shadows, so too could Erich blend in with the darkness. Cloaked as he was by the night, he slipped past priests walking down the hall. The raven landed on a windowsill beside the door he presumed was her chamber. There were no guards outside her door, which felt like another stroke of luck. Perhaps the Trinity was on his side after all. He didn’t want to have to deal with Ludwig.
When he entered, the room was empty. Her bed was made, and the space smelled like her. This did not please the dragon, who pulled and fought against its bindings as Erich considered his next steps. Then the door at the far side of the room opened, and her maid, Luzie, walked in carrying a bundle that she dropped upon seeing him.
“Where is Liane?” Erich asked, not bothering to disguise the desperation in his voice.
She swallowed past a lump in her throat. “In the tower, in isolation.”
“Take me there,” he commanded.
“She’s meant to be purifying her soul. I don’t think...” she stammered.
Erich grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. He felt the hooks of his allure grasping onto her, forcing her to do his bidding. “Take me.”
She swallowed hard and nodded slowly. She had no choice. Erich felt as if he were careening out of control, drunk on his own power and the dragon’s and urgent whispers in his ear from the raven. There was no more room for reason or control. He had to see her. They passed through the halls and went up a long spiral staircase.
The dragon was just beneath his skin, near ready to explode out of him. Erich grasped the doorknob, but it was locked. The dragon wanted him to break the door down, but he held onto that last tether of humanity to ask Luzie, “The key?”
“The Avatheos has it.”
“Who’s there?” Liane called out.
Her breath caught, and he felt it echo in his veins.
“It’s me,” he said, pressing his eye to the slot in the door that acted as a window. It was barely big enough to slip his hand through. Liane sat on a cot, with nothing but a stack of religious texts, a single candle, and a pitcher. She was wearing a thin cotton sheath that hugged her body in ways that made his imagination run away with itself.
“Erich? What are you doing here?” She padded across her cell, coming closer to peer at him through the bars.
This is what he’d come to prevent. They’d made her a prisoner. Maybe now she’d realize how wrong the church was.
“I came to rescue you,” he confessed.
She inhaled a ragged breath. “You shouldn’t have.” She turned her back on him.
