“It can be, yes, as you’ve witnessed for those that ask it of me,” he adds.
I’m almost afraid to ask but I do so anyway, “Can it be worse?”
“Much worse. When I take the soul of someone who yearns for this plane, who fights me—” he cuts off, wiping his face as he struggles to continue.
“Gods, it’s brutal. I hate it with everything in me. It’s like being forced to takeeverythingfrom them as their soul screams and begs for mercy. There is nothing worse than ripping away someone’s will to live, it defiles them and shreds their soul. My power invades their body as they plead with me not to, and I’m forced to assault them in the worst way.”
He brings his fist up and slams it against his thigh.
Goddess it’s awful.
I look away feeling sick to my stomach.
Understanding washes over me in a revolting wave—any time he is controlled by King Euron to use his magic against his will, he’s forced to violate someone in a similar way he’s been violated.
“That’s an unimaginable cruelty that you’re forced to bear.”
He nods but continues to look at the landscape.
Leveling my voice, I withhold the scream that threatens to tear from my throat. “No one deserves to have their will stripped from them, not even you.”
He looks at me, the mutual understanding between us that we both have thought we deserved less in this realm for actions out of our control.
“I think it’s time we send for Rune,” he finally says.
I nod in agreement—it’s time we set the wrongs in this world right, starting with freeing Kassiel.
Oak delivered the message Kassiel had scrawled and returned back to us with his answer. It only took half a day, but Rune would meet us at nightfall just out on the outskirts of the Leith Mountains, where we would still have cover from the Helianate and royal guard.
We arrived early and camped out under the cover of the Quaking Trees that backed up to rocky formations that looked like pillars.
Kassiel had asked me what my life had looked like prior to The Hidden finding me and we talked for clockhours about the intricacies of ourselves. Down to the last little pieces of knowledge of even my favorite thread color for gowns.
“I guess I am not surprised that you would pick silver,” he teases.
I glower at him from the rock I’m perched on and pick up a small stone and let it fly towards his head.
“Silver is a fine color, and you know it!” I chide.
“It’s a very fitting color for you, I admit.”
Though sunset marries the sky with oranges and purples against the distant capital of Ezmelir, you wouldn’t have known the day slipped away from us sooner than we wanted it to.
“And what’s your favorite color? If I had to guess, I honestly wouldn’t know.”
He grins at me and sucks his teeth before answering, “If you guess right, I’ll give you anything you want, though it may take time on my end to procure.”
“Hmm.” I begin to think about the answer, wondering what I would desire if I answered correctly.
I huff, twirling a little leaf that had fallen off the Quaking Tree as we sat underneath it.
His head turns towards Ezmelir, looking at something in the distance.
“I’m not sure I know,” I begin, focusing on the group of people that begin to make their way towards the base of the mountain we currently sit atop.
Distractedly, I continue to roll the leaf between my fingers, a sense of dread beginning to curl in my belly.
I’m suddenly uneasy about going to the capital.
