I shake my head.
“I have given my home, my love,my body—all for my people.Allow me to be godsdamned selfish for once,” I plead, kneeling before her with my arms stretched out on either side.
The Light Weaver looks down at me, sad, but silent.
“What do you want?” I demand. “You said you shouldn’t, not that you couldn’t.”
She presses her lips together. “You would give me something?”
I stand up, knowing that my wife is already gone. “I would give you anything but those who lay next to me.”
The woman studies me. “Your father took something, long ago. The power that flows through you.”
I grit my teeth. As if in response, my hands glow like they had after I pushed my father.
Estela’s mother Aitana steps forward.
“It is a sorrowful story told in the heavens, that Teo’Likh, with all his power, was not satisfied. He was given a gift, and then demanded more so he could play the part of a misguided savior and destroy the land.”
I press my lips together.
She looks at me. “The gods speak through me now. They are fond of you, approving even. Give back the stolen power, and they will return Estela and Mikal from the land of the dead.”
“I want our child, too.”
Aitana freezes. “Child?”
My heart pounds as I clench my teeth. “Didn’t you know Estela was pregnant?”
She blinks, and I swear her eyes are growing watery. “Then my children and the babe it shall be. Prepare to trade.”
I take a shaky breath. “Without my power, my people will be helpless.”
She shakes her head. “Not helpless. They will have your gods-touched queen. But the volcano… it will be dormant.”
“Will you take all my power?” I ask.
She frowns. “You seem to think you can negotiate. Do not mistake your gods’ pleasure at your clever spirit for weakness.”
It’s a hard blow, but love requires faith. And, with Estela, I have a lot to believe in. I nod my head. “Done.”
The woman raises her hand. “One last point. If I do this, I will never be able to save her again. I swear it. The gods do not take kindly to resurrection, for that is the realm of the demons.”
“You won’t have to. We grow stronger daily. I will keep her and her brother safe. I will protect our child,” I say resolutely.
Aitana frowns. “Power in exchange for lives.”
I take a deep breath. “Lives are taken for power every day, surely you can make the opposite true.”
She smiles, and then, closes her fingers in a hard fist. Her eyes leave mine, and I turn back to watch. The spear fades away into particles of light. Then the holes close, one by one.
Chapter 45
Sapphire
MIKAL
Agasp ruptures the silence, sharp and sudden as a winter's break.
