“Gods, you sounded just like Margot when you said that.” Archer snorted under his breath, and the comparison to my mother made my heart cramp.
“Shortly after banishing her soul into the constellastone statue that you so brilliantly destroyed, the other gods realized their mistake, and chaos ensued. But at that point, it was too late. What they had done could not be reversed,” he explained, reiterating what Blythe had told me.
Scooting closer to the edge of the mattress, I planted my feet firmly on the floor in a very literal attempt atgroundingmyself. “But itwasreversed. That's why I’m here. That’s why I even exist.”
“It was not reversed per se, butcorrected. See, the gods tracked down the enchanter who crafted Blythe’s prophecy and familiarized themselves with the specifics of its terms. When they learned of you, they declared that protecting you would be a priority, as you were the only solution for their wrongdoing. You were—are—the only piece of Blythe left.”
“Damn.” I scratched my head, and for a moment, forgot who I was speaking to. “The gods will be totally fucked if I die.”
“Erm…For lack of better words, yes. They would betotally fucked. Hence Lumosia.”
Removing his hands from his pockets, Archer pushed off the wall and stepped a few paces towards the rounded window, drawing the curtains and allowing beaming, orange rays into the room. “They built this kingdom from scratch the year of your birth, then placed me here as its ruler. They knew that I was one of the few who could be trusted with such a responsibility, as I would do anything to protect my children.”
Pulling my knees onto the bed, I pivoted my entire body towards his new location in a single maneuver. “How is a hidden kingdom that I’ve never even heard ofprotecting me? I mean,no onehas heard of it. It doesn’t exist. Not in a single textbookor manuscript is the Kingdom of Lumosia mentioned. It’s not on any map or globe.”
Archer peered over the bridge of his nose. “Exactly—that is the whole point. The gods built this kingdom as a safe haven for you to turn to when your transition occurred.”
I held a hand up, closing my eyes for a moment to recenter myself. “So let me get this straight: the gods built ahidden kingdom, ruled by anex-ghost, to keep me out of harm's way?” Sarcasm twisted my words. “Hate to break it to you, but I almost died more than once in the past month alone.”
“The gods will not interfere with the balance of life and death, and on the off chance they do, someone will pay for it. The fact that you survived what you did is pure luck. And I was never a ghost, Maeve. I never died. I have been here ever since the war against Draemor.”
My eyeballs almost burst behind my eyelids from how tightly I blinked.
“And you didn’t think to fucking write?” I snapped, my eyes popping open. Breathing heavily, I jumped to my feet and marched to meet him at the window. “This is absolutely fucking insane,” I muttered, my breath creating a fog on the dewy glass.
“I see you got your mother’s mouth.” Archer chuckled. “I know how it sounds. Trust me, I know. But think about it. Was there ever a grave for you to visit? It was never confirmed that I died, it was only assumed. My body was never recovered.”
That was the truth. There was no headstone or memorial for him. We never had an urn full of his ashes. All we had was the fact that he didn’t come home one day. We grieved silently without a body to mourn.
“So you’ve just been…here? This whole time? Were you actually even in the war?”
Questions were my only means of expressing what I tried to comprehend behind the walls of my skull. My brain wascompletely overworked by attempting to trust the claims I was being fed.
You let your mistrust of yourself and others get in the way of your excellence. I hope that with what’s to come, you are able to relieve yourself of that agony.
That was what Blythe had said to me. I didn’t understand at the time, but just like that, it made perfect sense.
Archer’s response interrupted my revelation. “I began fighting in the war, but was brought here in the midst of it. Over time, others who were carefully selected to aid in your safety have been brought here, as well.”
“Selected by who?”
“The gods and myself. Until your arrival and the consequential dropping of the wards, the only ones permitted to enter Lumosia were those brought beyond its bounds by myself. Aside from the original civilians chosen by the gods, all those who reside here have been personally welcomed by me.”
“Okay…but how didyouget here? How do you even know all of this?” My suspicion and doubt could not be mistaken.
“The gods,” he said simply, the two words acting as the answer for both of my questions.
I wrapped a loose strand of my hair around my forefinger, twirling it around the knuckle in an anxious release.
Archer’s expression softened. “You used to do that when you were a baby. You would fall asleep with your thumb in your mouth and your other hand twirling your hair. One time, you wrapped it so tight that your finger turned purple. Margot nearly broke down, terrified it would have to be removed.” A soft chuckle fell from his lips.
Heedless to the nostalgia, my hands fell to the window sill. The crisp wood beneath nearly splintered as I gripped it, squeezing with my fingertips until my knuckles paled.
I was not trying to appear apathetic, but every fiber of my being screamed with caution—a warning of stranger danger from my childhood that I never quite grew out of.
Although technically speaking, this was no stranger. The man before me was responsible for half of my being.
“The gods? You really expect me to believe all of this?” I prattled off my skepticism, choosing to close off the other unwelcome thoughts.
