Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

SELENE

" I don't think I've ever read this much in my life," Phaedra sighed as she closed another book, pinching the bridge of her chestnut nose. Ausra sat next to her wife and squeezed her hand, not looking up from the book we found within the deceased Gambriellan King's chamber. "My eyes need a break."

Minka, Ric, Cordelia, and the whole crowd met us in Argyll to help treat the wounded taken by the High King's forces and transported them back into the safe haven we had created in Southern Gambriel. Even Jude—a High Fae who'd been taken from Jindera into slavery, and was now a vital part of the Rebellion—had brought not only herself but another group of rebels to help in the aftermath.

She remained within the city of Rimont, helping the people heal and I needed to remind myself to take a moment to go down and see my friend again. To thank her once more. Hundreds of people had lost their homes, lives, and businesses during the Gambriellian raid. We needed every helping hand we could get, even with Keva and her most trusted circle of advisors working day and night to restore Rimont.

We'd already spent all morning pouring over book after book from the dead king's secret office and still found nothing that we didn't already know. Slamming closed my own useless book on the tidepools and flesh-eating, soul-sucking kelpies within Argyll, I stood up from my chair in the library. "I'm going to grab the rest of the books from down there. Anyone want to help me?"

Keva kept her gaze focused on the pages within the leather-bound book entitled The Sleepless Dead as Igor dropped another armful of rolled parchment onto the long table we all shared. Ric started shuffling through the papers, organizing them by the regions of our continent and the differing types of magic within them.

"Gods, yes," Phaedra shot up from her seat quickly, her silky black hair tied up in a messy topknot.

Minka yawned, stretching her arms above her head as she slowly rose from a leatherback chair. "I'll help so we don't have to make another trip to that creepy tunnel." She shivered at the memory, pale goosebumps rising on her arms before Cordelia wordlessly draped her cloak over Minka's shoulders.

Our footsteps echoed within the hollow Castle of Gambriel as we passed by the tattered portraits of the past Kings and Princes of Gambriel that still hung within the stone hallways. Their regalia and jewelry were illuminated by the soft faerie lights the first time I walked these halls, but now all I saw in those paintings was the darkness they possessed. Their corruption ran so deep that it seeped through the canvases.

I understood why Keva hadn't removed them yet—she had bigger things on her plate than the castle's decorations—but with each step, I could feel the past cruel rulers' beady eyes staring into my back, causing my footsteps to quicken as I followed Minka.

She was used to walking through these dark corridors because her old slave quarters were near the back of the castle and into the gloom that her human eyes could barely see through. The faerie lights ended a few yards back, along with the paintings along the walls, and the further we went, the colder the air became. Minka's footstep faltered, her boot catching on one of the shards of rock but before she could fall forward, I gripped her by the elbow and steadied her.

My power buzzed in my veins as a gleaming ball of Godsfire lit up our pathway, making it easier to step over the fallen stones from the castle's crumbling interior. Minka blew out a breath, "Thanks, Sel." She patted my hand that still held tightly onto her. "Can't get much reading done if I bust my head open."

Phaedra snorted as she strode over a wooden beam that had fallen from the vast ceiling, "At least you wouldn't have to read anymore."

I couldn't hold back the chuckle that left me. I'd never met someone with such a disdain for reading as Phaedra. I didn't know if she was always like that or if it was just because the books we were pouring over were as boring as watching paint dry.

The door to King Harrington's chamber came into view, propped open with large pieces of wood and stone. My ball of light led us down the narrow passageways and tunnels as the putrid scent of decay and stagnant water filled my nose. Upper lip curling, I tried to ignore the smell but every time we came down here, it got stronger, more potent than before.

As if the dark magic King Harrington used in this place was rotting it from the inside out.

But no matter how much I held my breath, the foul scent, along with the ghastly memories invaded me—memories of chains and branding irons and pleading blue eyes, once the shade of the finest sapphires. Memories of burning flesh, sharpened blades, and a whispered, "I will always find you," before I finally broke.

Wesley was gone but his memories haunted every crevice of this hollow castle, even the darkest of them.

Phaedra coughed, her warm breath appearing in the chilly air as we entered the deceased king's hidden office. Minka patted her back and gave her a curious glance. "You okay, Phae?"

"I will be the sooner we get these books and get out of this creepy place." The human woman shook out her black messy bun and rubbed her sore scalp.

Gold and jewels still littered the floor, overflowing from chests and the dead king's rummaged-through desk. The shelves that were once filled with books and oddities now lay haphazardly on the floor. Phaedra's brown eyes were ringed with exhaustion but she dropped down onto the stone floor and started moving through the piles of gold and shattered bookshelves, searching for any remaining books.

My hands were deep within another mass of coins and sharp gemstones as Minka let out a loud squeal. On instinct, my powers pulsed as my heart leaped in my chest, making the ball of fire fueled by them grow bigger and brighter as I turned with matching flames in my eyes. Gold, jewels, and treasure cascaded to the ground as Minka pulled out a black mass from a chest.

"I've wanted this since you told me about it months ago!" Minka exclaimed and twirled in a giddy circle while holding up the leather suit fitted with hidden blades in the wrists. My powers faltered, the fire dwindling down to nothing but embers as I watched Minka hold the suit to her chest. Phaedra only chuckled and shook her head as she stacked more fallen books onto the desk.

Every noise, screech, fuck , even a deep breath sent my heart racing with anxiety. I didn't know if it was the bloodlust coursing through my veins or if my nerves had really taken a turn for the worse. I could see my friends, my family , in front of me and I knew that they were safe and okay but I couldn't control the dread that crept in with each passing day.

Couldn't stop the image of them bloodied and discarded in a pile of bodies from forming in my head. Or their skin cracking with rotting flesh, their clear eyes turning that murky shade of black as Medies took hold of their soul. I couldn't protect them while I searched for Emrys but I also couldn't let that happen to my Mate.

"Sel!" Minka's enthusiastic voice pulled me from my spiraling thoughts and I couldn't hold back the snort when I saw her. She already had her own boots off and the black leather suit hiked up both her legs but it was far too large on her small form. The arms were tied off around her waist, the heavy metal in the sleeves weighing them down.

In her own tunic-covered arms, she held up a large leather-bound book with golden threads weaved throughout the spine and matching gilded edges. I remember digging through that chest, remember that exact suit, but not the glittering, scale-covered book that Minka was clutching.

And a book that gorgeous and ethereal, I would've definitely remembered.

"I think I found something." She stroked the cover as it reflected the firelight, glistening in the dark office as she read something in a language I hadn't heard before. " Ille Liber Divinus ."

" Ille Liber Divinus ?" Phaedra repeated the diction as I took a step closer, admiring the shadowy scale-like pattern embedded within the leather. It was so realistic, the way it sparkled in the firelight. Minka's gray eyes were transfixed on the book, not answering Phaedra's question as she continued to strum the golden edges of the pages.

"Minks," Phaedra snapped her fingers in Minka's line of sight, but there was no response. The little hairs on the back of my neck stood up as a chill moved through the air the longer she stared at the unopened book. "Minka?" Phae prodded again, her voice growing more worrisome by the second.

Without another thought, I snatched the book from Minka's grasp and she snapped out of her trance-like state, blinking immensely. The golden thread embedded upon the cover began to glow in my grasp, its luminescent light enticing me until my gaze shifted to the scale-like pattern.

Only it wasn't a pattern nor fake markings, but the actual flesh of a dragon, but it was different from my own and what I had seen on the Gods and their children. It was a darker shade of charcoal, still glistening like a piece of obsidian stone in the sun. And the scales were thicker and wider than even my own. They were stronger, more profound than any that remained in our realm.

The letters on the front and the spine were still glowing with a golden light, only I didn't feel that light within me the more I studied the words that read, Ille Liber Divinus. The stark contrast between the dark scales and luminescent threads had my mind reeling as I tried to recall those words and what they could possibly mean. Goosebumps rose upon my arms as more movement caught my eye. In the corner of the cover, ebony scales shifted, like a snake coiling around its prey and?—

"Gods!" my frightened voice echoed throughout the chamber as I recoiled in horror, dropping the book in the process.

"Wha—what happened?" Minka ran a pale hand through her ringlet curls nervously as sweat beaded across her forehead.

"You…" Phaedra trailed off as she looked down at the dragon skin book that lay on the cold floor and then back up into Minka's eyes. "Went somewhere else and so did Selene."

My eyes stayed fixed on the book, waiting for the scales to move once more but it sat there motionless… Mocking me, making me feel like what I'd just seen wasn't real.

The line between reality and delusion had begun to blur months ago but with each passing day, I felt like I was teetering closer to the edge of madness, caught in the riptide with no escape. Like there was this pressure in my brain pushing against all logical thoughts, driving me to see and do things that I swore I never would.

And now this… this book was another aberration. Another notch in my belt that indicated that the bloodlust and madness were consuming me whole. Body, mind, and soul.

It remained immobile, the thick onyx scales glistening in the firelight. "No…" No, I wasn't crazy. I saw it as clear as day… "It… It moved, " I said out loud, but had meant to keep that deranged comment to myself.

Striking hazel eyes seared into the side of my face as Phaedra looked at me in shock. "Moved?" she questioned with a quizzical brow as Minka stared at me in horror and concern. "What do you mean?"

Sighing, I looked up at the crumbling stone ceiling and wished that I could keep my thoughts to myself because now they'd have another reason to think I'd gone insane. "The scales," I locked eyes with Phaedra. "They slithered ."

She wrinkled her forehead and crouched down to pick up the probably cursed book but Minka screamed, "NO! Don't touch that thing!" Minka's upper lip was curled in disgust as she glared at the ebony scales. "Not until we know what it even is."

"She's right," I agreed with a nod, still staring and waiting for those scales to move once more.

"We need to show Igor," Minka stated before she grabbed a discarded blanket, throwing it over the book. Taking the corners of the woolen cloth, Minka picked up the book carefully, making sure to not touch it with her hands again.

"Phae and I will grab the rest of these books." Phaedra was already pulling the remaining books into her arms and I followed suit. "You can concentrate on not touching that… that thing ."

The leather suit was still tied around her waist, making her look smaller than normal but the fierce look in her eyes reminded me that she was still the Angel of Death and this book was her newest target. She held the book higher and further from her like it was diseased. "You don't have to tell me twice."

"The dead language of the fae," Igor's voice sounded haunted as he ogled Ille Liber Divinus' golden edges. Phaedra eagerly nudged Ausra with her elbow but Ausra didn't react. She just stared at the haunted book with a look of curiosity mixed with aversion. "It hasn't been spoken in millennia, let alone written." His green fingers traced the scales and luminescent writing but his black eyes didn't glaze over like Minka's while he studied it.

None of us knew the reason why Igor could openly touch the book without falling into its odd trance but I suspected it had to do with a goblin's affinity to knowledge.

"Can you translate it?" Keva still held the same book she'd been reading earlier in her hand that she now clutched tightly to her chest. Ric stood at her side, his hulking form towering over her as she leaned against him. The scowl on his scarred face reminded me so much of Emrys at that moment that my heart leaped before reality set in and I was brought crashing back down.

He should be here. He could've translated the book for us, hell, he probably already knew what the book entailed. It always felt incomplete without him helping us. I felt incomplete without him.

But our end goal was always the same and we needed to do this right.

Kill the High King, get Emrys back.

"You would trust me, a lower fae , with such a great task?" Igor looked into Keva's blue eyes which were now glittering with rage.

I sucked in a harsh breath at his words. None of us in this room ever agreed with the term "lower fae" but we were accustomed to it. It was a constant in our history, in our speech, even though it tasted like ash on my tongue. It was more common to refer to any other magical creature as fae now, but there were still some who preferred the outdated terminology.

As if the High Fae didn't already hold themselves up in such a high regard, they needed to diminish another being's existence even more.

The Queen of Gambriel bent down, still holding that book to her chest with one hand while she reached out to Igor with the other. She gave him a soft, genuine smile as she promised, "There's no one else I would trust more than you, Igor."

The goblin swallowed and nodded, his black eyes shining with gratitude as his green hands tightly clasped the scaly book. "I can try, but it's been years since I've attempted to read from our old language."

"I can help him translate it."

All heads swung to where Ausra stood with her wife, Phaedra. Her short blonde hair was pulled back, showcasing her large brown eyes and how they sparkled with determination. "It'll take me a little bit of time too, but I can help."

Phaedra squeezed Ausra's arm with a grin and looked up at her in awe. "Don't be so modest, love. We both know you guys can finish that within a day or so."

"Thank you for your vote of confidence, Phae." Ausra kissed the top of her wife's head. "We'll need someone with us, making sure we don't fall into that odd trance you guys told us about."

"We can take turns watching over one another, making sure we're okay," Igor agreed before hopping from his seat to grab more parchment for notes. "We all still have other books to go through tonight before Selene calls upon the Sibyl tomorrow, so we will be here for a while anyway."

We had a plan but no one else went to their seats to start pouring over our newest research. Keva was staring at me expectantly, her grip tightening on the book as she looked up at Ric. Thank the Gods for Minka because she could always read my mind and asked, "Is there something else we need to discuss, or…?"

"We found something else that might be able to help us." It was Cordelia's turn to answer, "Not stop the High King, but it still could be of help."

"Help us how?" I queried and my heart started racing in excitement.

I'd take any option we could because, at this moment, we had absolutely none.

"You might want to sit down for this, Selene," Ric's voice was somber as he took a light hold of my elbow and steered me to the chaise next to the crackling fireplace.

The elation I felt quickly morphed into apprehension as Cordelia, Ric, and Keva gathered around me with the same look of unease. Minka had the same look of confusion upon her angelic face as she sat down next to me, her warmth easing the anxiety that built by the second.

"Let me preface this by stating that this could just be a legend, another war story to spout off around a campfire to frighten warriors of their potential failures within their Oaths." Keva's golden-ringed rainbow braids glistened in the firelight.

"Or it could be true and this could aid us immensely," Ric finished the sentence, his tattooed arms crossed over his broad chest.

"Okay…" I answered while meeting each set of eyes that were boring into mine. "Well, what is it ?"

"You know of the Warrior's Oath, correct?" Cordelia asked, tucking a blue coil behind her ear. "The one where they swear an oath of protection with their magic, an oath of loyalty."

The one that Emrys made with his father on his eighteenth birthday. The one that left him at the High King's every command, lest he die from not fulfilling that oath. Emrys was mine but his body and powers belonged to Durreos Seraphim because of that damned oath.

I nodded curtly, not wanting to think about what my Mate was facing because of that cursed oath.

"Well," Keva continued and handed me the leatherbound book she'd had her nose in for most of the day. The Sleepless Dead. "When your father, Brodyn Choryrth, ruled over Menodore, he had one of the greatest armies made up of not only High Fae warriors but other fae creatures and humans as well."

I had learned that my parents were fair and just rulers through a book on Menodore that I found in the king's study. I knew they believed in the equality this world needed, so hearing that they had humans and ‘lower fae' in his army didn't surprise me.

"Those with magic in their blood chose to bind themselves to their ruler, to your father and his bloodline. During your father's coronation on his hundredth birthday, his armies swore the oath of fealty to protect Menodore, to protect their people and its king along with his family. Only your father didn't have them say the usual verbiage you would use while making a Warrior's Oath."

"What do you mean by different verbiage?" Minka's nose was crinkled. "Wouldn't it be a different oath if the words were changed?"

Cordelia smiled lovingly at her partner, "That's exactly correct, my treasure."

Minka blushed, her rosy cheeks a stark contrast to her pale skin. Keva leaned forward and opened the book to a page marked with a ribbon she'd stuck in there. A portrait of my father laid upon the page, his emerald eyes locked onto the High Fae male that bowed before him.

King Choryrth was in his battle regalia—golden armor with a green cape and gold stitching down the sides—rather than a usual king's finery of jewels. His wife, my mother Dalina, stood by his side. An emerald gown of satin clung to her curves and brought out her tanned, tawny skin. Those deep brown, almond-shaped eyes of hers were transfixed on my father, love and pride shining in them as she watched her husband.

Energy emanated from the portrait, raw and powerful as I stared into the book, like his power was flowing from the pages themselves. He was a true king, a ruler of a nation, but no crown lay upon his blonde hair as he stood in the center of the room before his army.

And he didn't stand above his people on a dais like most rulers I'd seen. Brodyn stood in the center of his army, who wore matching armor and capes. No uniform was grander than the other, not even his own. They were all equals on the battlefield and in the throne room.

The male that was bowed before him had one hand on his heart and the other held up in an offering for his king. Both their palms were sliced down the middle, an emerald-hilted blade in my father's hand. Dark red blood oozed from the warrior's hand but my father's blood was a tinge brighter, the golden Godsblood barely present in his High Fae form.

"This was the night of his coronation." Keva's fingernail pointed to the kneeling male, "His armies not only swore fealty and protection to him but to the country of Menodore, to his family, to the inhabitants of Menodore itself, all creatures alike."

"And that's a problem?" My brows scrunched for a moment before I traced the rendering of my father and mother. "He wasn't corrupt, so making that oath to him and their country seems fair."

"It wasn't a problem per se," Ric ran a scarred hand over his topknot. "But it also wasn't a solution."

It was a chore to pull my eyes away from my parents' portrait but I met our Commander's hazel eyes and resigned. "And I'm lost again."

He chuckled, the sound deep and hearty. "So were we, at first."

The Queen of Gambriel took a step away from the book and sat down in a leatherback chair next to the chaise lounge. The fire's glowing light danced across her dark skin, her blue eyes shining brightly. "When you make an oath like that, your words need to be clear and precise, otherwise that magic can backfire on you and either kill you for disobeying your oath or worse."

"What's worse than death?"

"A lot," Minka murmured, her gray eyes looking haunted. My arm wrapped around her middle and gave her a soft squeeze.

She gave me a light smile in return before Keva continued, "When those warriors swore to protect not only their king but the people of Menodore and the land itself with the oath, they overwhelmed the magic binding their lives—but it wasn't an immediate issue. It worked like the Warrior's Oath normally would. The king gave a command and his sworn people would follow through on it.

"But during the Siege of Menodore, hundreds of years after they made that oath, is when it backfired on not only King Choryrth but also on Menodore and its armies." The stench of burning flesh was seared into my mind, the memories from that night clearer now that my memories and powers were no longer locked away by Radha. Ignoring that cloying smell that made me want to gag, I listened intently to what else Keva had to say about my father.

"The warriors couldn't protect their king, his family, his people, and their land all at once. They betrayed that oath while also still fulfilling it." She shook her head like she was befuddled by this information. "They could save the people, but then the land of Menodore was damned by the High King's armies storming through. They could save the King of Menodore, but in doing so they would sacrifice his family, and then the land and people of Menodore would be doomed."

Oh, Gods…

"So matter what they did…" Tears blurred my eyes as the scene of my mother being dragged from me by Raken filled my mind as she screamed out for me. They couldn't protect her, couldn't stop her from being shredded alive before my very eyes. The brutal image of my father's head being severed by the High King's blade overwhelmed me next, along with the burning buildings collapsing throughout my home country. "They were breaking that oath even though they were trying to protect everything at once."

It was all too much. Too much death and destruction. All in the name of power and greed.

Pushing back the tears, I swiped at my eyes and focused back on the purpose behind this all. "So how would any of that help us? Those armies were killed either by the oath or the High King."

"They're gone," Minka agreed, nodding her head, blonde curls bobbing in the subtle light. "Dead people can't come and help us."

Now Keva was smiling that dazzling grin with bright white teeth. When she gave that scheming smile, she looked utterly High Fae and it sent shivers up my spine. "They were killed by that oath but they're not dead dead."

"Uhm…" I was beyond confused because dead meant dead. As in, not living, not roaming this earth.

"They're called the Sleepless Dead." Both mine and Minka's eyes went as wide as saucers. "Their souls are still within Menodorian borders, haunting the ruins of the once great country. The oath not only killed them but cursed them for eternity. They swore fealty to your father, to your blood , to protect you and Menodore."

They swore to protect me and I was still here, still alive. They fulfilled that part while failing in the others. But they were still here too. Still caught in that weird, fucked up version of purgatory. If what she was saying was correct then that meant… "That oath… is mine?"

"Their souls are bound to that place and to your blood. You can call upon them to fulfill the oath made by your father and possibly release their souls from the curse." Her blue eyes were filled with pride as she looked at me. "They're bound to you, Selene, and will fight for you, the rightful heir of Menodore."