Chapter Nineteen

D ark stone walls surrounded her except for the iron bars at the front of her cell. They'd been kind enough to put her in a rather large cell with a cushy bed roll and two furs to keep her warm in the stark cold of this northern village. The furs were thankfully clean, and they even gave her a pillow which was a luxury she didn't expect.

The food wasn't terrible either, comprised of bread, cheese, a slice of meat, and even an apple. She expected cold porridge or worse. Wasn't that the motto of life – prepare for the worst, hope for the best? Liana certainly abided by it.

After her filling meal, Liana managed to sleep despite her racing thoughts, the exhaustion too heavy to resist.

Even still, her worry over Damien wriggled into her dreams. He called out to her, his voice lost in an endless misty dark. That's how she imagined him in waking hours… lost and searching for her. They grabbed her in the middle of an ambush and the cuffs blocked her bond to him which she knew would drive him mad. It was one thing to separate them, another to block their bond and take away any assurance of the other's life. Her only comfort was that he had Luciano with him, and she'd sent a message to his father before she'd been captured. Ramone would have sent immediate reinforcements. Damien would be fine, she told herself.

Physically he'd be fine, but he'd be worrying about her. Hopefully Luciano could control Damien's vampire because she had no doubt that he lost control and went feral when he realized she'd been taken. It's not that she held herself in such high regard, but past experience told her that Damien would go mad when he couldn't find her. Especially if he couldn't feel their bond. She assumed he couldn't feel it either, but prayed to the gods that he could. Perhaps if he could, it would settle him a bit and also help him find her. Because at the moment, Liana couldn't find a way out of this. She'd have to break Ranville's control over Charlotte first and foremost. Without her magic, the only way to do that would be to kill the bastard.

She had no qualms about killing Ranville, it was more the follow through that would be the problem. Guards were everywhere and her hands were cuffed. At the very least she'd have to find a weapon and get past the guards, not to mention get out of the cell.

Guards came for her, breaking her cyclical worry to bring her to a sitting room. She remained under guard while waiting, her cuffed hands resting in her lap, a dying fire in the hearth beside her. She longed to stoke that fire, to warm her frozen hands that failed to stay warm even with the blankets. Without her magic she couldn't do that, nor could she sense what breed the guards were but the lazy way they walked and pudgy bellies told her they were likely mage. The shifters and vampires were far too agile and lithe for such bodies. Her chances of escape were slightly improved if only mage were around, she could at least outrun them. Perhaps not their spells, but she could at least try.

Ranville appeared with Charlotte in tow and a group of six other males. Each carried their own bags on their shoulders, and various weapons strapped to their bodies. They dressed in sturdy trousers and coats, nothing ceremonial or too tailored. They were clothes for working. Even Ranville wore a similar outfit, his spotless and tailored, but still relaxed compared to formal Council attire.

Ranville eyed her with a brief assessing glance. "We leave now." He waved her forward.

Liana didn't even blink. "Where do you expect me to be going?"

"To your first task. You may either walk on your own, or I will have these men carry you. Your choice."

Liana stood slowly. Neither of those options were ideal. She wanted answers.

He grinned smugly. "Excellent choice." He turned toward her sister. "Charlotte will stay behind while we are gone. If you behave, perhaps I will keep her unharmed."

Gritting her teeth, Liana reached down for her magic once more. It was there but still inaccessible.

The men filed out, Liana reluctantly following. With one last attempt to catch Charlotte's attention, Liana brushed past her. Not even a flicker of recognition or plea for help registered in her eyes.

Without pausing, the men walked around the side of the manor home toward the stables. Eight horses stood saddled and ready to go. One of the men helped her into the saddle and they set off into the forest, keeping a brutal pace considering they weren't following a defined path. The horses struggled through the denser parts and slowed on the uphill climbs.

The sun was near setting when they finally stopped on a cliffside. She was left to wait uselessly while the men readied the camp. She was not treated with any luxuries this time, and certainly no pillow. A blanket and food were all she got, not that she uttered a word. No one else spoke either.

After meager rations, Liana lay on the cold earth with only one fur to keep her warm against the autumn night. Heat from the fire barely reached her despite how close she lay which had her desperate for access to her magic once more. It was like a missing piece of her. A gaping hole where something vital should be. She knew it was there. Still felt it. But the block around it had been impenetrable so far.

She had so many questions, least of all being how these cuffs managed to block even her bond with Damien. How did they get through her shields during the battle? How did that dart get through to inject her with whatever potion or spell to render her unconscious? What were they dragging her into the forest for? What happened in Sancta Valles? Did Damien prevail or had he been captured? Did the rebels take control? Was Damien even still alive?

Tears gathered in her eyes thinking about that possibility. She refused to doubt Damien. The powerful vampire would never leave her. His grandfather would protect him at all costs as well, even if that meant he forfeited his own life. Luciano made it no secret how little he cared for his own life, his only concern that of his family's safety and prosperity.

She couldn't worry about things out of her control. Right now, she had to focus on her own situation and safety. She had to get Charlotte out from under Ranville's control. Liana cursed herself for not having paid more attention to her sister when she knew something wasn't right. The signs had been there all along. Charlotte's rapid change in personality. The way she acted so strange and distant during the wedding ceremony. Then they left so soon, supposedly on their honeymoon, despite Ranville's insistence that he didn't even have time to plan a simple wedding ceremony. Now Liana knew. They were plotting this all along. It was the perfect cover for Ranville to be out of the city.

Liana needed answers. Before she could plan an escape, she needed to know what she was dealing with. The only way she and Charlotte would make it, would be if Liana had access to her magic again. The vampires would be too fast for her otherwise and be able to track them easily.

When she rose from a sleepless night in the early light of dawn with the rest of the group, Liana tried to get information from Ranville. "What spell is on these cuffs?" she asked, urging her horse to walk alongside his.

He smiled, the movement filled with smugness. "After our first failed attempt to capture you, we realized that no normal means would keep your magic contained. Fortunately, after centuries of searching, we finally had the one thing the Savior is susceptible to."

Liana thought she was susceptible to most things, just like everyone else, but her magic aided her to rectify the situation swiftly.

"And what is that?" she asked through gritted teeth when he didn't offer any more information.

"Blood from the Original."

Liana stared blankly at the side of his pompous face. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

His shoulders pulled back making him appear taller in the saddle. "The first gods-blessed mage."

Liana huffed, not appreciating the drawn-out reveal. "What are you talking about?"

"Triaedian was not always controlled by the Ashwood line," he revealed. "The kingdom we know wasn't the first Triaedian either."

Now she was just confused. "I would appreciate an explanation," she growled.

" The Book of Kings explains it all, as I'm sure Damien knows," Ranville said, clearly trying to get a rise out of her.

If Damien knew anything of what this crazed mage spoke, Liana would flay him alive. As it were, she gave him the benefit of the doubt. If there was something she needed to know, Damien would have told her. Most likely. Unless of course it put her in danger… now she really was doubting him. If she made it back, if everyone was okay, then she'd look at this damned book and see for herself what was in it.

The way Ranville spoke of Damien though, it gave her hope. Hope that he hadn't been killed. That his soul still walked this earth.

Careful to not react, Liana kept her face blank. "Enlighten me."

"Triaedian's first attempt at becoming a thriving kingdom failed. The original settlers on this land came by sea, a mix from all the other kingdoms, just as our ancestors did centuries later. Instead of a vampire king, they had three kings under one crown – a vampire, mage, and shifter. They ruled as one to bring peace among the breeds. They lasted a few centuries to create a kingdom of half-breeds and interbreed relations."

Liana felt as though she listened to a bedtime story. This was too fantastical. Where was this original kingdom in the history books?

"What they didn't realize was that their interbreeding weakened the bloodlines. The power faded quickly with each new generation."

Liana's mind halted on this new information. If he spoke the truth, not only had interbreeding been successful, but Triaedian had once managed to be a kingdom of peace. At least for a bit.

Ranville continued his tale. "After much discussion and warning from the mage king about the decline in power, the other kings refused to do anything about it. So, the mage king prayed to the gods for an answer. His prayers were answered, and he bargained his soul in order to become the one true king and restore power to the mage."

Liana kept the disbelief off her face and kept her eyes on the non-existent path of her horse. "Sounds like the mage king just wanted the throne for himself."

Ranville frowned. "The mage king tried to save our people. We would have dwindled into magicless creatures if the old Triaedian continued as it were."

Liana hoped that wasn't true. All she wanted was for her home to be at peace. If that meant interbreeding or not, she didn't care. She just wanted everyone to coexist. She thought of her own future children though. Would they truly be weakened because of their mixed blood?

Her children would be heirs to a powerful throne and would thus need to be powerful themselves. The thought of bringing them into this world already at more risk than royals tended to be didn't sit easy in her mind.

"So, this mage king took over as the only king and gave up his soul to do so. It clearly didn't end well if the first Triaedian no longer exists," Liana pointed out.

"He became the most powerful mage to ever have lived. He outlawed interbreeding, and the mage grew strong again. The other breeds were jealous though. They wanted their kings back on the throne and started a rebellion. It would have been easily crushed with the king's power, but they bargained with the gods for a weapon strong enough to kill him."

If Liana hadn't met Goddess Juno, she would have immediately rebuked this fantasy story simply because of the ease of communication between the people and the gods. Prior to her own interactions, she thought of the gods as more of an unreachable entity, no matter how much they worshiped.

"They took that weapon, a dagger, the only thing strong enough to pierce through the king's own magic and stabbed him through the heart."

"It sounds like the king got what he deserved," Liana mumbled under her breath.

Ranville either didn't hear or ignored her. "The king refused to see the mage fall into dishonor once more, so as his final act, as he lay bleeding out, he destroyed what had become of the original Triaedian."

Liana's jaw dropped. "He killed an entire kingdom because he couldn't be king anymore?"

"No. He saved the mage from ultimate damnation. He rid this world of half-breeds and weak mage so that our magic would be preserved."

It should have surprised Liana the lengths to which power-hungry males would go to achieve such power, even if that meant killing an entire nation because they couldn't keep it.

"Our goal on this journey, is to retrieve that weapon."