Chapter Thirty-one

D amien and Liana left their guests with the servants to escort them to their rooms. They also left them with a million questions as they raced toward the dungeons.

Damien ran them to the lowest level, stopping on the stairs just inside the archway leading to the cells. They'd been moving too fast before, but now that he set her on her feet, the full stench hit her. Damp earth mixed with feces and decay had her stumbling into the wall and retching. There was nothing to come up and she wondered when she ate last. The sounds filtered through her ringing ears, snarls and screams. Barks, screeches, howls. All manner of pain and suffering suffocated her senses.

Damien rubbed her back while she erected a shield around herself to filter out the smell and sound. "This is not somewhere I ever wanted you to see," he admitted. "It is a foul place not meant for human souls. It's brutal, cruel and inhumane. Don't look into the cells we pass. Don't acknowledge anything that calls out to you. Don't speak at all until we are with Ranville, not even then if I can help it."

Liana leaned her head back on the cool stone. "You make it sound as if we are entering the Gods' realm of punishment. Are their monsters down here from the Book of Worship ?"

"This level of the dungeon is reserved for the worst of the worst. They are only here until we get what we need from them, then they will be killed. They are no longer human, Liana. They are monsters through and through and will do anything to escape."

She shivered, seriously rethinking this. The kingdom needed her though. She is the Savior. She is the only one that can get the answers they need from Ranville's mind.

"Okay. I'm prepared."

Damien took her hand and led her down the wide, dirt aisle between the rows of cells. She kept her head and eyes down, staring at Damien's boots. Her shields stayed up, no sound reaching her, nor anything physical flung her way. She couldn't help but flinch when things hit the shield. Damien just kept his grip tight on her.

They reached the end of the row where Damien unlocked a gate into a larger cell lit by candles. Ranville was chained and spread against the back wall by his wrists and ankles. Naked, she saw all the damage that had been done to him already. Not a spot of flesh hadn't been cut or bruised. His face unrecognizable from all the swelling.

"I have to lock us inside," Damien warned before shutting the cell door.

She couldn't move. She had been beaten and chained like this once. Not nearly as bad, but she'd been in his spot before. Liana couldn't quite sympathize with him though. Ranville caused so much harm, hurt too many of her family. She had been an innocent child when she'd been beaten.

"All you have to do is get into his memories. Don't touch him. Don't get near him. Don't even talk to him," Damien whispered.

Liana nodded even as she took a few slow steps toward the unconscious man. Magic surged to her fingertips, ready to exact its revenge. She let it loose, guiding it toward his mind. The moment they touched it, she drew back on a gasp.

Damien was there in an instant, grabbing her shoulders. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Eyes wide, she stared past him toward Ranville. "The block. It's her magic. Our mag…magic. His," she corrected now that they thought the Original was alive.

Damien cursed. "Then he is alive?" He asked for clarification.

"Hold on." She dove into Ranville's mind, not bothering to be stealthy or cautious. She had very little practice with mind magic, not that she cared right now. Her magic blasted through the block, digging for memories.

Flashes of his life played in her mind as if they were her own. She directed her magic to search for memories of the Original. Stopping at a familiar cliffside, Liana sped through the memory of Ranville climbing through the cave, of finding a crystalline structure buried deep in the tunnels. Of breaking through to find a brown-haired man lying with a pool of blood on his chest.

Her heart dropped when she saw that man take a shuddering breath then spit up blood. Ranville rushed forward to heal him. She flew through the memories, watching as they planned the destruction of Triaedian, always centering on how Liana played into all of it. They knew who she was. They knew the power she held before she did.

It was all so clear now. This was a battle a thousand years in the making. This had nothing to do with her. She was just a pawn, as she always feared. This was between the Original and Juno. She gave him the power. She did nothing to stop him when he turned on the kingdom she created. Now he was coming after her. Coming for her family.

Liana let her magic recede, all fight leaving her body. Damien caught her before she could hit the muddy ground.

"Liana?" Damien asked, his voice worried.

A rattling cough sounded from the wall. "You see now," Ranville grunted through his likely broken jaw. "No matter what, you were always meant to die in the end."

Damien loosed a vicious growl. "What is he talking about, Liana?"

A dart of magic launched itself at Ranville, lodging between his ribs, directly into his heart. He gasped, his lungs already rattling with death.

"You will suffer at the hands of the gods. And if they don't take the honors of doing so, I'll gladly find you in the afterlife to do it myself." Liana let the magic release inside of Ranville, a poison of power slowly spreading through him.

He screamed. Thrashing against the chains, his broken body fractured even more with the force of it. Liana didn't dare look away. She would watch this soulless man suffer until he took his last breath.

Damien tried to pull her away. She erected a shield around herself.

Even when the life finally drained out of him, she kept the shield up.

Turning, she waited for Damien to open the door. Striding with her head held high, Liana refused to let Damien carry her. She walked up the endless staircase, her mind replaying over and over the conversations Ranville had with the Original.

Only when she reached the main castle did she let herself pause. Breathing in heavily from the climb, she paced the hall, her feet silent on the carpet. Damien leaned with his arms crossed against the wall watching her.

"He's alive. The Original is alive," she confirmed, not that she needed to. They both knew.

"What did he mean, you were always meant to die?" Damien asked, his voice deceptively even and controlled.

One look into his eyes and she knew she would find him nearly feral. As it were, she kept pacing. "They planned to use me to take down Sancta Valles then kill me. The Original wouldn't need me or my power after they took control. I would have just been a liability." She snapped her mouth shut to keep herself from saying anything else.

"What else did you gather?"

"Locations, plans, numbers. I know everything they had planned for the attacks."

"Do you want to call a war council now or take some time to decompress?" he asked, his voice going low.

They both needed time to decompress.

"Let everyone sleep for now. We will gather after breakfast."

He moved to pick her up, but she backed away. A low growl rumbled out of his chest. "Don't do this to me right now, Liana," he warned. "I need you in my arms."

All she wanted was to fall into his arms. If she did that though, she'd break down. She'd spill everything and their kingdom would be lost.

"I just need some time alone. I will find you later." Turning her back to him, she ignored his growling. "I'll be in the mage training rooms," she called over her shoulder, hoping that would help calm him. When she neared though, she changed direction and slipped outside. Walking along the pebbled path, Liana welcomed the brisk night air as she forced herself to keep it together. This was her burden to bear.

At the temple, Liana was thankful to find it empty. She sat at the base of Juno's statue like she did the night before their wedding. After she concealed her bond with Damien, the floodgates of despair opened, and she sank to the floor.

Liana felt her presence immediately, then the soothing warmth of her arms wrapping around her. Liana hated Juno. She hated everything except for Damien.

"How could you do this to me?" she cried, gripping the goddesses robe.

Her hand brushed over her hair. "I'm so sorry, my child," Juno said, her own body shaking with sobs. "You are the only one strong enough in power and soul to do this."

Liana buried her face in the velvety fabric letting out all her anger and overwhelming despair. "I've only had him for months. I deserve more time with him."

"You deserve…" Juno's voice broke on a sob. "You deserve everything in this universe, my brilliant girl. I didn't expect to love you so much. I didn't want to love you. I was doomed from the beginning though. Your soul was so bright and pure. You were like the brightest star luring me in. You were the only choice to save everyone else."

"There has to be another way. I don't want to die yet." Liana sobbed thinking of all the life she had yet to live. Of all the happiness she would miss with Damien.

"He is my true son, Liana. Zatar was born from my body, his father a human mage, the mage King at the time."

Liana's cries stopped abruptly. Zatar. That was his name.

"He is part god and the only way to kill him is with a human sacrifice and that blade Jupiter and I created."

Liana sat up. "Your son?"

Juno looked away. "All I ever wanted was to experience what the humans have. I wanted love and a family. I wanted to live in a kingdom of peace. None of that is possible for us out in the cosmos. So, I created the kingdom on this planet and found my love. Our son was perfect until he became corrupted by separatists. Jupiter helped me but it is impossible for one of us to kill our own. The balance of the Universe would tip into chaos otherwise. But Zatar wasn't created by the Universe, he is blessed with some of my essence but not enough to cause a disruption to the balance. Still, we cannot touch him. That is why it must be you."

Liana didn't bother wiping away the waterfall of tears from her cheeks. "You are telling me to kill your son?" she asked incredulously.

Juno dropped her chin, a tear falling. "He was the light of my life, especially after his father died. But then he turned. There was nothing I could do to bring him back. He was going to destroy my creation and kill innocents. In the end, he killed far more than I ever thought possible. He killed the entire kingdom."

Liana let this all settle in her mind. "Damien won't survive my death."

"I will protect him for you, Liana. I owe you that much. I will protect your family and I will make sure Damien can survive you."

Selfishly, she almost asked the goddess not to. She wanted Damien with her, even if that was in the afterlife.

"It will be extremely difficult. He will need an heir though. He will have to move on." Her words stung in Liana's already broken heart. "You are so brave. It is the thing I envy most about humans. Your courage and bravery."

Liana shook her head. "I am only doing this so Triaedian will be safe, so Damien and my family will be safe. I do not want to die at all."

"But that is exactly why you are so brave."

Liana didn't have the energy to argue. "How do I do this? How do I kill him?"

"All you have to do is stab him. It has to be directly in the heart, or he will survive just as he did last time. Jupiter's magic will do the rest. While your hand is on the hilt, the magic will take your life and Zatar's at the same time."

Liana huffed out a breath. "You make it sound simple." In reality, it would be the hardest thing she ever had to do. Not to mention they had to get close to Zatar first, which meant battling through an army.

"I know it is not. I know what this will cost all of you." Juno stood, brushing out her purple robe then helped Liana to her feet. "I've given you everything you need to succeed. My power will get you through his army. Jupiter's band will protect you from Zatar's power, and the dagger will take care of the rest." Juno pulled her into a hug. "I've done everything I can to right my wrongs. I am so very sorry for all the hurt it will cause you and your loved ones. It will be my burden to bear knowing that I have caused such devastation for a thousand years. All I can hope is that you forgive me, and the Triaedian can finally find peace."

Liana pulled away. She couldn't offer condolences or an apology to this goddess that specifically chose her to die. "This needs to happen quickly. I will not survive a month until the Fall Festival knowing this."

"Your destiny will not wait until the Festival," she said then disappeared.

Without Juno's soothing power filling her veins, Liana collapsed to the floor to wallow in her own pity once more. She'd give herself the rest of this morning to wallow. Then she would have to put on a brave face to keep anyone from suspecting anything, especially Damien.

For now, she would let herself cry.