Ethan left the meeting with Prince Calevaro feeling confused and unsettled. Part of his reason for going to the palace had been to announce that he was ready for the grand deception at the arena–the prince hadn’t accepted that. He had already been planning to meet with the prince soon, to begin laying the groundwork for convincing the man to step into the arena for him.
That may have gone even worse.
As Ethan strode back through the streets of Corvale, he reflected on what the enigmatic man had told him. Calevaro was so different from his sister, where everything she said seemed to have double meanings or be designed to put a piece in a specific place on a board, Ethan wasn’t sure of the meaning of anything the prince had said.
He seemed to be conveying a surprisingly personal take on his brother’s death. Ethan hadn’t much considered what it meant that the late Kentevaro had severed himself from Flagras, and certainly never considered it might be a last act of love toward his younger brother.
Does he blame me for taking that gift? The prince hadn’t seemed angry when he told the story, merely passionate. But was that just the way the man was? He obviously showed conviction when something needed to be done, with no hesitation or doubt when it came to killing Prince Thavin.
Ethan shook his head in irritation. When he’d pushed for this duel he’d been so certain he could convince Calevaro to take his place. The man had accepted the challenge so easily when Thavin had insulted his brother, and clearly he still wanted the other prince dead, but Ethan wouldn’t make the mistake of thinking the man easy to manipulate again.
As he approached Selina’s house, he put Calevaro out of his mind. He had another goal this day, and thankfully it was one he’d enjoy. The Runemistress was simply fun to be around. It had only been a few days since he’d gotten out of the cell, and fury and pain were still his constant companions. He still felt the need to walk on eggshells around Valanor and Savilar, and it was nice that there was someone in his life he actually felt truly comfortable with.
When he walked into her backyard, she wasn’t there, and so he decided to head inside. He knew she was supposed to have the day off, and she’d told him to let himself in, as she would often be lost in reading. When he entered though, he didn’t find her among the piles of books. He decided to quickly check upstairs, knowing she had a second reading room there.
As he went up, the smell of incense reached him, and he grew more curious. Finally he saw light in the reading room and moved toward the door, only to halt when he saw what she was doing. Selina was in front of some kind of small altar, which was covered in flowers. Two vases had burning incense in them, and she almost appeared to be lost in prayer.
Ethan didn’t want to interrupt, and quietly went back downstairs, waiting in the living room with the books. He idly began sorting the many tomes into neat piles, as he considered what he’d seen. He knew Selina wasn’t particularly fond of the Church, though she was no heretic like him, and he couldn’t imagine why she might be praying.
At last he heard her coming down the stairs, and called out to her to avoid giving an unwelcome surprise. When he saw her, she wore her customary smile, but he was shocked to realize that her purple eyes were red, as if she’d been crying. “Hey,” he said, not quite sure what to say. “How are you?”
She shook her head slightly. “I know you saw the altar, Ethan, it’s alright to ask about it. Also, you set off about a dozen Rune alarms before coming upstairs–you’re not quite as stealthy as you think.”
He felt himself blush. “Sorry, I think I’ve gotten a little too at home here. I felt like I interrupted something private and didn’t want to overstep.”
“It’s alright,” she said, though he could tell by her tone that her mood was lower than usual. She moved to sit in one of several comfortable reading chairs in the room, and gestured for him to do the same. Ethan did so, removing his teapot and cups at the same time. He poured when she nodded.
“So were you…praying?” he asked.
“Not praying, not exactly. It’s just a little ritual I made for myself, to remember my parents.”
Ethan’s eyebrows rose. He’d sent prodding questions about Selina’s past before, but she was always so quick to deflect, more often turning the subject back to Ethan and his world. Something he was probably too ready to accept. He was also wary of asking overly specific questions about her family, as he’d been warned Nator didn’t like to discuss the dead.
He took a chance now. “How long ago did you lose them, if I may ask?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t seen them since I was a child, but they may still be alive.” His eyebrows rose. That was more information than he’d managed to get out of her since they’d met months ago, and he hesitantly continued, resolving not to let his curiosity make him push too hard.
“Do you mind if I ask what happened to them?”
She smiled softly, sipping her tea. “It…might be nice to talk about it. I’m sure you’ve noticed that there aren’t many Nator in Viridus, but in the Southlands we’re a cornerstone of many kingdoms. Not in a good way, sadly. We’re valued mainly as soldiers, and laborers.”
“I suppose that makes unfortunate sense,” Ethan said. “Between their natural strength and Soul Bonds, your people must be vastly easier to gather than Bonded Hunters. What was it like growing up in a place like that?” he asked.
“I don’t really remember. I’m not even sure which kingdom, truthfully,” she said with a slight sigh. “My parents didn’t want my sister and I to end up pulled into the army, so they had us smuggled away with a kind merchant. It was…an ordeal, and mostly I remember the fear and confusion. But eventually she and I ended up here– though my sister left to travel many years ago.”
“You must have been very young,” he said, trying to picture Selina as a child.
“Very, though my sister Alna was quite a bit older.”
“Alna,” he said, liking the name. “So how did you get from refugee to Runemistress?”
She smiled slightly. “It was partly happenstance. We worked on farms as children, for anyone that would have us. Years passed that way, with some good experiences and some…very bad ones.” Her voice lowered. “Nator have a challenging reputation. Those of us with the purest blood can have…violent tempers.”
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Selina stared into her tea as she spoke. “Alna and I are unmistakably Nator, and people assumed the worst when they saw our horns. Some people kept away, others saw us as a challenge. My sister was able to protect me for the most part, but there were dark days.”
The more she spoke, the worse Ethan felt. He was realizing all at once how little he’d tried to get to know this woman who had done so much for him. She was just so kind, and easy to be around. Even his natural curiosity about her being a different race had slowly given way to what–he was now forced to admit–was a selfish desire to be around someone that made him feel…safe? At home? Important?
Selina shook her head slightly, as if clearing it. “But eventually, our luck turned. We were on the Southern border of the kingdom, and we found an older couple that needed long term help on a remote ranch. They offered to take us in.”
“How did that feel, after so long moving from place to place?”
She looked a bit sad as she answered. “For my sister, it was wonderful. She wanted a bit of stability. But I was younger, and still didn’t really understand why our parents had sent us away. For me, Viridus didn’t seem any better than the life I remembered. It was just more work, but without my parents.”
Selina sipped her tea for a minute, lost in memory. “Gana and Harry. They were good people, but for the longest time I only thought of them as ‘not my parents’. The books changed that.”
“Books?” he prompted.
She smiled widely then, looking around the room. “Gana loved to read. She had every type of book from histories to romances. Slowly she taught me to enjoy them too, when I’d finally warmed up to her enough to allow it.”
“You’ve certainly followed her lead,” Ethan said, returning the smile.
“You have no idea. When Alna’s Soul Bond appeared, it wasn’t a surprise when it brought strength and combat ability. She was always a more…traditional Nator, than I am. But for me? Gana told me about Rune Magic for years. She wasn’t one herself, but she was obsessed with it. The idea that reading and knowledge brought true power was like an impossible fantasy to her.”
“And you became the reality,” he said.
“I really did. I thought about it every night for years, imagining what that would mean. We would read stories about Hunters and monsters, and I always thought it was so remarkable, though I couldn’t imagine myself following that path. But Rune Magic? That was something real, something I could see and touch.”
“What did your sister think?” he asked.
Selina barked a laugh. “Alna is a Vanguard, which was no surprise at all. She always saw herself as my protector…and she really was. When my Soul Bond turned out to be something most Nators would consider virtually helpless, it fit her narrative well.”
“She didn’t want you to be a warrior like her?”
“I don’t know if she really thought about it. I eventually realized her happiness at finding a place to settle down was just because it meant she could leave me in safe hands. She always felt the call of adventure, and she was just waiting until we were both strong enough that she could chase it. She left shortly after my Rune appeared.”
“Have you seen her since?” Ethan asked gently. This was so much new information about someone he considered a friend that it was almost like meeting her for the first time. It almost felt wrong, too intimate.
“No, but I think I’ve heard stories,” she said with a smile. “Alna is why I started talking to Hunters the way I do. Every time they’d mention a Nator woman, or even just a Vanguard, I’d imagine it was her. Joining the Runic Guild was a simple choice with my Soul Rune, but it was as much a way to feel closer to my sister as anything else.”
She looked up wistfully. “Soon I was picturing myself out there. In my head I’m always so much more powerful than I really am, but that’s okay. I’d need that power to save Alna. I’d venture out, maybe to Nixus or toward the coast, and one day I’d see her, fighting for her life, and I’d swoop in, being her protector for a change.”
Ethan smiled. “I always wondered where that love of stories came from.
Selina appeared to blush, though it was difficult to tell with the ruby red skin. “Don’t underestimate my natural love of knowledge, Bishop. But yes, I haven’t moved entirely past a childish fantasy.”
He shook his head, wanting her to see that he was serious. “Don’t sell yourself short. You faced down thunder drakes, you’ve done real Hunting now.”
“I suppose,” she said. “It took a while to wrap my head around everything that happened on that mountain. While you were…gone, Valanor would visit. We talked through it, and he helped me feel like less of a failure.”
“Failure?” Ethan said in shock.
She smiled back. “You don’t need to disabuse me of those feelings. Valanor already did so, at length. But you can’t be surprised I have them. I’m not Alna, and this was never supposed to be my future. My life.”
He looked at her for a long, silent moment. “Do you want it to be?” he asked, his voice sober.
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Let me say something first,” he leaned forward looking into her eyes. “Thank you, Selina. Thank you for being a better friend than I’ve deserved these last months. I’ve been so caught up in my own life, and how crazy everything has been for me, that I’ve taken you for granted.”
“That’s…kind of you to say,” she began. “But that’s now how I saw it, Ethan. Someone from another world, with stories I could never have imagined…you’ve given me a glimpse of something beyond anything I could have asked for.”
“And you’ve given me so much more,” he insisted. “The training, the guidance, the support, it’s meant more than I can say. Look, there’s something I think I can give you in return–though it’s far from selfless. I told you that Savilar needs to rebuild the Brightsouls, well Valanor and I have already joined. We can use a talented Rune Mage in the Forgotten City, will you be a part of the team?”
Selina’s jaw fell open. “You’re serious,” she said, though she didn’t seem to believe it at all.
“I’ve been specifically assured that you’re more valuable in there than I am,” he said dryly.
“But, the Brightsouls? Ethan I’m a Nator, you don’t even realize what you’re asking.”
“Maybe not, but I’m sure that Savilar does, and he’s insistent. But it’s enormously dangerous, and a huge commitment. No one’s going to pressure you into this. Just answer me honestly: is this something you’d really want?”
She stared at him. “I don’t even know how to begin to answer that.”
“Well you’ve had a taste of Hunting now, and you started about as serious as it gets. You’ve faced the danger, and felt the glory. Is that a life you can imagine living?”
“Imagine? All I’ve ever done is imagine that life, Ethan. It was a thrill to use my Rune Magic like that.” She got up, and began pacing the room. “Fine,” she said, shaking her head. “Simple question, simple answer: yes, of course that’s what I’d want. Living the moments I’ve only ever dreamed of? Following in Alna’s footsteps?”
She stopped pacing to look at him. “But a Dimensional Bleed? The Dimensional Bleed? The Brightsouls? Ethan, a Soul Bond just isn’t enough for that.”
Ethan smiled. “The important thing is that you’re willing to try. We already know you’re brave enough, and capable enough. You just need a little help.”
He pulled a black box from his inventory, one he hadn’t looked at in months, not since he’d formed his final Bond. From his survival kit he removed the final three objects. Bond Stones. He placed them on the table as Selina’s eyes widened. “What do you say, Selina? Do you want to be a Hunter?"