I listened to Therin pace then heard him leave, my eyes shut tight as I felt the subtle, but seemingly permanent changes I had been undergoing. My body felt ponderous now, clumsy, slowly voiding itself of the Divine light. It was dangerous, this tenuous dance along the knife’s edge that I walked. My bond with Alira vibrated and I stroked it back, soothing her.

“What was it like in the Spirit Vale?” Roshan asked in the gloomy silence of the room behind me. I opened my eyes and looked at the gas lamp, unlit, on the side table. I noted that there was dust along the top of it, as though no one came in here to clean very regularly.

I rolled to my back and then to my side, propping a hand under my head. He was curled onto his side, his back to me in the huge bed. The rise and fall of his lean shoulder was the only indication that he was there.

“You believe in that?” I asked, hesitant to talk about my former life. I had not allowed myself the space to grieve for Aethra since my bonds with Erin had been dissolved. While bound to her, there was no grief–only Erin. But now, without the distracting, obsessive pull to tend to her every whim, the darkness of my loss could settle around me.

Roshan turned to face me, one hand tucked under his chin.

“Of course,” he said, surprised. “Why wouldn’t I?”

I gestured to his glaive standing against the wall near the fireplace.

“Blademasters are followers of the Light,” I said simply and he snorted softly, a sound not of derision but amusement.

“Some are,” he agreed and I knew I made a face because he smiled.

“The ones I met a long time ago were the first bearers of the Light.”

“This is true,” he said and sat up, crossing his legs. “They were fanatics, though. Cultists that had discovered human Divinity. But we don’t need to reject the existence of another Divinity, Prince Hrulinar.” I felt it again. The whisper of worship passed between us and blinked at him. I had never been in direct receipt of this kind of power, merely the conduit for my mother, and I suddenly understood her obsessive need for more. I drew in the sparkling, invigorating power and closed my eyes briefly at the relief that flooded me.

“Respectfully, Blademaster, as a Divine being I have to disagree. The Light is my direct competition for human affection. Just as it was Aethra.” I knew he could hear the sadness in me because his own face softened.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Roshan said and I gave him a sad smile.

“It is everyone’s loss when a god dies,” I reminded him. “I just have to hold on long enough to get Alira through this.”

“I felt it,” Roshan said softly in the gloom. “When Aethra fell, I knew what had happened.”

I frowned at him and shook my head slowly.

“That’s not possible. Not even I knew for sure until my bond with the witch who enthralled me was broken.”

Roshan merely shrugged awkwardly.

“I did feel it,” he said and believed him.

“Then you’re very special,” I said and his face fell, sadder than I had seen it yet.

“Yes,” and his sadness turned to stony anger. “Chosen, some might even say.”

“What do you know of the Word of Shadesorrow?” I asked, recalling that he had mentioned the prophecy. His face was suddenly closed off though and I regretted asking outright. He watched me for a long time and I could feel his resolve hardening.

“The Witches predicted that you would join together with a…human.” He faltered on the word, clearly using it to replace another.

“Yes,” I said slowly. “A human of a particular lineage,” I clarified. He nodded and swallowed. He looked down to his hands and I caught the shine of a scar on his palm. His hands were trembling. A suspicion bloomed within me, my eyes widening slightly as I looked from his cold face to his trembling hands.

“I was…” he began but I reached out and put my hand in his, hiding the scar by closing his hand around it tightly. I shook my head.

“It’s alright.” I said and his eyes met mine. “Don’t talk about it right now. I understand.” His face was still blank and hard, but the trembling in his hands travelled up my own arm and I felt the deep pain he bore. Hope was bleeding into his expression, the barest crack of the much needed relief showing as he stared at me.

“In the book…” He began again but his voice was tight and broke. He cleared his throat and tried again. “In the book, it was said that you, Prince Hrulinar, would break Shadesorrow from her prison.”

“And I have,” I said softly, the deep regret I held tinting my words. “It is done.”

A cold shock rolled across us, the worship vanishing in a second.

“What?” he breathed. “When?”

“Not long ago.” I watched him closely as I spoke. “The Daughter of Man was found. It’s her that I must get back to, quickly. She went to Ohira Nunjuli, the First Witch, to ask for help but our dear idiot Therin captured me.”

“She–the Daughter…” I watched the hope break across him in a wave, my suspicions confirmed. “You found her already? Before you met me?” I nodded and he gasped, his breath escaping him in a very uncharacteristic way.

“And she’s in dire need of me. I have to get back to her.” The reminder that I had slaughtered my own soulmate darkened my eyes and Roshan, still trembling with relief, peered down at me.

“Is the prophecy so very binding?”

“I made a grave mistake when I met her. I wasn’t…” I shook my head and looked at him again. The worship was creeping across the short distance between us again. I wondered if me revealing my own weaknesses was wise when this young man held such succour for me in his heart.

“Even the Divine make mistakes,” he said wisely. “That is where these eastern paladins get it wrong. The Father, if he is real, does not know all. If he’s real, he’s Divine but that doesn’t mean he’s infallible.”

“Exactly,” I said, appreciating his insight. “At least humans can say ‘I’m only human.’ when they make a mistake and it’s understood what they mean. For me…” I shrugged and shook my head. “I don’t think I have an excuse but even Aethra made mistakes.”

“She should not have taken man’s love for granted,” Roshan said and I noted how relaxed he was now, the way his shoulders were rounded instead of stiff.

“The prophecy has room for mistakes too,” I said. “It was, after all, directions given by a fallible god, to a fallible people. Mistakes were bound to have been made in the transmission, translation, and copying. Alira…” As I said her name aloud my heart thudded painfully. I plucked the bond and felt her answer, a smile slipping onto my lips.

“You love her, this Alira,” Roshan said, watching my face soften at her name. I looked at him and smiled broadly.

“Yes,” I breathed and felt the stirring of that love inside me. “I do, very much. She’s my soulmate.” I met his eyes and he raised his brows.

“A human?”

I laughed at his surprise and laid a hand gently on his knee.

“It’s nothing like that. It’s not a physical love, at all. Though, Roshan, have you ever watched a woman blush when you tease her? Mother above, it’s so wonderful.” My eyes rolled into my head as I clutched at my chest in mock passion. His own answering blush, so unlike him, had me laughing even harder.

“I’m disinterested in such things,” he said gravely and I stopped my giggling and made myself become grave to match his own hardness.

“Ah, well, we all have our weaknesses,” I said and put my hands behind my head again. “Even the Divine have vices.” He leaned away from me and I laughed again.

“It isn’t like that between Alira and I. That I can promise you. Our bodies may never be one but our souls are.” Even as I spoke, though, I had to contradict myself. “Well, I suppose technically we have shared a body.”

Roshan baulked, clearly taken aback. I smirked up at him.

“What manner of scoundrels have you thrown your lot in with, young Blademaster?” My eyes glinted in the gloom and he frowned at me. We fell silent, each in our own heads.

I closed my eyes again, toying with the tether to Alira, seeing how far down the long, thin thread I could trace before I felt myself fading. I noted how the spider silk strand felt thin in some places, as though frayed.

Hrulinar…

My eyes snapped open and I held perfectly still. I heard a voice. It was distant, muffled as though they were under fathoms and fathoms of water, as though they were in a different realm to me entirely. But it had whispered my name and the feeling of it raised mortal-like goosebumps along my flesh. The voice was beckoning to me.

Alira…

I whispered back, unsure if she could receive the message.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

A scratching from across the room broke my attention and I sat up. I glanced at Roshan and saw that he had also heard the noise. Moving in unison we both rose from the bed and all but ran to Therin’s workbench. The raven feather quill was writing, the hand tight and narrow, a Commonized version of Witch Script. The first part was nonsense and I frowned as I read the message.

Hierophants Linger.

I will obey.

The scratching quill stopped and fell to the paper, still.

“What do you think it means?” Roshan whispered.

“Noran’s coming,” I said simply and looked at the Blademaster. “And he sent a secret message, but I don’t understand it.”

We stared at the writing for a moment and then I moved the paper, looking for the message Therin had sent. I couldn’t find it in the stack of papers.

“I don’t know what he wrote to Noran,” I muttered as I leafed through the rest of the contents. “That idiot didn’t even wait to think–”

“There must be a code,” Roshan said and his voice was ominous. “And he didn’t send the right one. They know someone else sent the message.” I looked at him and I could tell we both felt the same dread course through us.

“Therin!” I shouted, grabbing the letter and dashing to the door. “We have an issue!”

As the door shut behind me, I saw Roshan put the quill back on the stack of paper and turn to look at me, steely determination mingled with annoyance in his young eyes.

I clutched the message to myself, bolting down the hall, my too-mortal body slower than I’d have liked, and narrowly avoided colliding with the housekeeper as I rounded a corner.

She screamed, nearly dropping the tray of tea she carried.

We had not been introduced but I assumed that Therin had let her know that he had brought home company. At the very least the housemaid, who worked directly under the housekeeper, surely would have mentioned that Therin had brought home two strange men.

“Sir!” She gasped and I bowed formally to her.

“I apologise, Mrs. Jones,” I said and stood to go around her. “Where’s Therin?” I asked, spinning on a heel and skipping backwards as I waved the paper at her. “It’s important.”

“In the kitchen, last I heard,” she said and rolled her eyes. “Some things never change.” She turned and continued down the hall, the tea things rattling as she went, muttering to herself about the impropriety of the world’s youth.

I sprinted down the hall and as I passed a large double door I heard a deep, male chuckle and the tinkling of flirty, girlish laughter. I slowed but kept running toward the kitchens.

Who else was here in this expansive manse? What else could we possibly have to worry about?

The kitchens were empty, a half made sandwich on the work surface. I noted the left out-things, the nearly-completed fire that was set but not lit and shook my head. Therin was an idiot but he wouldn’t…

I bent and picked up a housemaid’s bonnet.

I ran back the way I had come, a distant part of me noting how I could feel my muscles tensing, how the thud of my heart was thick in my head, how my breathing, usually an affectation, felt real and almost necessary as I ran.

I came to the large white double doors and slowed, putting my ear to the door, and listening.

That masculine laughter again, the girlish giggle, and a swirl of Light struck against me but I didn’t flinch.

“Oh, that’s so beautiful!” Sally’s voice was lazy and relaxed. I detected a flare of Light again, but I felt no dizziness. Sally clapped and laughed again.

“Where’s my bonnet?” She asked.

“I think we left it in the kitchens,” Therin said and I heard a note of sated pride in his voice.

No. I told myself. No. Not even Therin could be this stupid.

I opened the door and threw it wide and exposed the idiot and his conquest.

At least she was dressed, though he had yet to put his shirt back on and his pants were still unlaced. He must have helped her back into her complicated feminine clothing before worrying about himself. Truly a gentleman.

I sauntered in, noting that he hadn’t even had the decency to seduce her in a warm room. The curtains were open, throwing half of the enormous drawing room into relief but the dark corner to which he had taken her was indeed intimate but chilled. The image of his father, the High Lord who owned the very furniture he had desecrated, glared down at him from above the huge fireplace.

I glared at him in turn, letting my disapproval and thunderous annoyance show. One of his boots had been kicked under the side table, the other near the end of the plush red couch that Sally now sat on, her cheeks red and her neck dotted with dark marks of passion.

“Hrulinar,” Therin said sheepishly and I saw his hand shaking as he ran one through his hair.

“Mother take me, Therin,” I said and he glared at me. “You don’t think we have enough to worry about?”

“What do you want?” the former monk said coldly, his eyes not leaving mine as he angrily laced his pants. I threw her bonnet at him and he caught it then turned and handed it to Sally. She had the grace to not even look at me while she carefully tucked her curls into the hat.

“We have a problem,” I said and waved the letter at him. “You've gotten a reply to your message.”

His eyes widened and he turned to look at the housemaid over his shoulder. She blushed further and nodded once, scrambling off the couch and swishing past the two of us. I watched his eyes follow her and saw the smug satisfaction ripple across his face before he turned back to me.

“Nicely done,” I congratulated him. “This is truly the best way to refute the idea that you’re a deviant.” He bent and picked up his shirt, wadded up on the floor at his feet and glared at me again.

“What does the reply say?” He pulled the shirt over his head and as he did I noted a dark red bite mark on his chest.

“Aethra’s mercy,” I muttered. “You really have lost your damn mind. Of all the stupid things you could be doing right now, is this honestly the best use of your time?”

“What does it say?” he demanded again, ripping the page out of my hand. He quickly read it and nodded once, holding it back out to me. “Good, we’ll prepare for his arrival.”

“What message did you send him?” I said taking the paper back. He brushed past me and picked up one of his wayward boots.

He shrugged and sat on the sofa, grabbing the closer boot and slipping it onto his foot as he looked up at me.

“Just a regular message. Short and simple.”

“And you followed the code they clearly had devised?” He froze in the act of pulling on his other boot and looked at me.

“Code?” He frowned but I saw the panic flit across his face.

“Clearly,” I said and showed him the first two words of Noran’s reply. “This means something, or would to Devan. Without using the proper code you might have signalled to him that someone else wrote the message.”

“I hadn’t thought…”

“Oh, you didn’t think? That’s really taken me by surprise! You, Therin, did not stop to think before acting? By Aethra, do you ever use that brain? Because I know you’re an intellectual young man but this!” I gestured to the room around us. “This isn’t the right choice, you moron!”

He stood and towered over me and I glared back at him.

“You don’t know me,” he said coldly and I snorted.

“Thank Divinity for small miracles.”

“You don’t get to judge me,” he said leaning closer. “You don’t know anything about me, about my life, about being human.” He had his finger in my face now, pointing angrily at me.

“I know enough,” I said and his face darkened. “I know enough to understand that you’re hurting and lost and confused.”

“You know nothing!” He roared but I didn’t back down.

“You don’t think I know what it’s like to ache so badly you’d rather die than live another day? To pine and yearn for something so badly you’re on the brink of destruction with each waking second? You don’t think Divine pain and sorrow and grief and longing are as potent as human emotions? What do you think enthrallment feels like?”

His face was frozen in the same angered, dark expression but he didn’t reply so I pressed forward.

“No, you don’t know what real suffering is, you pampered baby.”

I felt him gathering his Light but I continued to glare at him. He ignited, the Light ripping across him like phantom flames. He frowned as I stared him down.

“Expecting a reaction?” I asked impishly. I lifted my arm and let my sleeve fall away from my wrist to reveal my pale flesh and nothing more. “You must maintain the bond if you wish to enslave a spirit,” I whispered. “When you dropped the Light at the monastery, you forgot to keep my manacle.”

I grinned and he glared at me.

“And you forgot one thing, Therin. I’m not just a spirit. I’m a god.” His rage flared and he drew his arm back to hit me but I pulled on the secret store of power I had banked, the glimmering, brightness that Roshan engendered in me with his honest worship and dropped my form.

It wasn’t easy. The form refused to dissolve at first, the body having become too real, too human. But I pulled again on the store of power I had secreted away and with a twinge of sharp pain, I was incorporeal again.

Being without form was disorientating for the first time in my existence. It was no longer my natural state, it seemed. I had trouble keeping track of where I was, what was a part of me and what belonged to the real things that inhabited the same space. I had no vision or sense of hearing, merely impressions of the world around me and as I slid out the door, a feeling struck me like an arrow.

One that was as familiar as breathing to a human. Beckoning. Commanding.

Hrulinar…

The voice was clearer now, in my incorporeal form. It felt far away still, like it was under the sea across the world but it no longer felt distorted, like it was on another planet altogether.

I was too far from Alira to be with her instantly. I didn’t understand why the distance should matter to two halves of the same soul but it did and as I felt along our tether I realised with dread that the voice was not at the other end.

Alira? I said into the void around me, echoing it across the space and time that divided us.

Silence from the end, but the tether tightened and relaxed as though an attempt to communicate had been made.

In the other direction, opposite to my bond but connected to a part of me just as deeply the voice laughed and if I had still had a heart, it would have sunk in despair.

Come to me.

My spirit self ached to obey but the tether that bound me to Alira was too tight, too strong, too...real. It was suddenly stifling, this connection to my soulmate. The desperation to obey the command was so strong I felt it tearing me in two.

Bring her.

The new command overrode the first and I felt immediate relief.

I could do that, at least. I could return to Alira and bring her with me to obey the first command.

Yes, I could do that.

I obey. I said to the voice and felt myself reforming, the human shape natural and comfortable. The command faded, leaving a brand, a reminder on me, but the insistent pull was gone. Each time I thought of ignoring it, the brand flared and I winced.

As I made my way down the hall, wandering back to Therin’s room to rejoin Roshan, I passed a mirror. I glanced at myself and a tiny part of me flickered brightly, a small part of me registering something…wrong.

I stopped and peered closer in the mirror, my human form peering back at me from the glass.

I swept my eyes across my freckle-dusted button nose to the rich, full mouth. I noted an affected stubble of gilded red across my jaw and wondered why I had done that. My gaze wandered up my face, pleased with how I looked…

I locked eyes with myself and felt a bolt of electricity jolt through me.

My emerald green eyes were black again.

I blinked and they were a dull green, lacking their usual lustre.

My heart thudded painfully, the heart I had manifested in this body, that was slowly becoming real. This heart that belonged to one person, this heart that answered to one person…

Erin?

Hello, sweet prince. Have you missed me?