Chapter 25
Bastian glanced at Trendan again. “We should have gone there.”
Trendan didn’t look confident either with the decision of meeting Troy in Solrelm. “FaTerra’s princess wanted to talk to us as well. This was easier.” He glanced at the door as if willing it to open.
“Are any of the women coming?” Liri looked from Trendan to Bastian.
He shrugged. “You never know with those ladies, they do what they want despite mate’s objecting.”
She grinned at that and then adjusted the skirt of her gown. “I’m just happy to get out of some of the ceremonies at the end of the banquets.” She scowled at him. “Why is there a big to-do with those that have paired up?” She rolled her eyes. “Like you can know in two days that you want to spend the rest of eternity with someone.”
Bastian smirked but thought it best not to explain why your heart or soul, preferably both decided on someone, minutes didn’t matter. Turning his back to them, he wandered over to the fridge and opened it. He already knew, without a doubt that Nova was the one for him. Not just her soul, which resonated with his. It was her. Yes, that soul was meant for him from the dawn of time, but the beautiful package it was wrapped in couldn’t have been more perfect for him. Her pale eyes with so many minute traces of color in them—he could look at them until the end of time. He desperately wanted to spend more time with her, and planned on it, just as soon as it was safe to do so. He needed to speak with someone about her and the onslaught of feelings and sensations that she brought. His mother was the only one he could think of that would understand and offer advice. He knew she and his father had shared their souls with one another, he’d seen the blending whenever they touched. His only hope was she’d forgive the fact that Nova Gaines was one hundred percent human.
The door opened, and he spun on his heel to see his father walk through it, followed by Princess Aireese, King Troy, and the little seer. Right on her heels was her mate, the scariest man in most realms, Prince Victor.
Tor was the last one through the door. He closed it and stood in front of it beside Ulric.
Bastian looked around. “I feel we should have chosen a bigger space.” The staff lounge wasn’t overly big. He gave his father a questioning look. “I didn’t expect you to join us. Shouldn’t you be with Mom and the ceremony?”
His dad took off his crown and blew out a breath. “I have time. Your mother is dealing with some drama right now.”
“Drama? I’m missing drama?” Bastian frowned, there was never drama at the boring banquet.
His king nodded and sat down at the small table. “It seems your brother’s choice is being challenged by another.”
“Elyas chose a woman?” Bastian frowned. “How can that be challenged? He’s a prince and if their souls...”
To see his king and father look as confused as he did right now almost made Bastian laugh out loud. “I left her to sort it out, the girl can’t decide.”
Bastian huffed out a breath. “I’m sorry to miss all of that.”
“Thank you for coming.” Trendan got up and offered his seat to the fae Princess.
She smiled and sat down.
“Troy, it’s been some time.” His father motioned to the seat across from him.
“It has, Osbert.” The large king sat down.
Crissy didn’t wait to be offered somewhere to sit, she went to the furthest corner from all bodies and plopped down to sit cross-legged. She began rummaging in her backpack.
It always amused him that a princess wore a backpack. He’d seen her for years before she found her fated mate and had always admired how well she hid in the shadows. Of course, at that time, he’d thought she was crazy as a loon. He was happy that he knew why she was that way now.
Victor moved over to stand closer to her making sure he had a view of the entire room and door.
His father turned to the fae princess, who to Bastian has always looked like she radiated beauty, and glowed. “Princess, I’m eager to know what you’ve discovered with...” He frowned and looked at Trendan.
“Glen,” Trendan supplied.
“Glen. Were you able to reverse what was done to him?” His father clasped his hands on the tabletop.
Her expression didn’t give Bastian hope.
“It’s very complex, the magic used.” She looked around at the others. “If I undo it too quickly, his mind may not survive. I’ve had to chip away at it a piece at a time.”
“How long will that take?” Troy was leaning on the table watching her intently.
“It could take days before I make any real progress.”
“The cook knows,” Crissy said, glancing at her mate. “I thought I was hungry when I saw food.”
Bastian almost sighed out loud. If Crissy had seen Glen, then he was definitely one of the keys they’d been looking for.
“Yes, I believe he does,” Aireese said solemnly.
“There’s something else?” his father asked in a less-kingly tone.
She nodded, brushing her strawberry blonde hair back over her shoulder. “Only one of my kind would weave a spell like the one locking his memories away.”
It took all of his strength to stand there and not shout ‘ha! I knew it.’ “We expected it.” Aireese looked at him. “All the cogs fit together, traitors from every realm.”
She nodded. “Yes, I just didn’t expect it on this level.”
“Nula Flowers and silver rain,” Crissy blurted out. “I had to search the archives of things that aren’t from Alterealm or the city to figure it out.”
“Nula Flowers only grow in one area in all of FaTerra.” Princess Aireese frowned. “Silver rain happens once every decade.” She glanced at the floor for a moment. “Five years was the last.”
“That’s around the time Glen the chef vanished from records.” Trendan glanced at Bastian.
He moved away from the corner of the kitchenette and held Aireese’s look, “I’d be willing to bet the flowers are pointing in the direction of who you’re looking for that has been helping Arwan.”
She nodded, a skeptical look on her face. “If that’s the case, I’m going to need help getting to them.”
“You know who it is?” Troy looked over at his brother, who Bastian had noted had an expression on his face he’d never want to be directed at him.
“If the flowers are the indicator, our oldest and most respected live in that region.”
Bastian didn’t know a great deal about the FaTerra culture, but he did know that their magic grew stronger with age, except for the royal family, theirs always seemed to be powerful, but he didn’t understand the dynamics of that.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Liri offered.
The princess nodded, then raised her chin. “All our realms have participants, so don’t waste your compassion on me, it doesn’t change the objective, we have to find all involved to end this once and for all.” She looked at Crissy for a moment. “Thank you, seer, for your help.”
Crissy glanced up from her notebook, “I just see it.” She nodded and then looked back to her book.
Victor’s look softened as he looked down at her and then the hard look returned when he glanced at his brother.
Troy blew out a breath like he’d been holding it for too long. “We confirmed traces of the elixir in Arwan.” He held his father’s look. “Elder Arian says it could take years to wear off.
His father sat back and was silent for a moment before his eyes moved to look at Trendan. “They have access to the chamber of souls.”
Trendan nodded his head.
“The dark souls are involved as well.” Bastian crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at Crissy, “Nova has journals in her possession that go back...” He hesitated, unsure of how much he wanted to share. “Quite some time. They tell of men being taken by ‘unclean’ men.”
“Chamber of souls?” Crissy was looking intently from one Solrelm resident to the other.
His father turned in his seat and nodded. “When souls move from one life to be reborn, they’re held.” He shook his head. “They wait in a large chamber with several rooms, the burnt ones—that can no longer be reborn are used in the elixir that my people drink to extend longevity so we will always be able to watch over the countless souls in the human realm. It wasn’t always so imperative that we use the elixir, but as fewer females are born, fewer that can see a person’s soul are born."
“Fascinating,” Crissy whispered. “And the dark-souled ones are?”
“The lawless faction that are plucking healthy, strong souls from others.”
“They have to be stopped.” She looked up at Victor.
“They do.” His father turned back to King Troy. “We already have one chamber wall that lies empty.” He wiped his hand over his face. “It takes decades for a brand new soul to be born.”
“And if there aren’t enough souls for the births in the human realm?” Troy asked him.
“The population will dwindle; a birthed infant can not live longer than a few hours without a soul.”
The room was silent for a few moments, then Troy looked at Bastian. “Have you figured out why they want Nova so desperately?”
Bastian still didn’t know if the lawless knew that her soul was meant for him or if it were a coincidence. He wasn’t comfortable sharing that information with his father just yet, at least not until he had his mother backing him. “She can see the darkness in the lawless faction.”
Trendan gave him a shocked look. “If she can identify them, that’s not good for their cause.”
“Or staying off your radar,” Troy added.
Bastian nodded. “She can see fading souls as well, the human bodies that are dying.”
“It must make her so sad, to see that all the time.” Crissy looked upset.
“How would they know about her being able to see them?” Aireese got up and went over to a plant that looked dead, the leaves were withered and brown. She ran her hand over the plant, and it moved until the stems were upright and the leaves were green. She looked at Crissy and put her finger over her mouth.
Crissy grinned and put her head down to scribble in her notebook.
“It’s not something we can detect,” his father answered.
“They have someone that can see.” Crissy looked up at Victor. “It’s not me, Vic.”
He reached down and touched her head, “no one thinks it is, heart.”
Crissy smiled up at him for a second, “I could see if they were pure or not, it would be all around them.”
“You see aura’s, Princess?” Aireese looked very interested in that.
Crissy nodded. “I found traitors working in the underground chambers for Vic.”
Bastian’s mind started to churn faster. If the other side of this madness had their own seer, they could be chasing their tails for years to come. He was not willing to put his time with Nova on hold that long.
“An ability such as that should be guarded well, Justice, especially in this time of plots and trickery.”
Victor gave the FaTerra princess a look that Bastian could only label as vengeance and boredom at the idea he would do anything but that.
The air in the room was heavier now. The seriousness of all threads of the plot was weaving together in all the minds in the room. More than one loud breath or sigh was heard.
“There are forty-seven thousand obsolete words in the English language,” Crissy said suddenly. “That is so sad, Vic, words shouldn’t die off.” She pursed her lips like she was figuring something out. “That only leaves one hundred, seventy-one thousand in use. We need to find the obsolete list and start using them more.” She nodded and looked around the room.
As tension breakers went, that shattered it into smithereens.
Bastian smirked to see the shocked look on his father’s face. His phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, he frowned, it was Nova’s number. She didn’t strike him as the chasing type and knew he was going to call her later. He answered, “Hello.”
“You need to get here now, soul sucker, shit just got real.”
He waved his hand around trying to place the voice. “Ava?”
“Get here now.” She hung up.
He looked at Trendan. “We have to go. Now.”