Chapter 81 It All Boils Down To This
Maeve knew one thing. Had known it from the moment they stepped on Satyr and it had cemented after she saw Eldoria with Lir that night.
She and Eldoria shared similar blood.
Hers had an… anchoring ability. Not eradicating. The opposite. They could stop things. Hold them. She wasn't sure. She didn't know. But she liked to believe that they had a use somehow, especially since her blood was now turning gooey. And wrong. The longer she stayed there.
But after she found out Eldoria's blood had mixed with Lir's and the life bond… it was that moment the curse started.
Her blood had that ability.
It was similar to it in the sense that it took… but it behaved more like a living organism. It overrode the natural boundaries of life itself. Integrated. Spread. Restructured whatever it wanted— even imposing new boundaries where none existed.
In other words, her blood when mixed with something— kept whatever it wanted there. Like the wraiths. Like the souls. Like… Lir.
He was the curse. The first one stuck between the cycle of life and death… because even if she didn't say it, she must have wanted him there. With her. Unable to leave.
And the mana beasts…
The land decayed. Deformed into something old. And the animals turned into Mana Beasts, with stones in them that made sure even with the curse, they stayed alive.
And it all happened…
Because Lir's soul was still trapped there. “I did not know that— I had not seen—”
“What?” Eldoria’s face fell, her eyes searching Maeve’s face with an eagerness that made the latter far too aware of the uncomfortable feeling gathering in her belly. “You did not know? How could you not know?!”
“Perhaps, if you told me—”
“You rescued them and left him?” Eldoria’s voice cracked. And that familiar pressure of Cassian’s ability returned, except this time, it felt as if the insides of Maeve’s body was threatening to render itself apart— like an implosion. “I believed you were smart, Isabella Montague. Why will I have kept you alive if you are not?!”
Maeve felt the blood slipping out of her nose as she began coughing. It spilled out of her mouth too. Still, she didn’t beg Eldoria to stop. She couldn’t. “I’m sorry. I… I didn’t—”
“You will go back. I would ask a Spatial to make it faster but—”
“I wouldn’t… know how to…” It hurt. All of her hurt. But in the way where she felt weak. Like she was losing consciousness and everything felt heavier. Harder. “I t-tried—”
Her voice stayed cold. “It was not enough.”
“T-teach me.” Maeve forced out the words. Tears— or was it blood coming out from her eyes. She couldn’t tell. “I don’t k-know—“ gurgle. choke. “How to… control… you.., know what it—” gasp. gurgle. “It… is. We… similar… I help… starting with… Cassian—”
The pressure stopped there.
Maeve collapsed forward. Her palms hit the floor. Wet. Slick with her blood. Her lungs burned. And every vein and artery on her body sang. It felt like she was dying but also being reborn. Feeling.
She looked at Eldoria who was staring at her with an emptiness now. And she spoke. “Cassian… is an extension of Lir. He… he is sick. You’ve known this, Eldoria—”
“I should not have birthed him.”
“But you did. Because you hoped… you would see Lir in him.” Maeve slowly rose from the floor now, her eyes staying on Eldoria. “But he was different. He had a hunger that you couldn’t explain, like he was missing something important. You didn’t know what it was, so you left him in the tunnels, hoping the mana stones formed would fill it. But it didn’t. And he grew. And the hunger remained—”
“Stop.”
“You wondered if it was the fact that he did not grow with his people, connected to them. Then you found out about the curse on your next visit. You went to see if you could bring him— and found out Lir lingered… that you had bound him—”
Eldoria was suddenly on her, her fingers digging into Maeve’s jaw with a pressure that should have hurt— would have hurt, if Maeve were anyone else. If she were actually Isabella.
“He loved them. All of them. With their arrogance and pride. He cherished them.” Eldoria breathed, and her voice was no longer amused. It was the voice of something that had been waiting in the dark for a very, very long time. “And now, his soul has been haunting them. Why would I care about his son when I know he is going through so much torment as we speak?”
Maeve didn't pull away. Couldn't. Eldoria's grip held her in place like a vice, fingers pressing into the soft hinges of her jaw. But she spoke anyway. Quiet. Hoarse. “Because Cassian is still alive.”
Eldoria's eyes flickered.
“And Lir isn't.”
The pain flashed through her eyes, like fire that even Maeve felt. It was like something gnawing deep into her soul, taking a part of her. “Cassian is sick. And he will die. He does not believe you care for him but we both know that is a lie. You love him. And he loves me. I can find a way to make him better. Did you not hope for that as well? That… whatever my affinity was, if it was anything like yours, it would save Lir… and Cassian would be well?
“Because I’ve seen it,” Maeve’s voice was barely audible, but it was softer. Pleading. “Amir… he is sick with the curse. He turns into something else like Cassian… except he seems to control it better. You know this. That’s why you sent him to me. If I could cure him, then Cassian… but he is different. His mana cells are volatile. Sicker. And they die faster. But I fed him my blood. And they got stable. For a long period. Even till now.”
Eldoria’s grip loosened. Slightly. Just enough for Maeve to draw a breath as her voice came out quiet, “You fed him your blood?”
“Not exactly. But it was him.”
She had taken a piece of Lucien first. Through the lens, all she could see was cells… normal cells that moved around even away from his body. She believed that it was mana. It had to be. Even outside the body, it lived. Breathed.
Then she looked at Cassian.
His cells were everywhere. And not as plenty as she thought they’d be. They zigzagged all across the pen. It was something she didn’t understand— couldn’t. Then she looked at Amir’s.
And it was similar.
Far too similar.
So later, when she was alone, she went back to check them again.
Cassian’s cells seemed to have died out, and Amir’s… they had slowed but it looked like it was on the verge of moving to the other side. That was until she placed a drop of her blood on both of them.
And the cells sprung back to life with a viciousness that had her slightly taken aback.
“My blood can stabilize him. And I will feed him as long as it will take to keep him alive until I am certain that he is well. Even if it might kill me.” Maeve’s voice stayed certain. Sure. “But I cannot do it on my own. I need… to know what it is that I… have. You can help me. Teach me.”
Eldoria stared. Her eyes stayed blank, her face expressionless, and then ever so slowly, she moved away, and returned back to her chair like everything that had happened and said ever so quietly, “You will be having a meeting with all the female nobles. All of them.”
“But we’re having a—”
“Your wish matters not, Lady Montague.” She cut in. “Now. You may leave. I have work to attend to— and oh, when you return back to your estate, tell Adrian to return. I have grown tired of his absence.”