Chapter 66 The Child Is Stronger
Chapter 66 The Child Is Stronger
After a tense moment Aria made a small gesture. The shadows that moved around got all twisted up. They did not attack him though.
Aria told him to speak.
The man let out a breath. "Kael knows more about the Sovereign being than he is saying. He has been looking through the archives of the kingdom records. He thinks the baby you are having is special. The child you carry is not just marked, the child you carry has something."
Maeve stiffened.
"He believes the child is destined", the man added. "He meant that this child is a living key. This living key can do one or two things to the Sovereign. The living key can bind the Sovereign forever and the living key can release the Sovereign completely."
Arias hand went right to her stomach without her thinking about it.
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked directly.
The man laughed in a sad way. He said "I helped him search for it that is why."
It got really quiet. Silence fell heavily. The silence was very loud. It felt like it was weighing down on everything.
Maeve's eyes got really sharp and mean. She said "You are involved in this too. You know that."
"I was loyal," he said in a low voice. "Until I figured out what being loyal really meant to this person.
Aria crossed her arms slowly. "What did you think it meant when that happened?"
"When the time comes, he plans to trade your child to the Sovereign being.' the man said. "He wants to do this so that he can have control and nobody can stop him. He is willing to trade your child to be Sovereign being and in return the man will get to rule without anybody disagreeing with him." The man's voice sounded really empty when he said this.
Maeve cursed under her breath.
Aria felt something, inside of her change. It was not fear that she felt. It was not shock either. What she felt was a very clear feeling. This feeling was lethal. Aria felt this clarity inside of her.
Aria then told him to continue.
The man nodded. He said "Kael has been setting up his court. He is getting rid of people who do not agree with him. Kael is giving jobs to the people who support the ritual. Kael already found the place where the final binding or release of the ritual has to happen."
Aria said "Where is that?"
"The Ashen Hollow" he said. "This is the place where they crowned the Alpha kings. They also sacrificed the Alpha kings there."
Maeve took a breath really quickly. "That place is full of blood magic"
The man said "Yes". The man added, "Kael believes it will make the child's connection stronger."
Arias jaw clenched tightly. "Do you really think I should trust you now?"
He slowly put his hand into his cloak. Maeve got really nervous. He did not pull out a weapon. Instead, he pulled out a map that was folded up. The map had marks and secret paths on it. Maeve saw that the map was marked with symbols, which were called sigils and these showed hidden routes.
"These are Kael's supply veins," he said. "The real supply veins that belong to Kael. Not the fake ones that Kael lets the scouts discover. Kael has lots of places, like armories and ritual chambers and escape routes that help Kael."
He held the thing out with hands that were shaking badly. His hands were shaking much like it was hard for him to keep holding on to it. But it was still clutched tightly in his hands.
"This is everything that I know about the subject. I have told you all the details about it. This is really everything I know."
Aria took the map.
The moment her fingers touched it, something strange happened. The shadows, around her started to move they got all tight. Wound up. It was like they were trying to tell her something, or warn her about things that could happen. She felt a lot of emotions all once. She felt the truth. It was scary. She felt fear. She felt regret too. The truth and the fear and the regret all mixed together. It was a really strong feeling.
"The man is telling the truth." She said it in a low voice.
The man felt really relieved. "I do not expect anyone to be kind to me," the man said. He was talking about mercy from the people who were dealing with him.
Maeve stepped closer to him and looked at him carefully. "So why are you switching sides now?"
He looked up. His eyes were really scared. He said, "Kael talked about the child like the child was something you could use to hurt people.. I remembered what it is like to be a real person, to feel things like a human being, like the child."
Aria looked at him for a long time. She did not look away. Aria just kept looking at him.
"Lucian does not know." the man whispered. "Kael thinks that you will stop and think before you do something. Kael thinks that your love for someone will make you do things that people can guess."
Arias lips curved into a dangerous smile. It was the kind of smile that made you feel like something was about to go terribly wrong. Arias smile was very slow and very dangerous.
"That is where he is wrong." Aria turned to the scout. "You have to stay safe and hidden. I will need information, about this."
Maeve nodded. She said to Aria. "And what about Lucian?"
Aria folded the map carefully. She said "Not yet".
Maeve looked at her and said, "You are planning something."
"Yes", Aria said firmly. "I'm planning something that's just right. Something precise."
She looked back out over the kingdom. The kingdom was full of people who had chosen her. They did not choose her because of some prophecy. They chose her because she fought for the people. She fought for the kingdom and the people in it.
"He believes that I'm distracted. That I'm not paying attention. He thinks that because I'm going to have a baby, that means that I'm scared and being very careful." Aria said softly. "He thinks that the pregnancy is s making me afraid, and being bound by caution."
Her eyes looked like they had bits of silver in them. Her eyes were beautiful.
“I will let him keep thinking that about the situation. It's him and his thoughts.”
The ground, down below was beating softly like something really old was paying attention to what was going on.
And it's smiling.
Because revenge was not a flame.
It was a blade.
And Aria had just sharpened it.