KANE
MY FISTS CRACKLED WITH OBSIDIANย thorns and shadowed scales as I beheld Len, no longer on a worm-rotted wooden stool, but now
seated in a sleek upholstered leather chair. Fit for a king rather than a man. Or a witch or a beastโI still didnโt know what Len was. He hadnโt answered my question.
โWhatย areย you?โ I snarled once more. My rage sent the flames of the white candles around us flickering.
โWould it make a difference? I canโt help you.โ Furyโblazing furyโradiated through my chest. โWhyย not?โ โI serve the many realms. Not heartsick boys.โ
Serve the many realmsโฆโDo not lie to me.โ
The man that wasnโt Len frowned as he stood, his chair scuffing along the luxe rug beneath us. โAbout which part? The heartsick boys orโฆโ
My mouth was inexplicably dry as I watched him pour himself a glass of whiskey from an ornate carafe. โA God? Youโre a Fae God?โ
He dipped his chin. โFrankly, I thought youโd get there quicker, boy.โ
Was it possible that a God truly stood before me? I jerked my head around as if I could shake the shock away. โWhat is a Fae God doing holed up in Vorst?โ
Irritation crested in his depthless eyes. โDo you have no fear? Most used to bow before me.โ
Used to.ย My mind scattered and realigned itself twice over. โA disgraced God. A banished one,โ I murmured. โWhat did you do?โ
The man that was not the White Crow took his seat once more, now with a swirling amber drink. โI interfered with the lives of mortals. Who knew compassion for lesser beings was an existential sin?โ
I had come all this way. Flown through hail and wind and ice. Topped clouds and peaks and pines higher than the stars. Iโd scoured the Pearl Mountains for the White Crow. Scaled a mountainโand plunged from itโ for days trying to reach him. And now I beheld a true Fae God. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this was the only chance I would get.
โYou know what I seek,โ I said, so low I hardly heard myself. โCan you make me full-blooded? Iโm nearly so already. My father, Lazarusโโ
โI donโt require your recounting, boy. I watched your father rock in his cradle.โ
โThen you know what a monster he is. You know that blade may be gone already. Turn me, and let me rid this world of him.โ
โThe blade cannot be destroyed,โ the God said, bored eyes on his drink. โNot by anyone.โ
โThat wonโt stop my father.โ I would have tied a thousand weights to the thing and sunk it to the bottom of the Ocean of Ore. Or fed it to an ogre, the blade safe within its monstrous gut.
โIt didnโt stop him. But the blade always found its way back. If the Blade of the Sun cannot be with its master, it will find a new one, mortal or otherwise.โ
Adrenaline and lighte both recessing, I slumped into my own plush leather chair across from him. โWhere is it now?โ
โWith your father. In Solaris.โ
โTurn me,โ I said, heart in my throat. โI will do anything you ask.โ โI did ask. You answered incorrectly.โ
โYour questions donโt matter,โ I bit out, slamming my hands onto the heavy table between us. โShe isnโtย alive.โ
The God only tsked. โYour intentions are what matter to me.โ
He had said he served the realms. Perhaps it was my integrity I needed to prove.
โYou can decree the future, Iโm sure. See all, know allโฆTell me I am not the best chance we have to rid this world of my father. Tell me I donโt wish to save the lives of those threatened by him more than anyone alive.ย Nobodyโsย intentions are more pure.โ
The God only laughed. โHers were.โ
โArwenโs?โ I hadnโt said her name aloud in over two months. The syllables slid cruelly across my tongue. Profound grief I thought Iโd buried rose up my throat and coiled around my jaw.
And I couldnโt stand itโcouldnโt stand another moment on this earthly plane knowing she wasnโt here, too. Here was my only chance at giving her death an ounce of meaning and I couldnโt convince him my intentions were pure? โI carry her will inside my heart. Consider her virtue, her morality, my own.โ
Whether he detected the tenor of pain in my voice, I wasnโt sure. The Godโs unflinching gaze only burrowed into mine.
Despite how I was breaking, I pushed on. โLook inside my soul. Tell me I donโt mean it.โ
The Fae God considered me.
His judging gaze seared across my tensed brows, my burning eyes. My fingers, splintering the wooden arms of the extravagant chair. A sensation stirred in my chest, and I wondered if the man had the ability to somehow dig his hands through my ravaged heart.
The Fae Godโs jaw stiffened. A breeze rustled the gauzy curtains. The wisps of smoke drifted from the incense over to the table until ash fell softly on the rich mahogany. I tried to draw in one single even breath.
When his glare found mine again, a sliver of hope sparked in my chest.
โYou must swear on everything you own. Your kingdom, your coin, your people, that you willโโ
โI willย kill him. I swear it more ardently than anything Iโve ever sworn.โ โSwear on her. That he will perish, one way or another.โ
The urge to bark out a laugh almost knocked me from my chair. โI swear on Arwenโs grave. I will do itย forย her. In her honor.โ
The Fae God only scowled, but triumph soared inside my chest. I had him.
โI must warn you, boy, even if I were to try, I have never done such a thing. In the earliest days, when there was only Lumera, full-blooded Fae were born when Gods copulated with mortalsโฆโ
That was how Arwen had been conceived and born full-bloodedโthe mating of a Fae God and her mortal mother.
โBut,โ he went on, shaking me from my recollection of that rainy night outside Marinerโs Pub, โI have never taken a Fae and rebirthed him for the sole purpose of turning him true.โ
I wasnโt clever enough to trick a Fae God. I was a mere blunt instrument. โTry.โ
โThere may be grave consequences.โ โI know what I am asking.โ
โThe riskโโ
โDo,โ I gritted out, โyour worst.โ
A single wave of that hand once more and an elegant, elongated wineglass appeared at the table before me. Not wine, but thick, bone-pale liquid inside.
His eyes were vicious. โDrink.โ That colorโ โWhat is it?โ
The God only smirked. โYou know what it is.โ
Lilium.
I knew better than to say what echoed in my mind like a death knell:
That will kill me.ย Instead, I took two bracing, fortifying breathsโ And I drank.
It was as if I had guzzled liquid lightning. Charring my throat, seizing my body as it oozed down my gullet. I choked on most of it, sputtering half up, collapsing, knocking the chair out from under me. It clattered somewhere behind me, shattering some bottleโฆI didnโt know. I couldnโt
think. Couldnโtย breatheย as agony shrieked through me. As my soul fled my body, digging through layers of earth for herโ
CONSCIOUSNESS FOUND ME SPRAWLED ACROSSย the polished wood floor. Alive, it seemed. And still in that sleek den belonging to a God. Bergamot incense and pungent spirit filled my nostrils. I choked back a gag.
My mouth ached. My very skinโฆweaker, somehow. The pulse sliding along my veins, so quiet I couldnโt hear it. I grasped at my body, my jaw, my thundering heart. โWhat did you do?โ
My muscles, as I stood, sore though Iโd barely climbed today. My tongue, heavy in my mouth. My eyesight, blurredโฆ
โItโs only temporaryโโ
But I couldnโt hear past my own horror. โIโmโฆmortal.โ
โAll rebirth demands death. Now you are a slate, cleared and readied for a new inscription.โ
โHow?โ I hardly grit out.
โA weapon forged with not only my own power but the other eight Elder Godsโ as well. A relic to grant you the blood you seek.โ
โThe bladeโฆโ
โTouch the steel once, and you will regain your lighte tenfold.โ Lenโs eyes gleamed with victory. โYou will be reborn, full-blooded.โ
Despite accomplishing all Iโd set out to, relief evaded me. I was a mortal man. Mortal, until I got my hands on the blade. โThat was not the agreement,โ I breathed.
The God stood from the table. โItโs already been done.โ โYou knew all along, didnโt you?โ
For the first time, remorse crossed his eyes. โI had an inkling.โ
I thought I might hurl myself at him. Claw the skin clean off his face. But I was no longer Fae. I shouldnโt have risked the wrath of a God when I was, and I certainly wouldnโt now.
โAnd if I never touch the blade?โ I asked around my splitting headache. โIf I canโt find it?โ A simple fall down the stairs could kill me now. Iโd never make it through Lumera. Iโd never locate the blade in the palace unscathed.
โThe realms will be doomed.โ No, no,ย noโ
Why had he done all of this? He knew I could never destroy my father if I wasnโt Fae. Why did I need to swear to complete the prophecy in her place? Why did my intentions matter to him at all? How could heโ
A singular, near-juvenile hope blazed in my mind. โWas this all a test?
Are youโฆWill you bring her back?โ
Ice in that voice as he regarded me with less than pity. โNo.โ โCould you?โ I had to know. โAre you choosing not to?โ
โI would have,โ he said, pushing his chair neatly back into the table as if finishing up supper. โIf it were possible.โ
โWhy?ย Whyย isnโt it possible?โ I was pathetic, and I knew he was sneering at me, and that nothing I said would work. Knew that I was weak and broken, covered in my own sickness and sweat, andย still, I couldnโt stop the words from shoving past my lips. โIโll bring you her body. Iโll scour the realms for it. I will pay any price you demand. Obey any request.โ
โGo, boy. Find the blade.โ
โPlease.โ I knelt to the floor, my mortal knees cracking against the wood. โPlease.โ My throat was so tight I could barely speak around it. Tears burned in my eyes.
โPlease,โ I begged, wrung out. โPlease bring her back to me.โ โFind the blade, Kane.โ
When I lifted my bleary eyes to him, the Fae God was gone. The polished walls replaced by that grim cobbled stone. Bone-deep chill where there had been warmth. And my inedible meat pie, growing cold beside a dying hearth.