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Chapter no 3

A Reign of Rose (The Sacred Stones, #3)

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 beastโ€”I still didnโ€™t know what Len was. He hadnโ€™t answered my question.

โ€œWhatย areย you?โ€ I snarled once more. My rage sent the flames of the white candles around us flickering.

โ€œWould it make a difference? I canโ€™t help you.โ€ Furyโ€”blazing furyโ€”radiated through my chest. โ€œWhyย not?โ€ โ€œI serve the many realms. Not heartsick boys.โ€

Serve the many realmsโ€ฆโ€œDo not lie to me.โ€

The man that wasnโ€™t Len frowned as he stood, his chair scuffing along the luxe rug beneath us. โ€œAbout which part? The heartsick boys orโ€ฆโ€

My mouth was inexplicably dry as I watched him pour himself a glass of whiskey from an ornate carafe. โ€œA God? Youโ€™re a Fae God?โ€

He dipped his chin. โ€œFrankly, I thought youโ€™d 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. โ€œWhat is a Fae God doing holed up in Vorst?โ€

Irritation crested in his depthless eyes. โ€œDo you have no fear? Most used to bow before me.โ€

Used to.ย My mind scattered and realigned itself twice over. โ€œA disgraced God. A banished one,โ€ I murmured. โ€œWhat did you do?โ€

The man that was not the White Crow took his seat once more, now with a swirling amber drink. โ€œI 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. Iโ€™d scoured the Pearl Mountains for the White Crow. Scaled a mountainโ€”and 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.

โ€œYou know what I seek,โ€ I said, so low I hardly heard myself. โ€œCan you make me full-blooded? Iโ€™m nearly so already. My father, Lazarusโ€”โ€

โ€œI donโ€™t require your recounting, boy. I watched your father rock in his cradle.โ€

โ€œThen 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€

โ€œThe blade cannot be destroyed,โ€ the God said, bored eyes on his drink. โ€œNot by anyone.โ€

โ€œThat wonโ€™t 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.

โ€œIt didnโ€™t 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. โ€œWhere is it now?โ€

โ€œWith your father. In Solaris.โ€

โ€œTurn me,โ€ I said, heart in my throat. โ€œI will do anything you ask.โ€ โ€œI did ask. You answered incorrectly.โ€

โ€œYour questions donโ€™t matter,โ€ I bit out, slamming my hands onto the heavy table between us. โ€œShe isnโ€™tย alive.โ€

The God only tsked. โ€œYour intentions are what matter to me.โ€

He had said he served the realms. Perhaps it was my integrity I needed to prove.

โ€œYou can decree the future, Iโ€™m sure. See all, know allโ€ฆTell me I am not the best chance we have to rid this world of my father. Tell me I donโ€™t wish to save the lives of those threatened by him more than anyone alive.ย Nobodyโ€™sย intentions are more pure.โ€

The God only laughed. โ€œHers were.โ€

โ€œArwenโ€™s?โ€ I hadnโ€™t said her name aloud in over two months. The syllables slid cruelly across my tongue. Profound grief I thought Iโ€™d buried rose up my throat and coiled around my jaw.

And I couldnโ€™t stand itโ€”couldnโ€™t stand another moment on this earthly plane knowing she wasnโ€™t here, too. Here was my only chance at giving her death an ounce of meaning and I couldnโ€™t convince him my intentions were pure? โ€œI 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 wasnโ€™t sure. The Godโ€™s unflinching gaze only burrowed into mine.

Despite how I was breaking, I pushed on. โ€œLook inside my soul. Tell me I donโ€™t 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 Godโ€™s 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.

โ€œYou must swear on everything you own. Your kingdom, your coin, your people, that you willโ€”โ€

โ€œI willย kill him. I swear it more ardently than anything Iโ€™ve ever sworn.โ€ โ€œSwear on her. That he will perish, one way or another.โ€

The urge to bark out a laugh almost knocked me from my chair. โ€œI swear on Arwenโ€™s 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.

โ€œI 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 mortalsโ€ฆโ€

That was how Arwen had been conceived and born full-bloodedโ€”the mating of a Fae God and her mortal mother.

โ€œBut,โ€ he went on, shaking me from my recollection of that rainy night outside Marinerโ€™s Pub, โ€œI have never taken a Fae and rebirthed him for the sole purpose of turning him true.โ€

I wasnโ€™t clever enough to trick a Fae God. I was a mere blunt instrument. โ€œTry.โ€

โ€œThere may be grave consequences.โ€ โ€œI know what I am asking.โ€

โ€œThe riskโ€”โ€

โ€œDo,โ€ I gritted out, โ€œyour 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. โ€œDrink.โ€ That colorโ€” โ€œWhat is it?โ€

The God only smirked. โ€œYou 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 bottleโ€ฆI didnโ€™t know. I couldnโ€™t

think. Couldnโ€™tย breatheย as agony shrieked through me. As my soul fled my body, digging through layers of earth for herโ€”

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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 skinโ€ฆweaker, somehow. The pulse sliding along my veins, so quiet I couldnโ€™t hear it. I grasped at my body, my jaw, my thundering heart. โ€œWhat did you do?โ€

My muscles, as I stood, sore though Iโ€™d barely climbed today. My tongue, heavy in my mouth. My eyesight, blurredโ€ฆ

โ€œItโ€™s only temporaryโ€”โ€

But I couldnโ€™t hear past my own horror. โ€œIโ€™mโ€ฆmortal.โ€

โ€œAll rebirth demands death. Now you are a slate, cleared and readied for a new inscription.โ€

โ€œHow?โ€ I hardly grit out.

โ€œA 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€

โ€œThe bladeโ€ฆโ€

โ€œTouch the steel once, and you will regain your lighte tenfold.โ€ Lenโ€™s eyes gleamed with victory. โ€œYou will be reborn, full-blooded.โ€

Despite accomplishing all Iโ€™d set out to, relief evaded me. I was a mortal man. Mortal, until I got my hands on the blade. โ€œThat was not the agreement,โ€ I breathed.

The God stood from the table. โ€œItโ€™s already been done.โ€ โ€œYou knew all along, didnโ€™t you?โ€

For the first time, remorse crossed his eyes. โ€œI 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 shouldnโ€™t have risked the wrath of a God when I was, and I certainly wouldnโ€™t now.

โ€œAnd if I never touch the blade?โ€ I asked around my splitting headache. โ€œIf I canโ€™t find it?โ€ A simple fall down the stairs could kill me now. Iโ€™d never make it through Lumera. Iโ€™d never locate the blade in the palace unscathed.

โ€œThe 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 wasnโ€™t 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. โ€œWas this all a test?

Are youโ€ฆWill you bring her back?โ€

Ice in that voice as he regarded me with less than pity. โ€œNo.โ€ โ€œCould you?โ€ I had to know. โ€œAre you choosing not to?โ€

โ€œI would have,โ€ he said, pushing his chair neatly back into the table as if finishing up supper. โ€œIf it were possible.โ€

โ€œWhy?ย Whyย isnโ€™t 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 couldnโ€™t stop the words from shoving past my lips. โ€œIโ€™ll bring you her body. Iโ€™ll scour the realms for it. I will pay any price you demand. Obey any request.โ€

โ€œGo, boy. Find the blade.โ€

โ€œPlease.โ€ I knelt to the floor, my mortal knees cracking against the wood. โ€œPlease.โ€ My throat was so tight I could barely speak around it. Tears burned in my eyes.

โ€œPlease,โ€ I begged, wrung out. โ€œPlease bring her back to me.โ€ โ€œFind 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.

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