Mwyr - Chapter Twenty-Two

[lady_mab]

Loki perched in a chair near the fireplace, only half listening to Hyen’s speeches. Once again he remained ignored. He knew his presence lent more effect than his words as the king detailed the plan to host a ball in honor of the Goddess. 

The nobles of Gi’Han might not know who he was, but they knew what he could do. It also helped that Kier stood just out of sight. The firelight reflected dull and hollow off its scaled body. The occasional rasp of claws on stone made the nobles glance back at them every so often. 

Loki quite enjoyed the fear in their eyes. 

He closed his eyes and breathed deep. The shadows shifted behind him and he reached for the source before it could reveal itself. “Adil. You have good news, I hope?” 

The Ti’Corrah peeled itself out of the darkness and leaned in close. “The Church has made their first move against the Goddess.”

“Ah, as I thought. You disobeyed me again.” He didn't have to look to know there would be a twist of guilt on the monster’s face. It wouldn’t show much, but he knew it was there. “So? What did you see as you followed her?” 

“After you left, she wandered through the city alone. I could feel that sensation you described -- my magic snuffed out like a candle.” It hesitated, glancing back at Kier for a beat before forging on. “He almost had her completely powerless, but something I couldn’t identify pushed him back.” 

Loki tapped his fingers against his lips, resisting the urge to let them curl into a delighted smirk. He couldn’t have planned this better himself. “And you are sure it was the man I told you about?” he asked, turning his head a degree so that Adil could hear him but the nobles could not. 

The winged beast’s muscular form shivered. “One does not forget the eyes of a god.” 

This was exactly what he wanted to hear, though it was happening a great deal faster than he anticipated. That only meant they did not have much time left. 

What was it that the Rotia girl had called him? Tursha. The Devourer. What an interesting turn of events. 

Adil shifted, not yet withdrawing completely. “There is one more thing…” 

Loki’s excited nerves slowed down and he bit the tip of his fingernail. “What is it?” 

“Your brother. He was there in Hullenscir.” 

In all honesty, he knew he should have expected that. No amount of claiming that he wouldn’t follow after the Goddess meant anything. Loki knew that. Yet a part of him had hoped that Chan would listen to him for once and just stay away. 

And if Chan was in Hullenscir, it could only mean one thing. 

He had to swallow several times before he could force his cotton-filled mouth to form words. “And Cassia? Was she there?” 

The Ti’Corrah made a small uncertain sound, and Kier answered in their guttural tongue. “Oh. Yes.” A long pause followed the two words, and Loki turned to get a better look at the two. 

One more thing hung heavy in the air between them, but Adil did not offer to clarify. Instead it nodded once. “She was there.” 

He wanted to push the topic, to find out just what they were not telling him. But it did not matter in the long run. What mattered was that the Church took their next step, so it was Gi’Han’s turn. It was his turn.

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled until his lungs burned. He was past the point of worrying about personal matters. He made an attempt, but if they would not listen to him, then he needed to let them go. 

Far more important things rested on the horizon than the chains that once bound him to friends and family. 

He lifted a hand and reached into the tide of magic that surged at his touch. A thick parchment envelope, adorned with the seal of King Hyen, materialized above his palm. “Adil, take this to Hyen’s men in Hullenscir. It is time to move forward.” 

A clawed hand plucked the envelope out of the air. “Of course, sir.” It vanished without another word. 

Loki frowned, smoothing his free hand against his chin in thought. He wondered if the creature withheld whatever information it had as revenge for the interruption of its conversation with the Goddess. There had been a bite to the words that was more venomous than usual, though he supposed he deserved it. 

He had told the Ti’Corrah to do as they pleased. So long as they obeyed him when it came down to it, and that they avoided contact with the Goddess. If they were anything like they used to be, then there was no doubt that they had very little reason to listen to him. 

Philip was the source of the curse in the first place. The reason they still lived on in twisted and broken bodies while he and Arika came back as echoes of the past. Paths carved out for them before they could make their own choices. 

Philip cursed the Ti’Corrah, but Loki promised them a cure. They all knew what sacrifices it would entail, yet they agreed. A small part of him was immensely satisfied that they decided to be selfish enough to help him with his plan. 

He held up a hand and beckoned to the creature still lurking in the shadows. “Kier?” 

The second Ti’Corrah stepped into the light and bowed stiffly. “Sir?” 

“I need you to ensure that the others are committed to this. Once we start, we will not be able to pull back.” He needed to hear the confirmation with his own ears, see them swear to him with his own eyes. Reaffirm the desires they burdened him with since he was just a small boy. 

“Yes, Master. We will wait for you back at the house.” 

He nodded, more to himself, as the shadows swallowed Kier. His eyes drifted shut and he allowed himself a moment to slouch in the unyielding confines of the wooden chair. 

Even before Adil had announced the attack on the Goddess’ powers, a part of him had known. His magic was borrowed from her own. She was the embodiment of the sun, pure energy and life. Her skin was the earth, her blood the water. 

He merely took from her. He was not lucky enough to be his own source. It only meant that he experienced her exhaustion and her nerves. 

The diamond, nestled in the breast pocket of his jacket, hummed in time with his thoughts of her. 

Pressing a hand against the pocket, he breathed a heavy sigh. “Soon,” he muttered. “We are almost there.” 

Until then, he still had a show to put on for Hyen and his nobles. 

Loki pushed himself to his feet with as dramatic a flair as he could muster. “Gentlemen!” His voice broke through the stilted conversation, far louder and more confident than he felt. He spread his arms wide and approached the table. “Gentlemen, good news: We have sent the invitation to the Goddess for the ball thrown in her honor.” 

A round of cheers and cups colliding in an overzealous salute met his announcement. 

Hyen separated himself from the cluster of bodies and moved toward Loki. Not enough to extend any sort of physical contact, but enough to put himself as the voice of his people. “We shall be on track to host the masquerade by the end of the month. Just before the season turns.” 

If the weather turned bad at the end of the season, it would force the Goddess to remain in Gi’Han after the masquerade. The Church would have their delegates to wait on her, but they would not risk her health in the poor weather. 

This time, Loki could not stop the slow spread of the smile across his face. No, the details could not have proceeded more perfectly. Everything was starting to fall into place, and he just had to stand back and let it continue to work itself out. 

It would not be long before he could rise to change the course of his fate and rewrite it much more to his liking. 

Neither of us are who we used to be. 

#

The moment Arika stepped foot into the Church, she was ushered into the Deacon’s private council chamber. It was the same one that she had sat in the first day there, when Cairo was assigned as her personal guard. 

Deacon Paol must have come straight from bed. He hugged his arms over his chest, a disgruntled and sleep-heavy frown in place. He didn’t even have his wig on, and his short, graying hair stuck out at odd angles. 

At least she wasn’t the only one wearing her nightclothes anymore. The Deacon was far from amused when she attempted to lighten the mood with the observation. 

He scolded her for a solid thirty minutes. Chan and Cassia stood outside the door with several guards watching over them. “Twice, Lady. That is twice in as many days that you have left to wander the city and have over exerted yourself. Why do we bother with a guard? Do you have no regard for yourself, or for those of us here in the Church who look after you?” 

It went on and on until, finally, she started laughing. Which, she could admit, was not the best reaction. It made Deacon Paol hesitate and stare at her in such a state of shock that she only laughed harder. She gripped the edge of the table to keep herself upright as tears came to her eyes. The Deacon eventually gave up trying to make sense of her. 

She felt more like a child scolded for stepping out of line than the Goddess only partially aware of her own choices. 

Before he released her into the custody of the waiting guards, she let the Deacon know that Chan and Cassia were her personal guests. The same went for Prince Taen and his new valet. 

Releasing an exasperated sigh, the Deacon tried to tell her that her safety was far more important than she apparently gave it credit for. But if she insisted, then the four of them would be able to come and go from her personal chambers as they pleased. He said it with the tone of a man who knew it would be easier to give in than to argue with her. 

Arika left the council room to find Chan and Cassia staring at her with a mixture of confusion and something akin to horror. The amusement from moments before immediately bled from her body. She cleared the distance between them in a few short steps. “What is wrong?” 

Cassia held out an envelope that in no way looked important enough to warrant such expressions. The dark red wax seal she recognized as Gi’Han’s from her lessons. The Lady Arika, Goddess of Mwyr adorned the front in a thick, firm script. 

The moment she grasped the parchment, she felt the magic singing a story of its origins. “This is from Loki,” she muttered. She worked a nail beneath the seal before one of the guards could snatch it out of her hand. 

Cassia whirled on Chan, lifting a hand as if she meant to smack him. Instead, her trembling fingers latched onto his sleeve and she gave it a feeble tug. “I told you it was his handwriting.” 

For his part, Chan’s expression sank into a trained indifference. “Why is he writing you a letter, Arika?” There were more questions heavy in his voice, but he kept them to himself. 

She pulled out the card inside, squinting down at the invitation. “King Hyen of Gi’Han is hosting a masquerade in my honor, and requests my presence.” She hummed in thought and flipped the card over to see a small note scribbled at the bottom. “He seems to think that Hullenscir is no longer safe for me. And that I might appreciate the comforts that Gi’Han has to offer. Ah, he says that Hyen promises a sizable donation to the Church for my time. How kind.” 

“Absolutely not.” Paol moved into her space and ripped the invitation from her hand. “You are not ready to go to Gi’Han.” 

Arika’s brow ticked in annoyance, but she did not allow the frown to take ahold. After everything she had just gone through, this only topped it off. “I am trying very hard to be civil right now. You have kept things from me that should not have been. And I’m not going to argue with you about them because you are going to let me attend this masquerade.” 

The magic pooled in the tips of her fingers as she reached to retrieve the invitation. When they brushed the Deacon’s hand, a sharp spark shot from the point of contact and he jumped in surprise. “It might have escaped your notice, Deacon, but I have already twice eluded your attempts at keeping me locked in these walls.” 

She held the card aloft and spun in a slow circle to study each of the faces surrounding her. “Who is the one who brought this here?” 

A middle aged man with a dark beard stepped forward, one hand held nervously before him. “I did, Lady.” 

“And who gave this to you?” 

A hesitant sound trickled from his lungs. He glanced between Arika and Paol, then answered with a shake of his head. 

Magic was the easiest answer. Her two mishaps happened within an hour of one another, and would not have had time to escape the city walls. 

Loki knew because he had been in Hullenscir with her. They were both connected by the power and history flooding their veins. 

“Thank you. Please inform him that I accept the invitation.” She folded the card back into the envelope and tucked them away in her robe. “I am tired, so I will retire for now. Deacon Paol, I hope you don’t mind if I skip my lessons for the day?” 

The Deacon made a half-formed sound and ended the attempt to speak with a shrug. “As you wish, my Lady.” 

Arika smiled and turned to her friends. “Chan, Cassia. Come. You will stay with me.” Head held aloft and shoulders thrown back, she made her way through the halls unhindered. The guards did not bother to follow. She didn’t like the idea of them being afraid of her.

Cassia caught up first, pale cheeks flushed and nerves rolling off her in waves. “Lady, you did not mention how you knew Loki, or why he would send you this letter personally.” 

“It does not matter why he did,” she started, but then Chan’s hand grasped her elbow and he tugged her to a stop. Her gaze rolled down to here he gripped her. 

“It does, Arika. You have to understand how important he is to us.” He indicated between himself and Cassia, eyes begging her to listen. “He’s my brother. Our friend.” 

Arika closed her eyes, allowing herself to get lost in the memory. Standing before Loki with his hand in hers and the reminder that they knew each other. That they went beyond the bodies they existed in, and that they went beyond Mwyr. "I cannot explain it, that is why. He and I are caught up in something far too tangled to even hope to understand." 

She did not want to see the expressions her friends made. She gently pulled her arm from Chan's grasp and gripped his hand between both of hers. "He is as well as I am, though I know that might not mean much. But please, realize that we are walking a similar path. We are trapped with the same fates." 

A strangled noise escaped Chan, but he allowed her to separate herself and put a step between them. Cassia, however, pressed her lips into a thin line and crossed her arms over her chest. It was obvious that she knew something more than she was letting on. Perhaps something Loki himself had told her, but not something she wanted to tell to the others. 

So Arika turned once again and continued on her way to her rooms. It took a few shaky breaths before the footsteps of the other two began once again to echo behind her. 

Cairo waited for her outside of her rooms. His dark eyes flashed with something far more dangerous than anger when he spotted her. "Where in all that is holy have you been, Lady?" 

Her attempt at a smile did little to alleviate his roiling frustration, so she let it drop. "I didn't mean to go running off this time. I had a dream--" Despite herself, her voice hitched with the first trace of emotion. It took a tremendous amount of effort to reel it back in. She had held it together so well until that point. She could hold on a bit longer. 

His expression softened a degree. He had been with her on the road to Hullenscir. He had seen the way her dreams affected her, sometimes causing her to get up and walk about the camp. "You need to be more careful, Lady. I cannot expected to watch over you if you keep wandering off." Cairo lifted his gaze, and his eyebrows shot up as he realized who stood behind her. "Miss Cassia, a surprise." 

A snort sounded from the woman. "Charmed, completely. I did not expect you to have such an important job here in Hullenscir." This time, a laugh escaped her. "I half expected you to be joking about being a guard for the Church, in all honesty." 

"I would never joke, Miss." He performed the elaborate bow that he reserved for Arika while in front of the Church officials. "You should know that after two years." 

The door behind Cairo swung open and Arika looked up in time to see Sera storm out of the room in an angry huff. "Goddess, you had me worried!" 

Arika allowed the smile to take over. It felt far more natural than her first few attempts. "I'm sorry. Are you swearing again?" 

He tossed his hands into the air, not pausing long enough to notice who else was standing there. "Yes! Yes, I am. For fuck's sake, Arika, you can't just wander off like that." 

"I didn't just wander off because I felt like it." 

"You have in the past--" 

"I didn't this time, though." She advanced a step so that she could place herself toe to toe with Sera. The emotions threatened to overwhelm her again. She wanted to lean into him, and take the comfort she knew he would give. "I didn't like waking up to find myself outside of the Church walls. I'm sorry I worried you. All of you." 

This time, Sera glanced up. His face flushed as it dawned on him that Chan and Cassia stood just behind her. "Oh. Hello. It has been awhile, hasn't it?" His charming smile replaced the embarrassment, and he extended a hand toward the farmer. "Nice to have you join us here in Hullenscir." 

Chan took the offered hand and squeezed it fondly. "And just how did you manage to get in? Cass and I were almost thrown out and branded as terrorists for 'sneaking in' and 'attacking the Goddess'." 

The seconds ticked by as Sera's smile froze in place. "Arika...?" 

She held up her hands to stop the question and ushered everyone back into her rooms. "Not out here in the hall. I'll explain, but not out here." 

Taen waited for them just inside the door. His half-visible expression darkened as she passed him. "What is that you carry with you, Lady?" 

“Something you’re not going to like, but I have the feeling you already knew that.” She smiled even though she knew he wouldn't be able to see it and hooked her arm around his. "Everyone, please sit down and I am going to tell you a story." 

The four moved to sit on the couches, and Arika guided Taen over to sit as well. She took her spot in the center, hands smoothing down over her dressing gown as she considered her words. 

"You have all been with me through a lot." She looked at Sera and Chan, hoping her smile didn't look as weak as it felt. "You have all given up much in the name of the Church and of the Goddess, and you have not received anything in return. So have the people of this city, and I wanted to be able to fix that somehow." 

She remembered the way that the touch of the people in the city pulled the magic straight from her skin. Sapping her of any strength she could muster and then that which she could not. As she saw it, it was a small price to pay for being unable to do anything for them for so long. 

"I know now why the past avatars were not allowed to wander among her people." Arika gripped her hands tighter before her as they started to tremble. The last thing she wanted to do was to show off how helpless she felt with the cloud hanging over her head. "My body is weak enough as it is. Not even the magic of the Goddess can save a body that is dead. As much as I have tried to make it my own, it does not change the fact that for me to be here, Tallah had to die." 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cassia grip Chan's hands. Yet again, she could not comfort someone who relied on her. All she could do was continue to let him down by standing there looking like his dead sister. 

It only made what she needed to say harder. Arika closed her eyes and forged on. “Things are happening too fast for me to keep up with, and I’m afraid. I am having dreams that stretch beyond Mwyr and the lives I have lived here. This morning, I awoke to find myself outside the city walls, confronted by reminders of my past. People who knew me as I was.” 

She heard a sharp intake of breath, though she didn’t know who it came from. 

Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking, and the tremors spread through her entire body. “Hours ago, I found myself back in the streets. Something blocked me from being able to use my magic.” The power had become so familiar over the past few months, growing stronger as she learned more. “For a moment, I thought--” The words caught in her throat and she choked. 

I thought that I was dying. 

One look at Sera’s stricken expression made her gulp down the rest of the sentence. She couldn’t say it. Not yet. “All my strength left me. Cassia caught me before I could fall.”

“What do think happened?” Cairo asked, the first to break the silence. 

She shook her head and fought off the wave of exhaustion that came with the motion. “I couldn’t say. It was all so fast and all-encompassing. Like a blanket used to smother a fire.” 

“You need more rest.” Sera tensed, and she knew that he wanted to stand beside her. 

The thought alone gave her a bit of strength. Enough to keep going. "I have received two things today. Both are going to be important in changing the course of the fate I have received." 

Arika reached into her pockets and pulled out the parchment and the journal. They both tingled with the lingering traces of magic used to create and preserve them. "The first is a journal. I believe it will answer my questions revolving around the original Goddess and her time here on Mwyr." 

She placed that on the low table between the couches, and Cairo leaned forward to inspect the cover of it. "You are saying that these are notes written by the original Goddess herself?" He let his finger brush over the black binding, awed by the presence of the item.

"I think so. I cannot be too sure. I didn't have a chance to look at it before I found myself back in Hullenscir." She held up a hand before Sera could broach the subject of her alone in the city. "The second is an invitation to Gi'Han for a masquerade." 

Taen jerked to his feet in an instant. Not even the cloth bandages were enough to hide the fury coursing through every inch of his body. "Deny his request." 

"It is not from King Hyen." 

"I do not care who it is from. It comes from Gi'Han, so nothing good will come of it." He advanced a step, but Arika shifted away to keep the table between them. "Do me this one favor since I cannot ask anything else of you: Throw it out." 

She held the parchment aloft and sighed. "I can't. I'm sorry, but this is something that I need to do." She glanced at Cairo, and he frowned down at his hands. "I will not ask any of you to come with me. I will need representatives from the Church to accompany me, but this is not something that I can ask of any of you." 

"I will go," Sera said without hesitation. "Even if you told me not to, I'd still follow." 

A laugh escaped her, and released some of the tension building up in her shoulders. "Thank you." 

Cairo lifted his hand, but still refused to meet her gaze. "I will go as well, Lady. Though perhaps my record is not the best for keeping you safe, I still wish to remain your guard if you will have me." 

Arika nodded, and another knot untangled itself. 

Cassia and Chan exchanged a brief look, holding a conversation without using words. "We will come," Cassia said, finally tearing her eyes away from Chan's.

She turned at last to Taen, who stood shaking at the head of the small table opposite her. His hands clenched and unclenched, and his lips pulled back in the start of a snarl that never quite made it. 

“I must accept this invitation. I cannot explain it, but you must understand what this means to me.” She placed the parchment down on the table as well. “You do not have to decide right away. We will go at the end of the week.” 

Taen moved at the same time, dropping back onto the chair he had abandoned. “I will go, Lady. I am not coward enough to let you venture into that snake’s lair alone.” 

Arika’s breath caught in her throat as she looked at the five around her. She wondered what the original Goddess felt, looking at her companions gathered together. Those willing to follow her regardless of the challenges. 

Her heart swelled with pride, but not enough to block out the ache of guilt and longing for those she had lost to forces beyond her control. She pressed a hand to her chest and repeated the words Loki told her. 

Neither of us are who we used to be.