Part 42 (1/2)
”What's your report?” my father demands. He rises from his ebony throne.
Report?
What's going on?
How am I even here?
Where is Daphne? And Dax and the others?
A few short months ago, all I wanted to do is return to my home in the Underrealm-to leave the chaos and discomfort of the mortal world behind. I dreamed of my return. Longed for it. Now I am desperate to figure out why I am here-and how to get back to where I was only seconds ago.
”Have you found Haden yet?” my father says. He must think he's speaking to someone else. My head is lowered, so he must not recognize me-or perhaps it's because he never looks directly at a subordinate if it isn't necessary.
How did I get here? And how do I get back?
I look at the amulet in my hand and the answer dawns on me. A communications talisman. I've heard the Heirs speak of them and how they work, but I have never actually seen one before. I try to cast it away, but it seems to be seared into my hand. I can't let it go.
”The Court grows restless over the boy's insolence. Lord Lex has proposed a vote of no confidence in my rule. They're going to depose me if I can't rea.s.sure them that Haden is still following the plan.
Tell me you've got good news.” I hear him move closer, the sword at his hip slapping against his thigh as he walks. He must think I am Simon. ”Answer me or I'll blast you!” I raise my head. ”It won't do you much good, seeing as how Simon is already dead.” My father startles at the sound of my voice. ”What is the meaning of this?” he says, drawing his sword. ”Where is my emissary? How did you get this talisman?” He must be fl.u.s.tered to spare so many words for me.
”Simon's dead,” I say, rising to my feet. ”I killed him.” Brim had done the deed, but technically I had finished it.
”You?” He narrows his eyes at me. ”I don't believe it. Simon was one of my best, and you're nothing but a weak, simpering nursling.”
”And yet I still scare you enough to cause you to draw your sword.” Ren glances at the blade he brandishes in his hand. He lowers it ever so slightly. I glance around the throne room and see that we are completely alone. It's unlike Ren to be without his royal guard, attendants, and advisors. He must be sorely agitated or in dire need of privacy. Is the Court truly turning against him?
”Besides, Simon may have been a fierce opponent, but he was hardlyyour best. He'd betrayed you,” I say, hitting on what I suppose to be a sore spot for Ren. ”He'd turned on you. Your loyal servant was planning on selling the Cypher-the Key along with it-to the highest bidder. The Skylords.”
”You know about the Key?”
”Yes.”
”Where is the Cypher? What have you done with her?”
”Why should I tell you?”
”Are you planning on betraying me, too, then?” Ren shoves the tip of his sword so it's only inches from my face.
”Can you even hurt me with that here?” I say, referring to my astral state. I am outside of my body, so how can he cut me?
”No,” my father says. ”But your soul is made of energy, which means I can still hurt you with this.” Streaks of blue lightning crackle up his sword, swirling around the blade. I can feel the heat and the rhythm of electricity and I know he's not bluffing about its being able to hurt me. ”Do you know what happens if I cut you off from your body while you are here?” Ren says loudly enough that I can hear him over the pulse in my ears. ”You'll never find your way back to it. You'll become just another one of those nameless, faceless nothings that roam the Wastelands. Banished to being a hungry, desperate shade for the rest of eternity.”
”You won't do it. You need me.”
Ren responds by slas.h.i.+ng his electrified sword in the air, sending the swirl of lightning sailing at my chest. I grit my teeth, absorbing the blow and letting it flow back out of me the best I can. I've taken worse hits in training, but the pain is still enough to force me to my knees.
”That was just a warning blow, boy,” Ren says. ”Just to show you that I can touch you here. The next one won't be so pleasant.” He walks back to his throne and picks up a small vessel made of pottery from under the ebony seat. I take a few deep breaths while his back is turned to regain my strength.
He returns with the vessel and holds it out in front of me. ”This is water from the river Styx, the River of Unbreakable Vows. On the Oracle's behest, I made a vow with this water during the Choosing Ceremony, in which I covenanted that whoever brought the Cypher to me would become my heir. My successor. That is what you want isn't it, boy? You want to belong. You want to sit at my right hand.
You want your honor restored. I am prepared to give you all of that, but you must do one thing for me.” He dumps the water from the vessel onto the ground in front of where I kneel. It splashes and pools around my knees. ”You make an unbreakable vow that you will bring the Cypher to me. The words will be written in the water, and I can use that to show the Court that you haven't forgotten your quest, that you haven't gone off the path. To prove to them that you are worthy of being called my son.”
I look up at my father, meeting his eyes for the first time since my return. I wonder if I will see that same disdain he usually looks at me with. But instead, I see something very different. A look of fear crosses my father's eyes-marring the near-perfect mask of nonexpression on his face that I have always tried to emulate-and I realize why he hadn't filled me in from the very beginning about Daphne's true importance. I know why his Oracle had kept the details from me. Because now that I know what he needs Daphne for-to find the Kronolithe of Hades-I know just how much power I have in my hands. I have Daphne. I have everything he wants: the missing link to finding the Key to the underworld, to finding the object that can turn my father into everything he pretends to be-a G.o.d.
I have the power here. The leverage.
Daphne isn't only the key to finding the Kronolithe; she is also the key to getting me everything I had ever wanted, and more.
”That is what you want, isn't it, my son? One little vow is a small price to pay to have all the honor and the glory of the Underrealm bestowed on your head.”
Vows made on the river Styx are nothing to be taken lightly. An unbreakable vow is just that- unbreakable. I'd already seen how such oaths control Dax and Joe. What little free will I have in the matter would be gone. I would not be able to stop myself from bringing Daphne to him when the time came.
”I should have made you vow before sending you as Champion. That addled Oracle tried to convince me it would backfire, but I see now she was playing games with me. I'm not leaving it up to your impulses anymore. You will bring her to me, no matter what.”
”What will you do with her?” I ask.
”Whatever it takes.”
”The Oracle says you need her heart and soul. Will you sacrifice her?”
”Yes. If needed.”
”Then my answer is no. You can't have her.”
Because I realize now the price for what Ren is offering is too high. I will not give Daphne to him. I will not let her die. I cannot trade her for what I have always wanted-because she is what I need.
My father tears into me with another bolt of lightning. This one comes so fast and strong that I cannot brace myself. The lightning grips me like a great taloned bird sinking its clutches into my rib cage, and slams me against the altar. I sink to the ground. My body writhes against the marble floor as the bolt ravages through me. I scream. Tears flood my eyes. The pain is too much to stop myself.
The lightning dissipates and I hear the echo of my father's laughter. He mocks my agony. Or perhaps it is my tears that set him off. I had never wanted to let him see me cry again, not since the day Mother died. I have tried to suppress and fight my emotions, to keep the human side of me at bay. I have let him push me down. I think about what Daphne said about my father being afraid of me when I stood up to him as a child.
What I might be capable of now if I had not cowered to his will earlier in my life . . .
Beyond my father's derisive laughter, I think I hear another sound.
Like Daphne calling my name.
”You would put concern for some human girl over your duty to me?” Ren asks. ”To your entire realm?”
Haden, come back! I think I hear Daphne call. I need you here.
I try once again to cast away the talisman, but it is still branded to my hand. I roll onto my side-it takes all my strength to do so- and look at my father. ”I love her.” That's barely something I want to admit to myself, let alone to him, but at the moment, it feels like the most powerful thing I still have inside of me.